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Equal Earner Couples Should Delay Benefits
By employing little-known claiming strategies, a couple can still bring in some income at full retirement age.
Traditionally, for most married couples, the Social Security decision has been relatively easy: The higher-paid husband claims his benefit, while the wife, with a much smaller earnings record of her own, claims a spousal benefit. Now baby boomer women are retiring with years of highly paid work under their belt. Couples with two strong earners may need to tweak the conventional claiming strategy to maximize total benefits.
A spouse can receive up to 50% of the other spouse's benefit. Meanwhile, for each year a person delays claiming beyond full retirement age—66, for those born between 1943 and 1954—the beneficiary receives an 8% delayed retirement credit until age 70.
For many couples with close-to-equal benefits, it may make sense for both to delay—to take advantage of delayed retirement credits. At the same time, one of the spouses can still claim a spousal benefit by employing one or two little-known claiming strategies.
It only makes sense for both spouses to delay if the lower earner's full benefit plus delayed retirement credits exceed half of the higher earner's full benefit. And if the couple also brings in one spousal benefit, "you don't lose any money and you get raises at 70," says Jim Blair, a former district manager for an Ohio Social Security office and a partner at Premier Social Security Consulting, in Sharonville, Ohio.
Consider this scenario: John and Jane are both 66. His life expectancy is 85, and hers is 90. John's full retirement age benefit is $2,000 a month, and Jane's is $1,900. If they delay until 70, John's benefit would be worth $2,640 and Jane's benefit would be $2,508.
Since both spouses have lengthy life expectancies, delaying both benefits is the best strategy, says William Reichenstein, a professor of finance at Baylor University, in Waco, Tex., and a principal of consulting firm Social Security Solutions. In this case, Reichenstein recommends that the couple employ two strategies that would bring in spousal benefits—while also delaying collecting their own benefits.
Because Jane cannot collect a spousal benefit until John claims his own benefit, John claims—but then he suspends his benefit. But Jane also should take another step. Ordinarily, the Social Security Administration requires that a spouse take the largest benefit possible—in Jane's case, her own $1,900 benefit is larger than the $1,000 spousal benefit. Because she is full retirement age, however, Jane is allowed to choose to claim a spousal benefit—a strategy known as restricting an application to a spousal benefit.
Voila! Jane collects $1,000 a month until they both turn 70. At that point, John claims his delayed benefit, and Jane "steps up" to her delayed benefit.
By delaying until 70, high-earning couples can turbocharge their benefits for when they may need the cash flow the most—in their later years. Looking at cash flow "reminds you how long retirement is," perhaps from 70 to 95, says Christine Fahlund, senior financial planner for investment firm T. Rowe Price.
Consider the Survivor Benefit
Another reason both equal earners should consider delaying: One spouse could die earlier than life expectancy. Again, consider John and Jane, but with a wider spread in life expectancies of 76 and 90. John plans to delay to 70. If he dies at his life expectancy, Jane, at 76, would get his full survivor benefit of $2,640 a month, which is higher than her own delayed benefit at the same age.
Say the couple had decided Jane would claim at 62 to bring in income early, but John dies of a heart attack at 68. Her survivor benefit would be $2,320—short two years of delayed credits. If instead she had delayed her own benefit until 70, she could have taken the small survivor benefit for two years. In the meantime, her own benefit would have grown to $2,508 a month and she could have switched to that at 70.
Run your numbers through T. Rowe Price's free "Social Security Benefits Evaluator" tool (www.troweprice.com/socialsecurity). For customized help, Kiplinger's has partnered with Social Security Solutions (kiplinger.socialsecuritysolutions.com).


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Yikes! I need to read through this entire thread ASAP! I too spend ages looking for what I want. Thanks for starting!
You are hereForums › Digital Scrapbooking › Digital Scrapbooking Discussion › Organizing Your Digital Supplies
Organizing Your Digital Supplies
Glenda: It is a very useful thread, isn't it? Let us know if there is something specific that wasn't touched on... so we can add to it.
I need to read through this entire thread ASAP! I too spend ages looking for what I want. Thanks for starting!
I am currently going through all the kits I have and organizing them by themes. I have previously organized by store or designer. I've also read a post from the Daily Digi that was helpful a year or two ago. It recommended thinking about the quality of the kit and whether you think you will use it or not. Don't keep stuff just because it's free. Keep it because you will use it and it's great. I think this new way of organizing will help me use more of the kits I've collected. These are a few of the themed folders I have:
Art journaling
Cool treats
Fantasy ie: Disney, Fairies, etc
July 4
Valentine's Day
That's a great idea Amanda, never thought of that, I do have a folder for all the scrap kits but, they are not separated like yours, I should start doing it too, sometimes it hard to find the kit I want because I have so many (1000+) >.<
I wholeheartedly agree about the quality comment with Amanda! There's nothing more disappointing than using a kit, completing a layout, only to print & learn it didn't look good because of the quality of the kit you used. "When in doubt, throw it out" has become my new motto.
I am currently going through all the kits I have and organizing them by themes. I have previously organized by store or designer. I've also read a post from the Daily Digi that was helpful a year or two ago. It recommended thinking about the quality of the kit and whether you think you will use it or not. Don't keep stuff just because it's free. Keep it because you will use it and it's great. I think this new way of organizing will help me use more of the kits I've collected.
I started using PSE organizer but I guess I got a little intimated by how much time it will take me to organize everything.
I used the file folder name system. But then I decided I wanted to use a kit to scrap and I'd moved some elements to the folder I was more likely to use them. Luckily, about the frustration point, i discovered how easy/awesome PSE Organizer works! At least in PSE11.
There's a metadata search, which as long as the files are named correctly going in will bring up the files. For example, "button" brings up all files with button in the name or the metadata.
And there's a visual search, which while it's not perfect, does pretty good at finding colors and shapes.
A combination of these is allowing me to tag as I want/have time to, as well as find what I'm looking for when I want it. The only trick to remember is Don't move anything outside of Organizer, or you will end up with missing files.
This is the same in ACDSee... at least it was the last time I did organizing several versions back. They've done several upgrades I haven't purchased so this could have changed but I find it unlikely.
The only trick to remember is Don't move anything outside of Organizer, or you will end up with missing files.
I use Creative Memories "Memory Manager" You can organize by name, trip, whatever. I have different vaults for different occasions. It also enables you to "tag" things, and organize stuff that you might want to put together to give to someone. You can import/export with it as well.
I really like it -- My problem is finding a way to organize my digital kits...i'm slowly getting there. I put zips separate from the unzipped files. And I also have a couple of external drives. That helps me tremendously!
You can also rename in windows a bunch at a time by highlighting them all and then typing in the title in one and Voila!~ they will all follow suit starting with 1 and so on...it's that easy!
Mine are stored on a Flash drive and separated to two folders named Kits and Templates.
Templates are broken down into folders by type and kits are left alone from their original folder. I need to organize that folder
I am not very good at organizing at all... either on my computer or IRL, and I am slowly trying to fix that problem. My biggest problem is that I don't know how I want to organize things, either by color, or season, or what ever. I decided to figure out how to use Bridge since I like using Photoshop, figured the two would work well together. One of the things I like about Bridge is you can create Collections. You leave the file in it's original place on your hard drive, but you add the file to your "Collection" and when you want to look for papers, just go to your Paper collection, and all the papers you added, will show up. So far, I have created collections for Papers, Embellishments (that may have to be broken down into others as I collect more), and Templates.
I used to keep EVERYTHING... JUST IN CASE I may want to use it someday... but have finally decided that I don't need to keep everything in a kit. If I download a free kit, and I know I will NEVER use a particular paper or element, I just get rid of it... I don't need to keep everything in the kit. (But I also keep my zip files so if something ever happened, I can just unzip the file again and have everything, this is especially true of things I purchase). I also am trying to use keywords, so I could just do a search for certain keywords depending on what I was working on, but trying to sit at my computer and going through every one of my files to add a keyword is time consuming, and boring. So what I do now, is I try to add the keywords as I look at the file in Bridge and move it to one of my collections.
In my main folder of Scrapbooking supplies, I keep everything by site or designer. That way, if someone is having a sale, I can find that designer, (even if they moved to a different store or site) and look through my things to see if I have already purchased something. But when I want to use something, I can just go to Bridge, and look in my Papers or Embellishments Collection to find what I'm looking for, and if I need to, Bridge can open the folder something is located in so I can look through the entire collection.
When I first started, I sorted everything by the site where I got it..
But these days, I basically break every kit apart and create folders for papers, journaling cards, stamps, etc, etc..it made my crafting easier
Shawna-Good idea to add "pd" to items actually purchased. I was initially thinking of naming both paid and freebie files, but just naming one type of group will save me time.
I've only been digi scrapping for a few months, but I've already purchased kits from several stores. So then, how would I label the files to know WHERE I purchased it? Does it even matter?
I use Memory Manager from Creative Memories for my pictures and Storybook Creator Plus for my Digi-Albums. MM is great for organizing pictures whether it be by month or by dates. There also are ways to import my digikits to SBCP. So, it works.
