The weather is beautiful, life is good and it is time to run while Mother Nature is at her charming best.

Run, you say? Are you crazy? Yes, run and no, I’m not crazy.

Contrary to popular opinion, Man (and Woman) was meant to run; the human being is a running machine, built to outlast and to even outrun many other mammals. When was the last time you heard that? Probably never, is my guess.

One of the things seldom understood, in our daily nine-to-five lives, is that, on the other side of the world, some Africans were known to not only outrun a dangerous animal, they often outran their own prey. A good runner could outlast an antelope until the animal fell over dead from sheer exhaustion.

In the Western hemisphere, it is a fact of history that the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico, outran the Spanish invaders and, consequently, were never captured. In modern days, the Tarahumaras have been an inspiration to young American runners. These Indians have shown what running can do for the health and the body by competing in, and winning, long distance running marathons, sometimes at the ages of 50 plus years of age.

The sooner you start learning to appreciate this great gift of running, the better you will feel. Besides increasing health and vigor, learning to run consistently can be exhilarating and extremely fulfilling.

And just think what an inspiration you can be to friends and family by showing them how truly rewarding the habit of daily running can be. You do not have to break speed records or run for hundreds of miles. Just start. Run a little each day and soon you will look forward, everyday, to how good it feels to simply get your body moving.

So what’s stopping you? Grab those running shoes and go for it!

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Parks have always been a significant part of a community and this is the reason why investors in Cincinnati are investing in a project that costs about $47 million. The project aims to change the look of the park.

However, not all people are in favor of the development. According to a homeless man named Garrison McHugh, the park has been his sanctuary for 56 years now. He says that it is the spot where he and other homeless folks come to relax with some beers, swap some books, play cards and enjoy other fun activities. Once the park is renovated, McHugh will have no idea where to go. It is the same question that his buddies are asking.

Although half of the park is covered by a six-foot high fence, the other half remains open – for now. Homeless Coalition’s Josh Spring says he is sure that after several months, the fence will be expanded to cover the entire park.

The renovations are spearheaded by the Cincinnati park board and the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation. The new park will cover more land and will also feature a play area for children. The renovation of the park will also provide construction jobs for more than 900 people.

Still, McHugh insists that the park is already as ideal as it can be, with its numerous benches and clean paths.

This month, Sheryl Crow releases her brand new album “100 Miles from Memphis” and it seems that the record is a result of Crow’s trip down memory lane. Crow recalls one Christmas morning in her childhood when she received the first record she would ever own – a copy of “ABC” by the Jackson 5.

Crow also shares how she would spend “American Bandstand” and “Jackson 5” cartoons. Crow’s parents were members of a swing band, causing her to be exposed to rhythm and blues music from an early age. She also remembers being attracted to music that came from Memphis, with Sun Studios, Al Green and Elvis being among her favorites.

After twenty years of a successful music career, Crow now enjoys a position where she has the opportunity to choose the musical direction of her records. In “100 Miles from Memphis”, she pays tribute to her musical past. Crow and her team are also hoping that the album encourages modern listeners to explore the world of music beyond the usual pop genre.

According to Scooter Weintraub, Crow’s manager, the present seemed to be an ideal time for Crow to take on a different direction, without being overly concerned about how radios may perceive her new musical style.

There is no doubt that summer is a favorite time among children—no school and no homework, no getting up in the morning and whole days ahead of nothing but fun and leisure. However, if you’re a parent of a small child then you would know that summer is not all fun for kids. In fact, lots of little kids start whining about boredom after a few weeks of having nothing to do.

Robin Barrett used to be a working mom and is now dealing with her two little boys (one and five), trying to come up with fun activities for the summer. She suggests going to a local park to entertain children and to spend some quality time with family. The Centerville-Washington Park in particular features a playground and sprawling picnic areas.

Other parks are becoming more children and family-friendly as well. For instance, Keehner Park holds family movie nights every month, complete with refreshments and popcorn. Meanwhile, Carriage Hill park features farm animals, hiking opportunities and people dressed up in outfits from the 1800’s.

The Greene of the Beavercreek shopping center is also a family-friendly destination that you should check out with your kids this summer. Parents can sip a nice cup of coffee while reading at Books and Co. There is a special train station where children can play and a fountain that offers a nice venue for having lunch with your family.

The Environmental Protection Agency or EPA recently conducted a research to determine how much time an average person spends indoors. The results: a typical person spends about 90% of his life inside buildings and other structures.

Think about it. On a typical day, you probably divide your time between home and the office, with some errands to the mall, supermarket, bank and other establishments in between. It’s a known fact that buildings keep up safe from harsh outdoor elements but how healthy is it to stay indoors all the time?

The EPA discovered that exposure to air pollution is surprisingly higher indoors than outside. Indoor air pollutants can come from several sources like pets, gas from cooking stoves, paint, pesticides, cleaning products and such. Needless to say, exposure to these pollutants can result to a number of illnesses such as asthma, fatigue and allergies among others.

