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Hidden camera catches seagull being an 'unhinged maniac' after human friends make dinner

Absolutely no class.

seagull, brashern, birds goes crazy

via Pixabay/Pexels

Seagulls don't make great dinner dates.

At Upworthy, we’ve frequently covered stories of unlikely friendships that have developed between humans and members of the animal kingdom, such as the crow that befriended a family and the man with the emotional support alligator.

However, unfortunately, this attempted friendship between humans and a seagull is for the birds. It all started when a seagull known as Steven began visiting YouTuber BrasherN and his wife, who laid out food for him daily.

The couple decided to take things up a notch and make a classy dinner table for Steven, but his reaction was more like a rock star trashing a hotel room than a grateful guest at their table. “I thought it would be funny to set up a table for him. Steven turned out to be an unhinged maniac and destroys everything,” BrasherN wrote.

Steven’s inappropriate behavior is contrasted by the classy music that BrasherN plays during the video “Minuet” by Luigi Baccherini.

Steven Seagull comes to dinner

The video begins with Steven perched at a table adorned with a fine cloth. He begins to snap at his dish of peanuts, scattering them about in the most inconsiderate way. After picking the nuts up off the lawn, he goes into a rage, trashing the cardboard table and floral decor. He then makes his way for the camera as if to demand that the couple bring him more food.

"Steven just came, ate the food and wasn't content without wrecking the table," JesusDiazllam.1126 wrote in the comments.

Finally, Steven flew off without paying the check or leaving any gratuity.

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School is back in session. Here are 5 simple lunch ideas to keep you sane while you keep your family healthy.

With O Organics, it's easy.

Photo credit: Canva

Yes, school lunches CAN be easy, healthy and inexpensive.

Parents, let’s face it: prepping school lunches can feel like trying to solve a complex math equation. It's got to be nutritious, appealing, fast, and let's not forget…within budget. But what if we told you there’s a secret weapon that can make this whole ordeal a breeze? Enter: O Organics from Albertsons.

O Organics offers a wide range of affordable, USDA organic goodies that are perfect for school lunches. From crunchy apple slices to delicious, creamy greek yogurt, they've got you covered. Plus, their prices won’t break the bank, proving that healthy eating doesn’t have to be a luxury.

Now, let’s get down to the good stuff: the food! Here are some simple, kid (and wallet) friendly lunch ideas—made entirely with O Organics ingredients—to help you ditch the processed junk and give your kids the fuel they need to conquer the classroom:

1. Pasta Salad

Main: A cold pasta salad made with O Organics whole-grain rotini pasta, O Organics chopped vegetables (like cucumbers, bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes), and Italian dressing. Add protein with chickpeas or a three bean blend.
Side: O Organics apple slices.
Snack: A serving of O Organics Greek yogurt, with some granola for a fun topping.

2. Egg Salad Sandwich

Main: A sandwich using whole wheat bread filled with a mixture of O Organics hard boiled eggs, mayo (or Greek yogurt for extra protein), mustard, dill, onion powder, salt and pepper.
Side:O Organics tortilla chips and salsa.
Snack: A pack of O Organics fruit strips.

3. Peanut Butter Apple Wrap (great for toddlers)

Main:O Organics peanut butter spread on a couple of flour soft taco tortillas, topped with thinly sliced apples. Drizzle some O Organics honey, roll it up and voila!
Side:O Organics baby-cut carrots with a side of hummus.
Snack:O Organics cottage cheese.

4. Quickie Quesadilla

Main: A tortilla filled with O Organics Mexican Style Shredded Cheese, black beans, and a sprinkle of chili powder.
Side: A couple of hard boiled O Organics eggs.
Snack: Ants on a log.

5. A Hot Dog…that stays hot

Main: You know the drill. Hot dog (we recommended the O Organics Beef Franks). Mustard. Cheese. Bun.
Side: A colorful side salad with spring mix, cherry tomatoes, and vinaigrette dressing.
Snack:O Organics banana chips.

But how the heck do you keep the hot dog hot? We’ve got just the tip, courtesy of Allrecipes.com:

Step 1

Preheat an insulated beverage container by filling it with boiling water. Let stand for 15 to 20 minutes. Right before leaving, dump out water and replace with more boiling water. The preheating keeps it hot for a longer time. Place the hot dog into the water and close the lid.

Step 2

When your child is ready for lunch, they can take the hot dog out of the container and place it on the bun.

