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Despite their reputation as one of the biggest underdogs in Major League Baseball, the New York Mets are having a season to remember, and many fans believe one furry, purple fast-food character is the reason. The Grimace Effect has taken New York by stormand it may even take the New York Mets to the World Series. So break out your baseball glove, and read on to find out what the Grimace Effect is and how fans feel about the McDonald’s character that’s shaped the Mets’s 2024 season. Get Reader’s Digest s Read Up newsletter for more news, humor, cleaning, travel, tech and fun facts all week long. What is the Grimace Effect? The Mets’s 2024 season began with five losses in a rowand things were looking dismal for the team all spring. Nonbelievers counted the Mets out of the pennant race after they won only 9 out of 19 games in the month of May. But, then, in mid-June, the team’s fortunes began to turn around, thanks to the most unexpected of characters. On June 12, Grimace, the bel

November is all about gratitude and reflection, with Thanksgiving taking center stage. But did you know there are plenty of other fun and unique November holidays to celebrate throughout the month? For instance, November is home to National Cinnamon Day, Hug a Bear Day (how sweet!) and even World Pianist Day. And coffee lovers , rejoiceNational Cappuccino Day is another November highlight! These are just a few of the quirky, joyful celebrations you can add to your calendar for November. So, keep reading to discover more! We’re diving into all the daily, weekly and monthly November holidays you wont want to miss this year and beyond! Get Readers Digest s Read Up newsletter for more holidays, fun facts, humor, cleaning, travel and tech all week long. What are the popular November holidays? Thanksgiving on Nov. 28 is the centerpiece of November, a cherished time for sharing gratitude, heartwarming quotes and gathering with family. Yet, it’s also a day of reflectiona National Day

There are two kinds of people at Halloween : those who put a bowl of candy on the porch and call it a day, and those who go all out, turning their yards into veritable haunted houses with the showcase often being a gargantuan 12-foot skeleton leering down over it all. Actually, there’s also a third group of folks: those who love those giant skeletons, nicknamed Skellys, so much that they make them part of the family and keep them up all year long. And that last group of people? “They are the best kind of people,” says Lia Flynn, my neighbor who owns four 12-foot Skellys, nearly three dozen 5-foot skeletons and many other bone-accented lawn decorations . And Flynn would knowshe’s part of a Facebook group for people who really love their Skellys. They post pictures, trade items to personalize their Skellys, brainstorm ideas and share bits and pieces of their lives along the way. “There’s just something special about someone who loves a giant plastic skeleton that much,” she says. Flyn

When I was a kid growing up in the Washington, D.C., area, it was always a big treat to visit the National Zoo pandas , Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, on school field trips or with my parents. This was back in the ’80s, and the pair were the original giant pandas gifted to President Richard Nixon as part of what has become known as “panda diplomacy.” Flash-forward to 2018, and it was my turn to introduce my two kids to Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, the giant pandas that China loaned to the United States shortly after the passing of the original pair. We all watched as the black-and-white cuddly bears, along with their cub, Bei-Bei, munched on bamboowith the same delight I remember experiencing as a child. (That’s a photo, above, of one of the three pandas we saw that day.) When it was announced in 2023 that the loan was ending and the three pandas would be returned, I had hoped to get in one more visit. Unfortunately, China reclaimed them quicker than I had expected, and we missed our chance.

As a professional food and beverage writer, I am an expert on Diet Coke . Next to coffee, it’s the official beverage of our industry, and I drink no less than half a gallon of the stuff each and every day. Is this a good idea? I don’t know, and I don’t care. Additionally, as a woman whose tastes are more hard-core punk than pop, I also don’t know/care much about Dua Lipa. So when my editor called me to say, “Dua Lipa is putting jalapeo and pickle juice in Diet Coke,” I thought she was having a stroke or perhaps had been kidnapped and was trying to send me a secret message from the trunk of a Toyota Camry. But nope, there’s actual video evidence of Dua Lipa making this bizarre cocktail and enjoying it. At first, I balked at this seemingly unholy concoctionwhy would anyone, much less a talented woman with impeccable tastes, sully a magnificent cup of Diet Coke in such a violent, vinegar-soaked manner? But even though I think Diet Coke tastes perfectly perfect on its own, I do admit it’