Did you know...

President Franklin Pierce

While Pierce was president, he accidently ran down an old woman with his horse and was arrested. The officer released the President when he discovered who he had in custody. A few chief executives later, President U. S. Grant was arrested for speeding in his horse carriage.

President Warren Harding

From the ages of 22 to 35, Warren Harding had five nervous breakdowns that landed him in Dr. Kellogg's famous clinic in Battle Creek, Michigan. Harding's wife continuously went to fortune tellers and tailored her life around their advice.

President Calvin Coolidge

It's said Calvin Coolidge loved to eat breakfast in bed while having his head rubbed with Vaseline.

President Andrew Jackson

Upon becoming president, Andrew Jackson immediately ordered twenty spittoons for the White House parlors. His wife, Rachel, almost became the only first lady who smoked a pipe, but she died just before he took office.

President William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison was killed by his own inaugural address. The 68-year-old general delivered it on a cold winter's day and he droned on for two hours without a hat, coat or gloves. He caught pneumonia and died a month later. In his address, he had promised not to run for a second term.

President John Quincy Adams

As president, John Quincy Adams liked to go skinny dipping in the Potomac. On one occasion someone stole his clothes and he had to ask a passing boy to run back to the White House to get him some more.

President George Washington

George Washington was one of the richest men in the country at that time. At his death, his estate was valued at about a half a million and included 33,000 acres of land. A tremendous amount at that time. His family motto was "Exitus acta probat," meaning "the end justifies the means."

Washington had a fiery temper that, as Thomas Jefferson put it, "was naturally irritable" and when "it broke its bonds, he was most tremendous in his wrath." On one occasion, Jefferson said Washington became "much inflamed, [and] got into one of those passions when he cannot command himself." After his temper flared up, it usually subsided quickly and he would regain control. On another occasion, Washington chewed out Alexander Hamilton for keeping him waiting for ten minutes. Hamilton, who said it was only two minutes, promptly resigned from Washington's staff.

Like Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin and even Abraham Lincoln, Washington enjoyed dirty jokes and often told obscene anecdotes. While he and Martha destroyed most of his letters, a few did survive. In the late 1920s, multi-millionaire J. P. Morgan bought some, but he burned them saying they were "smutty."

You know you wanna do this!

How to Make a Disco Ball With CDs

Here's how to recycle all those freebie and unwanted CDs and turn them into something funky and new.

Steps

1. Gather your unwanted CDs.

2. Cut each CD into little squares.

- Kitchen shears are better for this job. This could ruin a good pair of scissors. Also, the scissors shouldn't be thin, or else your hands will ache.

- To soften the CDs for cutting (and reduce splintering) dip the CD into boiling water without letting it touch the bottom of the pot. Pull it out before it starts to warp (this might take a little experimenting on your part to determine how long they need to be dipped). Use gloves to cut the CD while it's still warm.

3. Collect the squares in a pile. You will end up with all different sizes of little squares.

4. Fetch the Styrofoam ball and glue gun.

5. Put a hole through the ball with a bamboo skewer or any thing else. Run some fishing wire or a string through the ball and knot into a loop from which the ball can be hung.

6. Start by gluing the little squares from the center of the ball. Work your way up and down. Continue until the ball is covered. Leave the top of the disco ball, where the loop comes out, for last. It's a good place to put irregular bits and pieces because it's the least conspicuous.

7. Hang the ball. You now have a mini disco ball and you've reused the old CDs!

Dominos made from dominos

Stumbled upon a Stumbler

I just happened to find another website (I'm sure there are MANY) that is dedicated to stumbling. The post was about a cool trick that I'd like to share with you.

• Go to Google.com and click on images.
  
• Fill in the search box with anything that you would like to search for (mine was butterflies)
• A results page with come up with several images per your search.
• Now delete the address and copy/paste the following code in the address bar and hit

The code is in a text file found here. Just select all and paste it in the address bar, “control+a to select all or edit >select all>copy”

How cool is that?!?!?!

Mata Hari...playing both sides of the fence

Mata Hari (1876-1917) was the stage name of the Dutch exotic dancer and prostitute Gertrud Margarete Zelle, who was shot by the French as a spy on 15 October 1917.

Born on 7 August 1876 in Leeuwarden in the Netherlands, Mata Hari's name has since become synonymous with espionage, although it remains by no means clear that she was guilty of the spying charges for which she charged.

The daughter of a well-to-do hatter, Mata Hari attended a teachers' college in Leiden before, in 1895, marrying Captain Campbell MacLeod (of Scottish antecedents but serving in the Dutch army). They lived together from 1897-1902 in Java and Sumatra.

Returning to Europe together they thereafter separated, at which point Mata Hari took to dancing upon the Paris stage from 1905, initially as 'Lady MacLeod' and soon after as 'Mata Hari', the name she retained until her execution.