Remember: This list is just a starting point. You can totally customize it to your kid’s needs and preferences. You can even involve your kiddos in the lunch-packing process to make it more fun for everyone. Let them help choose the menu, make a shopping list, pack their lunches…even grow their own veggies! If you’re feeling ambitious, that is.

No matter how you choose to give your kids the best possible start to their day, making small changes and taking advantage of resources like O Organics can help make it happen in a sustainable and enjoyable way.

So, what are you waiting for? Shop O Organics now exclusively at Albertsons, Safeway or any sister store. Your kids' bodies (and taste buds) will thank you.

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Young artist who sold $7 million worth of paintings before she was 14-years-old

You can see her talent in her very first painting.

Autumn De Forest

When Autumn de Forest was 5, she picked up a paintbrush for the first time.

It wasn't long before she was ready to show the world what she could do.

After a year of practice, the then-6-year-old asked her father if he could get her a booth at a local art-in-the-park program.

"People would come up to the booth, and they would talk to my father, and they'd say, 'This is great!'" she said. "Apparently they thought it was Take Your Daughter to Work Day."

Almost everyone thought the artwork was her father's. And when they found out that tiny Autumn was the artist, people couldn't believe their eyes.

Autumn created this piece when she was just 5 years old.Autumn de Forest

Soon, Autumn rose to national fame.

When Autumn was 8, she was featured on the Discovery Health Channel. There was a slew of media attention in the years that followed. There was Disney. There was The Today Show. There was Wendy Williams.

She was called a child genius, a prodigy, and an expert painter.

Autumn de Forest

Suddenly, Autumn de Forest was everywhere.

But not everyone was so accepting of the young artist and her work. Some people in the art world had ... questions. Sure, she was good for a kid. But was her art actually good? Others wondered if the whole thing might be an elaborate hoax.

Autumn decided not to listen.

By 14 she developed a startlingly organized daily routine that went far beyond a 9 to 5.

Somehow, as the focus on her age begins to wear off, Autumn's work ethic and art only grow stronger. She said that most days, she'd wake up in her parents' Las Vegas home at 7:30 a.m. After breakfast, she'd break out her supplies for a one- or two-hour painting session.

From there, she dove into her school work. Most brick-and-mortar schools can't accommodate her travel schedule, so she did the majority of her schooling online.

Before dinner, it's back into the studio.

"That session can last much longer, that can be three or four hours when I really get into it," she said. "Then I probably have dinner and go to bed."

Autumn de Forest

The results? They speak for themselves.

Autumn de Forest

Her work has been displayed in galleries and exhibitions all over the world.

Autumn held a public demonstration before a showing at The Butler Institute of American Art.

Autumn de Forest

In 2015, Autumn received the International Giuseppe Sciacca Award in Painting and Art.

The award took her to the Vatican for a private showing of her artwork with the pope.

Autumn de Forest

She's also worked with the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, headed up by Michelle Obama.

As part of the program, de Forest traveled to underprivileged schools around the country and led painting workshops.

Oh, and if you're looking for some hard numbers to attach to Autumn's talent, she's got those, too.

Her paintings raked in over $7 million at auctions by the time she was a teenager — fetching as much as $25,000 each — much of which has gone directly to charities and disaster relief funds.

Autumn de Forest

At 22 years old now, what's Autumn de Forest up to lately?

A lot!

The transition from child prodigy to respected artist has kept her busy.

In 2017, the Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center in Hendersonville, Tennessee hosted a major solo exhibition for de Forest titled "Her White Room: The Art of Autumn de Forest."

That same year, de Forest was listed as one of Teen Vogue's "21 Under 21." In her profile she was praised for her talent as well as her commitment to art education.

"In disadvantaged schools, they consider the arts an extracurricular activity," she told Teen Vogue. "It's devastating, as there could be child prodigies in these schools, but they don't know that they have this God-given gift because they're not given the opportunity because there's nearly no art programs in schools."

In 2018, de Forest was featured in the music video for the song "Youth" by best-selling recording artists Shawn Mendes and Khalid. The video highlights exceptional young people working to change the world, including de Forest, Emma González, and Elias and Zion Phoenix.

The video has over 17 million plays on YouTube.

And of course, Autumn continues to share her absolutely incredible artwork on Instagram and in shows and exhibitions around the globe.

See on Instagram

The Autumn de Forest Foundation, helps her keep track of the kids she's met throughout the years and to continue to help them with their art careers.

A portion of the foundation's money goes to a 529 account set up for the students while 10% goes to them directly.