I have yet to try to learn Photoshop Elements...
I also make my own calendars with SBCP and whatever else I can dream up...for Friends far away from me, I send them something and if they really want to frame it, they can -- and that way I have no worries about something being broken in transit. This year I plan to send a page of a poem I wrote called Pawprints...and I wrote about how God's faithfulness is similar to that of Man's best friend...I am sending her pics of her kritters, and the paw prints they made when we were all on the beach together in 2012.
I can't wait to see her reaction.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
So then, how would I label the files to know WHERE I purchased it? Does it even matter?
Hey There Skye: So here's some pictures of my file solder system. My top bar (path bar) for this first image shows [for example] -- C:\Users\MyName\Downloads\Digi Scrapping\Digital Scrapbooking Studio\ *that last part would be any designer names, blog names, or store names.
The second & third images represent sub-folders within a designers folder, there are some examples of both my freebies and paid for kits. Under the kit folder is where I keep everything; I leave all my papers & elements combined... Only separating out Alphas, LowerCase, Numbers & Punct in a sub-folder within the kit folder.
Hope this all makes sense Skye. LMK if you have anymore questions.
A world of information here. I have to add that I, too, wish that there was a universal naming system that ALL designers followed. It irks me to no end to find files that do not have the designer's name attached to them. Each file should have the designer's name, the kit, and what it is, and I don't mean element 1, element 2, etc. It is so much easier to search for specific things if the files include what they are. This has been my pet peeve for a long time because I have had to spend way too much time renaming files. I have tons of stuff and I just can't seem to catch up. I am going to look into Picasa. I use folders using the name of the kit, the store, and the designer, then catagorize by seasons, holidays, colors, types. It works ok, but I have way too much stuff that I need to go through and rid out.
And I have found that designers are changing stores all the time so when I do a search files from a particular store to do a challenge, I sometimes have to go and change the folder name if the designer has changed stores. I'll be busy until the day I die........
When I realize this is happening I typically just start a folder for that designers name and no matter where I get their stuff from... FB, blog, freebies, paid stores, trains, etc. I put all that designers stuff in her one folder. ***Except Blog trains that are the same them and color scheme. I file under the blog train name by site... example 1213 Xmas Blog Train and keep every designers stuff in their in a folder of the individual designer names in case the forgot to label but also keeps it together for use later as a combined color scheme or them effort.
On their challenges. I just label them the month & year, site initials, and name of challenge kit, mini, etc EX: 1213 PS Paper Challenge
Hope that makes sense and helps some.
And I have found that designers are changing stores all the time so when I do a search files from a particular store to do a challenge, I sometimes have to go and change the folder name if the designer has changed stores. I'll be busy until the day I die........
I bought a 4T xhd and have moved 2.5T over to it from single T xhds. I wanted to be able to access all my materials without changing back and forth. One thing I am finding is the bigger drive is chugging down, becoming slower in searches. When I first started saving free stuff and buying I kept them separate but then I also started putting all papers together, etc. no matter the kit or designer. It didn't take long to discover that a lot of that stuff didn't have a link to a kit and I had a lot of number 1 copy 1 and number 1 copy 2, etc.! I am still trying to figure a simpler way to organize and found myself doing it over several times. One other thing I started to do and soon stopped was to tag by color, esp. papers but then papers with print created problems.
Ladies: Just a friendly digi-scrappers reminder!!!
Might I recommend not to get too big of EHD as what the hubby tells me... is two fold. One what Geri is experiencing, they are very slow unless you get like eSATA or the newer USB3 connection that are a tad better for the speed part, but nothing is going to be as fast as an internal HD for that. Two is that the larger the EHD, he tells me, the more likely it is to crash on you or go bad because the fans aren't quiet built the same as in your PC so they are more likely to overheat or be jarred or some other tragic event happen and you lose all of your data on it.
I've wanted to buy a 3TB for the longest time and he has always even to just before Christmas encouraged me to get no larger than a 1.5TB. So I have t(1) 1.5TB and (2) 1 TB's I've had for a long while now. I have an exact ghost of each HD, even of my laptop made once a month so that if anything does go bad, that at least I only lose whatever I've downloaded or purchased or created over that month... and that would only be if it just happened to crash the day before I did the new back-ups. As far as the back-ups being ghosted. Those drives or basic internal HD's that get put in the static proof, I guess that's what they're called type bags and go to his work office. Because the chances of the house and his office being robbed or burned down on the same down are slim to nil.
Just want to remind everyone of some of the safety measures with all the work we do on our organizing, layouts, and kits. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't forget to keep yourself (all your documents or personal finance, taxes, etc) and your memories protected. Whether it's in house or online, do something so you don't break your own heart when something bad happens. Having your extra copy in your house isn't the best idea, because if you're robbed or God forbid your home is in a natural disaster your back-up is ruined too.
This has been brought to you as your annual friendly data recover reminder service.
Awesome!!! I use Adobe Lightroom to store my items... however in order to do so I have to convert all PNG files to TIFF using Adobe Bridge. It's exhausting and overwhelming at first (i'm still doing it!) but nothing beats the embedded metadata storage. i'm always curious to see how other's are organizing, thanks for sharing!!!
Jaclyn, Since you've mentioned using Adobe Bridge, you must have access to that software...so rather than convert, why not use Adobe Bridge to organize organize with keywords ? I use it and love it.
I am all sorts of disorganized with folders for this, folders for that - I really need to get more organized!
Try using XNview to change your files in a batch. It is free. Will do 400 different formats. I change from png to jpeg and resize them at the same time.
I started out using My Story Designer. After getting tired of opening all the folders to view the contents, I used one folder for paper and one for elements and tagged them within the programme which was quick and easy. Downside was I never knew whose kit I used as I din't tag the kits. Learning curve #1.
After changing over to My Memories Suite, I thought this time I would split the kits into papers and elements but keeping them in their kits, then keep them under themes and made sure the theme was the same for papers and elements to make it easy to match. To start with I didn't pay attention to the fact that not all the files have the designers name or individual file names. Learning curve #2. I am now slowly going through and naming those I can and at the same time tagging all papers with their colour and design (if any eg stripes, dots etc), Then I will tag every element with what it is. This is going to be a long process with about 1GB to do.
I still find when I finish an album, I don't know who to credit as I use bits and pieces of many kits per page. This makes me reluctant to post to galleries or facebook. I thought about taking notes, but if I had to do that I would lose my enthusiasm and wouldn't scrap.
I love the way you tag them, but for the sake of saving space, perhaps PU and CU could be used for Personal Use and Commercial Use. Also, if there is ever a place to use commercial use with attribution (the free mini-kit site, for example), You could label it CUA (Commercial Use Attribution).
This is a free abr brush viewer that I use to organize my brushes. You can open a folder of brushes, create a screenshot and then save that image. No more guessing what is where!
Please note: it is for CS5 or lower brushes. Also only works for Windows XP, Vista or 7. I'm not sure if they are planning to upgrade this, but it works wonderfully for what I have.
Here is the link to the program: abrMate
Hi Courtney,
I know it can be intimidating. What I started doing was storing and organizing as I used them. It was a slow start, but stress-free. Once I saw how easy it was to do, I started organizing 10 files a day. I'm nowhere near finished, but you end up feeling productive and proud. This helps motivate you to keep doing it.
This is very close to my own system. I would only add that I have several favorite designers that I tend to collect all their work. I also tend to remember items in those kits because I love them so much and use them over and over. So I make folders for them. So I have my "Family Game Night" bundle in two places, both my "Fun&Games" folder and my "Marisa" folder.
Right now since I'm so new I just store in labeled folders and sub folders.
I use Picasa for my photos as mentioned it is free. I don't like how it takes every picture anywhere on your computer and often downloaded papers and adds them to files. Other then that I quite like it. I was thinking of trying Photoshop as there seems to be lots of things you can do to create your own papers etc.
I use creative memories(now Panstoria) to sort and store all my downloaded kits. Some of my kits are a bit of a mess and I have not marked all with where they came from. I now make Personal Art kits and name them like "Marisa Lerin" or "Blog Trains". The great thing about this type of system is the ability to add any tags you wish for filtering to find easily.
It took me forever to come up with a system that worked for me and to backup files due to computer issues. I have duplicates but its ok my files are stored on an external 3TB hard drive . I set up my Personal Use kits and CU items the same way.
I have 2 main folders:
1) 1 folder organized by Designer along with the zip files. Every 5-6 months, save the zip files to a CD. Those come in handy when my computer throws a fit.
2) 1 folder organized by elements (ie: alpha, land animals, sea animals, bows, ribbons, flowers, doodles, fairy tales, Christmas, ect), for the papers are organized by color (ie: Blue, Green, White ect) or theme (ie: Christmas, Easter, Summer ect) and a folder for Quick Pages created by myself or designer. Files are save as designername_element name.