Highly successful in Paris (among other cities), Mata Hari's attractiveness, as well as her apparent willingness to appear almost nude on the stage, made her a huge hit. She cultivated numerous lovers, including many military officers.

Still unclear today are the circumstances around her alleged spying activities. It was said that while in The Hague in 1916 she was offered cash by a German consul for information obtained on her next visit to France. Indeed, Mata Hari admitted she had passed old, outdated information to a German intelligence officer when later interrogated by the French intelligence service.

Mata Hari herself claimed she had been paid to act as a French spy in Belgium (then occupied by German forces), although she had neglected to inform her French spymasters of her prior arrangement with the German consul. She was, it seemed, a double agent, if a not very successful one.

It appears (the details are vague) that British intelligence picked up details of Mata Hari's arrangements with the German consul and passed these to their French counterparts.

She was consequently arrested by the French on 13 February 1917 in Paris. Following imprisonment she was tried by a military court on 24-25 July 1917 and sentenced to death by a firing squad. The sentence was carried out on 15 October 1917 in Vincennes near Paris. She was 41.

To many she remains the unfortunate victim of a hysterical section of the French press and public determined to root out evidence of a non-existent enemy within, a scapegoat attractive as much for her curious profession as for her crimes.

Note:Taken from Who's Who

NetFlix Origami

Looking for something to do with your Netflix flap? Try this! For more clever uses of your Netflix flaps see here.

Snack Tray

Use this clever tray to hold your popcorn while you watch your NetFlix movie.

Step 1: Fold in half the short way, then fold in half the other way, so the paper is folded in quarters. Step 2: Unfold once and then fold the two corners of the folded edge in toward the middle so they meet at the center crease. Step 3: Unfold the whole paper and lay out so there is a peak in the middle. Push the folds on the two longer sides in toward the middle, so they are folded inward. You should have a triangular shape. Step 4: Fold the sides in so they meet at the middle crease. Turn over and repeat on the other side. Step 5: Fold the lower edge up to meet the horizontal edges of the flaps above it. Fold over again and crease firmly. Turn over and repeat this on the other side. Step 6: Fold down the peak to meet the bottom edge, then unfold. This crease is just to define the bottom edges of the tray. Step 7: Grasp the side flaps and pull in opposite directions to open.

I love organizing!

March 27th, 2007 in Featured, Lifehack, Management

The Seven Essential “Stations” Every Home Should Have

When organizing our clients’ homes, we teach people there are some common “stations” that virtually every home should have. Here are the seven that we feel are most important:

1. Destination Station - This station belongs where you come in and out of the house. It’s where you put all of your things down when you come in, such as purses, keys, and backpacks. We often drill a hole in the back of a drawer and run a power cord through the back of it for cell phone chargers. You can use simple shelving, you can convert an existing coat closet, or you can use a piece of “mud room” or entryway furniture like this one shown from Pottery Barn.

2. Communication Station – This station is for the family calendar, messages, mail, and other communications that help the house run smoothly. One thing that we encourage is having a Family Binder that will contain all of the frequently-used information such as contacts, medical records, school handouts and lists, and sports team rosters and schedules.

3. Donation Station – Every home should have a designated place to collect items for donation, and when it’s full, the items can be taken to your favorite charity drop-off location. It’s also helpful to keep a clipboard here for listing the items you add to the pile, so that when it’s tax time, you will be better able to value your donations.

4. Gift and Shipping Station - You may not have a permanent station set up for this one, but at least gather all of these items together in a bin or drawer for easy retrieval when you need them. You should have gift wrap, scissors, tape, and all of the other items needed for wrapping and mailing.

5. Education Station – This station is the homework and reference area, mostly for the kids. You’ll need a comfortable flat surface, preferably a desk, where the kids can do their work. There should be good lighting, good chairs, plenty of office supplies, paper, a dictionary, a thesaurus, and probably a computer in this area. And don’t forget peace and quiet!

6. Creation Station – Homes with children and/or other artists need to have a place to paint, draw, sew, or pursue other creative outlets. Craft and art supplies can be stored here, nearby an available surface to work with plenty of light. Like the Gift & Shipping Station, you may not have this station set up permanently. We like using rolling plastic drawer carts for a mobile version of this station that fits easily in a coat closet.

7. Administration Station – Also known as the home office, this station is where the bills get paid, forms get filled out, medical claims are filed, and phone calls are made. Here you’ll need a desk, storage for all office supplies, a computer and printer, a filing cabinet and filing supplies, and a comfortable, functional chair. This station is where all of your basic office systems are centralized.

Lorie Marrero is a Professional Organizer and creator of The Clutter Diet, an innovative, affordable online program for home organization. Lorie’s site helps members lose “Clutter-Pounds” from their home by providing online access to her team of organizers. Lorie writes something useful, funny, interesting, and/or insanely practical every few days or so in the Clutter Diet Blog. She lives in Austin, TX, where her company has provided hands-on organizing services to clients since 2000.