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I know about nine people who will be totally excited about this piece. None of them are children, which is good, as these projects shouldn't be untaken without supervision. (The bad news? Most of my firecracker-loving pals could probably also use supervision.)

Secretly, I'm scared of all things flammable and loud, so I'm perfectly safe from firework disasters. If you're braver than I am, you should read this. It's part of my "All Fun, No Hurties" approach to the holiday.

My friend Kate had a dog who was so afraid of fireworks, he'd crawl up on your lap and cower during every display. This would have been fine, except that he was an Australian Shepherd and weighed 80 pounds. Oof.

There's been a lot of talk about CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System.) One thing most people don't realize is that you're not eligible if your car isn't drivable. So your old gas guzzler that still drives? Good for the program. My wheel-less wonder? Not so much.

But let's just say your clunker isn't drivable. How can you get rid of the beast? Donate it to charity. Just make sure you're honest about the condition of the car.

Or at least for 150,000 miles. My first tip to you is to get those creepy metal fatigue noises checked out before the wheels come off. You're welcome.

One thing she doesn't have, though: A handmade patriotic headband. I'm really not sure how she missed that, actually.

Tie-dye is one of those skills I had when I was about twelve, but have probably lost. (Interestingly, another is riding a bike. It's not true what they say.)

My Mom obviously needs all of these. Or I need to use them to redecorate her house. (File that under: Things that I find hilarious, and Mom doesn't.)

Now, of course, I am completely hooked on Gmail and have no idea what I would do without it. For one thing, I hardly ever get any spam in my Gmail account, which is more than I can say for any other service I've used.

The penny-farthing had no gearing between the pedals and the front/drive wheel, so the front/drive wheel had to be made really big to get any speed out of the bike. This made the bike prone to toppling forward while braking. <br><br>The safety bike had a chain between the pedals and the rear/drive wheel. By having a bigger sprocket by the pedals and a smaller one at the rear wheel you could get the bike up to speed while still retaining a more practical wheel size. <br><br>The modern "utility" bike is in principal very similar to the safety bike. It is most likely lighter, has better brakes and the ability to freewheel; it might have any number of gears, but the basics still remain. <br><br>Today we have all manners of specialized bikes, full suspension MTBs, flimsy road bikes and everything in-between.