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Happy Sunday Happy People!
You want to know my favorite body part? Shoulders.
Once in highschool I found out I had the strongest shoulders on the volleyball team and since then they have always been my favorite. I can carry the weight of the world on these bad boys.
I remember we were doing planks and our coach was having us guess who had the strongest (enter body part here) according to our team physical therapist. Some were really easy to guess but we couldn't figure out shoulders until Chelsea Butner guessed my name and got it right. She immediately turned to me and said something along the lines of "I knew it was you because you had those big ass titties to carry around!" Facts.
When I was 16 Danny Brown asked me to the homecoming dance. I had a crush on him all through high school, so naturally, I thought he was joking until he convinced me otherwise. A week before that DECA was having a fashion show that we were all supposed to be in. The dress that I was going to wear was supposed to be fitted to properly cover my large breast but when I put it on (maybe an hour before curtain) it didn't fit. They forgot to fit the dress. I was devastated! To make it worse the partner I was supposed to walk with never showed up! I didn't mention this before but I was also president of DECA at the time so not walking was not an option. I broke down into an epic panic attack. A group of women and other student models band together, found some safety pins, and went to work. I honestly just remember people pulling and tugging and my best friend Rebecca telling me it's ok. Eventually I was sucked in enough that no one was afraid of anything popping out.
The teacher advisor for DECA at the time, Mr.Rosan, told me that he'll figure out the missing partner issue and to get ready because of course I was first out. The music goes on, lights, I'm given my cue and I walk out. As I'm walking out the safety pins start opening! No lie I could feel them sticking me but I'm just smiling and walking and praying for this to be over. I hit my pose and wait. Out pops Danny Brown in full suit walking down the makeshift runway. We walk out together into the hallway and he turns and says "we gave them a good preview for next week!" and then proceeded to tell me I looked beautiful. For me that meant a lot.
A week later and it's homecoming. One problem, I don't have a bra. My breast had gotten so big that I had resorted to using two, sometimes three various sized sports bras to cover them up. I went to public school so most days I just wore hoodies and sweatpants. It was my uniform because I hated the way I looked and I didn't want to call any attention to my body. So my mother and I decided to take the bus to the mall and try to find something I could put under a dress. In the past I've used tape but in this dress it would've been visible and to be honest the amount of tape we needed was just excessive and painful and I always hated it.
Long story short we find a bra. Kind of. It was a 34GGG (triple G) and it didn't fit me perfectly but it did the job as best as a bra could at that point. It was also the largest size we could find. I ran in late to the dance because of this and Danny was already there but when I got there he had a corsage waiting for me and told me I looked pretty. Teenage swoon! We took a picture together and everything! I don't have this picture for proof but i saw it once on Myspace so I know it exist. Here's one of me and Beccy instead:
I wish I could say that we danced the night away and he asked me to be his girlfriend and I was totally popular and cool after but no. We danced, I think, to one song and everything went back to normal after. I got back in my pumpkin and he never asked me out again.
A couple weeks later I had a doctors appointment with my pediatrician because of the unbearable back pain I was suffering. I had huge bruises and indents on my shoulders from the sports bars and I couldn't stand or sit up straight for very long or I would get these spasms and couldn't move until they were over. I was on the volleyball team so I was pretty active but working out wasn't doing anything to help the pain. It was at that appointment that my doctor referred me to a specialist so that I could have a breast reduction.
These consultations were horrible. I was 16 in a room with a bunch of grown ass people having to be naked from the waist up while they examine my breast. My doctor would ask me how small I wanted to go and I would tell him if you can take them all please do. I hated every second of it and for a while I was morally conflicted. Some guy I knew told me one day that if I went through with the surgery it would be a sin against God because he created me like that. That stuck in my head for a while and I would pray and pray on it all the time. This was a heavy cross to bear. To add insult to injury this was the year of SuperBad. They had that horrible commercial talking about some girl who had just gotten a breast reduction and how it was like slapping God in the face. I used to cry to that commercial.
That summer on July 21, 2007 I was on my way to the hospital to get my breast reduction surgery. Like all surgeries I wasn't allowed to eat for 24 hours beforehand. I remember being so hungry! We were passing burger place after burger place. There was commercials on the radio for burgers. It was a rough ride. We got to the hospital and filled out some more paperwork. I was asked to changed into that paper gown and hairnet. The doctor came in to speak with me and then he broke out this metal device. It was like a really heavy, cold, protractor. He measured my breast again (at this point they were still growing) and he took a sharpie and drew lines and dots and all that stuff you see on TV. This part I hated the most.
The doctor left and a nurse came in to take vitals and get me prepped. Pretty much this is the point where they made me sign that paper that says BTW you could die but if you do it's not our fault. Heavy stuff for 16 year old me. This stuff my parents couldn't do for me either a lot of it I had to do and take responsibility for myself. The first time I ever had to do that in my life. Then the nurse says its time to go and has me get into a wheel chair to head to the operating room. "Say good-bye to your parents." I lost it. I started crying so hard as I gave my parents a kiss. Right there the fear hit me all at once. I remember laying on the table getting strapped in and the nurse asking me about my job at IHOP and what the best thing on the menu was. I fell asleep telling him about harvest grain n nut pancakes. No. Shame.
