{"id":92,"date":"2026-05-22T11:13:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=92"},"modified":"2026-05-22T11:13:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:13:46","slug":"the-bright-side-a-baby-monkey-a-diamond-hunt-and-the-internets-favorite-grandma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=92","title":{"rendered":"The Bright Side: A Baby Monkey, A Diamond Hunt, And The Internet\u2019s Favorite Grandma"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This article is part of <\/span><\/i>Upstream,<\/span><\/i> The Daily Wire\u2019s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories \u2014 from our featured writers to you.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Who Is \u2018ChudTheBuilder,\u2019 The Slur-Hurling Livestreamer Charged With Attempted Murder<\/a><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Welcome to the Bright Side, a weekly roundup of all the good news and ideas you might have missed from the past week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Winning advice for anyone\u2019s next chapter<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m existing on commencement speech inspiration as we wrap up \u201c<\/span>Maycember<\/span>\u201d and head into Memorial Day weekend. Here are a few standouts for students of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe way you overcome a 99.7% chance of losing in the biggest moments of your life is to harness the confidence you built, and the lessons you\u2019ve learned, from a lifetime of failing at things that you\u2019ve cared about.\u201d <\/span>\u2014 NFL GOAT <\/span><\/i>Tom Brady<\/span><\/i> to Georgetown University\u2019s graduating class of 2026\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re the driver of your own thoughts, you have a belief and a conviction that you can do anything. When you work on yourself, you see the world through your own unique lens. In a world of copycats, you become an original. Your unique fingerprints come to life.\u201d <\/span>\u2014 SPANX founder <\/span><\/i>Sara Blakely<\/span><\/i> to Florida State University\u2019s graduating class of 2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201c[Family] is the string that makes you feel like you\u2019re not alone in a room. I want to warn you about something. You\u2019re about to get busy in ways that feel important, and many are professionally ambitious \u2026 building the life you\u2019ve been pointed toward for years. And family, because they love you with a grace you will spend most of your life trying to deserve, will rarely demand your time. They\u2019ll tell you they understand, and they\u2019ll mean it. Do not take them up on it.\u201d \u2014 country music star Eric Church to the University of North Carolina\u2019s graduating class of 2026\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Golden Girls\u201d makeover<\/b><\/p>\n

If guys are always thinking about <\/span>the Roman Empire<\/span>, I\u2019m constantly preoccupied with how the cast of \u201cThe Golden Girls\u201d looked so much older than grandmas today. At the start of the series, Blanche, Dorothy, and Rose were in their early-to-mid fifties, and Sophia was 79. I know exactly no one that age now who looks like the GG\u2019s did then.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 50-year-olds I know are kicking my butt at CrossFit. Maybe they secretly wear beaded chains on bifocals at home.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Golden Girls, but with today\u2019s hair and styling.<\/p>\n

From big 80s perms to sleek, fresh looks, Blanche is out here serving main character energy, Rose looks like your cool aunt who does Pilates, and Sophia and Dorothy still delivering one liners with the best of them.<\/p>\n

Do you\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/9ClQMsYlvI<\/p>\n

\u2014 CeCe (@cecegkh) May 20, 2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

With a little A.I. magic, the Golden Girls got a makeover that took their characters into 2026, ditching the 1980s grannycore for layered bobs and flattering jackets. Would the show be as iconic today if it looked like this? Who knows. But I love the style refresh \u2014 except for Estelle Getty, who I want to believe looked exactly like Sophia the day she was born.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more The Simple Fix For America\u2019s Broken Youth Sports Machine<\/a><\/p>\n

Canine comfort at the dentist<\/b><\/p>\n

Sign me up for a mouthful of crowns. A San Francisco dental office staffs a therapy dog (a French Bulldog named Xylo, short for the dental anesthetic Xylocaine), who greets clients when they enter and is available to lie in your lap while Mr. Thirsty and Mr. Bumpy (just trying not to trigger anyone who hates the dentist like I do) get to work on your pearly whites.<\/span><\/p>\n

