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The first family, from left, Malia Obama, President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, and Sasha Obama, join children dressed like elves at the National Building Museum in Washington, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013.MANUEL BALCE CENETA/The Associated Press

Welcome to Now Trending: Six must-read stories from the worlds of celebrity, oddities

SCENE-STEALER

An youth has upstaged Barack Obama and family by making faces in a photograph. The unnamed boy and four other children were past and present patients at the Children's National Medical Center attending the 32nd annual "Christmas in Washington" concert at the White House. But when it came time to take a photo with the First Family, the kid cracked everyone up by making a funny face.

Source: Mashable

HERO'S STORY

Charles Ramsey has signed a book deal. The Cleveland native known for rescuing four women being held captive by the late Ariel Castro has inked a contract with publisher Gray & Company to tell his life story. Ramsey will collaborate with former political speechwriter Randy Nyerges for the book, which is expected to be released in the spring of 2014.

Source: Cleveland.com

THREATENED MALES

It's true: Men can't accept a compliment from women. A resurfaced study from SUNY Binghamton and the University of the Witwatersrand concludes that men are capable of taking accolades from other men, but "compliments from women are met with a response type other than acceptance." The study explains that most men see female compliments as "face-threatening acts" or acts intended to embarrass or patronize.

Source: The Atlantic

OFFENSIVE TWEET

Steve Martin has apologized for an offensive tweet made over the weekend. The comic actor issued the apology after being labelled a racist in a Twitter joke gone wrong. When one of Martin's 4.5 million followers asked, "Is this how you spell lasonia," the actor responded: "It depends. Are you in an African-American neighborhood or at an Italian restaurant?" Two days later, Martin tweeted: "I realized what an offensive thing I'd done. Deep bow. My tweet was highly inappropriate."

Source: New York Daily News

NERVOUS DIVA

Beyoncé says her newest album made her a nervous wreck. The singer admits she had serious doubts about releasing her fifth studio album with no advance fanfare and that it had her shaking in the hours before its release on Dec. 13. "I was terrified. I was so scared. I already envisioned like the worst things that could happen," she said Saturday at a press event. "I was really nervous because this was a huge risk." And now that the album's out? "I completely feel liberated."

Source: Fox News

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