Happy Fourth of July weekend! There's no better time to gorge on processed meat and iced desserts with impunity. Bonus points if you get to eat on one of those red and white plastic tablecloths that always seem to be sticky, even when they're completely clean. You know the ones I mean! They instantly elevate any diner or cookout, and they're a perfect example of those very specific moments of nostalgia that make these summer months oh so delicious.

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Our favorites this week

Get going with some of our most popular good news stories of the week

A highlight in the Ravine
It wouldn't be a Fourth of July weekend without a good baseball story, and this one comes courtesy of Alice's Kids, a national charity that provides anonymous financial assistance to children in need. A while ago, the organization's executive director, Ron Fitzsimmons, received a request for some podcasting equipment for a teen who wanted to be a sportscaster — and absolutely loved the Los Angeles Dodgers. Something about the request struck Fitzsimmons, a fellow baseball fan. (Well, his exact words to me were "obnoxious New York Yankees fan," but he is forgiven for that.) Alice's Kids sent the equipment and some Dodgers swag, but Fitzsimmons went a step further and reached out to the Dodgers on Twitter to see if they could set up something special. The call was answered by none other than Dodgers announcer Joe Davis, who scored a few tickets and welcomed the young man into the broadcasting booth during a recent game. The two had a great time, and Davis bestowed the ultimate gift for a budding sportscaster — his email address, along with an appeal to contact Davis any time.

Young brilliancy
Becoming a grandmaster in chess is no small feat. There are only a little more than 1,500 grandmasters in the world, and you have to reach a certain chess rating and achieve certain tournament milestones to earn the title. Abhimanyu Mishra has done all of that at the tender age of 12 years, four months, becoming the youngest grandmaster in the world. Abhimanyu, who is from New Jersey, is no stranger to breaking records, either. When he was just seven, he became the United States Chess Federation's youngest expert. He became the youngest national master when he was nine, and then at 10 years, nine months and 20 days old, he became the youngest ever international master. Anyone in the mood for a game?

Yabba Dabba Doo
I am obsessed with weird architecture. Recently, while traveling down Interstate 95, I got my first glimpse of the Hard Rock Hotel outside of Miami and literally shrieked. (It is a giant guitar looming over the interstate! Terrifying!) So, obviously, I love the "Flintstone House" in Hillsborough, California. The house was built in the 1970s and its bulbous mounds and colorful exterior look like something straight out of Hanna-Barbera. Florence Fang, a Chinese businesswoman who purchased the house in 2017, has filled the yard with dinosaur figurines, Flintstones statues, and all sorts of fun tchotchkes to complete what she calls her "childhood fantasies." Her foundation's website even has a page dedicated to the cartoon-like architecture, and it's gained international attention. Her neighbors, however, were none too pleased, and have tried for years to legally force Fang to take her decorating down. She recently settled a counter-lawsuit with the city, allowing her to keep the Flintstones fever dream alive. "I think the dinosaurs are beautiful," her grandson said in 2019. "They make everyone smile and should stay."

Raise a glass to...

Gwen Goldman, who recently fulfilled her dream of being a bat girl for the New York Yankees. Sixty years ago, a 10-year-old Goldman wrote to the Yankees, saying she'd love to be a bat girl. Then-general manager Roy Hamey wrote back, saying she'd feel "out of place" in the dugout. Goldman framed the letter, and her daughter recently reached back out to the Yankees to close that long-ago loop. Earlier this week, Goldman took to the field in a Yankees uniform, high-fiving the other players and even throwing an honorary pitch. "Amazing, a dream come true of sixty years," Goldman said to reporters when she was in the dugout. "Pinch me to make sure I'm really not dreaming, that this is a reality."

You gotta see this

You are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. It's called the "ocean twilight zone," formally known as the mesopelagic zone, and it exists roughly 200-1,000 meters below the surface. Here, weirdness reigns, and creatures flaunt their rows of sharp teeth or bioluminescent auras. Then, there's the phronima, a translucent creature that skewers its prey and then then climbs in. There, females lay their eggs and then exit the carcass, pushing it around. Such charming behavior has earned the crustacean the nickname of "pram bug." Gaze upon more spooky, fascinating ocean twilight zone residents here.

Heroes among us

If there is an opposite vibe to the strange ocean twilight zone detailed above, it's embodied by Zandile Ndhlovu, a South African free diver who calls herself "the Black Mermaid." Her dream is to see more people of color enjoying the wonders of the water. Her own ocean love affair started five years ago on a snorkeling trip in Bali, when fear of the unknown gave way to fascination. "It was just the most incredible moment when I stopped panicking from thinking that I was drowning and just realizing the incredible world that was under there." The 33-year-old created The Black Mermaid Foundation, with the intention of getting more people of color into the sea. Through her foundation, Ndhlovu organizes ocean exploration programs for Black children across the country — many of whom have never seen the ocean.

To your health

Thinking about starting a running routine? It can seem daunting, but Josh Clark, the founder of the popular running program "Couch to 5K" has some tips.

- Start slow: "Almost always, we start out going too fast or too far," Clark says. "Giving ourselves permission to be gentle with ourselves, and kindly easing into this new running routine, is key to success."

- You have to walk to run: "You only have to jog for a few seconds at a time, and then you can walk. It gives you time to get used to it. For many of us, walking for 20 minutes is completely doable and accessible."

- Take regular rests through your training: "Listen to what your body wants, because 'no pain, no gain' is not a good motto for newcomers to fitness."