Humor, Poetry, Garden, Stress Awareness, Earth Day, and Arbor Day. What do they all have in common? Author of Zenobia - Birth of a Legend, Russ Wallace.

All month we focused on author Russ Wallace. We shared his hobbies and interests which went perfectly with the month of April. Here are some highlights: 

http://geodepress.com/humor-poetry-month-and-author-interview-with-russ-wallace/

Humor Month

 Keep looking you’ll get it

Poetry Month- 

Here's a limerick (we hear Russ enjoy’s them).  

http://geodepress.com/stress-awareness-and-garden-month-now-that-your-taxes-are-done-time-to-de-stress-your-life/

Garden Month - 

Grab a Shovel and Some Seeds

Health.com reported on a Netherlands study, suggesting that gardening can help to lower cortisol levels and boost mood among people who had just finished a stressful task. That’s because doing something that requires “involuntary attention” — like sitting back and enjoying nature — helps to replenish ourselves, Health.com reported.

Visit  http://www.nationalgardenmonth.org/

Ways you can participate in Garden month:

• Visit your local farmers’ market.

• Green up your street or a local park by picking up trash.

• Celebrate other important “green” holidays: Earth Day (April 22) and National Arbor Day (April 26).

• Share your garden’s bounty with a neighbor.

• Have fun doing a gardening project with a child. Click here for some ideas.

• Deliver houseplants or flowers to a nursing home or children’s hospital.

Stress Awareness Month-

Eat Some Chocolate

Dark chocolate doesn’t only have health benefits for the heart — eating it can also help to lower stress.

LiveScience reported on a study illustrating that eating 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate a day for a two-week period is linked with decreased levels of the stress hormone cortisol. That study was published in 2009 in the journal Proteome Research.

http://geodepress.com/earth-day-and-arbor-day-how-are-you-going-to-save-the-earth/

Earth Day - 

NASA had everybody on Earth help create the new image of the planet composed entirely of selfies taken during Earth Day on April 22. http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/globalselfie/#.U1QkY_ldWpB

 

Here’s my #GlobalSelfie

Arbor Day -

Tree-hugging facts:

• Trees produce nearly 260 pounds of oxygen per tree each year

• Trees remove up to 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide each year per acre of trees

• Trees can make buildings up to 20 degrees cooler in the summer

My hope is not only for you to get to know the Author of Zenobia – Birth of a Legend a little bit better but also to help you refocus your life on what’s important. Remember it’s the little changes that make all the difference.  

Author Russ Wallace of Zenobia – Birth of a Legend and Zenobia – Challenging a Legend is on our spotlight this month.

Outside of writing an epic historical novel, Russ Wallace has many other interests and hobbies. Reading is one of them. He reads all kinds of genres. He loves to read and study the bible.

One thing people may not know about him — since the Zenobia series is adventurous historical drama — Russ loves humor. You might even consider him an amateur stand-up comedian. Whenever opportunity allows he loves to share this talent. Russ’s wife Ruth says when they are on a cruise, which they are world travelers, Russ enjoys doing his stand-up comedy gig at the talent night.

Russ’s day job for most of his life was designing and building houses. The designing part especially has helped with developing his creativity skill.

Not only is Russ planning a seven book series for Zenobia, he has another historical fiction series on the back burner, and plans to write a diet book to share his knowledge of health and fitness. A lot more to come from Russ. 

Russ enjoys sharing a good Limerick (Poetic Verse Form) with others.

Russ is a great gardener and landscaper- wherever he lives you are sure to find lots of trees, plants, and flowers all around.

April is National Humor Month; Lawn and Garden Month; National Poetry Month; and Stress Awareness Month. All those things seem a perfect way to focus on what Russ enjoys. 

April 2014 is National Humor Month!

You know what they say, “Laughter is the best medicine.” 

Did you know that adults laugh about 15 times a day while children laugh hundreds of times a day?

There is strong evidence that laughter can actually improve health and help fight disease. Studies show that laughter could be the simplest and surest way to reduce stress and improve physical and mental health. Josh Billings, a researcher from the late 1800s, may have said it best – “There ain’t much fun in medicine, but there’s a heck of a lot of medicine in fun.” 

See Article at: http://sciencemadefun.net/blog/national-humor-month-the-science-of-laughter/

The fact is that laughter itself changes us physiologically. Like exercise or waving your arms around, it boosts the heart rate and increases blood flow, so we breathe faster and more oxygen is delivered to the body’s tissues. Our facial muscles stretch and we actually burn calories when we’re laughing. In fact, the mere act of smiling can alter your mood almost immediately.

Laughter Reduces Stress: When stressed, we produce a hormone called cortisol. Laughter can significantly reduce cortisol levels.

Laughter Can Reduce Pain: Laughter causes us to produce endorphins, which are natural, pain-killing hormones.

Laughter Strengthens the Immune System: A hearty laugh decreases stress hormones and increases production of T-cells, immune proteins and infection-fighting antibodies.

Laughter Helps the Heart: When we laugh we increase blood flow and the function of blood vessels, which can help prevent cardiovascular problems.

Laughter Relaxes the Whole Body: One good belly laugh can relieve physical tension and relax your muscles for up to 45 minutes.

Laughter Helps You Recharge: By reducing stress levels and increasing your energy, laughter can help you focus and achieve more.

Full article found at – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/national-humor-month-laug_n_1441488.html

HUMOUR FOR LEXOPHILES (Lovers of Words)

• I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger; Then it hit me.

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• To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

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• When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.

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• A will is a dead giveaway.

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• Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

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• A backward poet writes inverse.

• In a democracy it’s your vote that counts; in feudalism, it’s your Count that votes.

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• With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.

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• When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

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• You are stuck with your debt if you can’t budge it.

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• A boiled egg is hard to beat.

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• He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

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• When you’ve seen one shopping center you’ve seen a mall.

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• Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

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• Acupuncture: a jab well done.

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For more funny lexophiles go to: http://www.humormonth.com/index.html   

Check back all month as we focus on humor
More information can be found at:

Founder: http://www.larrywilde.com/month.htm  Website: http://www.humormonth.com/index.html