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View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A post shared by SFGATE | California\u2019s largest news site (@sfgate)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Xylo belongs to owner Dr. Brian Baliwas, and she can be found under \u201c<\/span>Team<\/span>\u201d on the company website, along with her stellar credentials. She\u2019s an American Kennel Club-registered, rabies-vaccinated, snorting, fetching bundle of love. And her presence represents a growing hospitality trend in dentistry, where a patient\u2019s comfort is just as much a priority as his or her medical care.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A garden of lilies where blooms last one day<\/b><\/p>\n

I have the opposite of a green thumb, and I wonder if plants can tell that they\u2019ve landed on death row in my apartment. (\u201cFor my last meal, I\u2019ll have compost, Miracle-Gro, and water for once,\u201d my fiddle leaf fig seems to say.) I have kept a jade plant alive for years, mostly because it\u2019s cat-level independent and needs no one and nothing. All that to say, I\u2019m beyond impressed with a luscious garden that\u2019s been going for 30 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

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View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A post shared by Southern Living (@southernlivingmag)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Judi and Paul Aucoin grow lilies galore at their Birmingham, Alabama, home. It\u2019s been their thing ever since a neighbor bequeathed them her lily collection back in the \u201990s. The gorgeous blossoms from more than 600 daylilies last less than 24 hours, but something about their fleeting beauty makes me sentimental about the meaning of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

A diamond in the rough<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, this is one smart strategy for getting people outdoors! <\/span>Crater of Diamonds State Park<\/span> in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, invites families to dig for natural diamonds in a field over the surface of a volcanic crater. Sound too good to be true? One woman just plucked a three-carat uncut diamond straight outta the dirt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A post shared by The Washington Post (@washingtonpost)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Keshia Smith had just lost her 22-year-old son and her father before making the trip. \u201cI was under a lot of pressure \u2026 Pressure makes diamonds,\u201d <\/span>she said<\/span>. \u201cI had my two angels right there with me.\u201d As for the rock, which she named Za\u2019Novia Liberty Diamond after her son\u2019s two kids and America\u2019s 250th anniversary, the value might be priceless for Smith. Still, her raw gemstone could go for <\/span>$5,000 to $10,000<\/span> just as it is.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marking Punch the baby monkey as safe<\/b><\/p>\n

Have you been following Punch the monkey\u2019s blockbuster story of survival at Japan\u2019s Ichikawa City Zoo? He\u2019s just nine months old, but he\u2019s already a viral sensation. And animal lovers are breathing a sigh of relief that he\u2019s made it this far \u2014 and that he\u2019s doing great.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ver esta publicaci\u00f3n en Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Una publicaci\u00f3n compartida por The New York Times (@nytimes)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I think everyone\u2019s heart broke when we first discovered how Punch was <\/span>abandoned by his mother<\/span> and he struggled to integrate into his tribe of macaques. He found comfort in a stuffed monkey from IKEA that was twice his size and was cared for by zookeepers. (Scroll to the third slot in <\/span>this carousel<\/span> from the New York Times to see him leap onto a staffer\u2019s leg for an adorable mealtime ride-along.) Now, he\u2019s living his best life doing normal monkey stuff like making friends, frolicking around his habitat, and eating as many sweet potatoes and apples as he likes. Go, Punch, go!<\/span><\/p>\n

