Other interesting stories in The Washington Post:

Halsey Minor in happier times. (AP) Halsey Minor was a Southern aristocrat out of Charlottesville, Va., who made hundreds of millions in the tech boom — only to squander it all. And now it seems that he’s taking a piece of Colonial Williamsburg down with him: Carter’s Grove, the invaluably historic James River plantation he bought in 2007, is quickly decaying as he fails to pay the bills. A compelling magazine story by Elizabeth Leslye Stevens, who really should write a book.

In other news: Clarence Thomas shunned Yale law school for decades, but now he’s slowly making peace with his alma mater, reports our colleague Robert Barnes.

“My precious Quinn, whom I love more than any of you could ever imagine, and I am so close to and am so, so grateful for — so grateful for Quinn.”

— John Edwards making a point to thank all of his children — including the one whose birth led to this mess — after his acquittal on one campaign finance violation charge and deadlock on others.

George and Laura Bush pose with Barack and Michelle Obama at the unveiling of the former first couple’s official White House portraits on Thursday. (Larry Downing/Reuters)

Leave it to Laura Bush to sum up the inherent awkwardness of all those presidential portraits in the White House.

“It was really gracious of you to invite us back to the White House to hang a few family pictures,” she told the Obamas in the East Room Thursday. “Nothing makes a house a home like having portraits of its former occupants staring down at you from the walls.”

Especially during a testy election year. But everyone was on their best behavior at this most traditional of presidential rituals: The unveiling of official portraits of George W. Bush and Laura Bush.

Great art? We’re not critics, but we can tell you that both subjects are, at the very least, recognizable.

Bono in Toronto last year. (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

We knew we were forgetting someone! Our search of the White House visitors log to determine which celebrities have the most pull found Steven Spielberg in a race with Oprah Winfrey, with his four visits to her five. But we neglected to look up one Mr. Paul Hewson, aka Bono.

Would you be surprised to learn that the rock star/third world debt-relief advocate had arranged five top-level meetings during the Obama years, including a private lunch with the president in December? (No, you probably would not be surprised.)

Who else got into the White House?

(Associated Press) • Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively dining at Graffiato Wednesday night. The Young Hollywood It Couple of the moment showed up at the Penn Quarter hotspot looking very Angeleno – he in a baseball cap, she in shorts with a straw fedora over messy hair. Took a second-floor table with an older couple; ordered pizza, gnocchi, asparagus soup and stuck to water. No word on what brought them to town, but she’s been making the promotional rounds for a new Oliver Stone movie, “Savages.” They resurfaced Thursday afternoon at Sette Osteria in Dupont Circle. (Updated 5 p.m.)

Beyonce, Brad, Oprah (Getty Images; Associated Press)

Updated 4:30 p.m., see below

Demi Moore scored a meeting with Valerie Jarrett, which isn’t easy. Rashida Jones got a tour of the place from Jon Favreau, her speechwriter ex-boyfriend. Brad and Angelina met the president in the Oval Office, as did George Clooney , but you knew that. And public records indicate that only one person with the first name “Beyoncé” has visited the White House during the Obama years — and Ms. Knowles has been cleared for entry twice.

(Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images) Such are the things you learn when you spend a lazy day star-searching through the Washington Post’s new database of White House visitors.

Many celebs come to D.C. with a cause; only a few have the pull to get into the executive mansion. Which ones?