"A lot of these kids that I work with, they're not very old, they're in second grade, third grade, fourth grade. Maybe in 10 years, they may only have four or five thousand dollars but that could be the difference between them going to college or not," Autumn told Teen Vogue.

Autumn's incredible rise in the art world is an astonishing feat for someone who's still in her teens. But that accomplishment is easily matched by her generosity and commitment to helping develop tomorrow's prodigies as well.

For more information, visit the Autumn de Forest Foundation.

This article originally appeared on 5.30.16

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Need help with a rude kid? Teachers share 9 ways to deal with kids who make rude comments.

Parents, if your kid is acting rude, take some tips from the pros.

Photo credit: Canva

A girl sticking out her tongue.

Few things are more frightening for parents than raising a rude and entitled child. Younger kids just say whatever is on their minds, so you can change their behavior by letting them know that their words can hurt people’s feelings. But when kids get older and know better, many go through a phase where they challenge their parents and teachers by seeing how far they can push things by being inappropriate.

Once kids are intentionally rude, you’ve got to nip it in the bud before it becomes an ingrained part of their personality.

This is a challenging phase for parents because there are many ways to respond to a child's rude comments. You can ignore them and hope they stop because their behavior isn't getting them any attention. Or you can react and show them that being rude can get a rise out of someone.

A group of teachers has come to the aid of anyone who wants tips on handling their child’s rude behavior. A Redditor who is a teacher having difficulty dealing with rude students asked the teachers' subforum for help and they shared many creative and effective ways to handle the situation. “I like kids, but they can definitely be brutal. I’m rather sensitive, but I don’t know what to say to kids that insult others/me besides ‘that’s not nice’ or ‘that hurts people’s feelings,’” the teacher wrote in the post.

The responses showed that there’s more than one way to handle a rude child, whether it’s a witty comeback or digging down deep and talking with the child about the root cause of their anger.

Here are 9 ways teachers say they deal with kids acting rude.

How do I stop my kid from being rude?

1. Quick comebacks

"I have kids of my own so I have years of experience either with great comebacks or just agreeing with them. I had a student tell me I’m annoying. I told him that I guess he better hurry up and finish what he was doing so I could stop annoying him. I had one tell me I was fat and I replied all the better to squish him with."

"So my first year teaching... One day, I wore an empire waist shirt that I loved. And this asshole in the back of the classroom, who's been a jerk all period, goes, 'Yo, Miss! Are you pregnant?' To which I turned around and replied, 'No I'm just fat. Can we please move on now?' He never gave me problems after that. (I did throw out that shirt, tho.)"

"I found the best way to deal with rude students is to evenly inform them exactly how their behavior comes across, and ask them if that was their intention. They're usually too surprised you aren't being reactionary to lie."

2. Explain why

"I had a little one (1st grade) poke my stomach and ask if I was pregnant. My aid gasped and I chuckled. I told him I was not pregnant and, while it did not hurt my feelings, that asking that question could hurt some people. When he asked why I told him it makes people feel like you think they are fat and some people can’t have babies and it really hurts them because they want babies but can’t have them. He hugged me and said sorry. He then told his friends not to ask people if they were pregnant because it hurts them. I have found calmly telling children why it is rude helps. This doesn’t work as well with older kids though."

"Depending on what is being said, I usually tell them what they said is rude and that’s not how we talk to people. So if they say you’re fat, you say it’s not kind to comment on someone’s weight or size, don’t do it again. It’s ok to tell them they’re being rude and to use their manners. Kids of all ages are capable of understanding that."

3. Consequences

"Tell them they are free to say whatever they want, but they should recognize that there are consequences as well. For example, people won't want to be friends with someone who is rude!"

4. Think sheet

"I don’t know what the consequence structure at your school is but for my school we would typically do a 'think sheet' if something like that happens. Kid has to write about how what they did was wrong and how to not do it again. Parent gets an email home and the sheet gets added to the kid’s file."

5. Get to know them

"If rude behavior is something that you've been dealing with all year, I'd also make a point to focus on the kids who are the worst at having bad attitudes and getting to know them better. Try spending a few minutes a day with them and get to know them, once they realize you care about them, they may be more inclined to be polite."

How to respond to a rude child

6. Are you trying to hurt me?

"Honesty is the best way. 'That’s a hurtful thing to say. Are you trying to hurt me right now?' But not taking things personally from kids is like, a requirement for the job."

