New Ideas to Spice up Your Life.

Jumpin’ in the rain by Tony the Misfit

When life gets a little too routine, and each day is the same as the one before you can find yourself feeling restless, fidgety and bored. Here are a few ideas to help you add a spark of creativity to your week and shake things up a bit:

• Go underground. Go back in time through millions of years as you explore the strange and exotic formations of stone and mineral deposits. Transport yourself to a different realm and beat the summer heat in cool cave retreat.
• Take your spouse on a date. Plan a surprise date without your spouse’s knowledge. Go to a show, have a romantic dinner, attend a music concert, go dancing or see a comedy act. Just have fun and spend some time together with just the two of you.
• Wear different clothes. Use bright colors, add accessories like belts, hats, sparkling jewelry, a fancy suit or whatever makes you feel good.
• Escape from technology. Go on a 4 hour cruise and leave your cell phone behind, just you and the gleaming blue sea. Camp in a rustic hut and leave the laptop and organizer at home. With no TV, newspaper or radio, you’ll notice the sweet pine-scented air and hear the birds singing all day.
• Be someone else. Go to a costume party and dress entirely different than your everyday life. Volunteer with a house project and learn skills like painting and carpentry. Or join a community event and help out with decorations or fundraising. Find new passions and skills.
• Do something romantic. Take a horseback ride through rolling green pastures and have a secluded picnic for two. Rent a room by the ocean and make love to the sound of the surf. Go for a midnight skinny-dip or sensual shower.
• Eat somewhere new. Grill outside and eat in the pink and orange rays of the setting sun. Have a meal at the park while the kids run around and tire themselves out. Eat at the beach where the salty sea air stimulates your appetite. Set the kitchen table with your best tablecloth and fancy dishes and have a feast.
• Do something crazy! Is it raining outside? Great! Go outside and do your own rendition of “Singing in the Rain.” (Beware that if you sing as well as dance you may scare away even more people with your voice alone.) Put on some old clothes and splash through some mud. It’s summertime – you won’t catch a cold. Have fun, let loose and just be silly!

Happiness Tips from Teens.

Ist das die Sonne? Day 45 by Arwen Abendstern

Who knew those reclusive, moody, opinionated teenagers had so much common sense? Here’s an idea of some of the tips they’d give for a happier life – if only you’d listen to them:

1. Get plenty of sleep. Snuggle under those covers and use those extra pillows to block out the sun. Make sure you get plenty of shut-eye so you can conserve your energy for those important events like skateboarding, football games, socializing and parties.
2. Eat what you like. Your body needs fuel to feel good and work properly. You need food and plenty of it. Don’t skimp on eating and deprive yourself – eat foods that taste great so hunger won’t be a distraction later in the day (or night.)
3. Don’t listen to authority figures. Always make sure those in charge actually know what they are talking about. Question everything. Believe in yourself and follow your dreams even if the experts don’t think it will work.
4. Express yourself. Don’t conform to the expectations of others. Find your own style and personality.
5. Experiment. To keep life from getting dull and repetitive, stay curious and try new ideas. Remember that your future is full of limitless potential.
6. Let loose once in a while. When the pressures and constraints of life bring you down, go a little crazy. Let your hair down (or put it up) and go out for a night of fun. Party your butt off!
7. Remember your friends. They are the ones who pick you up when you stumble, and make you laugh when you have a rough day. Stay in touch through email, phone, letters, and frequent visits.
8. Embrace change. Life is all about learning and growing. Be open to new people, places and changing trends. Embrace new technology and help keep your mind from growing stale.
9. Stay active. Whether you enjoy sports, daily walks, dancing or chasing your younger brother through the house, a healthy body is an active one.
10. Keep your calendar clear. Don’t let chores, work or school commitments keep you from taking time for yourself. Leave free time for activities you enjoy – or for nothing at all.

19 Unusual Stress-Busting Tips.

What?!?! by dizznbonn

When life gets too serious, here are a few goofy tips to lighten up and bust that stress out of your life:

• Write a nasty letter in invisible ink.
• Roll down a grassy hill to shake up your world.
• Find a place to hide. (Try the park, your car, the garage or anywhere else you can remain undisturbed for a few hours.)
• Eat funny food. Try goldfish crackers, cherry flavored gummy bears or Scooby Doo ice cream.
• Play basketball and imagine your adversary’s face is the ball. (Ditto for baseball, tennis and soccer.)
• Load a squirt gun with bubble mix and practice your shooting.
• Keep a drawer of crazy buttons and bumper stickers sayings. Put up a wacky motto for the week.
• Go to the pool or run through the sprinklers to “wash your worries away.”
• Have a good sniff. Spritz on your favorite perfume, massage your head with relaxing lavender essential oil or keep your car smelling pine fresh – whatever puts a smile on your face.
• Wear all black to express your feelings. Or dress in all pink to improve your mood.
• Paint your feelings using finger paint.
• Surround yourself with puppies by visiting a local shelter.
• Crank up the music. Listen to some childhood favorites to bring back happy memories.
• Crush and destroy. Find a stuffed animal, gel stress ball or other squishy object and shake, slam, and crush it as you talk about what’s bugging you.
• Become someone else. Escape your problems by adopting a new accent, look or name temporarily. Refuse to answer to your true identity until you feel better.
• Buy a punching bag and get it out of your system. (You’ll get in shape and get those “feel-good” endorphins at the same time.)
• Lie on the grass and cloud watch or star gaze. If you’re still alive after 15 minutes, get up, brush yourself off and continue your day in a better frame of mind.
• Buy some bubble wrap and spend 10 minutes popping them. (I don’t know why but for some reason this always makes me smile.)
• Chew some bubble gum and see how big a bubble you can blow.
• Shake it off. Starting with your left leg, raise it up slightly and shake it as if something were stuck to your shoe. Do the same with the right leg, then your left arm and right arm and finally your entire body. Don’t know why but this works really good. You may have to repeat two or three times to get the full effect.

What are your favorite ways to have fun and loosen up?

Monster Quest.

Bigfoot/Sasquatch by Just a Photographer and Artist in Cleveland Ohio

Do you love monsters, UFO’s, and all things unknown? If so, you’ve probably already seen the History channel’s show “MonsterQuest.” The show searches the globe for the newest evidence and latest sightings of Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Nessie, Swamp Thing, and many other seldom seen creatures of myth and legend.

From video and photo analysis to lab tests on hair and bone fragments, and interviews with eyewitnesses, evidence is examined for accuracy and truth. As you would imagine, much of it is blurry, fuzzy, and out-of-focus, but really folks, if YOU came across an eight-foot tall hairy man-beast, would YOU even remember you had a camera?

As a simple, ordinary person who has seen many experts put to shame when an extinct animal is suddenly seen again, or new archeological evidence rips holes in the latest evolutionary theory, I simply keep an open mind, and enjoy the tales of unusual encounters with unique creatures.

One of the most interesting bits about the show is even when they disprove a claim as not being proof of Bigfoot or a Chupacbra, experts cannot explain what it is they have found. Whether it’s a recording of a bizarre animal call, the carcass a giant squid, or a never-before-seen, and oddly-malformed deep sea fish, the results are still amazing.

I love the mystery of it all. Are there really mutated wolves devouring cows in rural areas? Why not – after all, we already know there is such a thing as a Liger (a tiger/lion mix), and man is that thing impressive! Is there really a dinosaur-like creature in the Loch Ness area of Scotland? Could be. In recent years, we’ve discovered such super-huge squid that those supposed tall-tales of horrible sea-monsters sailors told in the past are now suddenly seen in an entirely new light.

If you want to hear some one-of-a-kind stories and see some amazing creatures (past or present), tune in and check it out. If nothing else, you’ll find a new appreciation for the diversity of life on the planet. Perhaps you’ll reawaken your own curiosity and interest in the world you thought you knew. At the very least, you’re sure to hear a really great story.

7 Ways to Improve TV News:

Capture from TV tuner card by mrebert

The news is often depressing, sad, dreary and just plain unwatchable. Sure we may need a little bit of information about the state of the world, but it seems to me there might be a few places to they could improve the delivery. Here are few ideas of my own:

1. After every horrible, unhappy story, show pictures of cute, fuzzy baby animals.
2. No speculators please. Don’t guess or imagine what horrible possible scenarios may occur, or why an unspeakable atrocity was committed. Stick to the facts, or don’t do the story at all.
3. Put it on at 2 a.m., when hardly anyone is awake or watching TV.
4. Skip the pictures and descriptions of the brutal mutilation of some hapless victim. Whether in the morning, noon or 6 p.m., this is a definite appetite destroyer.
5. Have circus clowns as hosts to help take your mind off the negative reporting.
6. No more so-called experts please. Just ask the people on the street – they’re right just about as often, and are not nearly so smug about it.
7. Put on 2 positive stories for each negative one shown. (Yes they are out there, you simply have to look.)

Here are a few more freebies:

• Stop all those flashing headlines and tickers running across the screen. They are enormously distracting. Save that stuff for when something truly devastating occurs.
• Skip the celebrity updates. Unless one of them has cured cancer we don’t need to know. That’s what talk shows and Inside Edition are for.
• Don’t report about the same problem more than twice in one week unless you’ve suddenly come up with a solution of your own.
• Every hour flash a black screen with the message “Time for a news break. Please enjoy this musical collage of playful puppies.”