They took around 12 pounds out of me and the doctor said he did as much as he could but if I wanted to go smaller it would have to be a separate surgery. Hard Pass. When I woke up the nurse told me my heart had stopped on the table. Then proceeded to offer me a muffin and ginger ale. The whole thing was very surreal. I remember trying to eat the muffin but I just couldn't figure it out. I was highly medicated. I asked for my dad and eventually they brought in my parents. "Dad can we go get burgers now?"
As we were finally getting ready to leave the nurse said I had visitors. My friend Nazanin, her sister Mariam and their mother were waiting for me to get out of surgery with flowers. I started crying again feeling all the love and support. I hadn't told them all the details of when and where my surgery was but they found out and came anyway. That kind of love could never be faked. I remember the ride home being painful and the walk up the stairs at home being painful. Also the neighbors came out of their house to watch me and ask my parents what was wrong with me.
The next day my father brought home a copy of the final Harry Potter book since I had missed the release the day before. Friends came to visit and eventually a friend of mine who worked with me at IHOP even brought me a burger courtesy of my boss. My mom made them all hold bags of rice so they could feel exactly how heavy the weight was that was taken out of me. She kept saying "Its like Reena had twins!"
After the surgery, my body was disgusting. I looked like Frankenstein's monster come to life. For a while I regretted it and thought that my wounds wouldn't heal and I would be stuck like this forever. My wounds did heal and I have very noticeable scars but they are a part of me now.
Going back to school that September I was nervous about what people would say about me. I put on the smallest shirt I could find and went to school. Some people made a big fuss over it, other people just spoke about me behind my back. I was in High School and people made very high school remarks. One story in particular got back to me. A Senior was in a class where I guess they were having a really heated conversation about me and my surgery. I wasn't friends with this guy and I only spoke to him in passing but he turned to them I told them to stop talking about me that I didn't do anything wrong and if they do they'll have to speak with him. That story always makes me feel good. Like I had people watching out for me even when I didn't know it.
And it wasn't just the students, some of the teachers had my back too. I'll never forget the first time I was cleared to practice volleyball again. I didn't know I needed a doctor's note to practice again. I figured the doctor said I'm good so lets put in this work. My coach called me out in front of everyone asking if I had a note. When he told me he couldn't let me practice without one I broke down. I had been to every practice cheering on my team and all I wanted was to be normal again. I guess my tears swayed my coach because he let me practice and I brought in the note the next day. I gave everything that practice and I remember it was on the football field so it was all workouts and no actual volleyball. I didn't care. On the walk home my coach was passing by in his car and called out that I did a good job. That shit made me so proud of myself! That year my team won the state championship too. Not because of me or anything I just wanted to add that in there.
Looking back on this, the insults, hardships and persecutions I endured just made me stronger. I used to have random guys come up and touch my breast because they were so big. This had absolutely nothing to do with how I was dressed either. I used to have people give me sex advice centered around my breast at 14 years old. Behavior that was both inexcusable, inappropriate and frightening for me sometimes. My body use to be a punishment for me but not I can appreciate my body more for having gone through this. I can look back and see the growth I had as a person because of this. Also, I can fit into cute tops now!
My shoulders are strong because I have had to live through the extra weight of my body and everyone's opinions. I now have a husband who looks as my body and thinks it's pretty awesome. I still run the risk of growing them back if I gain a bunch of weight or get pregnant but for now I'm good. I still get a bit of back pain from time to time but nothing as horrible as it was before. And I'm grown now. I'm not known or defined by this anymore.
This past summer I celebrated 11 years since that surgery. It's something I survived.
-Besos! Xoxo
- Instagram: ReenaAlexis
- Twitter: @TheMrsAlter


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See Sarah Michelle Gellar's Sweet Tribute to Friend Shannen Doherty
Gellar continues to cheer on Doherty, who's been publicly battling breast cancer for more than a year.
Posted by R.SPAR on Sep 24 2016. Filed under Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

subset: commoncrawl


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The title I came up with just makes me laugh! That is one of these real and authentic laughs I love feeling from time to time. "Everything is possible and it's super fun!" just refers to one of my deep believes and it makes me giggle. It's a laugh of excitement, enthusiasm, stimulation that the word "possibility" creates in me. Coupling it with "fun", and it's the cherry on the cake! Ahah!
Some of you may be very dubious about that because it can be scary to think that everything is possible. Thinking that everything is possible means that you don't have any more excuses to make things happen, it also means that the world is open and that you can just pick and choose what's best for you.
It's always easier to come up with ways not to do. To stay stuck in a place where you think it's not possible because you don't know how to do it. Do you really need to know how to do it? You don't have to, you just need to imagine it's possible. Dream! I hear you thinking that this is so naïve. We are in a world where dreamers are perceived as lunatics. I'm a dreamer and that's actually what triggers my hope, my actions, my achievements.
Gloria Steinem said: "Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning." I cannot agree more! Dreaming is envisioning what you want for yourself, your people, your world. Of course, if you just dream and do not do anything about it, its original impact gets lost. Dreaming is the button to know what's next for you and set you in motion.
I recently flew in a hot-air balloon and I thought: wouah, there were 2 guys – the Mongolfier brothers – who dreamt one day that they would rise up to the sky and traverse kilometers. Their imagination was so stirred that they just had to do it. After several attempts, they saw their hopes becoming reality with the first public demonstration on June, 4th 1783! And hot-air balloons are still present in our decade, keeping people like me dreaming about possibilities. They did it, so why not you? We have thousands and thousands of examples like that around us in our daily lives. Everything about our today's world is about people who had a dream. But they passed through the dream and did something about it. Did they know what they were doing? Historicists say that the physics was not well understood by the Mongolfier brothers but they still managed to make the hot-air balloon fly.
