Hasta La Gadget!

It’s amazing how even the smallest of weekend projects have the ability to refresh and renew your apartment. Maybe you’re moving into a new place and looking for ways to make the space your own. Or, perhaps you’ve lived in the same apartment for years, but gradual wear and tear has signaled a need for a re-design.

You might think you’re limited as a renter when it comes to weekend projects. However, there are several fun (and often affordable) ways to have your space looking like new again. Want to know how to get started? Read below for some excellent weekend projects that are tailor made for your apartment:

1. Install Floating Shelves

It’s always a good idea to have extra space for all of your stuff. We all like to go shopping and pick up new things for the apartment, but clutter is also a factor to consider.

You can eliminate this problem by installing floating shelves- they’re lightweight and easy to hang, and they’re a simple and practical way to decorate any room. With these shelves, your knick-knacks, picture frames, and small houseplants can find a new home.

2. One Word: Storage

It might not be the most fun weekend project on this list, but there are a lot of benefits to storage, and with spring in full swing, now is the perfect time to stow away all of that winter gear and garb.

However storage is one of the best weekend projects no matter the time of year. Start by tackling major problem areas for clutter — that “junk” drunker, medicine cabinet, crowded closet, all-over-the-place laundry area, or messy coffee table might be good places to start.

3. Get Artistic

Ready to show off those graphic design skills? Are you awesome at stencil drawings? Do you still have the urge to finger paint even though you’re a grown-up? You can add a lot of character to your apartment by creating your very own art.

Not only is this weekend project a lot of fun and lets you explore your creative side, but it also helps you add a touch of warmth and personality to the space. As an added bonus, creating your own art is typically a whole lot less expensive than buying it!

4. Paint It Up

If you have the OK from your landlord, grab some brushes and make those boring white walls history. While painting your entire apartment might require you to section off several weekend projects, most renters can usually get at least an accent wall completed over the course of one weekend.

5. Kitchen Tasks

If you’d rather express your creativity through food, try out some cooking techniques that might be a bit more challenging, such as making your own bread, pesto, cheese- or even beer! You can also take this time to re-season your cast-iron pans and skillets and sharpen your chef’s knives.

6. Change Out Your Shower Head

Is your water pressure less than ideal? It’s amazing how a great morning shower helps you feel refreshed and ready to take on the day. Upgrading to an adjustable shower head allows you to choose multiple settings, which is really great for showers and when it comes time to clean the bathroom.

If you’re a pet owner, an adjustable shower head could be really helpful when the time comes to give your four-legged friend a bath!

7. Switch Up Your Lighting Fixtures

Have you always wanted to go glam with a sparkly chandelier? Maybe you want to make the switch to LEDs and go green. Or, perhaps you want to install dimmers so that you can offer your guests some mood lighting.

Most landlords are OK with renters switching out light fixtures, so long as the original lighting is re-installed before they move out. It’s incredible how lighting influences the ambiance and mood of your apartment.

Changing out lighting fixtures doesn’t take a degree in engineering- you can usually complete these tasks in one day and affordable lighting abounds at places like IKEA and Target. Whatever your lighting ambitions are, installing new fixtures is a fun and relatively inexpensive weekend project that can dramatically change the look and feel of your place.

8. Plant a Herb Garden

If your landlord gives you the green light and you have the space and sunlight, put your green thumb to work. If you don’t have much of a yard (or none at all), consider planting a small herb garden with just two or three potted plants and place them either outside on your patio, or even on the windowsill.

Next time you cook something that requires fresh basil, thyme or rosemary, stepping outside and snipping off a few leaves will come in handy.

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Doug Hughes does not have a Super PAC.

A Super PAC, created in the wake of the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United vs. FEC, is a campaign expenditure entity that has no limits to how much money it can spend in an election or how much one donor can contribute to it, but it cannot give money to a candidate, and it cannot coordinate with their campaign. Granted, that term “coordinate” is pretty loosey-goosey these days, as Jeb Bush’s SuperPAC has largely supplanted his campaign for president, which he hasn’t even bothered to declare yet, since that would require following “rules” by the Federal Elections Commission, which even the FEC Chair says can’t be enforced anyway.

Doug Hughes has not been a major campaign contributor.

Indeed, according to FEC records, Doug Hughes has basically failed to exercise his free speech in the form of giving money to politicians. In fact, all the other Doug Hughes-es put together pooled a paltry $20,000 in political contributions, far short of the amount of speech that only one (1) Shaun McCutcheon has to spend, who had so much to say that the Supreme Court saw fit to rewrite the laws again in 2014 so that the Alabama coal executive could spend millions in contributions to candidates.

A U.S. Postal Service worker, Doug Hughes has been a public servant, and in his time has seen campaign mailers proliferate, while voter registration cards dwindle. He’s seen his invaluable agency attacked by lobbyists looking to sell off the Post Office to private interests. As a government employee, Doug Hughes might well have felt entitled to share his thoughts with other government employees, specifically elected officials in Washington, D.C. After all, the Constitution makes it very clear that Congress works for the American people.