Thank you for the thread. There are a couple ideas I like to improve my system

subset: commoncrawl


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Thank you for serving as judge for the Grounds Maintenance Innovative Product Award. This competition honors excellence in new product development in the golf and green industries. This prestigious award showcases the most innovative products introduced after January 1, 2003, and recognizes the talent and commitment of the people involved in every aspect of development, from concept through sales. Grounds Maintenance is proud to bestow the Innovative Product Award, which will be selected by Grounds Maintenance subscribers, on inventive products that ensure professional grounds managers are able to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. This category focuses on Vehicles.


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Christ is risen!
On Easter week we remember in a very special way the resurrection of our Lord. In the Easter Vigil, as we proclaimed the Gloria, we marked that moment that changed the history of the world.
At the Cathedral this year we actually did the blessing of the fire outside, in the garden next to the Cathedral, so it was very impressive.
One of the seminarians, Emanuel from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, hand painted the Paschal candle, which is very beautiful.
Sunday morning, as I do every year, I celebrated Easter morning television Mass at WHDH Channel 7.
Then we had the 11:30 Mass at the Cathedral. It was a very impressive to see the Church filled.
(On Monday, we posted many photos of the Sacred Triduum celebrations that I am including at the end of today's post, in case you missed them.)
– – –
Then, in the afternoon we had lunch with my relatives, the Mulligans, who were in town from Florida visiting their son who is at Boston College law school.
– – –
We were very pleased this year to host the over 10,000 people who came to Boston to attend the National Catholic Education Association Convention, which was held at the Hynes Convention Center April 11-13. Though the convention was actually held in Boston, the convention was sponsored and organized by all the dioceses of New England. It was a fantastic example of collaboration among the dioceses.
I was asked to celebrate the opening liturgy Wednesday morning. There were a number of bishops who joined us for the Mass, among them Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta who is the chairman of the NCEA Board of Directors.
One of the most impressive aspects of the opening ceremonies was the joint high school choir.
Students from nine different high schools throughout the archdiocese came together to perform for us.
My understanding is that they only practiced a few times together before the actual convention, but they were just marvelous. You would never guess that they had really just met each other.
I like to share with you the text of my homily from that day:
The formula for a bishop's homily in the Middle Ages prescribed that some witticisms be included in the Easter sermons. This was to provoke laughter in the congregation because on Easter we are supposed to laugh at death. This custom was referred to as the "Risus Paschalis". What better place to look for witticisms that mock death than in our cemeteries themselves particularly in some of the epitaphs that adorn the graves. Today I would like to share a few of my favorites.
One of the best is Benjamin Franklin's which very poetically expresses his belief in the resurrection. On his gravestone is written: "the body of Benjamin Franklin the printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents worn-out, stripped of its lettering and gilding, lies here food for worms. But the work shall not be lost; for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more elegant edition revised and corrected by the author."
Examples of other memorable epitaphs which are more profane and irreverent are:
Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake.
He stepped on the gas instead of the brake.
Another epitaph from Boot Hill, Arizona reads:
Here lies Lester Moore.
Four slugs from a 44, no Les no More.
One of my favorites is this one found on a tombstone in Massachusetts:
Under the sod and under the trees
Lies the body of Jonathan Pease.
He is not here, there's only the pod.
Pease shelled out and went to God.
Another famous epitaph from England, a rather somber challenge to the passerby is as follows:
Remember man, as you walk by,
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now so shall you be
Remember this and follow me.
To which some smart Alec replied by scribbling on the tombstone:
To followed you I'll not consent
Until I know which way you went.
During Easter we stand before a tomb that has no epitaph. It is a tomb that is empty and obsolete. A tomb that was borrowed from Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus was born in a stable because there was no room in the Inn. He tells us that although the birds of the air have their nests and the foxes have their dens, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. Even in death Jesus does not have a tomb of his own. But today we rejoice because that borrowed tomb is empty and we can laugh at death.
The empty tomb and the shroud on the floor are but the first hints of the greatest event in human history. On Easter morning, Jesus Christ, who had been murdered, executed as a criminal, rose from the dead. At first the disciples find an empty tomb, but soon they encounter the Risen Lord. During the 40 days that followed Easter the Risen Lord appears over and over again. On Good Friday, the prophecy was fulfilled that said: "They will strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter." That is precisely what happened when Jesus was arrested and crucified. The disciples scattered in sorrow and disappointment. To them everything was over. But on Easter, their sorrow and pain is turned into amazement and joy. The Shepherd has returned to gather the scattered. The Risen Lord comes back and appears to Magdalene in her grief and gathers her to himself. The Lord appears to Thomas in his doubts, and invites him to put his fingers into the place of the nails and to be not unbelieving but believing. The Lord appears to Peter who has denied him three times, and three times he asked Peter: "Peter do you love me?" and he gathers Peter to himself. The Risen Lord, the Good Shepherd, wants to gather us in our scattered lives, in our brokenness, in our insecurities; he wants to assure us of his love and friendship.
The Risen Lord makes himself present to us in his word, in the sacraments and in his community. He comes to gather us into a family. Being a disciple of the Risen Lord means being part of the church, part of the community of believers that accepts the mission Christ has entrusted to us to share the good news with the world. The good news is that God so loved the world that he sent is only begotten son to be our Savior and that Jesus has conquered sin and death for us.
On the Road to Emmaus the Good Shepherd is still gathering His scattered flock. Virtually everyone agrees that the familiar story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus is a beautiful scene that contains many favorite Themes of St. Luke, such as encounters made by people on a journey, the question of faith, the offering of hospitality and recognition of Jesus in the Eucharist. This passage has captured the imagination of countless painters from Caravaggio to Velazquez and Rembrandt to name just a few.
The Gospel describes a journey that begins in despair and profound sorrow and ends, against all expectation, with the discovery of Faith, and Hope. There are no heroes here, not even an Apostle. Instead there are just two people like ourselves, bewildered, their faith faltering. This is a story about loss of direction and doubt turned to strong and joyful faith. This is not accomplished by a spectacular demonstration. The methods Jesus uses to evoke Faith in the story are the methods He uses now. The disciples on the road to Emmaus are like many Catholics today.
The two disciples are on a journey that takes them away from Jerusalem, away from the Holy City. They have turned their back on significant places, on meaning itself. Perhaps they were leaving the Church, on their way back to a life in which there was no great hope, no promise of a Messiah for the nation, or of meaning for themselves, but in which at least there would be no terrible disappointments, none of the desolation of Good Friday.
Cleopas and his companion encounter a stranger on their journey, but they do not recognize Jesus, their eyes are held from seeing Him, and they even get annoyed by the stranger's stupid questions to them.
This is the turning point in the story, for Jesus begins to teach them, not with new revelations, but by opening up to them their own past. He walks them through the History of Salvation recorded in the Jewish Scriptures, to show how His life and suffering and death really do make sense, that what had taken place in Jerusalem was the fulfillment these two disciples and all God's people had been waiting for. Though their eyes were blurred, the Lord's words touched their hearts.
When they arrive at the village of Emmaus, something remarkable happens. Jesus makes as if He is going to continue on His journey. What if Cleopas and his buddy had said: "So long, nice chatting with you?" This Gospel would never have been written. Mother Teresa used to say "Give God permission!" Our God wants our permission to come into our hearts. God wants to be invited into our lives, into our hearts and even to our dinner table.
Lucky for us the disciples invited Jesus – "Stay with us it is getting late." At the table Jesus took the bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to them. At the moment they see these Eucharistic gestures, their eyes are open. They recognize Jesus, but at that moment, the Risen Lord vanishes from their sight. The Lord disappears but the bread remains and the bread is the body of Christ. The tabernacle at St. Matthews Cathedral in Washington is flanked by mosaics of the two disciples, arms raised in amazement as they gaze at the Eucharist.
I am sure the two men never finished that meal. They ran back to Jerusalem to share their joy with the community. "We have seen the Lord and have recognized Him in the breaking of the bread", they exclaim.
The task of our Catholic education is to accompany our young Catholics on a journey that allows them to experience the Risen Christ as the two disciples did: in the Word, in the Sacrament, and in the community of faith.
In this marvelous passage from Luke, the narrative is taking shape among Jesus' first followers after Good Friday. The reports of the women about the empty tomb, the witness of the prophets, the recognition of Jesus in the breaking of the bread, and the report that Jesus had already appeared to Simon. The sharing of the narrative of diverse experiences begins to create a deeper community. The scattered disciples, whirled in different directions are being gathered in one place with one shared story which is "The Lord is Risen."
This is the task of Catholic educators, to witness to the great truths of our faith and introduce a new generation of Catholics to the Risen Lord. We learn the faith, the way we learn a language by living in a community that speaks that language. We need to mentor people in the faith. It is not as much about information as it is about formation.
Our experience of the Eucharistic community leads us to embrace our mission. The disciples are moved by God's word, amazed by the breaking of the bread and then set out on their mission to tell the Good News to the world.
The first re ading from Acts captures Peter and John in their ministry to announce the Good News and care for the sick and the marginalized. On their way to the temple they are accosted by a beggar at the gate, a clear contrast with Lazarus at the gates of the Rich Man. To that rich man, Lazarus starving and covered with sores, was invisible. The scriptures tell us Peter and John looked intently at the beggar. Their eyes of faith allowed them to see in that suffering beggar a brother, and potentially a disciple of Jesus. The words of Peter could be the motto for the Catholic schools of our country: "Gold and silver we have none, but what we do have, we give you in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarean, rise and walk."