Thomas Merton said: "You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope."
To me, the world is a playground. You are, you do, you try, you fail, you adjust, you overcome and so on. So much fun!
When I was much younger and just graduated from school, I could not find a decent work in my country of origin. So I dreamt it would be possible somewhere else, and I moved to the UK and found what I was looking for. I did not know what I was going to encounter, I took my backpack, booked a ticket on the Eurostar and went there. I did not speak English, I did not have a job, I did not know anyone but I had a dream for a better future. And guess what? It went fine. Nothing happened to me but the best. Just some obstacles that made the journey more challenging, more interesting and the person that I am today.
Gandhi said: "Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning."
Everything is possible when you want to make it possible! Stop thinking that only others can do it…because anyone can dream! So yes, I do believe that everything is possible and that's super fun!


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Eric Vogel kicks off his series on ASP.NET Core security by showing how to set up authentication to register, log in and log out a user account in an ASP.NET Core MVC application.
The latest monthly update to the Python extension for Visual Studio Code makes it easier for developers to keep track of variables and their data when working with the ever-popular programming language in the ever-popular open source code editor.
Visual Studio Code now does Blazor development thanks to updated Razor tooling support in a popular C# extension for the code editor.
On the same day we reported "the end of the experiment is in sight" for Microsoft's Blazor project, it did indeed graduate from experimental status to a preview of a new way to do Web UI with .NET languages like C#.
Microsoft's .NET Core 3.0 is out in a fourth preview as it nears general availability, with the exact release date to be revealed by the company at its Build developer conference in about three weeks.
.NET Core provides a framework that logging systems can be snapped into. However, what's most important about this framework is how you write your messages out. It's the quality of the message that will let you find where your problems are.
Daniel Roth and Steve Sanderson of Microsoft's Blazor development team provided an update on the long-awaited, experimental project that enables .NET development for the Web, stating "the end of the experiment is in sight."
A GitHub project called VSCodium offers up the popular Visual Studio Code editor, but stripped of Microsoft customizations and released under a "real" open source license.
Internet of Things specialist Particle has shipped a new Workbench development tool based on the ever-popular Visual Studio Code editor.
ExpandoObjects let you dynamically add members to your object at run time -- a great way to handle scenarios where you need a lot of flexibility. But how do you work with an object when you don't know the names of its properties?
InstallAware Software announced a new IDE said to be the first such tool specifically dedicated to working with Microsoft's new MSIX app packaging format.
Here are some of the top, free .NET Core-related extensions that target Visual Studio 2019.
Need to predict the political party affiliation (democrat, republican, independent) of a person based on their age, annual income, gender, years of education and so on? Our resident data scientist Dr. James McCaffrey shows a technique that can help with that and much more -- with code!
Microsoft has updated its open source, cross-platform F# language for functional programming, adding new functionality and positioning it to tackle machine learning projects in the future.
Microsoft shipped Windows Template Studio 3.1, updating the low-code tool for coding Universal Windows Platform applications with support for the brand-new Visual Studio 2019 release and more.
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Motivation Continued/
Training, specifically the occasional really tough session, strengthens your mindset in a way that transfers to your entire life. In those difficult physical moments you can train your brain to react with a certain mental toughness that can not only get you through races, competitions, and training, but also through work, relationships and any curve ball life throws at you. You can train your brain and create better habits.
What is mental toughness? Let's break it down.
Quitting in the middle of a work out or eating foods we know make us sick are not physical limitations, they are situations in which we listened to the little voice in our head that said:
"I can't"
"I'm not good enough"
"I'm tired"
Mental Toughness is having the ability to work through these moments and push your limitations instead of listening to this voice. It's the ability to stay motivated to make healthy choices day to day. It means having positivity and not giving up when something goes wrong.
How do we change it?
It's pretty simple actually, we just teach that little voice to be on our side.
Step One: Bringing awareness to your everyday self talk
Ever hear yourself saying things like "I'll just eat the cookie, I already blew it anyways! God, I look awful in this shirt". Would you ever talk to your best friend like that? I hope not! So why do we think it's okay to speak ourselves that way? Start by noticing your inner voice when it tries to bring you down. Simply acknowledge the feeling and keep going. You don't have to act on any of those thoughts, or believe them for that matter. Instead of immediately reaching for the chips, think, "interesting, my brain wants me to eat those chips, but in reality I want to feel good, so I don't them". You'll be surprised at how calling out your cravings and thoughts actually starts to change your mindset. Every time you stop and don't act on the thought, you are breaking that habit and rewiring your brain to make better decisions.
Step Two: The 3rd Person
3rd person self talk is a tool for in the heat of the moment when you start to struggle.
For many years I thought my self talk meant I was crazy. Since I can remember I've referred to myself as 'Hil' any time I was doing any difficult like sprinting up a trail, "common Hil, you can do this" or "just get through the next 30 seconds, you can do anything for 30 seconds".
The main thing I noticed is I am 100% more positive when I'm thinking like this.
As it turns out, according to Psychology Today the top performers in business and athletics all consistently refer to themselves in the 3rd person. The science behind it? "Essentially, we think referring to yourself in the third person leads people to think about themselves more similar to how they think about others, and you can see evidence for this in the brain. That helps people gain a tiny bit of psychological distance from their experiences, which can often be useful for regulating emotions." - Jason Moser, http://msutoday.msu.edu
Next time you feel like quitting, give it a try! Maybe even practice it when you're face to face with those chips. Nobody will hear you so why not right?
