Nobody puts good vibes in a corner.

🙏 Thoughts in Maui, help around the world. It’s difficult to find positives in the rubble left behind by the devastating wildfires in Maui. In the midst of that tragedy, though, it is comforting to know that the world remains filled with people willing and eager to help however they can.

8-year-old Julian Lin’s way of helping is running a lemonade stand in Central Park, almost 5,000 miles away. His humble business will use proceeds to help Julian’s friend Ryan, who was a boat guide for him and his mother when they vacationed in Maui earlier this year. Julian’s GoFundMe has also reached its goal of $10,000, with proceeds divided three ways between Ryan, Maui United Way, and Maui Humane Society.

Julian had this to say, and who are we to argue: “Generosity to me is like breathing. If you make me not be generous, then I’ll die.” Unbelievable.

There are countless stories of people thousands of miles away standing in unity with the beautiful island. For one couple in Wisconsin, it means selling a special “Hawaii” candle from their Door County Candle Company and dedicating a portion of profits to relief efforts. We assume their candle business is much better run than Jan Levinson’s, so more resources should be on the way to Maui soon.

If you’re looking for ways to contribute to Maui relief efforts, consider these organizations:

• Hawaii Community Foundation - The “Maui Strong Fund” is providing financial resources that can be deployed quickly, with a focus on rapid response and recovery for the devastating wildfires on Maui.

• Maui United Way - The organization is responding to immediate needs via daily grant approvals to existing grassroots organizations that are local and focused on basic needs.

• Maui Food Bank - Every $1 donated can provide 4 meals to the hungry on the island.

💊 Bye Bye Mye(loma)? I don’t think we could ever tire of medical breakthroughs as subject matter. The good news this week centers around a treatment for myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells.

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester has conducted experimental work addressing blood cancers with tremendous success to date. The experimental and unnamed immunotherapy drugs are allowing patients to achieve remission with great frequency, often for months or as long as years. Over two-thirds of patients in the trial are seeing results when the drugs are used on their own, and that figure skyrockets to 90% when used in combination with existing treatments.

With each passing week and each new medical breakthrough, it feels increasingly like we’re reaching an incredible tipping point in modern medicine, with years of painstaking research paying off in droves.

👋 A legacy sealed with a wave. Last week, it was “Star Moves with Ken”. This week, we honor another legacy left by an incredible person.

Locals in Buderim - on the sunshine coast in Queensland, Australia - are petitioning to memorialize the daily act of kindness of the now late Peter Van Beek, who died last year aged 88. Every morning, Van Beek would stand at a roundabout in town and simply smile and wave to passing drivers. His warmth made a lasting impact on residents, who fondly remember his friendly nature and all the days he brightened.

Their petitioning efforts have been successful: the site will be renamed “Peter’s Roundabout”, with a memorial to be designed as well.

That’s literally all it takes to make a real impact and leave a legacy: a friendly smile and a wave. It’s a lesson worth heeding in a society where a person is weirder for saying hi to strangers than for keeping their head buried in their phone as they pass by.

This week, we’re smiling and waving for the Waving Man, Peter Van Beek.

🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️ Meet, greet, and prosper. As it turns out, Van Beek was really onto something. A new Gallup survey released last week found adults who regularly greet multiple neighbors have higher well-being than those that don’t. On a scale of 1-100, those that regularly said hello to six neighbors scored a well-being of 64, versus 51.5 for the non-greeters.

Six sounds oddly specific, eh? But apparently, that’s where the benefits max out. So don’t stop at five, but also, don’t feel compelled to go for seven. There’s no prize for overachieving (at least according to Gallup).

The regular greeters were shown to have higher physical, financial, career, and community well-being. Look, it seemed like it worked out pretty well for Jim Carrey’s Truman in The Truman Show (you know, before he found out his entire life was a lie filmed for television).

Anyways, in case I don’t see ya….

Can’t wait to hit six greetings today. Might even tack on a seventh for good measure. What up, Dan?! ‘Sup Marge? (They’re over 80 years old.)

Can already feel myself thriving.

The world forever changed on this day in 1987. Ever since, men have tried to reach the peak standard of male appeal, and ever since, they’ve failed.

Jeez….what happened on August 21st, 1987?

I’ll tell ya what happened: Dirty Dancing opened in theaters, and Patrick Swayze danced his way right into America’s hearts. Johnny Castle always dances the last dance of the season at Kellerman’s! Everybody knows that!

Really, my grandmother put it best when, at the end of the movie, she giddily exclaimed: “he’s just so cool isn’t he?!” Uh, ya friggen’ think, Nana?

An all-time summer movie. Nobody puts baby in a corner. Alright let’s do it:

(P.S. This has 422 MILLION views, so if you don’t think it warrants a “This Day in History”, I can’t help you. RIP Swayze. Legends never die.)

Whenever somebody does something nice for dogs, they have a strong case to be our Great Samaritans of the week. Them’s the rules.

