I found the above info and more at: http://ideas.time.com/2013/08/16/singing-changes-your-brain/
Category: Jim’s Daily
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January 28, 2016 – If your do not sing – you have the same brain you started with, because singing changes your brain!!!I was told of someone who often sang a song and 60 years later it sticks in a listeners head! It was copyrighted in 1943 by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman & Jerry Livingston. Here’s a part of it: Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey A kiddley divey too, wouldn’t you? If the words sound queer and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey, Sing “Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy.”
When you sing, musical vibrations move through you, altering your physical and emotional landscape.As the popularity of group singing grows, science has been hard at work trying to explain why it has such a calming yet energizing effect on people. What researchers are beginning to discover is that singing is like an infusion of the perfect tranquilizer, the kind that both soothes your nerves and elevates your spirits.
I found the above info and more at: http://ideas.time.com/2013/08/16/singing-changes-your-brain/Sing while you dance! or Dance while you sing. or just dance. or just sing. I’ve been told it all works to change your brain. -
January 25,2016 – Do you sing in the shower, when you meet folks when out jogging, when you feel a cold coming on, or just watching the sunset? Go ahead sing “‘Mares eat oats; does eat oats; little lambs eat ivy; kids eat ivy too.’”
1. I read a lot of “Novels” of ancient folks – 17,000 years ago as we were just becoming socially human – Singing is an ancient art form. People living in less technological societies than our own still sing as a central way of being together. There are no distinctions between audience and performers, no-one watches on passively. — Now you know why I seldom passively sit and watch TV – I am ancient!
2. I worked a number of years in Scandinavia and I liked their way of thinking – A recent study at the University of Stockholm showed that Scandinavia men and women get an oxytocin high when they sing – during pregnancy, lactation, and sex. —I did not make that up!!! – In case you have been motivated – I say SAS is a great way to fly!
3. Being of Germanic background, I know we are very serious at times, and always need a reason to do what we do – Dr Kreutze at Frankfurt University sampled singer’s saliva before and after singing. He proved that our secretion of antibodies is increased when we sing, so our immunity is boosted! — so submit the cost of you voice lessons to your health insurance provider!
As a kid, I have had a snake bit or two – but never while singing – or playing the flute or what ever! So, making music is good for your health. -
January 22, 2016 – I found quotes by famous artists you may have studies. They said: “ In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine.” Ralph Waldo Emerson “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way–things I had no words for.” Georgia O’Keeffe “Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.” Salvador Dali “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Aristotle “No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.” Oscar Wilde
Your best camera is the one you have with you – In my case, my I-phone – yesterday by our home in the Great Outdoors, Florida. But I wanted to be an artist and do a little Photoshop to add interest, keeping color and texture – see the following Photoshopped photos. 
Here is the start photo 
I decided to add a bird – just for interest! 
A closer view of the same starting photo with bird added 
How about a digital painting of me and my dog canoeing into the sunset! 
Hey, enjoy playing jump rope and Photoshop painting with your I-phone photos – try it – you may enjoy jumping rope – even if Photoshop is not your thing -
January 19, 2016 – Sometimes I enjoy reading quotes – They motivate me to photograph the beautiful church in our community.
The glare is not always soft this time of day- But digital photography can make it that way 
The birds are in prayer – it seems. “God always answers prayers. Sometimes it’s ‘yes.’ Sometimes the answer is ‘no.’ Sometimes it’s ‘you gotta be kidding”.
Jimmy Carter
Enjoy your cool weather – we are freezing at 50 degrees – -
January 3, 2016 – I am enjoying reading about New Years Resolutions – so many of the 50 I found do not apply to me (not sure everyone would agree) – like the resolution: “Be more polite” – Like I said: “If you are too d…. dumb to see how polite I am, I can not help you.” – Remember, my college education is engineering, business, and adult education methodology – no liberal arts courses at all. So, this following resolution does apply to me: “Learn more about art, music, culture – being liberally educated (not politically liberal) helps you fit in when talking with a variety of people with different backgrounds” – Knowing something about art sure helps me communicate with Gloria a lot better.
I love to walk in the woods with camera in hand. I see lots of things others may not want to photograph – This one is a stump of a fallen Palm Tree – a foot or so of the outer bark turned inside and fell to the ground. This is as shot – no photoshop. Nikon D5300, Tamron 18-270mm, f4.8, 46mm. Auto flash did not fire. 
This photo gave me an opportunity to practice some basic elements of art design (with photoshop) that I have been studying about – and since I like surreal art – truth is not required. Key elements are 1. Lines (curved or straight), 2. shapes we recognize, 3. dimension (depth), 4. texture, 5. repeating pattern, 6. color. Have I clearly used any of these elements in creating this surreal spider and dragon fly from the original photograph? (Dragon fly is above the spider’s left eye) 
I hope to keep making surreal photos from real ones I take on my favorite walks in my favorite Florida outdoors! and learn more about art and culture, music, etc -
January 2, 2016 – Yea, I got it right – 2016, 2016, 2016 — I say to myself: “remember it” – This morning when I went out on my bike, it was not at all normal! – I almost needed traffic lights in our small Florida Retirement Community. – New Years Resolutions produced many, many people out biking, walking, getting in their golf carts to drive to the exercise room – does that sound right? Ride to the exercise room to walk on a treadmill? There were no Joggers though. Jogging at 80 is not a pretty site – and it hurts -and like a joke someone sent – like frying bacon in the nude – you know it will hurt but you are just not sure where!