I love our Bright Side crew! Always feel free to zhuzh up the comments section (you can <\/span><\/i>email<\/span><\/i> me too), or share this list to brighten someone else\u2019s day. Hope you have a wonderful weekend! \u2014Lauren <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Dems In Meltdown Mode Over \u2018Dumpster Fire\u2019 DNC Autopsy<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire\u2019s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories \u2014 from our featured writers to you.***Welcome to the Bright Side, a weekly roundup of all the good news and ideas you might have missed from the past week.Winning advice for anyone\u2019s next chapterI\u2019m existing on commencement speech inspiration as we wrap up \u201cMaycember\u201d and head into Memorial Day weekend. Here are a few standouts for students of life.\u201cThe way you overcome a 99.7% chance of losing in the biggest moments of your life is to harness the confidence you built, and the lessons you\u2019ve learned, from a lifetime of failing at things that you\u2019ve cared about.\u201d \u2014 NFL GOAT Tom Brady to Georgetown University\u2019s graduating class of 2026\u00a0\u201cWhen you\u2019re the driver of your own thoughts, you have a belief and a conviction that you can do anything. When you work on yourself, you see the world through your own unique lens. In a world of copycats, you become an original. Your unique fingerprints come to life.\u201d \u2014 SPANX founder Sara Blakely to Florida State University\u2019s graduating class of 2026\u201c[Family] is the string that makes you feel like you\u2019re not alone in a room. I want to warn you about something. You\u2019re about to get busy in ways that feel important, and many are professionally ambitious \u2026 building the life you\u2019ve been pointed toward for years. And family, because they love you with a grace you will spend most of your life trying to deserve, will rarely demand your time. They\u2019ll tell you they understand, and they\u2019ll mean it. Do not take them up on it.\u201d \u2014 country music star Eric Church to the University of North Carolina\u2019s graduating class of 2026\u00a0\u201cThe Golden Girls\u201d makeoverIf guys are always thinking about the Roman Empire, I\u2019m constantly preoccupied with how the cast of \u201cThe Golden Girls\u201d looked so much older than grandmas today. At the start of the series, Blanche, Dorothy, and Rose were in their early-to-mid fifties, and Sophia was 79. I know exactly no one that age now who looks like the GG\u2019s did then.The 50-year-olds I know are kicking my butt at CrossFit. Maybe they secretly wear beaded chains on bifocals at home.The Golden Girls, but with today\u2019s hair and styling.From big 80s perms to sleek, fresh looks, Blanche is out here serving main character energy, Rose looks like your cool aunt who does Pilates, and Sophia and Dorothy still delivering one liners with the best of them.Do you\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/9ClQMsYlvI\u2014 CeCe (@cecegkh) May 20, 2026With a little A.I. magic, the Golden Girls got a makeover that took their characters into 2026, ditching the 1980s grannycore for layered bobs and flattering jackets. Would the show be as iconic today if it looked like this? Who knows. But I love the style refresh \u2014 except for Estelle Getty, who I want to believe looked exactly like Sophia the day she was born.\u00a0Canine comfort at the dentistSign me up for a mouthful of crowns. A San Francisco dental office staffs a therapy dog (a French Bulldog named Xylo, short for the dental anesthetic Xylocaine), who greets clients when they enter and is available to lie in your lap while Mr. Thirsty and Mr. Bumpy (just trying not to trigger anyone who hates the dentist like I do) get to work on your pearly whites. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SFGATE | California\u2019s largest news site (@sfgate)Xylo belongs to owner Dr. Brian Baliwas, and she can be found under \u201cTeam\u201d on the company website, along with her stellar credentials. She\u2019s an American Kennel Club-registered, rabies-vaccinated, snorting, fetching bundle of love. And her presence represents a growing hospitality trend in dentistry, where a patient\u2019s comfort is just as much a priority as his or her medical care.\u00a0A garden of lilies where blooms last one dayI have the opposite of a green thumb, and I wonder if plants can tell that they\u2019ve landed on death row in my apartment. (\u201cFor my last meal, I\u2019ll have compost, Miracle-Gro, and water for once,\u201d my fiddle leaf fig seems to say.) I have kept a jade plant alive for years, mostly because it\u2019s cat-level independent and needs no one and nothing. All that to say, I\u2019m beyond impressed with a luscious garden that\u2019s been going for 30 years. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Southern Living (@southernlivingmag)Judi and Paul Aucoin grow lilies galore at their Birmingham, Alabama, home. It\u2019s been their thing ever since a neighbor bequeathed them her lily collection back in the \u201990s. The gorgeous blossoms from more than 600 daylilies last less than 24 hours, but something about their fleeting beauty makes me sentimental about the meaning of life.A diamond in the roughWell, this is one smart strategy for getting people outdoors! Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, invites families to dig for natural diamonds in a field over the surface of a volcanic crater. Sound too good to be true? One woman just plucked a three-carat uncut diamond straight outta the dirt.\u00a0 View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Washington Post (@washingtonpost)Keshia Smith had just lost her 22-year-old son and her father before making the trip. \u201cI was under a lot of pressure \u2026 Pressure makes diamonds,\u201d she said. \u201cI had my two angels right there with me.\u201d As for the rock, which she named Za\u2019Novia Liberty Diamond after her son\u2019s two kids and America\u2019s 250th anniversary, the value might be priceless for Smith. Still, her raw gemstone could go for $5,000 to $10,000 just as it is.Marking Punch the baby monkey as safeHave you been following Punch the monkey\u2019s blockbuster story of survival at Japan\u2019s Ichikawa City Zoo? He\u2019s just nine months old, but he\u2019s already a viral sensation. And animal lovers are breathing a sigh of relief that he\u2019s made it this far \u2014 and that he\u2019s doing great. Ver esta publicaci\u00f3n en Instagram Una publicaci\u00f3n compartida por The New York Times (@nytimes)I think everyone\u2019s heart broke when we first discovered how Punch was abandoned by his mother and he struggled to integrate into his tribe of macaques. He found comfort in a stuffed monkey from IKEA that was twice his size and was cared for by zookeepers. (Scroll to the third slot in this carousel from the New York Times to see him leap onto a staffer\u2019s leg for an adorable mealtime ride-along.) Now, he\u2019s living his best life doing normal monkey stuff like making friends, frolicking around his habitat, and eating as many sweet potatoes and apples as he likes. Go, Punch, go!I love our Bright Side crew! Always feel free to zhuzh up the comments section (you can email me too), or share this list to brighten someone else\u2019s day. Hope you have a wonderful weekend! \u2014Lauren <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-upstream"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Bright Side: A Baby Monkey, A Diamond Hunt, And The Internet\u2019s Favorite Grandma - Blue Route Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=92\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Bright Side: A Baby Monkey, A Diamond Hunt, And The Internet\u2019s Favorite Grandma - Blue Route Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire\u2019s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories \u2014 from our featured writers to you.***Welcome to the Bright Side, a weekly roundup of all the good news and ideas you might have missed from the past week.Winning advice for anyone\u2019s next chapterI\u2019m existing on commencement speech inspiration as we wrap up \u201cMaycember\u201d and head into Memorial Day weekend. Here are a few standouts for students of life.\u201cThe way you overcome a 99.7% chance of losing in the biggest moments of your life is to harness the confidence you built, and the lessons you\u2019ve learned, from a lifetime of failing at things that you\u2019ve cared about.\u201d \u2014 NFL GOAT Tom Brady to Georgetown University\u2019s graduating class of 2026\u00a0\u201cWhen you\u2019re the driver of your own thoughts, you have a belief and a conviction that you can do anything. When you work on yourself, you see the world through your own unique lens. In a world of copycats, you become an original. Your unique fingerprints come to life.\u201d \u2014 SPANX founder Sara Blakely to Florida State University\u2019s graduating class of 2026\u201c[Family] is the string that makes you feel like you\u2019re not alone in a room. I want to warn you about something. You\u2019re about to get busy in ways that feel important, and many are professionally ambitious \u2026 building the life you\u2019ve been pointed toward for years. And family, because they love you with a grace you will spend most of your life trying to deserve, will rarely demand your time. They\u2019ll tell you they understand, and they\u2019ll mean it. Do not take them up on it.