With these two tools you can train your brain to be a positive influence, break through your limits, and stay motivated.


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Bil'in Village sues Canada companies cashing in on occupation
Deborah Guterman, The Electronic Intifada, 11 June 2009
|The Israeli-built wall running through the village of Bilin. (Oren Ziv/ActiveStills)
The small Palestinian village of Bilin will face-off this month against two Canadian corporations accused of aiding and abetting the colonization of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Bilin has charged Green Park International and Green Mount International with illegally constructing residential buildings and other settlement infrastructure on village territory, and marketing such structures to the civilian population of the State of Israel. The condominiums in question are located in a settlement neighborhood known as Matityahu East.
Still in its preliminary phase, the lawsuit sheds light on the shady pairing of corporate interest with Israeli expansionist ambition. Representing the village of Bilin, the Bilin Village Council headed by Ahmed Issa Abdallah Yassin seeks to hold the companies accountable for violations of international law.
The lawsuit, filed by Canadian attorney Mark Arnold in 2008, accuses Israel of "severing" village land from Palestinian control, and transferring territorial control to Israeli planning councils. The rights to develop the territory were then sold to the Green Park companies.
Arnold is optimistic. "Certainly the Canadian law and the Quebec law appears to be on the side of Bilin, and against the side of the defendants," he said.
The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 prohibits an occupying power from relocating part of its civilian population to the territory it has occupied. A violation of this principle is deemed a crime of war under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Insofar as Green Park International and Green Mount International constructed the buildings meant to house Israelis within the occupied West Bank, the corporations are considered complicit in the commission of this war crime.
According to Emily Schaeffer, an Israeli attorney representing the Village of Bilin, both the articles of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute have been incorporated into Canadian federal law under the Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Statute.
"The Canadian statute specifically makes aiding and abetting a country in committing those crimes a crime," she said. "This is the essential article that ties the [actions of] corporations to government responsibilities."
A court of last resort
The Bilin case is one of a growing number of civil and criminal motions filed abroad that attempt to hold Israel and its corporate agents responsible for breaches of international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
However, according to Schaeffer, this increased tendency reveals the failure of the Israeli court system to protect Palestinian rights.
"The truth is that Israel is not willing to implement all of international humanitarian law and the laws on occupation on the occupied [Palestinian] territories," she said. "We've made some headway, we haven't gone far enough, and that's why we're in Canada."
The question of the legality of the settlements has been brought to the Israeli high court on multiple occasions. However, the courts have repeatedly refused to rule on this issue. Instead, the courts deem this concern political in nature and thus outside the jurisdiction of the justice system.
Green Park International and Green Mount International have motioned to dismiss the suit. They claim that Canada is not the appropriate forum in which to try the case. Instead, the defendants contend that the suit should be heard in Israel as it is the country where the activity in question has taken place.
"Our opponents want us to go to Israel," said Arnold. "We say -- and the Israeli courts have said -- that issues of this type are not justiciable [in Israel]. In other words, no justice can be given by the Israeli courts on these types of issues. The Israeli courts see them as being politically-based as opposed to legal issues."
The Canadian scene
In the run-up to the preliminary hearings, Mohammed Khatib of the Bilin Popular Committee Against the Wall, and Schaeffer will tour 11 Canadian cities. The speaking tour is part of a civil society campaign to mobilize support for the embattled village. A spokesperson for the Coalition for the Bilin Tour, who wishes to remain anonymous, emphasized the need to hold corporations accountable for affronts to human rights.
"As members of the community, it is our duty to curb the power of large multinational corporations. We need to tell them, 'There are limits to your quest to seek profits,'" she said in French.
Schaeffer highlighted the importance for concerned individuals to show solidarity with Bilin.
Speaking of the highly controversial nature of the lawsuit in question, she said, "The judge in this case needs to feel that it's okay to rule in favor of the village -- that there's not going to be a major backlash. And that judge also needs to feel supported in making a decision that might very well influence Canadian foreign policy with Israel.
"I think the role of civil society is to say, we're with you on this, we want this to happen."
Bilin is seeking a permanent injunction against the Canadian corporations. In addition, if successful, the Green Park companies will be ordered to destroy the buildings they have already constructed and pay two million dollars each in punitive damages to the village.
However, it is doubtful that such orders will ever be implemented by Israeli authorities. In order for the ruling to be enforced, the defendants will have to petition the Israeli high court to accept the Canadian decision.
Bilin is located four kilometers east of the green line (the 1949 armistice line that marks the boundary between Israel and the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967) and is adjacent to Modiin Illit, a large settlement bloc that sits on territory confiscated from Bilin and the neighboring Palestinian villages of Nilin, Kharbata, Deir Qadis and Saffa. Since 2005, the residents of this agricultural community have been leading a nonviolent struggle against the construction of Israel's wall in the West Bank on village land.
Ostensibly built to protect the existing residents of the settlement bloc, the route of the wall was drawn to incorporate the future construction of Matityahu East located just east of Modiin Illit. The wall appropriates an additional 450 acres, which accounts for 60 percent of Bilin's land.
In 2007, the Israeli high court deemed the route of the wall in Bilin illegal, and ordered the Israeli military to move it closer to the edge of the settlement boundary.