Ah, but here’s the rub. Doug Hughes wanted to share his views with Congress about issues affecting the country as a whole. But, if you’ve been reading closely, you already know that Doug Hughes does not have a Super PAC, nor is Doug Hughes a major donor, nor is any other Doug Hughes that he could even hope to be confused with. On a government employee salary, Doug Hughes did not have a media conglomerate or fossil fuel factory of his own, for whatever reasons.

Yet, Doug Hughes wanted to address this very dilemma: That because elected officials focus all of their efforts on raising vast amounts of money for re-election, and because corporations have come to write their own legislation, our country needs new campaign laws and a constitutional amendment to reclaim our democratic process from the highest bidder. Members of Congress could either accept this and reform the system, or deny it and fight reform.

As it turns out, a number of people have been up in arms about pretty much the same things. From op-eds, to books, to protests, to teach-ins, to occupations, to ballot initiatives, to movies, to a movement for a constitutional amendment, Americans across the political spectrum are demanding reform of our campaign finance system. But when over 50 percent of Congress are millionaires, they can be oblivious, like refusing to raise the long-outdated minimum wage while wanting to raise their own salary.

Doug Hughes did not have a Super PAC. He did not have the clout of a major donor. But he did have a gyrocopter.

As a candidate for office, you have to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get your message out. It’s already hard on candidates, but if you are a citizen trying to get a message out? What, are you going to rent your own billboards, or get your own airtime?

Doug Hughes knew something about getting airtime. Not the media buys that have become so pivotal early on in campaigns — actual airtime, like a hang glider with a propeller, at a tenth of the cost of a helicopter.

After a couple years of stewing on the idea and amassing gumption, Doug Hughes followed through on his own personal dare: becoming the mailman for Congress, delivering his own letters to each individual member of Congress urging immediate action on our pay-to-play system of politics. Forgoing a stamp for each letter, Doug Hughes chose Air Mail, bringing his letters from Florida, and delivering them personally to Capitol Hill, by way of a one-man air mission, which was covered nationally as breaking news.

Because let’s face it: would a non-wealthy person get attention from the media or Congressional staffers without making an arrival that would undoubtedly get their attention?

As Doug Hughes faces charges that could put him in jail for four years, the most serious of which is operating an aircraft without a pilot’s license, his case must be tried for the larger issue of free speech that is at stake. The flight of Doug Hughes — already commemorated on a U.S. stamp — was a form of nonviolent direct action aimed at raising awareness about the urgency of campaign finance reform. Because none of our most pressing needs will be faced until we get the corrupting influence out of the way. So vital was getting this message out, Doug Hughes risked his life to share it with his country.

And as long as the Supreme Court interprets “free speech” to include spending untold fortunes in elections, it seems fair to also define free speech as a peaceful protest on public grounds, or even public airspace. Because just as Supreme Court justices have long interpreted the First Amendment to say that in elections, you can’t really say much without spending money, the flip side is presented here — since you can’t really say much without money, you have to speak out in different ways, such as a very public demonstration.

The question should not be, how could Doug Hughes pull such an ambitious stunt just to make a statement? We need to ask ourselves the much bigger question: what other recourse did he have?

Street art by Teacher in Los Angeles dedicated to Doug Hughes.

John Wellington Ennis’s documentary PAY 2 PLAY: Democracy’s High Stakes follows the money in our elections and shows how outsiders are using their voice to be heard, including civil disobedience.

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We all know that Christina Aguilera does one hell of a Britney Spears impression, but this is a little different.

In a promo for “The Voice,” which will crown its Season 8 winner on tonight’s finale, the 34-year-old singer impersonates Cher, Miley Cyrus, Sia, Lady Gaga, Shakira and Britney Spears.

Aguilera has a knack for impressions as we first learned during her turn hosting “Saturday Night Live” back in 2004, and she previously impressed “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” viewers with her spot-on impression of Spears’ singing voice, but this time around her take on the pop princess isn’t the most flattering.

“The Voice” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m.on NBC.

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When you think of Will Smith, you either think of a guy rapping about the niceties of Miami, or on the silver screen blasting aliens. What you really should be thinking about is a guy that mastered content marketing. Here’s why Will Smith is a content marketing expert:

1. He Knows His Strengths — Will Smith has starred in several movies. Most of those movies are science fiction, action or family-friendly. A quick look at IMDB and you can see that Smith has no intention of steering away from these types of movies in the future either. Why would he? His movies are awesome (ok apart from Made In America and Ali. Those were his “Michael Jordan in baseball” moments). Smith also put out some albums and won a few Grammys, but feels his strength is in film.