\u201d \u2014 country music star Eric Church to the University of North Carolina\u2019s graduating class of 2026\u00a0\u201cThe Golden Girls\u201d makeoverIf guys are always thinking about the Roman Empire, I\u2019m constantly preoccupied with how the cast of \u201cThe Golden Girls\u201d looked so much older than grandmas today. At the start of the series, Blanche, Dorothy, and Rose were in their early-to-mid fifties, and Sophia was 79. I know exactly no one that age now who looks like the GG\u2019s did then.The 50-year-olds I know are kicking my butt at CrossFit. Maybe they secretly wear beaded chains on bifocals at home.The Golden Girls, but with today\u2019s hair and styling.From big 80s perms to sleek, fresh looks, Blanche is out here serving main character energy, Rose looks like your cool aunt who does Pilates, and Sophia and Dorothy still delivering one liners with the best of them.Do you\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/9ClQMsYlvI\u2014 CeCe (@cecegkh) May 20, 2026With a little A.I. magic, the Golden Girls got a makeover that took their characters into 2026, ditching the 1980s grannycore for layered bobs and flattering jackets. Would the show be as iconic today if it looked like this? Who knows. But I love the style refresh \u2014 except for Estelle Getty, who I want to believe looked exactly like Sophia the day she was born.\u00a0Canine comfort at the dentistSign me up for a mouthful of crowns. A San Francisco dental office staffs a therapy dog (a French Bulldog named Xylo, short for the dental anesthetic Xylocaine), who greets clients when they enter and is available to lie in your lap while Mr. Thirsty and Mr. Bumpy (just trying not to trigger anyone who hates the dentist like I do) get to work on your pearly whites. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SFGATE | California\u2019s largest news site (@sfgate)Xylo belongs to owner Dr. Brian Baliwas, and she can be found under \u201cTeam\u201d on the company website, along with her stellar credentials. She\u2019s an American Kennel Club-registered, rabies-vaccinated, snorting, fetching bundle of love. And her presence represents a growing hospitality trend in dentistry, where a patient\u2019s comfort is just as much a priority as his or her medical care.\u00a0A garden of lilies where blooms last one dayI have the opposite of a green thumb, and I wonder if plants can tell that they\u2019ve landed on death row in my apartment. (\u201cFor my last meal, I\u2019ll have compost, Miracle-Gro, and water for once,\u201d my fiddle leaf fig seems to say.) I have kept a jade plant alive for years, mostly because it\u2019s cat-level independent and needs no one and nothing. All that to say, I\u2019m beyond impressed with a luscious garden that\u2019s been going for 30 years. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Southern Living (@southernlivingmag)Judi and Paul Aucoin grow lilies galore at their Birmingham, Alabama, home. It\u2019s been their thing ever since a neighbor bequeathed them her lily collection back in the \u201990s. The gorgeous blossoms from more than 600 daylilies last less than 24 hours, but something about their fleeting beauty makes me sentimental about the meaning of life.A diamond in the roughWell, this is one smart strategy for getting people outdoors! Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, invites families to dig for natural diamonds in a field over the surface of a volcanic crater. Sound too good to be true? One woman just plucked a three-carat uncut diamond straight outta the dirt.\u00a0 View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Washington Post (@washingtonpost)Keshia Smith had just lost her 22-year-old son and her father before making the trip. \u201cI was under a lot of pressure \u2026 Pressure makes diamonds,\u201d she said. \u201cI had my two angels right there with me.\u201d As for the rock, which she named Za\u2019Novia Liberty Diamond after her son\u2019s two kids and America\u2019s 250th anniversary, the value might be priceless for Smith. Still, her raw gemstone could go for $5,000 to $10,000 just as it is.Marking Punch the baby monkey as safeHave you been following Punch the monkey\u2019s blockbuster story of survival at Japan\u2019s Ichikawa City Zoo? He\u2019s just nine months old, but he\u2019s already a viral sensation. And animal lovers are breathing a sigh of relief that he\u2019s made it this far \u2014 and that he\u2019s doing great. Ver esta publicaci\u00f3n en Instagram Una publicaci\u00f3n compartida por The New York Times (@nytimes)I think everyone\u2019s heart broke when we first discovered how Punch was abandoned by his mother and he struggled to integrate into his tribe of macaques. He found comfort in a stuffed monkey from IKEA that was twice his size and was cared for by zookeepers. (Scroll to the third slot in this carousel from the New