To date, the military has yet to implement the high court's decision.
Deborah Guterman is a member of Young Jews for Social Justice, a collective of Montreal Jews who take action on racism, injustice in the Middle East and inequality in their communities.
Related Links
Latest articles on EI:
|Palestine : Activism News: Belgian campaign forces financial group to cancel settlement loans (15 June 2009)
|Palestine : Activism News: Veolia reportedly drops light rail project, but campaign goes on (14 June 2009)


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Recent Posts
Good scavengers for the backyard composting include pigeons, rabbits and chickens. Continue reading
Shortly after applying the last batch of cement, observations of mice droppings went from common to briefly incidental. My best hunter, Apricot, suddenly put on weight. Her egg production went from intermittent to slightly over one egg per day. Continue reading
By request, I am posting images of my chicken's home. It is still a work in progress. The aviary, made with materials that happened to be on hand, provides protection to my chickens, but it isn't exactly pretty. I took … Continue reading
Their assigned duties will include (with time) egg laying, nutrient processing, compost processing, pest control, chicken therapy and general entertainment. Continue reading


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Associate Technical Asset Manager
Apply now
Associate Technical Asset Manager
Job ID 7190
Solar, Onshore Wind
United Kingdom
Associate Technical Asset Manager required to join a leading asset management and service provider to focus on operations Solar PV assets across the UK, based in London.
As part of the company's technical team and working closely with stakeholders, the Technical Asset Manager will:
- Carry out technical monitoring for wind and solar installations (including high voltage)
- Manage supplier and service-provider relations
- Look for technical improvement solutions
- Prepare technical reports on parks for clients
- Be involved in contractual obligations/duties : maintenance, insurance, Health and Safety …
- Carry out from time to time external audits, due diligence's and solar resource studies.
- As a PV expert, act as support for the rest of the O&M team concerning solar issues
The post will involve regular travel to production sites in the UK and also abroad. On-call duty, covering one weekend in six, is to be expected (on-call by telephone, not requiring travel).
Qualifications / Experience
- Master's degree in Electrical/Electrotechnical/Automatic Control Engineering and/or complemented by a renewable energy qualification.
- Languages: English mandatory, German will be a plus;
- Experience in the renewable energy sector and more specifically in PV, with in particular experience in electrical and photovoltaic maintenance or solar resource assessments. Experience in wind power asset management will be a plus.
- Good knowledge of Excel and other data analysis software.
apply for this now
Consultant Information
Scott Thomson
+44 1689 669 380


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Proud To Be Part Of The Revolution!
Erika is on a mission for change. For years she has been part of a health industry she no longer can relate to, and now she's calling for change: a change of attitude, a change of perception and a change of action. The work has just begun, and as her photographer and designer, I am proud to be part of her revolution. And I can't wait to share the photos, posts, and videos that will come out of it.
While you're waiting, please join Erika in her work here;
Ps. I'll let you know as soon as the main site goes live.


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Literature Review
Nonprofit organizations seek to achieve increased efficiency and productivity gains to support their mission. Although many surveys have been conducted to uncover nonprofits attitudes about IT, how it is adopted and what types of nonprofit adopt (Blau, 2001; Gifts in Kind International, 2001; Peizer, 2006; Popjoy, 1992; Public Sector Consultants, Inc., 1999; Quinn, Verclas & Hoehling, 2006; Forester, Jeffery J, 2006; Finn, Maher Forester, 2006) the research on organizational readiness and the impact of IT implementation on organizations and is sparse (Blau, 2001; Saidel & Cour, 2003). Thus, this researcher has chosen to focus on the rich literature on the impact of IT on for-profit organizations (Aral & Weill, 2006; Brynjolfsson & Hitt, 2000; McKinsey Global Institute, 2002; Stiroh, 2002). This research shows that a triangle of investments in infrastructure, human capital and planning are critical to successful implementation of IT in an organization. The challenge with these three investments for successful implementation is that often nonprofits see these as in direct conflict with the organizations mission. The next sections look deeper at each of the investments and explain the main issues with each related to nonprofits.
Infrastructure Investment
Investment in infrastructure is often seen as taking the organization's focus away from its mission. Nonprofits whose mission is around feeding the hungry, for example, would rather spend money to feed more individuals than purchase a new computer even if its implementation could ultimately provide additional food. The Bayer Center's biannual study of Pennsylvania nonprofits illustrates 44% of nonprofit organizations have an IT budget (Forester, Jeffery J., 2006 and a study in Michigan reveals less than half of nonprofit organizations have a defined IT budget (Public Sector Consultants, Inc., 1999). This exemplifies the fact that nonprofits lack interest in allocating dollars for IT infrastructure investment. Saidel & Cour's study demonstrates that there is a tricky tradeoff between spending on IT and direct service to clients, making IT spending a difficult proposition (2003).
Other funding sources, such as foundations and governmental agencies, illustrate indifference in building the organizational IT infrastructure by capping the amount of money a nonprofit can allocate on their grant application to support internal capacity or by refusing to allow any capacity support whatsoever. Whereas funding continues to support the program, there is little to sustain the internal support mechanisms of the organization upon which the program is built.