Academic excellence is quite important, but we must be convinced that we have something more to give our students, we can help them to rise and walk in newness of life.
The beggar in the scriptures jumped up, leaping and jumping and praising God. He had been at the gate, the apostles lead him into the temple. Many of our Catholic students are at the gate, on the door stoop. We must lead them into the temple, into the heart of the Church. Pope Benedict in his Mass at St. Patrick's commented on the stain glass windows. From the outside they seem dark and ugly. Once inside we can appreciate the color and light in all its splendor. So it is with the Church. It is from within that we can perceive her beauty and appreciate her mission.
We need to give our students the joy of knowing Jesus Christ and being part of His family. We want to help them see suffering humanity with compassionate eyes that see even those who are invisible to the worldly.
St. Luke says that after the beggar was cured he would not let go of Peter's arm. What a great image that is. As Peter begins to teach in the temple the people drew near in amazement. Peter in his speech makes the connection between the beggar's healing and the resurrection of Christ.
I am always a little disappointed when our Catholic schools and religious education programs have wonderful service projects to serve the poor and the underprivileged, and yet fail to make the connection with the Risen Christ and the Eucharist.
We must never be complacent about students who do not come to Sunday Eucharist and look for new ways to help them understand and appreciate the Eucharist as the center of our lives as Catholics and the source of the strength we need to carry on our mission, to announce the Good News and build a civilization of love.
As Pope Benedict put it so well:
"Today Eucharist means the Risen Lord is constantly present, Christ who continues to give Himself to us, calling us to participate in the Banquet of His Body and Blood. From the full communion with Him comes every other element of the life of the Church, in the first place the communion among the Faithful, the commitment to proclaim and give witness to the Gospel, the ardor of charity towards all, especially toward the poor and the smallest."
With the joy and enthusiasm of Cleopas and his companion, we want to say to a new generation of Catholics that we can still laugh at death, for the Lord is truly risen and we have recognized Him in the breaking of the bread!"
Catholic education is the soul of evangelization. It is not just about communicating information, but forming people in the faith and leading them to Christ. A huge part of our effort is in the Catholic school system, which is a great treasure of our Church.
We are very proud of the wonderful work that is being done by our Catholic schools that exist because of the sacrifices of many of the faithful, particularly communities of religious women who helped to establish our schools. And now the lay teachers and administrators who have stepped up to the plate make it possible for this very important ministry to continue.
It is important for us to come together and celebrate these achievements and also encourage people who are involved in promoting Catholic identity in educational excellence in our Catholic schools.
– – –
Fittingly enough, during the NCEA convention there was also the annual Jesuit dinner, which this year honored the two Nativity schools that are in Massachusetts — one in Boston, and the other in Worcester.
These honored schools are doing excellent work in offering inner-city students free Catholic education and preparing them to be Catholic leaders of the future.
The gala was held at the Marriott Copley Place. Over 1,200 friends and Jesuits attended. The event raised over $1.1 million to support the formation and care of Jesuits and the apostolic works of the New England Province.
During the evening the provincial, Father Myles Sheehan, spoke. He gave a very good talk about Jesuit spirituality. He said the Jesuit order exists to serve Christ and to praise His name.
And then the two headmasters of the schools, who received the honors in the names of their schools, gave very significant addresses concerning the mission and Catholic identity of the schools.
Father John Wronski, president of Nativity Preparatory School in Boston, Father Sheehan the Jesuit Provincial and Alex Zequeira, president of Nativity School in Worcester. Father Wronski and Mr. Zequeira accepted the award on behalf of the teachers and staff of the schools
The chairs of the Jesuit Gala: Peter and Cathy Smyth, Tom and Diane Reilly, Father Myles Sheehan, Norm and Helen Boucher, Patrick Hurley and Susan Lysart Hurley
– – –
As I said at the beginning I am re-posting here my Monday post on the Sacred Tridumm.
On Thursday evening, we gathered for the Mass of the Last Supper.
This celebration is full of meaning for Catholics, because it was on the night of his betrayal that Christ instituted the Eucharist and the priesthood.
Following the homily, we have the Washing of Feet. It commemorates that, during the last Supper, Jesus took the role of a servant – the lowest place — washing the feet of his disciples, telling them "Love one another as I have loved you."
After the Washing of Feet, we have the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
We remember that on the night he was betrayed, Jesus asked his disciples to stay awake with him in the Garden of Gethsemane. So, after the Mass, we do not have the usual blessing and dismissal. Instead the Blessed Sacrament is taken to a place of repose, where we remain with him.
– – –
On Good Friday we remember Christ's suffering and death on the Cross.
One of the traditional observances of the Good Friday is the Way of the Cross. A number of groups hold processions throughout the archdiocese and some of them stop at the Cathedral.
One of the groups that comes each year is the one from Communion and Liberation. The hold a Way of the Cross that goes through Boston Common.
I was very pleased to meet a woman named Sarah who was one of the pilgrims. She is about 30 now, but when she was just a baby I understand she had seizures that left her with many disabilities.
It was wonderful to see that she made the Way of the Cross and also how lovingly she is cared for by her mother Carol and all those around her.
Then, at 3 o'clock we had the celebration of the Veneration of the Cross.
– – –
On Saturday night, we celebrated the Easter Vigil in the Cathedral.
The vigil begins with the Blessing of the Easter Fire
The Paschal candle, which represents Christ, is lit from a fire and we carve on it the sign of the cross as we say:
Christ yesterday and today
the Beginning and the end
And then we make other signs that also carry great symbolism, including the Alpha and Omega characters, in reference to the book of revelation in which Christ referred to as the "Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last."
At the Easter Vigil we bless the baptismal water before baptizing new converts .
During the blessing, the paschal candle is immersed in the water
Christ is Risen!
– Cardinal Seán


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Combine a potato gratin with Hasselback roast potatoes for the ultimate creamy-in-the-middle, crispy-on-top casserole.
Note: because of variation in the shape of potatoes, the amount of potato that will fit into a single casserole dish varies. Longer, thinner potatoes will fill a dish more than shorter, rounder potatoes. When purchasing potatoes, buy a few extra in order to fill the dish if necessary. Depending on exact shape and size of potatoes and casserole dish, you may not need all of the cream mixture.
3 ounces finely grated Gruyère or comté cheese
2 ounces finely grated Parmigiano-reggiano
2 cups heavy cream
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 to 3 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8th-inch thick on a mandoline slicer (5 to 6 medium, see note above)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Combine cheeses in a large bowl. Transfer 1/3 of cheese mixture to a separate bowl and set aside. Add cream, garlic, and thyme to cheese mixture. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add potato slices and toss with hands until every slice is coated with cream mixture, making sure to separate any slices that are sticking together to get the cream mixture in between them.
2. Grease a 2-quart casserole dish with butter. Pick up a handful of potatoes, organizing them into a neat stack, and lay them in the casserole dish with their edges aligned vertically. Continue placing potatoes in casserole, working around the perimeter and into the center until all potatoes have been added. Potatoes should be very tightly packed. If necessary, slice additional potato, coat with cream mixture, and add to casserole (see note above). Pour excess cream/cheese mixture evenly over potatoes until the mixture comes half way up the sides of the casserole. You may not need all excess liquid (see note above).
3. Cover tightly with foil and transfer to oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until top is pale golden brown, about 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining cheese, and return to oven. Bake until deep golden brown and crisp on top, about 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven, let rest for a few minutes, and serve.


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This Sentence is Already Too Long
Blogs are dying. Not this blog. I mean in general. This blog's just fine. Okay, yes, it has been a little while since the last post, but that's just because I was busy writing. Well. Rewriting. It's like writing, only with less visible progress. With writing, you can feel reasonably assured that what you put on the page is better than what was there before. Not always! But mostly. Rewriting, though, you can spend a good six hours on a scene, sit back, and think, "Yep… that's worse."
Anyway. Blogs are OUT. They're too long. That's the problem. No-one has the time for them. The middle is hollowing out. Everything is polarizing. We want things to be very. It doesn't matter what. Whatever it is, only very. There's no place for mid-length writing any more. There never was, of course. But blogs used to be short. Then Twitter. Now blogs are like One Day Cricket.*
But here we are! And it's already been more than 140 characters. So let's continue. This blog will summarize what I've been thinking about over the last few months, while I was busy making my new book not worse.
Sneaker riots. The first one or two were kind of shocking to me, like a thought come to life. The next few were disappointing, like repeated plot points. But now we're at, what, the seventh Nike sneaker riot? When does it become less likely that they're continually being surprised by this kind of thing happening and more likely that they're deliberately engineering it? That's just a question. I'm just wondering.
Syrup movie. Now in post-production. I have been shown a teaser-trailer thing and it is heartbreakingly beautiful. I've watched it three hundred times. I'm not joking. The only thing that sucks about the Syrup movie is I'm not allowed to tell you anything. But soon. Soon…
Privacy. This interests me because privacy is obviously very important for reasons nobody understands. Generally, there's a much stronger incentive for companies and governments to want to know things about you than for you to keep your data private. That leads to an interesting place.