I have success with the 'how do you think that makes (person) feel?' Or the 'can you find a different way of saying that that doesn’t have hurtful language.' Of the student is more recalcitrant, a simple 'try again.' with direct eye contact can be effective. If all that fails, then leave the scene with a statement like 'that’s unfortunate you felt the need to use that kind of hurtful language. I’d love to keep talking with you, but i can’t if you’re going to talk to me that way..' walk away or start talking to another student."

7. Three questions

"Remind them quite calmly that they’re speaking to a human being and that it’s worth considering what they’re about to say by asking themselves three questions: 1. Is it true? 2. Is it necessary? 3. Is it nice? No to any of those questions = don’t say it.
Ignore it."

"I'm not sure about kids that young, but something I do a lot with middle and high schoolers is just say ok and move on (if it’s towards me, towards other kids requires more attention. I’ve found that most of the time they are just looking for the reaction they get from it and by just saying ok and going back to whatever you were doing before then it really throws them off and suddenly they feel less ok about it. I’ve even had some kids get somewhat embarrassed because they were expecting the class to have a good laugh at my expense but instead they just looked like the jerk that insulted the teacher in front of the whole class."

8. Model your reaction

"I think that it's really important to model with kids. When a child insults you, it's an opportunity to show all the kids how to react to an insult. How would you like to see them react in that same situation?"

"Just an example, but you could stop the class and say 'Guys, eyes on me for a minute. I want to talk about something. Somebody just told me that I'm chubby and annoying. How do you think that made me feel? Right, that made me feel [how you felt]. Has something like that ever happened to you? How did you feel? What's a good way to respond? What can you do to make something like this better if you hurt someone's feelings?' There's a million ways to turn it into a teachable moment."

9. Examine their hurt

"Pull out the healing edge: leaning in 'Has someone hurt you and made it feel like you have to talk that way, or otherwise you'll get hurt again?' Because almost always that's exactly what has happened. And speaking aloud their wound in front of them will completely flip their world. Either they will stop messing with you because they don't want their hurt spoken aloud or you'll find them approaching you after class and maybe bursting into tears as they relate something that has been weighing on them heavily and you're the first person that has recognized their wound but not stabbed it further."

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This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

The map may not subvert one's intuitive assumptions, but it nonetheless quantities and presents the cost of living by geography in a brilliantly simple way. For instance, if you're looking for a beach lifestyle but don't want to pay California prices, try Florida, which is about as close to "average" — in terms of purchasing power, anyway — as any state in the Union. If you happen to find yourself in a "Brewster's Millions"-type situation, head to Hawaii, D.C., or New York. You'll burn through your money in no time.

income, money, economics, national average

The Relative Value of $100 in a state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

If you're quite fond of your cash and would prefer to keep it, get to Mississippi, which boasts a 16.1% premium on your cash from the national average.

The Tax Foundation notes that if you're using this map for a practical purpose, bear in mind that incomes also tend to rise in similar fashion, so one could safely assume that wages in these states are roughly inverse to the purchasing power $100 represents.

This article originally appeared on 08.17.17

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Javier Bardem shut down reporter's 'bad taste' question about working with wife Penélope Cruz

He only needed seven words to speak volumes.

Photo credit: Carlos Delgado

Actors Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz have been married since 2010.

Spanish actors Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz met while filming "Jamón Jamón" in 1992, got married in secret in 2010, and have two children together. Bardem and Cruz have each earned Hollywood fame in their own right, winning numerous awards across the globe for their acting. They've also worked together several times in their careers in such movies as "Loving Pablo" in 2017 and "Everybody Knows" in 2018.

But when a Cannes Film Festival reporter asked an inappropriate question about their working together after the latter film, Bardem shut it down in one sentence.

Javier Bardem didn't entertain a reporter's sexist joke disguised as a question.

An off-camera reporter asked in Spanish, "How do you feel being the only man in the world who enjoys working with his wife?"

Amid some snickers in the audience, Bardem shook his head and calmly said, "The question is of extremely bad taste." Then he stared at the reporter for a few seconds, adding a clear punctuation mark to his statement.

from MadeMeSmile

The reporter clearly thought he was being funny, but Bardem didn't let it pass. People in the comments loved the actor's concise, clear and classy response.

"Damn his response was like when your dad is not angry just disappointed."

"He looks like he is about to shoot him with his piercing eyes."

"I love how he doesn't even give an inch, just a stare down with a not-gonna-accept-that-garbage look. As it should be!"