No, this photo was not taken in our community – This is the way we all remember that we looked when we were young . (Our memories are blurred a little) 
I turned to the News Paper to read of resolutions. Found 50 – here are a few. I will tell you my first thoughts – Now remember these are only my first thoughts!:
1. Get in shape – At almost 80, I work at it every day. You have to – shape does not last for more then 24 hours at my age!
2. Learn to cook – I go to the store every day to learn not to cook – It is amazing what the store does for you – They roast whole chickens every couple of hours, Why would I ever buy a raw one and cook it – If I wanted to do that I would go back further – like my Mom – She went to the chicken coop, caught one, chopped its head off, plucked the feathers, and cleaned out the insides. Then she could start to cook it. Mom did not raise a fool – she taught me to learn a better way – and I did.
3. Travel more and see the world – I was blessed – I had a great opportunity to work in a large international company and travel over the ocean almost every other week. And, I had a boss that made it fun – He designed the job and office attitude that made those numerous years seem like a large vacation – but I feel we did a great job for the corporation – it is just that we enjoyed doing it – Thanks to Mr Walt!
4. Learn to be happier with your life – I do have Joel Osteen as an automatic button on our car radio.
5. Adopt a cute pet – Perla says “You did” Perla is my horse of course.
Of course, in the 50 resolutions are a lot about hobbies and earning new stuff. Well, I am trying to learn a lot about art – Need to do that so I can hold meaningful conversations with Gloria! Showed you this digital “Photo-Painting” I did the other day. Well I practiced and turned it into the one below: 
See, I used the one above to turn it into this digital-photo – Should I take up cooking instead? What you think? Among the 50 resolutions were dressing modern and learning modern dance steps?! Maybe I do a selfie for you to see my improvement in the modern dress code -
December 30, 2015 -A well known surrealism artists is Salvador Dali (1904-1988). For me, surrealism is the art of creating unreal images of the world around me – images which can’t be captured in real life. I try to create images that make me laugh – (or ponder!) I hope you will laugh at them too!
I often take my camera out into the swamps and other water ways around our Florida home – Then I am practicing how to create “Digital Paintings” from a photo I snapped. Here is real one – real until I just had to add a Donald Trump hair piece! “I titled it “Presidential Birdtential Race?” One of my favorite birds to watch is the American Coot – I like the way it “Walks on water” on takeoff. So I created, just for fun, these two Coots racing to the “Dinner Potential Race” – You know this is not real – Coots do not chase goldfish for dinner! 
“LOL” – has it been added to the Webster Dictionary – Hey, do they still print dictionaries? -
December 27, 2015 – As found on : wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_language Wikipedia “Animal communication can be seen through their facial expression and body movement.” I looked that up because I was pondering the role of facial expressions in the world of actors and political folks – you know when you have had enough and turn the TV sound off! Any way I will post a few of the animals in my life when they were communicating without sound!
“I am trying to understand what you are saying” 
“I like your Good Morning kiss!” 
The message “I am pleased with my last comment!” 
No bitting – we are playing 
It is too cold to go way up to the barn 
Learn to rest like me said the kitty to the human! 
No sound needed – If we had a phone like this – Hey, we do – it is called Skype – try it sometime with the sound off! Wives are more effective with sound – but we really get the message with out sound – Do we not??? -
December 25, 2015 – I could not help but ponder what the manger and the the wise men bearing gifts might look like toady – hope you all do not mind my mind’s way of thinking!
2015 – The manger and the three wise men bearing gifts. -
November 28, 2015 – “Surrealism destroys what I consider to be a photo purist’s restrictions” – I try to not be a photo purist – Why? – because I create surrealistic scenes to share my silliness (laugh) of the day! That is my quote of the day! May it ever go down in history for you all to ponder and may you be motivated to be silly at least once every day!
I have taken note of family get togethers this Thanksgiving weekend. Our photo club offers a service of photographing family gatherings – I did a family on vacation – “Hey, get off the phone for the family photo” – I talked with my own family while they were driving with grandkids in a family car – the driver was all alone so to speak – ( of course the driver was talking to me!!!)- alone because the grandkids were lost on their electronic devices while sitting in the back seat – I saw it at a Black Friday Best Buy store – I saw it a Country Club Thanksgiving dinner we attended – So I wondered what the “Lower Forms of Life” (Animals) were doing in this modern age – So, I did my PhotoShop Art practice session thinking about the Cell Phone and the animals – Here it is! Oh, by the way – I love my cell phone -I am never with out it! 
I do not use all the modern technology – but my phone is always with me and I use the car’s NAV system when I go grocery shopping 2 miles away!