Persuasion. This is the most valuable skill in the world, right? People who are good at persuading others become rich and successful; people who are easily persuaded by others do not. But nobody really thinks about this. Very few people actually go out and learn how to be better at persuasion, or more aware of its forms. Why is that?
Also, the US as a culture is very advanced at soft persuasion (i.e. the forms of persuasion that don't involve threats of bodily harm). It is great at selling stuff. We have the Internet and free access to vast stores of information but we're still buying products with the cleverest ads, and electing politicians with the most reassuring voices. I wonder what happens if a culture becomes so good at persuasion that there is no longer an incentive to produce products that are just objectively good, as opposed to well-sold.
Privacy + Persuasion. It's easier to persuade people if you know more about them. And if you can persuade them, you can get more information from them. That's an interesting dynamic, too.
Piracy. But this is too depressing for now so I'll blog about it later.
That's a lot of Ps, for some reason.
(* This analogy works because even if you don't know cricket, you know it is stupid and anachronistic.)


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Pizza Obsessives: Norma Knepp, Experimental Pizza Maven
Slice interviews with folks who are mad about pizza.
If you've checked out My Pie Monday, then you know Norma427 by her experimental pies. Let's get to know one of Slice's most imaginative pie makers a little better by getting her in the hot seat.—MS
Name: Norma Knepp
Location: Manheim, Pennsylvania
Occupation: Pizza Maker at Roots Country Market
URL(s): Blog, learningknowledgetomakepizza.blogspot.com; seriouseats.com/norma427
What type of pizza do you prefer?
I like almost any style of pizza, but mostly prefer NY style or Neapolitan pizza. I am always open to trying out some kind of new pizza or experiment with different ingredients to see what kind of pizza it will make. Oh, I also really like a double crust deep-dish pizza.
The Pizza Cognition Theory states that "the first slice of pizza a child sees and tastes ... becomes, for him, pizza." Do you remember your first slice? Where was it from, is the place still around, and if so, does it hold up? On that note, has your taste in pizza evolved over time?
I don't remember my first slice of pizza, but the first slice I do remember was Mack's Pizza in Wildwood, NJ. That is still one of my favorite pizzas. I think it is the cheese that makes it so special. I just visited Mack's last May and still really do love their pizza.
My taste in pizza has evolved over time, especially since I started making my own pizzas. When I first started my small pizza stand at Root's Market, I didn't know anything about making pizza. Pizzamaking.com is where I got all the help I needed and that led me to want to know more about all the various kinds of pizza.
What's your favorite topping or topping combination?
I really don't have any favorite toppings and I'll try almost anything. I have tried some really different toppings, most of which I liked. But I can eat a normal cheese pizza any day.
Where do you go for pizza in your area?
Since I learned to make pizza, I no longer have a favorite pizza place in my area. My friend Steve (Ev) built his own wood fired oven last summer and now that is where we try out doughs. Before last year I had never tried a pizza made in a wood fired oven, but now I really like them.
In addition to making pies at the market, I think it's safe to assume you make a fair number of pizzas at home. Would you remind us of the methods and ingredients that you use?
Yes, I make many kinds of pizza at home, involving many experiments. I have tried all kinds of home oven set-ups, but I mostly make pizzas them in my low temperature oven or on my BBQ grill set-up. I need to work more on my BBQ grill set-up. I have tried many home oven set-ups. It would take too long to name all the formulas I have tried. I have played around with wild yeasts that I captured using different flours, thanks to some guidance from Foolish Poolish. I then went on to make different pizzas with them, which were mostly Sicilian pizzas. They were the start of my ventures in higher hydration doughs.
At the market, my regular dough for the last year and a half has been a pre-ferment Lehmann dough that I bake in a Baker's Pride oven. But I am always testing out new doughs. Some are taken to my friend Steve's wood fired oven, and some get baked in my oven at the market. Most recently, I made some dough in an old Universal bread maker (1904) with manteca and that pizza turned out really good!
So just how many pizzas a week do you make? The number of pies I make at market each Tuesday varies due to the time of year, weather (snowing or raining, hot or snowing) and so many other factors. In addition to the market pies, though, I average 2-4 experimental pies per week.
Anything new that you are currently working on that you'd like to share?
I am now working on using homemade dough enhancers to see if they can create different flavors in the crust, more oven spring, and a better pizza.
So what do you think should NEVER go on a pizza?
The kitchen sink? Just kidding... but I would try almost anything on a pizza. I haven't tried any toppings that I didn't like on a pizza yet.
I should have expected that kind of renegade response. In that case, which of the pies that you have experimented with do you consider the most unusual?
I think the Triple Berry Muffin Mix, Fairmount Bagel Pizza, and the Bisquick Biscuit Pizza are the most unusual pizzas I have made or have eaten so far.
Conceptually, you seem to be willing to go where no pizza maker has gone before. What's the farthest you've physically traveled for pizza?
The farthest I have traveled for pizza is to NY and NJ. I got to go to Keste's, in November of last year, and that has been my favorite pizzeria so far. The pizza there was fantastic. I even got to talk to Roberto for awhile.
Anything else you'd like to get off your chest?
Pizza is a much more complicated food than I ever thought it could be. Knowing when the dough is mixed right, fermented right, and correctly baked is a process I am sure I will be learning the rest of my life. There is just so much to know and I am learning daily from the moderators and other members pizzamaking.com.
What's New On Serious Eats
What do your family and/or friends think of your pizza madness?
They are almost ready to disown me. They think I am too obsessed. One man from the market, Dave, drew a cartoon representing how I like to play with dough and labeled me the Dough LI Lama. He also drew a picture of me in a pizza (above) that says: "Norma's Dream Was Fulfilled When She Became A Topping On A Pizza." I had to really laugh when he showed me that picture. I keep both of them at my little pizza stand.
Steve, my pizza making buddy, helps me out at the market. We enjoy talking about making pizza every Tuesday, but Steve's wife calls us pizza geeks!
Well it sounds like they are as playful about your obsession as you are with the object of your obsession. Now: Who would you like to see interviewed next?
There are so many members on pizzamaking.com that are worthy of being interviewed, it's hard to name just one. If I had to name a few, they would be Matt, scott r, and my friend Steve (Ev).
Those sound like some worthy candidates. Thank you for sitting in the hot seat, and we're all looking forward to seeing what your pizza creativity and experiments will produce next!
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Vehicle Repairs
The need for vehicle repairs is almost never expected, so figuring out how to afford those repairs can get pretty stressful for most people. Just getting an estimate for the repairs you need usually costs money too. If you have a job, chances are that being without reliable transportation is not an option for you. A small loan can be just what's needed to get back on the road in between paydays.
Unexpected Bills
Your insurance policy probably does not cover all aspects of your healthcare needs, and copay requirements can be expensive for things like surgery. Having to face copays are almost never planned for so the chance that you'll have money saved up for the occasion is pretty slim.
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It's pouring outside, I have an appointment across town in 30 minutes, and my car's in the shop. To make matters worse, the rain means all the cabs near me are already taken.
Desperate to hitch a ride, I launch the Uber app on my iPhone and tap a button to track my location. In four minutes, a black sedan pulls up to my house, and a driver opens the rear door, welcoming me in.
Editor's note: This article is part of a series of profiles about hit apps and the successful programmers behind them.
See Also: How Angry Birds Is Becoming the Next Super Mario
Fifteen minutes later, I arrive at my destination and step out of the car. I don't have to hand over the $25 fare or tip, because I've already paid through the app. Yes, it was pricey, but it was worth it.
For me, Uber was simple: Request a ride, get in a car and go. But to get the car to my door, Uber's system first had to crunch through an array of complex mathematical formulas created by its team of computer scientists, all in an attempt to solve a decades-old economics problem plaguing the cab industry: how to optimize driving routes – and provide enough cars – to pick up the most customers in the least amount of time.
"It's really fun, sexy math," says Travis Kalanick, Uber's fearless CEO. He sounds cocky and self-assured, but without giving the impression that he's trying to sell something. It's math with real-world benefits, he explains.
"We are not just moving bits," Kalanick said. "We're moving people."
Uber is not a cab business — the app hires luxury sedans — but it offers a compelling alternative to the traditional cab. The cab business is ruthless for everyone, especially the drivers. In order to legally drive a cab, every driver in most American cities must display a "medallion," a city-issued badge that permits him or her to pick up people on the street when they wave their hands.
For about 80 years, cities' transportation agencies have enforced the medallion system to regulate the quantity and quality of cabs zooming up and down the streets. The problem is, in most cities, the number of medallions has remained stagnant even as human population and traffic balloon.
Because of the limited number of medallions, the competition among drivers for obtaining a medallion is fierce. Cab drivers camp on waiting lists for nearly 20 years just to grab a badge. Once you've got one, the potential payoff is big: Some medallion owners auction off their badges for as much as $600,000 apiece, while others lease their medallions to cab drivers for $100 to $200 per shift.