This doesn’t mean that you should feel unsafe inside your own home. All you have to do is make steps toward a cleaner indoor air. Here are some of the things you can do:

* Keep indoors smoke-free
* Avoid using cleaning products that contain volatile organic chemicals
* Purchase eco-friendly cleaning materials instead and store them in areas that have good ventilation

If you’ve always been fond of treehouses as a child then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t learn to
build them today as an adult. This is exactly what Treehouse Point’s Judy and Pete Nelson wants to make
happen. The couple offers workshops wherein they teach participants to build treehouses. Whether you
are looking for a team building activity or you truly want to learn how to build treehouses then these
workshops are ideal for you.
Today’s treehouses have come a long way. When you think about the treehouses of your childhood, you
probably think about old scraps of wood, rusty nails and old curtains donated by your mother. However,
today’s treehouse offers a lot of luxury and advanced construction. Some treehouses now even boast
French doors, a balcony and even kitchen sinks.
Pete Nelson is actually well-known author and expert in treehouse building. If you’re into do-it-yourself
projects then his workshop can teach you all you need to know about building treehouses in as little as three
days. You will learn how to select the right tree for your tree house as well as the basics of building the
structure itself.
In this day and age where global warming and other environmental problems are in the forefront of our
concerns, treehouses are no longer just recreational projects. They are now actual options for building home
offices or other structures.

Seth Godin is a marketing guru that has helped many entrepreneurs and businessmen promote their products and increase profits. Today, he is advising entrepreneurs to create a story that clients can respond to. Don’t know how? Check out his three tips.

* The first thing you need to do to create your story is to come up with the unique features of your product or service. When listing down these features, make sure you stick to the facts and resist the urge to make something up. If your product or service is truly good then you will have no problem thinking of things that make it stand out. Does your product use recycled materials? Has your service been existence for decades?
* The next thing you can do is to take all these features and figure out how to turn them into benefits for your potential clients. For instance, if your product is made from organic materials then it could be a great but for environmentalists as well as those who are allergic to certain processed materials.
* Once you have the features and benefits at hand then it’s time to create the actual story. The story you create does not need to be worthy of a Pulitzer. It could be just as simple as a “what if” storyline that narrates how a potential client of yours experiences a problem and resolves this problem using your product or service.

A pregnant mother in Ashdod was recently stabbed to death following a heated argument with a neighbor early this week. This heinous crime is merely one of the violent fights between residents that call for serious mediation, according to the Jerusalem Post.

According to Ronit Tzur of the Social Services Department, a project is already in the works in order to create a center that would intervene and mediate between neighbors or family members in dispute with each other.

Tzur also adds how in many cases, the root of the arguments are almost always something trivial that the even the arguing parties eventually forget. For instance, the tragedy that resulted to the death of the pregnant woman stemmed from an argument about coffee. Fortunately, the baby in the woman’s womb was saved but the mother eventually died due to the seriousness of her injuries.

This is an example, says Tzur, of a situation that could have been resolved peacefully by simple mediation to avoid such tragic results. This is why Tzur and his team are determinedly constructing the mediation center that will provide cheap mediation services to the residents of the city.

However, experts are claiming that the argument between the pregnant woman and her neighbor probably ran deeper than coffee and no one will be able to tell now if mediation could have really solved the problem.

If the last winter season coupled with the recession has really gotten you stressed out then spring is a great opportunity for you to rejuvenate yourself—through fashion of course. Here are some of the hottest trends that you might want to try for this season.

Tribal fashion has always been in and out of style and this spring, it seems that it is in all over again. So if you’ve been hiding clothes that show off your love for various cultures then it’s time to bring these outfits back out again. Whether it’s an extravagantly printed scarf from Africa or a skirt with Indian-American pattern, tribal clothing not only makes a statement from you but from an entire culture as well.

If you’re not into bold tribal ensembles then you might want to try something more simple like neutral colors. However, we’re not just talking about plain colors like black and white. Spring neutral colors are more fun and flirty. Try to experiment with blue, nude and blush. If you’re hesitant about trying a particular color, start out with a small accessory and see how you like the hue on you.

Lastly, be sure to invest in a fabulous pair of jeans. If you can, it’s even better to buy several pairs of jeans so you can mix and match with different tops.

Three people were recently arrested in Georgia under the charges of producing forged documents for illegal immigrants in Woodstock. Police officers investigating the case also claimed the possibility that the suspects have supplied fake IDs to other states.

The Cherokee County Sheriff Office held a news conference where the investigators took the opportunity to display the various documents that they confiscated from the suspects. The fake documents included birth certificates, green cards, passports, driving licenses and social security cards among others.

According to Sherriff Roger Garrison, his team of investigators is currently trying to gauge how widespread the illegal operation has become. He says that the team will be examining the confiscated computer in order to determine how many states the suspects were operating in.

Aside from the forged documents, the police also found about $16,000 in cash as well as documents showing that the suspects sent thousands of dollars to a location in Mexico.

Forging documents is indeed a profitable illegal business. It has been reported that each fake social security card runs as much as $800.

The arrest of the three suspects began on the 2nd of June wherein two men were arrested in Dalton for selling counterfeit documents. Upon questioning, the two men admitted that they bought the fake cards from a location in Woodstock.