Human Capital Investment
Investment in human capital remains a challenge. Nonprofits face two predicaments: an embedded staff untrained in technology and the challenge of finding IT professionals interested in working in the nonprofit sector. A nonprofit survey in Michigan (Public Sector Consultants, Inc., 1999) reveals that less than 50% of computer managers have been formally trained. Often employees and volunteers of nonprofit organizations are passionate about the mission, but have little technical knowledge or training (Public Sector Consultants, Inc., 1999; Quinn, Verclas & Hoehling, 2006). Organizations may try to hire individuals with IT skills, but these individuals are challenging to find because IT professionals desire to stay on the cutting edge of technology to remain a commodity in their profession (Saidel & Cour, 2003).
Planning Investments
Even if dollars have been dedicated to development of IT infrastructure, organizations often lack a strategic plan on how to spend those dollars. Only 32% of nonprofits have a long-term technology plan and this number did not increase from 2000 to 2001 (Gifts in Kind, Inc., 2001). Competition between nonprofits may lead to IT purchases that do not fit the strategic needs of the organization. When some nonprofits extend their scope and enhance their services through the use of IT, other nonprofits may feel pressured to follow their lead, often without the organization's leaders understanding the ramification of implementation (Blau, 2001).
This illustrates the importance of strategic planning - ensuring the right technology is being used for the right purpose. This is made evident by a story about an African village and a bell. A delegation of western experts on technology was invited to build communication technology for the village. The delegation spoke to the village leader about the plan for a sophisticated IT station. The village leader listened respectfully and, after hearing all the wonders of modern IT, requested a simple bell. Ring once, it's time to gather in the village; ring twice, the well has run dry; and so on. The delegation was shocked. They had not asked first but assumed what was needed. They thought modern technology held all the answers but they failed to ask the right questions.
Planning provides the organization an opportunity to reflect and ask the right questions which allows for the alignment of the IT strategic plan with the overall strategic plan.
Measuring the Bottom Line
The nonprofit bottom lines are very difficult to measure; often the focus is around outcomes and not entirely related to the bottom line savings which may result from IT implementations. Therefore, successful IT projects are more multifaceted in nonprofits than with for-profits, who are mainly focused on the fiscal bottom line.
Secondly, it is more challenging to define a bottom line in a nonprofit organization. Nonprofits are not necessarily focused on a fiscal bottom line, which is easy to measure. These organizations are more focused on their mission, which is challenging to quantify.


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The Fire Next Time
A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin's early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document. It consists of two "letters," written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism. Described by The New York Times Book Review as "sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle...all presented in searing, brilliant prose," The Fire Next Time stands as a classic of our literature.
Product Details
|Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
|Publication date:
|Vintage International Series
|Edition description:
|Sales rank:
|Product dimensions:
|5.26(w) x 8.01(h) x 0.46(d)
|1300L (what's this?)
About the Author
JAMES BALDWIN (1924-1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews, and his essay collections Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time were bestsellers that made him an influential figure in the growing civil rights movement. Baldwin spent much of his life in France, where he moved to escape the racism and homophobia of the United States. He died in France in 1987, a year after being made a Commander of the French Legion of Honor.
Date of Birth:August 2, 1924
Date of Death:December 1, 1987
Place of Birth:New York, New York
Place of Death:St. Paul de Vence, France
Education:DeWitt Clinton High School, New York City
Table of ContentsThe Fire Next Time inspired me to become a better writer. The book takes on race, religion and sexuality in a way that is still relevant.
What People are Saying About This
"Baldwin uses words as if he uses waves, to flow and beat, advance and retreat, rise and take a bow and disappearing....a thought becomes poetry and the poetry illuminates the thought."
"So eloquent in its passion and so scorching in its candor that it is bound to unsettle any reader."The Atlantic
Customer Reviews
Average Review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Baldwin offers powerful insight into the two major movements of his time: Christian and Nation of Islam movements. He sorts out each of their respective problems. I liked the book because Baldwin took a creative approach to make an important point. The rhetorical delivery was excellent. Definitely a keeper.
The book ¿The Fire Next Time¿ is an intensely personal book and an important historical document. The main conflict of this book is James Baldwin controversial view of the Black Muslim moment. Also the statement about the reality of being black in America. To defend oneself against a fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it: fears must be faced. All I really remember is the pain, the unspeakable pain, it was as though I was yelling up to heaven and heaven would not hear me. What I liked about the book ¿The Fire Next Time¿ was how black people in America have been through a lot of things and they keep living. What I didn¿t like about the book was how white people used foul language towards the blacks. I would recommend this book. I would recommend this book because it shows good information about the blacks in America. If you like books about the blacks go on with there life you should read this book.