And because a city's cab supply is scarce, the competition for hailing a cab on the street is likewise intense, especially on a night like New Year's Eve, or the minute the bars shout, "Last call!"
With technology, Uber offers an app-powered car service that helps drivers earn money outside the medallion system, which amounts to more vehicles to fill more people.
A startup based in downtown San Francisco, Uber launched in June 2010. The startup has partnered with dozens of sedan services to hire their drivers and hook them up with iPhones containing the Uber drivers' app. Uber customers can hire drivers using the Uber app available on both iPhone and Android, or anybody with a cellphone can hail an Uber car by sending a text message containing the pick-up address to Uber's number. Once riders make a request, they receive an ETA from the driver.
When a driver receives a request, it appears on his iPhone, along with GPS coordinates of the rider. From here on, riders can call the driver if they need to make any special requests. Customers are required to enter their credit card information through the Uber app or website prior to requesting a car, so when they step out, there's no need to yank out their wallets. Riders can rate their drivers with a rating of 1 to 5, so if someone reports a negative experience, Uber can discipline (or fire) delinquent drivers.
Uber so far is only deployed in San Francisco, but over 10,000 customers have registered for the service already. The service will become available in New York "very soon," according to Kalanick.
There's no charge for the app, but customers pay a premium each time they book an Uber car — about 40 percent more than a regular cab fare.
To justify the premium, Uber guarantees that anybody who asks for a ride will get a car in a timely manner no matter what. Morevoer, Kalanick promises, the entire experience will be "über."
"We want a more über experience," Kalanick said. "Giving somebody you don't know your credit card is not uber."
The trick is, it's not easy being "über." It takes some really complicated math.
The Traveling Salesman
Imagine a giant sheet of paper with 4,000 dots scattered all over it. If you were to draw a line connecting all the dots, what would be the shortest, ideal path to get to all of them? Even if all the world's fastest supercomputers were put to work, they couldn't generate a perfect algorithm to solve this classic puzzle, which computer scientists call the traveling-salesman problem.
Uber, and any car service, for that matter, faces this problem, many times over.
"We have 100 cars out there and riders sprinkled all around the city," Kalanick said. "Each car has its own traveling-salesman problem."
And Uber's up for the challenge. The staff consists of 15 employees, including engineers, driver operations managers and community support reps who use Twitter, Facebook and other social media to interact with riders.
Kalanick himself studied computer science at UCLA, and one of the first companies he founded was a P2P search engine called Scour, which the music and movie industries sued for $250 billion, forcing Scour to settle and sell its assets. Kalanick believes his new startup Uber can only get better as it continues to chase the most sophisticated algorithm.
For Uber, the traveling salesman problem is even more complicated than determining the shortest distances between pickups. What about circumstances that would cause spikes in demand, like a rainstorm or a Giants game?
To measure and predict demand, Uber's system is constantly tracking ride-request patterns in different parts of the city. It also downloads weather-forecast data to get an idea of when to expect harsh conditions, and employees stay keenly aware of special events in the city that could affect demand and traffic.
On days of skyrocketing demand, such as Halloween night, Uber still promises everybody will get a car. How? Dynamic pricing: The cost of a fare goes up if Uber predicts exceptionally high demand, and this gives drivers incentive to work on these extremely hectic nights. It's like paying an employee overtime for working on a holiday.
It also helps keep demand manageable, by discouraging customers who aren't willing to pay what the ride is worth.
At the end of each day, Uber creates charts to analyze how accurately it was able to predict demand for rides throughout the city versus how high demand actually turned out to be. Using these charts, the company refines the prediction algorithm, so Uber gets better and better at estimating how many cars will be needed in the city on certain days and at certain hours.
Currently, the company is experimenting with a heat-map system (below) that will show drivers where demand is likely to be "hot," so they can hover around areas where someone is most likely to request a ride.
But even a heat map isn't a flawless solution, because if every driver got to see the heat map, they would all gravitate toward the same areas and leave the rest of the city dry. For this reason, Uber must publish the heat map to drivers in a gradual manner, so a few get it at a time. Who gets the map, and when, and how much of it is another complex math problem to explore.
Uber will soon hire Ph.D. scholars to help study and refine the company's statistical algorithm and heat-map distribution, according to Kalanick.
In the Uber office, operations managers watch a screen showing a "God View" (below) of the entire city, which displays all the active Uber cars in real time to ensure quality is maintained on the system at all times. Kalanick said it's mesmerizing watching the car requests light up all over the city during peak hours.
"When new employees see the God View, they end up watching it for hours — not because they have to, but because they're just amazed by it," Kalanick said.
Cruising Ahead
Uber doesn't eliminate the broken medallion system in the cab industry, nor does it fix it. However, by providing an alternative car service, Uber could potentially alleviate some of the supply pressure exerted on existing cab services: The more people take Uber cars, the more cabs become available for everybody else.
The initial hurdle for customers will be price. Uber isn't cheap – my 2.6-mile ride to my appointment cost $25, for example, whereas a taxi would have cost $10 or $12 – but Kalanick sees the possibility of eventually offering a tiered pricing structure for customers depending on car type and quality of the driver, among other factors.
Uber plans to expand to every major city in the world, because cabs face the same supply problem everywhere, Kalanick said.
Before it can do that, it has to overcome a few obstacles at home. The City and County of San Francisco issued a cease-and-desist letter to the company in October 2010, when the company was still called "UberCab." Anything with the word "cab," the city's transportation agency complained, must have a permit to operate as a cab service, and Uber doesn't even hire actual cabs.
Within 24 hours, Uber removed "Cab" from its company name. Nonetheless, the city can't be happy that Uber is filling the streets with cars that are beyond its jurisdiction.
"There's no way they like us," Kalanick said.
Uber also faces competition from other startups trying similar car solutions, such as TaxiMagic, an app that uses a computerized dispatch system to hail traditional cabs. Kalanick said he welcomes any rivals to join the race.
"We don't look in the rear-view mirror much," he said. "We just keep going forward. We're faster and intelligent. If you've got something to compete, bring it — I'm not sleeping. If you're sleeping, I'm gonna kick your ass."


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Interview with On Deck Magazine
Interview: E.G. Bailey
by On Deck Magazine, July 2010
We would like to introduce you to spoken word artist, E.G. Bailey. He is a dynamic performer and an icon of spoken word in Minnesota as an innovator and founder of numerous organizations and projects that have helped to bring the spoken word community in Minnesota to the forefront. Reporter Dwight Hobbes states, 'The scene has not been host to a stronger performing poet,' and Amiri Baraka says, 'He makes language live.' He has received a number of awards including the Urban Griots Award for 'Outstanding Contributions' to the spoken word art form.
ODM: You speak heavily on the "American African" and the struggle of identifying with African roots while growing up as an American. Why do you think it is a challenge for members of the African Diaspora and Africans who are raised in America to identify with they're African roots?
E.G. Bailey: Part of the reason that I made the album was to show that there are two communities and two realities for Afrikans in America. The typical understanding has been that Black people, regardless of whether they were from Afrika, or Haiti, or the United States, were generalized as African American. There was a time when the number of Afrikans were not significant enough to be thought of as a 'separate' community. The general belief was that they were just here temporarily, for school, for asylum or just visiting, and they would be returning to their country soon. However, events in the 80s and 90s have caused large migrations of Afrikans into the States. These young Afrikans, and the children of Afrikans, that came to the U.S. during that time, are coming of age and coming into their own. They are part of a much larger community now. So it is not so much that it is a challenge identifying with their roots, but it has been a challenge to be accepted. This generation of Afrikans, we love our roots; we celebrate it as much as possible. We know we are as brilliant, as beautiful and as strong as anybody else. What's troubling is that those around us don't always see that beauty. What's troubling is the persistent negative images in the media. It still seems that no matter far we have come as Afrikans, the litany of suffering still burdens Afrika. Because of this, what is most pervasive in the minds of Americans, towards Afrika and Afrikans, is civil wars and famine and poverty and aids. It's not to deny these exist on the continent but if those are the only images you see, that is all you know. I try to tell people how cosmopolitan, how advance, Afrika is. The first time I drove into Abidjan, I was struck by how much it reminded me of driving into Chicago. Johannesburg is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen, and the lushness of parts of Dar es Salaam would shock you. This all has to be balanced with the poverty and struggle of many living in these areas, but what population doesn't. Look at the U.S. today. Look at Europe. The more positive images of Afrika that we can put out in the world the better. That is why it's great to see the recent resurgence, and success, of Afrikan artists, such as K'Naan, Akon, Nneka and others; the revival of Fela; or to see the World Cup in South Africa. Hopefully some of this will contribute to burying the image of the 'dark continent' forever.
ODM: Amongst many other things you are a poet and a musician, what inspired you to transform your poetry into a form of music and which musicians are you most inspired by?