"Oof! His response is a great example of how to shut down inappropriate or sexist questions."

"The 'marriage is awful and all men hate their wives' trope is so old and overdone."

"It really uplifts this idea that people settle for being miserably married in a world where you can be joyfully married...I think finding joy in working with your spouse represents a loving relationship with great communication.."

"Really excited for when this whole 'my wife is my ball and chain' idea goes away. You should enjoy the person you marry."

The idea that working together as a couple is miserable needs to die.

Many men shared how much they enjoy working with their wives or how much they wish they could work together.

"I own a business with my wife and when people make comments about how bad that must be I’m like, do you seriously not want to spend time with your wife? Feel bad for ya bro."

"My wife was my boss when we met. We now own a business together. Why would you marry someone you wouldn’t want to work with?"

"Absolutely. In addition to loving my wife, I trust and respect her. I'd start a business with her any day. We have different processes for many things and we do the 'give and take' thing all the time. That's what adults who trust and respect each other other do."

"Don’t own a business but I’d love to be able to have my wife join the company I work for. Why wouldn’t I want to spend as much time as possible with an amazing woman? I get like maybe an hour a day with her where one of us isn’t with the kids or doing chores or preparing for tomorrow."

Not all spouses are able to work together professionally, of course, but the idea that wives are difficult to work with is a tired trope leftover from days when sexism was more widely accepted. Seeing Bardem not even entertain the message for a second was heartening to see.

Javier Bardem praised wife Penélope Cruz in Lifetime Achievement Award speech.

Bardem and Cruz have kept their private life private, but he spoke lovingly of her and to her during his acceptance speech at the 2024 San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, where was given the prestigious Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award.

"To a woman who I love and who I've shared a life with, I want to thank and give my deep gratitude for the human being you are," he said in the emotional speech. "You can be responsible for life, the life of your children, the life of your family, your mother, your friends, the life of others, the many people that you don't know that you suffer for and you take care of, and undoubtedly the life of this gentleman who's here, who loves you and thanks you very much for it."

Here's to spouses who lift one another up and celebrate one another with love and respect.

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One teacher's simple (and disgusting) experiment drives home the importance of hand washing

"Hand sanitizer is not an alternative to washing hands!"

One of the most major breakthroughs in preventing the spread of illnesses and infections in hospitals was embarrassingly simple. Wash your hands. In 1846, Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis discovered that hand washing played a vital role in the spread of germs, and the practice soon became mandatory in hospitals. The simple act of scrubbing hands with soap and water literally saved lives.

Getting a kid to wash their hands, however, can be an uphill battle. One teacher did a simple experiment to show her students just how important hand washing is.

"We did a science project in class this last month as flu season was starting," teacher Dayna Robertson wrote on Facebook. "We took fresh bread and touched it. We did one slice untouched. One with unwashed hands. One with hand sanitizer. One with washed hands with warm water and soap. Then we decided to rub a piece on all our classroom Chromebooks." Robertson later noted that they normally do make a point to sanitize the classroom Chromebooks, but didn't that day in the name of science.

The bread was put into plastic bags and the germs were left to fester. The bread that had been touched by unwashed hands and the bread that had touched the Chromebook had the most mold on it. The experiment proves that nothing beats soap and water. The bread that had been touched by hands washed with soap and water remained (relatively) good enough to eat.

This experiment has been done before, but Robertson expanded on it by testing the effectiveness of hand sanitizer. The bread that had been touched by hands cleaned with sanitizer also had a fair amount of mold on it, although not as much as the bread touched by unwashed hands.

"As somebody who is sick and tired of being sick and tired of being sick and tired," Robertson wrote. "Wash your hands! Remind your kids to wash their hands! And hand sanitizer is not an alternative to washing hands!! At all!" It's kind of making us retroactively gag over seeing port-a-potties with hand sanitizer set up in lieu of sinks.

The experiment was prompted by a different science lesson. "We had just finished a science lesson on how leaves break down during winter. The kids were kind of grossed out by the mold, so we decided to run our own version using germs and mold from our own environment," Robertson told Scary Mommy.

Weirdly, the classroom experiment received some criticism. "Lots of people actually DEFENDED not washing their hands!" Robertson told Scary Mommy. "That was shocking! It really was just a simple classroom experiment to teach about mold but we have all learned more about how easily we can spread the germs we can't see."

The moral of the story is, please, please remember to always wash your hands.

This article originally appeared on 12.11.19

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science experiment