In early July, Terry Webb was t-boned in a brutal car accident North Memphis. His aussiedoodle, Chase, scared by the accident, bolted from the car while Webb remained unconscious. When he came to - and for weeks afterwards - Webb thought he had lost Chase forever.

But he hadn’t, thanks to Tim Mathis and his son Daniel. Last week, they found Chase at a local dog park, covered in burrs and looking like he had been outside for a long time. Somebody else had seen Chase, put him in the fenced-in park, and left him a bag of dog food. Daniel insisted they do something to help the dog, so they took him home, cleaned him up, and found Webb through a rabies tag on his collar.

Webb and Regina Verner were desperate to reward the Mathis family for the incredible gift of a reunion with their friend, but Tim refused, saying “I just want to return your baby to you.”

I imagine their joy was more than rewarding enough.

🚣 Row your boat, gently round the world. While it’s incredibly worthwhile, flying to Hawaii from basically anywhere in the United States that isn’t California is not only expensive, but it takes damn near forever. So one Colorado woman decided - screw it - I’ll just row there.

Okay, that wasn’t Jayme Linker’s precise motivation, but nonetheless, she’s the first American woman to row halfway across the Pacific Ocean. Linker completed the feat with a teammate over 45 days, doing it to raise awareness of eating disorders. Linker herself overcame an eating disorder, later finding a hobby where appropriate fueling is of the utmost necessity.

This wasn’t her first accomplishment of this nature - she previously rowed across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain to the Caribbean. Of the trip to Hawaii, she noted it felt like it went by overnight. Meanwhile, ten minutes on the rowing machine for most of us feels like 45 days.

The world feels unfathomably massive sometimes - it’s really cool that Linker has gone out there and made it feel conquerable.

🎺 Talk about tooting his own horn! More than 50 years ago, Efrayim Fischbacher set the record for the loudest clarinet performance. At the ripe age of 94, Fischbacher just laughed in the face of his younger self’s achievement.

That’s right, at age 94, my man filled those lungs and let it rip, breaking his own record. Age is just a number! Next time somebody tells you you’re too old to do something, you tell them about the time 94-year-old Efrayim Fischbacher broke his own 50 year old record for the loudest clarinet performance. And then you walk away as relentless waves of confusion wash over their faces.

Nobody:

Efrayim:

🔴🔵 Bitter rivals, same community. There are two Premier League football clubs in Liverpool, and they proper hate each other…which is wild when you consider you can literally see one stadium from the other. They’re that close. Their clashes on the pitch are often filled with vicious tackles and skirmishes, but no matter how bitter the footballing rivalry, supporters recognize - ultimately - they’re part of the same community, and some things are bigger than football.

This week, lifelong Everton supporter Michael Jones, aged 26, died due to injuries sustained from heavy machinery while working at the site of Everton’s new stadium. The Liverpool team visited the site Saturday morning, with manager Jurgen Klopp laying a wreath.

But the most moving moment came when Liverpool supporters flew an Everton flag around the stadium with the words “RIP Little Michael” on it, with attendees standing in applause to pay their respects. A remarkable gesture of unity from a community so often divided.

As globally popular as Premier League football may be, these clubs are just that: local clubs, with community at their heart. They care deeply about their own. At the end of the day, that’s what sports are about: bringing people together, rather than tearing them apart.

⚽ Oh captains, my captains. Imagine you’re captain of a team having little success, and then the literal best player of all-time arrives. Immediately, you’re replaced as captain, and immediately, the team begins winning. For Deandre Yedlin, that situation could’ve been tough to swallow, but he embraced Lionel Messi’s arrival. Really, who wouldn’t?!

It was Messi, though, that recognized Yedlin’s situation could have been bittersweet. In the aftermath of Miami’s Leagues Cup triumph Saturday night, the GOAT sought out Yedlin and put the captain’s armband back on his arm. Usually, the captain lifts the trophy after a victory, and this time, the two men did it together.

Every week, Messi manages to find a way to make his time in MLS even more awesome. More than any jaw-dropping goal or free kick, this is our second favorite Messi-in-America moment yet (behind him shopping for cereal at Kroger - he’s just like us!).

🇺🇸 Blood (clots), sweat, and tears. Just weeks ago, shotput world record holder Ryan Crouser felt unusual calf pain. When it didn’t abate after a rest day, he knew something was wrong. As it turns out, the American shotputter learned he had not one, but two blood clots in his leg.

The timing was problematic. The Track and Field World Championships were slated to begin later in the month, and Crouser was the favorite to defend his title. After consultation with doctors, Crouser decided defending his title is exactly what he would do.

This weekend, he took to the world stage - blood clots and all - and blew away the competition. The big ole American boy set a new championship record in the process, and we’re left to wonder if anything can stop our best from throwing a heavy object further than anybody in the world. Is there anything more American than that? Just dudes seeing who can throw a heavy rock the furthest?

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!