E.G.: As a child in Liberia, I hung out in the one record store in our village. They played all kinds of African artists but the most popular was Prince Nico Mbarga. His biggest hit was 'Sweet Mother', which still gives me chills to this day. When I came to the States, I fell in love with my father's record collection. I listened to everything I could, from Mississippi John Hurt to the Persuasions to the Beatles to his compilations of early rock and roll songs, with Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Ritchie Valens, you name it. My parents also listened heavily to folk, country, and bluegrass–Emmylou Harris, Claudia Schmitt, Hoyt Axton, Dolly Parton, Charlie Daniels, John Prine, Steve Goodman. I would spend hours making mixtapes, on cassettes. We would travel during the summers, going to different festivals, even going to the Grand Ole Opry, and Dollyworld. My father and I would pool our money and buy albums together, like Dylan's Biograph box set or Beatle's White Album. I think he did it more to support my interest than his interest in the music. And of course, there was 80s radio. I was also heavy into new wave–New Order, Erasure, Echo and the Bunnymen, Public Image Limited, Sugarcubes (with Bjork)–also U2, Ministry, The Police, Talking Heads, early Nine Inch Nails. When CDs first came out, my first purchase was Boomtown Rats and New Edition. My family would also send me cassettes of African music from back home. So I was exposed to everything.
I've had a few musical life changing experiences. One would be the first time I heard Prince. This was the 1999 album. I had to have everything he released, all the albums, the singles, the b-sides, everything. And then there was Purple Rain. But Prince didn't inspire me to create poetry with music. I just thought that he was incredibly talented, and he helped me through my first major breakup. Most likely what first inspired me to set poetry to music was Jim Morrison. I happened upon a copy of Jim Morrison's biography, No One Gets Out of Here Alive, and read it in one night. I then proceeded to get everything that Morrison, and the Doors, put out. This is when I first discovered Morrison's poetic escapades. I had never heard of spoken word; I didn't know such a thing existed. I didn't even know that you could set poetry to music as a different concept than just lyrics to a song. When I heard 'Celebration of the Lizard' or 'Horse Latitudes' or 'Texas Radio & the Big Beat', I remember thinking I'd like to do that one day, combine my poems with music. It's interesting, it wasn't about writing songs, having a band, so on. It was very specifically combining my 'poems' with music. I wasn't sure how this was going to happen, since I wasn't brave enough to perform my poems at the time. The next significant event was college, more specifically, discovering jazz, The Last Poets, Nina Simone and hip hop at college. I had listened to jazz and hip hop in high school. Run DMC came out when I was still in high school and you couldn't escape 'Walk This Way'. There was early Kurtis Blow, LL and Fresh Prince, also MTV had just started. But it was mostly just casual listening. College was when I started to really immerse myself in jazz and hip hop, with Coltrane being my favorite, along with Eric B + Rakim, Tribe, Public Enemy and most of all De La. A teacher played a Nina track in class and I instantly feel in love. But what sealed the deal was a compilation tape a friend had made of the Last Poets. I listened to it constantly for the better part of a year. I still wasn't performing at the time, but it heavily influenced and inspired me, and made the idea of performance poetry more real.
ODM: You left your home country of Liberia at age 10. What would you say is the biggest difference between the two countries?
E.G.: The most obvious answer is opportunity. I grew up in Saclepea, a village in the northern region of Liberia. We had unpaved roads, no running water, and those that could afford it used generators for electricity, otherwise it was kerosene lamps. But it's like Nikki Giovanni says in her poem, 'Nikki-rosa', 'though you're poor it isn't poverty that concerns you…only that everybody is together' and 'all the while I was quite happy'. To this day I still have a certain nostalgia for kerosene lamps, and I find rain falling on zinc roofs to be one of the most beautiful and soothing sounds in the world. But I was looking for my father, and I knew my father was American, and that I wanted to come to America to find him. At that time, we saw America as the Promise Land. If we could only reach it, all our problems would be solved; we would never want for money or food, whatever we desired. My first day in the States, my family attended a parade. In my naiveté, I thought the parade was for me; and when they started throwing money and candy from the floats, the prophecy of the Promise Land seemed to have come true. But eventually reality sets in and you learn that people throwing money at you from parade floats is as much of a fantasy for Americans as it is for Afrikans.
I was fortunate because after coming to the U.S., I grew up in a middle class environment, and came from a family of teachers. I benefited from a strong educational background, and was able to attend one of the best colleges in the country. This was a sharp contrast to what my family was enduring back home because shortly after I arrived in the States, there was a coup in Liberia, followed by a civil war. I helped as I could, especially after graduating from college, sending as much money as I could to help support my family. I often had difficulty fully enjoying life in America. It's jarring to be speaking with your mother on the phone, while hearing bombing in the background; or to learn that you have to bail her out of an Ivorian jail; or rescue your brother who has been abducted to be a child soldier. It's almost impossible to feel that you're doing enough. Even though I don't have a lot, I've carried my share of guilt for what do I have and the opportunities I have had here. In light of all this though, what has struck me, when I have been able to return home, is the open-hearted love of life. There is also an abiding faith to persevere. They may not have much and the years have been difficult but there is still so much love and laughter, a willingness to soak in life, to celebrate and welcome you in. The pace of life helps you to appreciate this. In comparison, America looks like a colony of ants.
ODM: You begin one of your poems with the words "blue black beautiful are we." Today in the media sphere being dark and having African features aren't typically connected with being beautiful. Why do you think the standards of beauty in the media are based on more European features?
E.G.: If you control the media you have the power to control the message and to set the rules. The politics of power and propaganda are intertwined. To maintain a hierarchy, even if the truth of that hierarchy is a facade, it's important that your standards become the norm or the celebrated. So that is what's perpetuated, even though we know that beauty is a highly subjective, and perhaps an unclassifiable thing.
We as a people, as individuals, have to move beyond this. We have let this be used against us too long. First you have to realize that your standard of beauty does not rest in anyone's hands but your own. You must know that YOU are beautiful, and exude that beauty in every way possible. That's not always easy when you are constantly bombarded with images that counter that. But that's why we also have to control what medium we can. It's now cliched to say that you have to 'become the media', but there's a lot of power in that. That's one of the things I like about social networking and how the internet has opened up avenues for everyone. With Myspace, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, etc., you have the ability, if you want, to become your own media. You can become the medium for what you want to broadcast to the world. You may only touch and influence a few hundred to a few thousand people, but you are still affecting them, for better or worse.
That line, 'blue black and beautiful are we', relates to the Diaspora, and Afrikans of all shades and backgrounds all over the planet but it also relates to the energy of the Black Power movement of the 60s when we took pride in our blackness and our beauty. I loved getting darker in the summer. I loved letting my hair grow into an afro, or shaving it and wearing a porkpie hat. That's what we have to do, love all versions of ourselves. I once wrote, 'i have learned to love/my self/my own nakedness/looking for the history/in my hands/the stories my scars will tell/real & imagined//i love the color/of my soul/which i call dusk/and long to paint it/on your body/with my tongue.'
ODM: What do you want people to take from work? What message do you want them to receive?
E.G.: First I would like them to enjoy the work. Too often people stay away from spoken word because they think it's too serious, too boring, too depressing, or it has no music, or the music is outdated. This album is not like that. It's not pop commercial mainstream music but it's not dry or boring or outdated. It has great music that fuses all kinds of different styles and genres, and pays tribute to our amazing musical tradition, including the different styles of spoken word throughout history. I wanted to create something that hip hop heads, funksters, jazz cats, Afrikan musicologists, techno lovers and those that appreciate a cappella spoken word could all enjoy. And to have a greater appreciation for spoken word. In addition, I wanted them to walk away with a better understanding of where Afrikans living in America are today, their legacy and aspirations. Also that it is possible to live in America and still hold Afrika in your soul, your heart, your everyday thinking and living.
ODM: You have managed to transform your poetry into several different forms, not only music but also film, theatre, and radio. Of all these genres which is your favorite to work with?
E.G.: I don't have one favorite form; I love certain aspects of the different forms. I love directing films, and the rehearsal process of theatre, as an actor and a director. I love screenwriting more than playwriting, but with both of these I prefer to do adaptations. I could spend all day in the recording studio, whether I'm recording or someone else is. Conceptualizing and creating music is a big high. I enjoy doing radio but mostly because I love sharing music with people. I also enjoy creating radio pieces or documentaries but don't do it often. I've worked through my nerves enough to get to the place of liking live performance, especially if it's with a band. But I've always said that film is my final destination. One of my favorite filmmakers is Orson Welles. He took his experiences from all these different mediums and brought them to film. That is what I like to be able to do, draw on all these experiences and bring it to film.
ODM: You have received recognition for your phenomenal work in the form of awards and recognition from other artist in your field. How did you react when the famous poet Nikki Giovanni praised your work?