There are tons of people, usually your competitors, in your industry jockeying to prove themselves as industry experts. There are probably 20-25 topics in your industry that you could speak to, but in the interest of time you need to pick your battles. This will help you get faster to actual business from your effort (since you’re not focused on so many different things). For example, it’s very hard for a lawyer to create, promote and prove their expertise in corporate, immigration, criminal, family and real estate law all at once (unless your Harvey Specter). If they can do that, and succeed, then sure lets award them the “Best Lawyer In America” championship belt. Chances are they can’t, so it makes a lot of sense for them to focus their marketing efforts and cases they take in one or two of those disciplines.

2. He Knows His Audience — Hey, do you want to know who my favorite writer is? If you answered “no”, well too bad because I’m going to tell you anyway. If you answered “yes” to that then thanks grandma! (sarcasm intended). Bill Simmons wrote this amazing piece outlining Will Smith’s box office numbers in 2012. Simmons proved that even Will Smith’s worst-reviewed movies (think I Am Legend) still pulled in $585 million worldwide. You’d have to go back to 2001 (Ali) to find a movie that didn’t pull in nine figures at the box office. A run that no Hollywood actor (yes, including Leonardo DiCaprio aka Luke from Growing Pains) has replicated. Clearly, Smith knows his audience and he only acts if conversions are involved. 9 figures worth of them.

Who are you trying to reach with your content? You’re not going to put up strong engagement numbers if the target group is too small. Do what Smith did and look for patterns on what gets shared in your industry and out of it. What kind of stuff do you share? Think funny, polarizing and in a unique tone if your stumped. Louis CK, Glenn Beck and Jim Cramer are three great content marketers and voices in their own right. Love them or hate them, but you can’t overlook them.

3. He’s Persistent — When he was a kid, Will Smith’s dad (not Uncle Phil, but his real one) tore down a brick wall and asked Smith and his brother to rebuild it. It took them a year, but they rebuilt it. Here’s Smith recalling the experience:

Let’s be honest. Part of content marketing really sucks. It’s a daily routine and usually something you have to make time for before or after work. The worst part is that the return on investment is elusive, unpredictable and, for most people, non-existent because most people quit too early. Don’t set out to take over the world with one blog post. Instead, view each one of your content pieces as a brick. Create that content piece to the best of your ability and with a specific goal in mind. Then wash, rinse and repeat that process a few hundred times over and you’ll have a massive wall of content on your topic that is impossible for anyone looking into your topic to miss. The content marketing premise is that thousands of people are already looking for information about things you specialize in every day. Instead of seeing your content wall (which may only have 3 bricks on it), they see someone else’s that has more. Yes, quality work gets shared more, but quality isn’t measurable to you. That’s all in the eye of the beholder. Focus on building the habit first and the quality will come as you produce more. The bottom line is you need to start laying bricks.

Produce content on topics you’re an expert in, make sure the audience is right and stick with it. Will Smith isn’t only the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, he’s also the king of content marketing.

Need more help? This playbook outlines how you can save time on creating content and how to get leads and sales out of your blog posts faster.

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By Victoria Cavaliere

SEATTLE, May 19 (Reuters) – Thousands of Seattle teachers walked out of class on Tuesday to demand higher pay and smaller class sizes, marking the largest one-day strike in a series of rolling protests by educators in Washington state over public school funding.

More than 50,000 students in Seattle, the state’s largest school district, were out of class on Tuesday. To help parents unable to make childcare arrangements, the city’s parks department staffed activities at 21 community centers for students from kindergarten to eighth grade.

Dressed in red, teachers and community members marched through downtown Seattle holding signs that read: “Good Schools Require Good Funding,” and “On Strike Against Legislature.”

About 2,500 Seattle teachers took part in the strike, according to the union, the Seattle Education Association.

Educators in nearly 60 districts statewide have held or approved one-day walkouts, accusing lawmakers in Olympia of failing to meet a state Supreme Court mandate to fund public schools fully.

“Parents and voters need to know that legislators are cutting deals right now that will leave our kids far behind,” the union said in a statement. “A strike is far from our first choice, but we can’t allow the legislature to continue to fail our kids.”

Teachers are also unhappy about a proposal to raise pay by 3 percent over two years, while the state has not increased teacher healthcare funding in five years, according to the Washington Education Association.

They want to ensure the upcoming budget meets a voter mandate to lower class sizes as well, the union said.

Washington averages 23.7 students in elementary classrooms, more than the national average of 21.2, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

The Washington legislature is under a state Supreme Court order to increase funding for public schools by 2019. The current budget being considered is $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion.

Lawmakers in Olympia contend the budget shows the largest increase in education funding in recent years and meets the demands of the court order. They also say that Washington state teachers have some of the highest salaries of any public educators in the country.

Teachers in the Seattle suburbs of Mercer Island and Issaquah were also striking on Tuesday, while a dozen more districts statewide had walkouts planned for later this week.

Seattle Public Schools declined to comment. Students will make up Tuesday’s missed day in June.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere and Bill Rigby in Seattle; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Lisa Lambert and Peter Cooney)

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