Answers to the Energy Crisis.

Picture by Lollie-Pop

In these stressful days when gas prices keep us home more often, and the TV is full of nonsense and hype, we all need a little comedy relief. It seems everyone and their mother has an idea to offer to solve our energy problems. Here are just a few more ideas. . .

• Foot Power: The Flintstones is the inspiration for this idea. No more high gas prices. Now we use the power of our feet. Stinky, dry and rough, or with long yellow nails, suddenly feet are beautiful. We could launch Pedal Power Plants in every gym in America.
• Celebrity Power: Everywhere you look there are celebrities; newspapers, TV, Internet and more. At the next award show simply line the red carpet with lots of wind generators. All that hot air could power us for a year.
• Weed Power: Why bother with corn-based ethanol? Instead we could use crab grass, dandelions, thistles and more. All those nuisance, fast-growing weeds that do nothing but get in the way. At the rate they grow we’ll be energy independent in 6 months.
• Bean Power: This one is self-evident, but easily overlooked. Simply take 1,000 people or so and have a free bean tasting event. Then lock them all in a steel tanker. Viola – a free source of natural gas.
• South Park Power: As any fan knows, if we simply put Butters in charge of Imaginationland our troubles will quickly disappear. All it takes is a little mind power and poof – instant resolution. No messy processing plants or waiting needed.
• Psychic Power: This is another no-brainer. Gather the top ten psychics from across the nation together and have them give us the answers. After all, they’re psychics - they already know exactly what we need to do.
• Hoof Power: Bring back horse travel. Just think of the income generated by all the necessary street cleans, boot makers and corral builders. It will instantly lower fuel costs, with the added bonus of boosting the economy.
• Berry Power: Have the government issue every citizen a new Blackberry device – complete with a paid service plan. We could all communicate instantly via email, text message and phone, thereby reducing the need to actually go anywhere.

What creative solutions do you have for the energy crisis? Leave your great ideas in the comments section. Thanks for stopping by and have a fun day!

Best Theme Parks

Roller coaster and a hot dog by ReefRaff

It’s summertime – and that means the ads for every amusement park from Disneyland to your local zoo is in full swing. So where should you go this year for your getaway? Let’s start with a review of the some of the most popular theme parks in the U.S.

• Disney World, Orlando, FL. One of the top destinations for millions of kids and their families, this has to be one of the top parks for one main reason; its creator Walt Disney.Mr. Disney’s view of a family-friendly, creative and imaginative environment has turned into an interactive, all-inclusive, extravaganza of fun for people of all ages.
• Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH. This park pops up is mentioned over and over.With a huge diversity of entertainment, from water rides and roller coasters to carousels and children’s rides, there is something for everyone.
• Sea World, San Diego, CA.It’s hard to resist a park that gives you an up-close and personal look at creatures you can’t see any other way.Whales, dolphins, seals and more abound at this undersea oasis.Full of amazing sights and even hands-on events, this park is ideal for those who want to see another side of our world – the wet side.
• Busch Garden, Williamsburg VA. With thrilling rides and eye-popping shows, and thick, lush landscaping, you can enter another time and place at Busch Gardens.Beautifully themed “hamlets” include French, German, Irish, Scottish and Italian will delight you with delicious food, souvenir shops and musical performances for every taste.
• Six Flags, CA, GA, IL, KY, MA, MO, NJ, TX.With over 8 parks spread across the U.S., there’s likely one nearby no matter where you live.From animal parks to water parks and everything in between, you’re sure to have fun. Full of characters like Scooby Doo, Bugs Bunny, Superman and Batman, these parks appeal to the kid in all of us.

If you’re unfamiliar with parks in your area, try visiting Theme Park City for a state-by-state list. Don’t miss some of these lesser-known, but extremely fun parks:

• Hershey Park, PA. More than just a chocolate lovers retreat, this park offers water rides, roller coasters, concerts and more.
• Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, TN. Located in the picturesque Great Smoky Mountains, this park offers the award-winning Thunderhead wooden roller coaster as well as a chance to see the ancient crafts of blacksmithing, glass blowing and wood carving.
• Wisconsin Dells Indoor Water Park. How else do you keep the summer fun going all year long? Put your water park inside! No matter what the weather you can float your cares away at the Wisconsin Dells water park.
• Stone Mountain Park, GA. From the thrilling rope-like Sky Hike, to the Summit Skyride with mountain views, take a ride on the Ducks, the super-cool amphibious vehicles, and after a game of miniature golf, enjoy a spectacular fireworks and laser show to end the evening.

For further information, or a burst of inspiration, check out these theme park review sites:

Theme Park Review.com

Theme Park Insider.com

Screamscape – the ultimate guide to theme parks.