Written in 1962/1963, there are two parts to this slim book ¿ the first, ¿My Dungeon Shook¿, an open letter to Baldwin¿s nephew on the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, and the second, ¿Down at the Cross¿, a description of Baldwin¿s coming to terms with religion starting from the age of 14, which is hard enough as it is, but more complicated in light of Baldwin¿s experiences growing up as an African-American in 1930¿s-1940¿s America.Not surprisingly, Baldwin is angry at the 400 years of injustice, of being discriminated against, devalued, and judged simply because of the color of his skin. Interestingly, he also points out disdain for elements of the liberal movement which ostensibly was allied to his interests, in particular, for liberals believing that blacks should be allowed to ¿rise up¿ to their level. Ha!, says Baldwin. (Of course in a more eloquent way :-)The book goes downhill a bit as Baldwin meets and embraces the ¿Honorable¿ Elijah Mohammed, and echoes beliefs such as ¿Allah allowed the Devil, through scientists, to carry out infernal experiments, which resulted, finally, in the creation of the devil known as the white man.¿, that they were decreed to rule the earth for a number of years that was about to expire, etc etc. I don¿t react to this because I¿m a white man, hell I understand that racism and cruelty over centuries led to this and that it was natural in the Civil Rights Movement to have a more violent ¿yang¿ force to Martin Luther King¿s non-violent ¿yin¿, I react because these beliefs are just wacky, and in my humble opinion did more harm than good. I would also say that about agreements Baldwin describes between Malcolm X and George Lincoln Rockwell, the leader of the American Nazi party, that the races would be better off separate.However, with that said, Baldwin is always smart and thought-provoking. This is a great snapshot of the early sixties and the fomenting Civil Rights movement, and there are occasional snippets that made me smile because they are so perfect for the time ¿ for example, Bobby Kennedy going out on a limb and predicting that a black man could be president in 40 years, which turned out to be remarkably accurate. (I believe it was 46 years instead of 40). Bottom line, Baldwin is a great writer and even if the book starts becoming a bit of a rant after the essential points have been made, he qualifies as someone worth reading through a rant.Quotes:From My Dungeon Shook:¿You can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world calls a nigger.¿¿The innocent country set you down in a ghetto in which, in fact, it intended that you should perish. Let me spell out precisely what I mean by that, for the heart of the matter is here, and the root of my dispute with my country. You were born where you were born and faced the future that you faced because you were black and for no other reason. The limits of your ambition were, thus, expected to be set forever. ¿The details and symbols of your life have been deliberately constructed to make you believe what white people say about you. Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure, does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity and fear. ¿There is no reason for you to try to become like white people and there is no basis whatever for their impertinent assumption that they must accept you.¿From Down at the Cross, following descriptions of harassment by the police and his thoughts as a boy, which I view as courageous:¿I was icily determined ¿ more determined, really, than I knew ¿ never to make peace with the ghetto but to die and go to Hell before I would let any white man spit on me, before I would accept my `place¿ in this republic.¿¿and the flip-side, the lack of courage:¿¿a civilization is not destroyed by wicked people; it is not necessary that people be wicked but only that they be spineless.¿On the African-American experience:
Baldwin's discussion of race in America is telling and evocative, worth reading even now. It is worth time not only because of his passionate voice and intelligent look at the world around him in civil rights-era America, but for the reflection it gives of the world we still live in. In showing readers his own prejudices, he does his best to break down their own, effectively illuminating pieces of history that might more easily be left to be forgotten or ignored, but which inevitably affect the identities we work every day to form and preserve. This book is both dated and contemporary in various ways, but it is without a doubt worth a contemporary reader's time. Highly recommended.
Baldwin¿s slim book about race problems in America provides a powerful picture of the tumultuous time period he was living in. It begins with a line from an old slave song, ¿God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water, the fire next time.¿ He goes on to talk about how black and white people in America are picking each other apart and destroying themselves in the process.Baldwin wrote this in 1963, while the nation was embroiled in the Civil Rights movement. His thoughts on the matter are both universal and deeply personal. He manages capture the feelings of many African Americans at that time, frustration and anger at a world filled with injustice, and blend them with his own cry for a peaceful persistence as they fight for equality. He wrote much of this book to encourage his nephew and convince him that he shouldn¿t see himself as unworthy because white people may treat him that way. This is my first taste of Baldwin and while I was impressed by his writing style, I¿ve heard his fiction is even better. ¿It demands great spiritual resilience not to hate the hater whose foot is on your neck and an even greater miracle of perception and charity not to teach your child to hate.¿
This was a stunning read that pulled no punches. As apt today as it was when it was written, it is truly a must read for everyone. I found that rather than reading through it quickly I had to take a few pages at a time so that I could really ponder and digest his words. Amazing.
This book is amazing. an eye opening on race in America. I would suggest to anyone but especially African Americans
This is a book to read with a pen! My copy, brand new, and fresh from the mailbox now has underlining everywhere and notes filling the margins. The language is beautiful in this book and there is a lot of wisdom to gather. This is my first James Baldwin and I crave more! The book consists of two letters, a short one written to a nephew and a longer one written to discuss his thoughts and feelings about race, religion, and life. This is the most beautiful description in the entire book. I cannot possibly think of a more exquisite way to word how James sees his brother and how we often see those we have watched grow up. "Other people cannot see what I see whenever I look into your father's face for behind your father's face as it is today are all those other faces which were his. Let him laugh and I see a cellar your father does not remember and a house he does not remember and I hear in his present laughter his laughter as a child." Baldwin starts his letter by informing his nephew on how black people can be destroyed if they believe what some white people think about them. He discusses a hidden message telling black people to settle for mediocrity rather than striving for excellence. Baldwin believes that black people need to know their history and where they came from so that there will be "no limit to where you can go." "…We, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it."
I loved this book! Every word, and every page of this book drives a new belief about the turth of racism and how it applies to both white and blacks. It's more of a paradox.
The Fire Next Time is composed of two essays written by Baldwin. Each essay stresses that love is the only power strong enough to unite blacks and whites. The first essay is written to his nephew whose name happens to be James and the second essay appears to be something that Baldwin may have written in order to free his mind of Christian and racial burdens. In the second essay, Baldwin analyzes the effects of religious practices on seperating the races. This book is a must read. Each page will lead you into a deeper realm of 'self.'