York Times to see him leap onto a staffer\u2019s leg for an adorable mealtime ride-along.) Now, he\u2019s living his best life doing normal monkey stuff like making friends, frolicking around his habitat, and eating as many sweet potatoes and apples as he likes. Go, Punch, go!I love our Bright Side crew! Always feel free to zhuzh up the comments section (you can email me too), or share this list to brighten someone else\u2019s day. Hope you have a wonderful weekend! \u2014Lauren\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=92\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Route Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T11:13:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=92#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=92\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c\"},\"headline\":\"The Bright Side: A Baby Monkey, A Diamond Hunt, And The Internet\u2019s Favorite Grandma\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T11:13:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=92\"},\"wordCount\":1240,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=92#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/f266942b99061c724403ff5aecd0fff0.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Upstream\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=92#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=92\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=92\",\"name\":\"The Bright Side: A Baby Monkey, A Diamond Hunt, And The Internet\u2019s Favorite Grandma - 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Real human insight and human stories \u2014 from our featured writers to you.***Welcome to the Bright Side, a weekly roundup of all the good news and ideas you might have missed from the past week.Winning advice for anyone\u2019s next chapterI\u2019m existing on commencement speech inspiration as we wrap up \u201cMaycember\u201d and head into Memorial Day weekend. Here are a few standouts for students of life.\u201cThe way you overcome a 99.7% chance of losing in the biggest moments of your life is to harness the confidence you built, and the lessons you\u2019ve learned, from a lifetime of failing at things that you\u2019ve cared about.\u201d \u2014 NFL GOAT Tom Brady to Georgetown University\u2019s graduating class of 2026\u00a0\u201cWhen you\u2019re the driver of your own thoughts, you have a belief and a conviction that you can do anything. When you work on yourself, you see the world through your own unique lens. In a world of copycats, you become an original. Your unique fingerprints come to life.\u201d \u2014 SPANX founder Sara Blakely to Florida State University\u2019s graduating class of 2026\u201c[Family] is the string that makes you feel like you\u2019re not alone in a room. I want to warn you about something. You\u2019re about to get busy in ways that feel important, and many are professionally ambitious \u2026 building the life you\u2019ve been pointed toward for years. And family, because they love you with a grace you will spend most of your life trying to deserve, will rarely demand your time. They\u2019ll tell you they understand, and they\u2019ll mean it. Do not take them up on it.\u201d \u2014 country music star Eric Church to the University of North Carolina\u2019s graduating class of 2026\u00a0\u201cThe Golden Girls\u201d makeoverIf guys are always thinking about the Roman Empire, I\u2019m constantly preoccupied with how the cast of \u201cThe Golden Girls\u201d looked so much older than grandmas today. At the start of the series, Blanche, Dorothy, and Rose were in their early-to-mid fifties, and Sophia was 79. I know exactly no one that age now who looks like the GG\u2019s did then.The 50-year-olds I know are kicking my butt at CrossFit. Maybe they secretly wear beaded chains on bifocals at home.The Golden Girls, but with today\u2019s hair and styling.From big 80s perms to sleek, fresh looks, Blanche is out here serving main character energy, Rose looks like your cool aunt who does Pilates, and Sophia and Dorothy still delivering one liners with the best of them.Do you\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/9ClQMsYlvI\u2014 CeCe (@cecegkh) May 20, 2026With a little A.I. magic, the Golden Girls got a makeover that took their characters into 2026, ditching the 1980s grannycore for layered bobs and flattering jackets. Would the show be as iconic today if it looked like this? Who knows. But I love the style refresh \u2014 except for Estelle Getty, who I want to believe looked exactly like Sophia the day she was born.\u00a0Canine comfort at the dentistSign me up for a mouthful of crowns. A San Francisco dental office staffs a therapy dog (a French Bulldog named Xylo, short for the dental anesthetic Xylocaine), who greets clients when they enter and is available to lie in your lap while Mr. Thirsty and Mr. Bumpy (just trying not to trigger anyone who hates the dentist like I do) get to work on your pearly whites. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SFGATE | California\u2019s largest news site (@sfgate)Xylo belongs to owner Dr. Brian Baliwas, and she can be found under \u201cTeam\u201d on the company website, along with her stellar credentials. She\u2019s an American Kennel Club-registered, rabies-vaccinated, snorting, fetching bundle of love. And her presence represents a growing hospitality trend in dentistry, where a patient\u2019s comfort is just as much a priority as his or her medical care.\u00a0A garden of lilies where blooms last one dayI have the opposite of a green thumb, and I wonder if plants can tell that they\u2019ve landed on death row in my apartment. (\u201cFor my last meal, I\u2019ll have compost, Miracle-Gro, and water for once,\u201d my fiddle leaf fig seems to say.) I have kept a jade plant alive for years, mostly because it\u2019s cat-level independent and needs no one and nothing. All that to say, I\u2019m beyond impressed with a luscious garden that\u2019s been going for 30 years. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Southern Living (@southernlivingmag)Judi and Paul Aucoin grow lilies galore at their Birmingham, Alabama, home. It\u2019s been their thing ever since a neighbor bequeathed them her lily collection back in the \u201990s. The gorgeous blossoms from more than 600 daylilies last less than 24 hours, but something about their fleeting beauty makes me sentimental about the meaning of life.A diamond in the roughWell, this is one smart strategy for getting people outdoors! Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, invites families to dig for natural diamonds in a field over the surface of a volcanic crater. Sound too good to be true? One woman just plucked a three-carat uncut diamond straight outta the dirt.\u00a0 View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Washington Post (@washingtonpost)Keshia Smith had just lost her 22-year-old son and her father before making the trip. \u201cI was under a lot of pressure \u2026 Pressure makes diamonds,\u201d she said. \u201cI had my two angels right there with me.\u201d As for the rock, which she named Za\u2019Novia Liberty Diamond after her son\u2019s two kids and America\u2019s 250th anniversary, the value might be priceless for Smith. Still, her raw gemstone could go for $5,000 to $10,000 just as it is.Marking Punch the baby monkey as safeHave you been following Punch the monkey\u2019s blockbuster story of survival at Japan\u2019s Ichikawa City Zoo? He\u2019s just nine months old, but he\u2019s already a viral sensation. And animal lovers are breathing a sigh of relief that he\u2019s made it this far \u2014 and that he\u2019s doing great. Ver esta publicaci\u00f3n en Instagram Una publicaci\u00f3n compartida por The New York Times (@nytimes)I think everyone\u2019s heart broke when we first discovered how Punch was abandoned by his mother and he struggled to integrate into his tribe of macaques. He found comfort in a stuffed monkey from IKEA that was twice his size and was cared for by zookeepers. (Scroll to the third slot in this carousel from the New York Times to see him leap onto a staffer\u2019s leg for an adorable mealtime ride-along.) Now, he\u2019s living his best life doing normal monkey stuff like making friends, frolicking around his habitat, and eating as many sweet potatoes and apples as he likes. Go, Punch, go!I love our Bright Side crew! Always feel free to zhuzh up the comments section (you can email me too), or share this list to brighten someone else\u2019s day. Hope you have a wonderful weekend! \u2014Lauren","og_url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=92","og_site_name":"Blue Route Journal","article_published_time":"2026-05-22T11:13:46+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=92#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=92"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c"},"headline":"The Bright Side: A Baby Monkey, A Diamond Hunt, And The Internet\u2019s Favorite Grandma","datePublished":"2026-05-22T11:13:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=92"},"wordCount":1240,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=92#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/f266942b99061c724403ff5aecd0fff0.avif","articleSection":["Upstream"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=92#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=92","url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=92","name":"The Bright Side: A Baby Monkey, A Diamond Hunt, And The Internet\u2019s Favorite Grandma - 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