E.G.: I couldn't believe it actually. It was a feeling of accomplishment. Not accomplishment in the sense of achieving anything. But there are writers that have inspired you and sustained you since you were young. You learned not only how to write from them, but how to live, how to love your history and yourself, how to more clearly see the world. There a few writers like this for me, and Nikki was one of them. Another was Amiri Baraka, who I call the Godfather of Spoken Word. Studying Nikki, Sonia, Amiri, Larry Neal, Haki and others in college opened my eyes to new ways of writing. Actually it taught me not to be afraid to write in my own way, whatever that is. Because I couldn't speak English when I first came to the States, I carried a lot of insecurities as a writer, and always felt like I had a late start compared to my peers. Learning how they took ownership of their own voice and their own language, and freed themselves from what was considered proper English and proper poetry, gave me faith and freedom to continue my own path with my writing. The track on the album, 'Blues People' is actually dedicated to 'amiri, nikki, sonia and dem', and is a tribute to their efforts to reclaim Black poetry and celebrate the Black Vernacular. I've had a copy of 'Black Feeling, Black Talk/Black Judgment', and also of 'Gemini', for as long as I can remember. 'Truth Is On Its Way' is one of the best spoken word albums ever recorded. We used to perform her poems 'Ego Tripping' and 'Genie in a Jar' as part of the spoken word band, Arkology. So for her to find value in my work, and to take the time to send a postcard, it was truly an honor.
ODM: Some may argue that poetry combined with music is simply the creation of rap music. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
E.G.: This is a misunderstanding we have to correct all the time. I tell my students that even though most people assume that spoken word came about because of hip hop, and that spoken word is just hip hop without a beat, the truth is that spoken word helped to give birth to hip hop. I try to teach them that the Last Poets had already laid the foundation and released the blueprint well before the release of what's considered the first hip hop track in 1979. One listen to 'E Pluribus Unum', which was released in 1972, and you can hear that the form is already in place. If it was recorded in 1972, it was created sometime before then. This would be before what is considered the birth of hip hop–summer of '73 at the Kool Herc party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. I try to explain it this way. The Last Poets had the highest selling poetry based album of all time with their first album, over one million copies. A spoken word album, selling over one million copies; so you can understand its significance and impact. This means that it's in households all over the country. Gil Scott Heron also releases 'Small Talk at 125th and Lenox' the same year. So, 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' is also playing in households across the country. That means that the young people, that would later come into their own and help to create hip hop, are hearing all this. Every generation takes what they receive from the previous generation and transform it into their own. They would take these influences, and add them to the numerous other influences and elements, to eventually create what became known as hip hop. That's why the Last Poets can legitimately be called the 'the godfathers of rap'.
For me, hip hop is the lyrical evolution of spoken word. However, spoken word had been in existence long before, and was often married with music. It was married with jazz in the 40s and 50s; it was married with funk in the 70s; Nikki married it with gospel for 'Truth Is On Its Way'; I've combined it with folk music. Spoken word with music goes beyond simply being the creation of a bastardized form of rap music. Which is part of why I love it. The freedom of it allows it to be almost anything; it's not trapped in a single form or genre.
ODM: How did you start writing poetry? Did you always know that this was the path you wanted your life to take?
E.G.: I first started writing poetry out of isolation. I was a fly in the buttermilk where I grew up. I didn't speak the language. When I started school, I was years behind my peers. Making friends was a challenge. There were many days I felt like an outcast. One day I wrote a short poem on friendship, and it released all the pain and frustration that I was feeling. From then on, poetry became a refuge. I had no plans for it become my vocation. It was just a place I felt free and safe, without judgment. My plans were actually to study photography, as a means to becoming a filmmaker. Most of my time in college was spent as a photographer, and working as a photo editor for the student newspaper. Once I graduated, I decided I wanted to be an artist rather than work in a corporate job, so I ran a house painting business for the summer, took the money I earned and moved to Fargo with a girlfriend. I put a desk in the laundry room of the apartment and started writing, and acting in the local theatre. I had no specific goals of becoming a poet or a writer, but I knew I wanted to be an artist, however that came to be.
ODM: Which track on your album "American Afrikan" is your favorite and why?
E.G.: This is difficult because I like all of them for different reasons. But if I had to choose I would highlight two of them. One is 'American Afrikan' because it was one of the genesis of the album, it inspired the concept of creating an Afrobeat style spoken word track. There was a time I worked in Madison while living in Minneapolis, which is a 4-5 hour drive. I would have to travel back and forth several times a month. On these trips I would listen to Fela continuously, and practice my spoken word over his long instrumental breaks. It surprised me that no one had made any Afrobeat spoken word tracks because it seemed to be such a great fit. As I drove I would think of who I would love to collaborate with in the group, what kind of pieces we'd create, so on. The Afrika 7 version of 'American Afrikan' is that group come to life. I'm very happy that the track, and the remix, represents Afrikan artists in the Twin Cities. The second would be the 'Oracles of Equiano' remix by Starskie. I knew I wanted him to do a remix but what he sent, and how he changed it from what I sent him was so unexpected and brilliant at the same time. You don't hear very many spoken word house tracks, so I was glad to be able to include it on the album. I like to push the boundaries of what people expect spoken word to be, that way we can widen the field of what can be created in the art form.
ODM: Tell me about your poem titled "America" what message were you trying to send with it?
E.G.: I was asked by a friend to write a few pieces for a jazz album he was creating called 'Polidix', and 'America' came out of that collaboration. There is a tradition of 'America' poems, from Walt Whitman to Allen Ginsberg to Claude McKay. I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could write something worthy of that tradition. I've always love Ginsberg's 'America' poem so it was somewhat of a tribute to that poem. At the time, Ginsberg was addressing the Cold War, anarchist movements, labor struggles, nuclear war, among other issues. I wanted to look at where we were in post-9/11 America, which seemed to be dealing with a lot of the same issues but under different guises. Since 9/11 everything seems to have gone into a deeper tailspin than it normally is, with the war on terror, the Iraq war, Guantanamo, Katrina, the economic crisis, the health care debate, you name it. I wanted to address all of this but also the history of the country, what it was supposed to stand for and whether it was living up to these ideals it continues to espouse. The world had changed so much since 9/11 that even the 80s felt quaint and nostalgic.
This was written a few years after the deflating loss of the 2004 elections, so it was written with some hope looking towards the 2008 elections. That is why leading up to the elections, I made postcards of the poem with a placard on the back encouraging people to vote. We needed and still need a change. The 'resurrection' has not happened yet, and we have to continue to work and fight for that change.
ODM: History is a trending topic on the "American Afrikan" album what is the significance and importance of history in the message you are trying to send?"
History is vital to all people, but perhaps most vital to our people because so often that history has been lost, stolen, erased or buried. So we are in constant search to reclaim our story and place it in the proper context. My goal with the album was to trace the arch, the journey, of Afrikans in America, so it had to have a historical impetus. I wanted to cover various landmarks and signposts in our history, even if only symbolically. So that the listener could see how far we have come, how we have persevered and how much we have created in the process. This has been, in many ways, the case with my own journey. I knew about Afrika experientially as a child, but I didn't know the history, same with America. I came to a new and strange land; I had to study, to learn about where I found myself, how it functioned, how my people survived, so that I could learn how to survive because I needed to survive. I also made the album with my son in mind. I wanted him to be able to listen to it one day and understand where he comes from, both Afrika and America, with all its beauty and flaws, and to be stronger for it. However, a quote from John Henrik Clarke probably says it best, 'History is a clock people use to tell their historical culture and political time of the day. It's a compass that people use to find themselves on the map of human geography. The history tells them where they have been, where they are and what they are. But most importantly history tells a people where they still must go and what they still must be.' This articulates the essence of why I needed to create the album, both for myself and for my community.
ODM: How have you used your success to give back to your home country?
I think the best way that I can give back to my home at this time is to tell our story. Even though people may know about Liberia, it is a very narrow understanding. There is very little known about the native Liberians. They may know that Liberia was settled by freed slaves from America, or about the civil wars or Charles Taylor. Most people don't understand the complexity of these facts; what it meant for the native Liberians to have the freed slaves return home, and how it shifted the course of their history. What were the aspirations of the freed slaves, what did they hope to accomplish? How did all this play into the conflicts that would later arise? That's what I like about the 'Liberia' track because it tells the history from different perspectives, from the native Liberian perspective, the Americo-Liberian perspective and a personal perspective.
In addition, I want to encourage Liberian youth, whether in the Twin Cities or other parts of the U.S., even back home, to become artists. I want them to articulate, and expand our story and our history. Liberia has been overlooked artistically for too long, in music, literature, film, theatre, etc. I would love nothing more than an artistic renaissance of Liberian artists. That's why I get excited when I learn about artists like Liberian filmmaker Gerald Barclay (Gee-Bee), or playwright Cori Thomas, or writer Helene Cooper, that are not only at the forefront of Liberian art, but also breaking ground in the American artistic arena. That is also why I am creating a Liberian youth showcase, called L.Y.F.E. (Liberian Youth Finding Empowerment) Showcase, so they have opportunities to express their talents and their stories, and foster a new generation of Liberian artists.
'Tuo Tuo'
Tuo Tuo (Liberian Children's Song)
Children's song by siblings + family
Recorded in Saclepea, Liberia by e.g. bailey
Produced by HipGnosis
Music by HipGnosis
Written by e.g. bailey
Features field recordings of Liberian work songs from the Mano Tribe. Voiceover samples of Mayamu Sirleaf + Massa Sirleaf recorded by e.g. bailey in Saclepea, Liberia.
(E. Bailey, E. Young)