Does anyone know what the psychology is behind people who use BOLD SHADOW ITAL in every piece of text on slides?

People want things to stand out, and if they aren't visual people in the first place, they don't really understand how to do so. And they don't have clear in their minds what is important, so they make everything important.

(Best organization tip I've ever recieved but have a really hard time following is to get your stuff organized BEFORE you buy anything new to help you get organized. Shopping for organization stuff gives a totally false sense of accomplishment.)

The hands down best organization tip ever (for me) is from Julie Morgensterns "Organizing from the Inside Out (which also had the above tip) is to notice what you do, and then figure out how to accommodate it in an organized fashion. So, for example, if you tend to throw your coat/purse on the floor or on a chair when you get home, don't try to make organizational space in your closet and try to make yourself put it away. Instead, perhaps, get a coat tree or a bench that works, and just put it where you usually drop your coat.

Although my house looks like hell right now, I have used this a lot in the costume shop. I also know myself well enough that I have to have a visually stimulated organization system that is out in the open. Anything in a drawer or closet or file cabinet is pretty much invisible to me. So, in the shop I have everything stored in open stacking bins, separated by label ziplock baggies. Storing things in cardboard boxes just did not work.

Ahem. HPF!

Indeed! Good thing you're keeping an eye on me whilst herself is away.

What is the "share families" thing? Can you upgrade for some better, polite ones? It's got to do with childcare, I assume.

Hope you get power back soon, sarameg. What's up with the car?

I remember one time in my life, living in an apartment in VA, when I used a book to help me organize, and every single thing I owned had A Place. And it was awesome while it lasted... several months. Haven't been able to achieve it again. But I culled a lot of crap when I left Baltimore, so maybe when I make it back to DC, I can start out right.

We got power back, but not cable, so I'm at B&N using internet.

I culled a lot of crap

That's the point I'm at right now. I've done a good job of getting rid of the extraneous in the past year or so, now it's just a matter of keeping the extra crap out and knowing where everything is at so I can access it. And clean it on a regular basis, which is my downfall.

As Toddson says, ever since word processing with multiple fonts was put in the hands of the hoi polloi, design and font use has been on the fast track handbasket to hell. If I were in charge of the world ....

People choose fonts because they look cool to them and put on shadows because they're so excited that they can. This is also the explanation for most uses of Flash.

May your life become boring for a while, Sarameg.

And clean it on a regular basis, which is my downfall.

Ditto.

When I moved to Balto., I never bought the right storage for the room I was in (no closets), so shit was literally EVERYWHERE until I did the Big Clean when the house went on the market. Well, at one point, an organizer was over to help my roomie with her office, so I had her take a look upstairs just out of curiosity to see how much she'd charge... so she comes downstairs very serious, and says, very gently, "Now, do you have a lot of attachment to the things up there?" Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! I said, "Actually, no. If I could pay someone to go up there and throw out the right 90% of it out, I would." I think she thought she was dealing with a hoarder. Yeah, no, just super messy and often quite lazy.

I feel so horrible for the people on the hoarder shows, man. To have such attachment to every little thing; it is painful to watch, so I can't even imagine how it feels.

"Actually, no. If I could pay someone to go up there and throw out the right 90% of it out, I would."

This is my fantasy job.

If I'd had the money to spare, I would have paid you big to do that.

And, you know, I can help other people do it -- when I started staying with my sister, one of the first things I did was help her clean out her office -- but I hate doing it for myself!

Edited, because that's not how how paid is spelled. WTF?

Have we all seen the video of two Cleverbots having a conversation? If this isn't the best thing on the internet today, I don't know what is:

[link]

one of the first things I did was help her clean out her office -- but I hate doing it for myself!

I'm good doing it for myself if I have time to do it right, and can actually *get it out of the house* on the same day. If I have to stash somewhere in between, it becomes more about moving clutter around.

I will throw out other people's stuff at will, though. If my FiL had let me loose in that house, we would have needed a dumpster. Probably twice.