James Baldwin wrote The Fire Next Time as an intensely personal experience of a specific period in American history. However, the clarity of thought and language translates to any age and any race. The Fire Next Time is an American classic on the order of Self-Reliance.
Super lame
This book showed very important views of racism but it was extremely boring it had no story line it was like he was just talkin and talkin.
I read this book when i was like, 14 or 15,so I really didn't get much of what he was saying.I'm sure what he implied about bringing an end to racism will someday happen.


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I'm in Buffalo this weekend (hence no posts in awhile) with Mrs. Moxie, the kids, and the dog visiting my folks. Yesterday we began the day with a memorial service for my grandmother who passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 91. That was followed by a 20th reunion of my 8th grade class – yes, someone decided to organize an 8th grade reunion. It was actually a lot of fun.
Anyway, I have an enormous family. My mom is the oldest of seven and, while my dad is only one of three, there are lots of cousins. Plus the two families are close. So this weekend has been like a huge family reunion – except that we all saw each other three weeks ago at my sister's wedding (after which Mrs. Moxie, the kids, my parents, and Mrs. Moxie's parents took a week's vacation together – and it wasn't the first time)! Nonetheless, it is always an experience getting my family together since we're all nuts. The good thing about this is that there is always a lot of laughter. At one point we had eleven people sleeping somewhere in my parents' house ("Don't trip over Aunt Tina! Oh, that's George??"). Since a lot of people had flown in we traded cars here and there and at one point people started to lose track of where all the cars were ("Who took the truck?"). Of course the food is always good. My mom's family is Polish and Ukrainian, though, so it is frequently fattening. But I feel so lucky my kids have the opportunity to grow up in such a loving, warm environment.
Of course I also had this crazy 8th grade reunion yesterday. Who organizes an 8th grade reunion?? Well, that would be one of the nuts I went to school with (do you sense a theme here?). Perhaps the craziest thing is that, out of approximately 25 students from that class, 18 came to at least one event. We actually were a pretty close class in some respects (maybe it's because we're all nuts) but maybe never realized it at the time. In any case, it was a blast to see people after all these years, with their kids and spouses and other assorted and acquired attachments (e.g. my slight beer gut, gray hair, and bald spot – I suppose the latter is actually a lack of an attachment). I thus feel equally blessed to have grown up in a community where such an odd event is actually… well, not that odd. That is definitely something that is unique to Buffalo. There are nearly as many people in the Buffalo area as there are in the entire state of Maine and yet it's like a small town – everyone seems to know everyone else. There is a little bit of that in Maine which is partly why I like it so much, but there's nothing quite like Buffalo.


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The only one of the five first growths outside of the Médoc, Château Haut-Brion lies just south of Bordeaux city center in Pessac-Léognan, and (unusually for an estate of this renown) is surrounded by built up inner suburbs. Haut-Brion is one of the oldest wine estates in Bordeaux, and was likely the first to make wine under its own name, with winemaking underway around 100 years before its first growth peers. Over its extensive history, it has only been owned by four major families, each of which contributed to the property's extraordinary reputation.
The Pontacs (who owned the property from 1533 to 1748) established Haut-Brion as a sought-after wine, with fans including Samuel Pepys and King Charles II. The Furnel family took over between 1748 and 1790, during which time future American President Thomas Jefferson visited and described Haut-Brion as 'the very best Bordeaux wine.' The Larrieu family was in control from 1836 to 1922 , during which the estate was granted first growth status. Since 1935, the estate has been owned by the American Dillon family (descendants of FDR's Treasury Secretary Clarence Dillon). The Dillons have undertaken significant renovations, including making Haut-Brion the first chateau to convert to stainless-steel tanks for vinification. Since 2002 Prince Robert of Luxembourg (grandson of Clarence) has overseen the estate.
The property gets its name from the modest hill on which the vineyards lie – 'brion' is thought to derive from the Celtic word for hill. The property's deep gravel soils have significant sand and clay concentrations and with a consequently higher proportion of Merlot (42% of the red plantings). Cabernet Sauvignon covers an additional 44%, with 13% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. Since 2003, the estate manager and Technical Director has been Jean-Philippe Delmas, whose father and grandfather held the same role before him. The grapes are vinified in stainless-steel tanks plot by plot and a detailed tasting evaluation of the different vats determines the final blend. This then spends 18-20 months ageing in oak. From year to year, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon alternate as the dominant variety, depending on vintage conditions, but the finished wine always remains true to the signature Haut-Brion style.


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text: The first thing a business needs in order to survive is a place to market their goods. Most new businesses have good marketing plans and strategy but they still need to get through the right target market. Where to start and how to find them will never be a problem anymore. In this modern day of living, everything needs not be complicated and nothing is impossible. All you need is a purchase lists. It's a database that offers wide source of market leads and reliable business contacts. It is most commonly know as "mailing list" but they also serve the same purpose. Get easy access with this modern business guide.


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Simple Habit: Redesign
Simple Habit: Redesigning Meditation
"I had the opportunity to be a client of Taylor's team for a project at Simple Habit. As a team lead, Taylor was indispensable - he has a natural talent for creating a supportive environment in which designers can excel. From the research phase through HiFi, he demonstrated an unparalleled understanding of design from a user-first perspective. Taylor is an exceptional designer and an outstanding leader that would be an asset to any team." - Elina Lin, Design Lead at Simple Habit
The Mission
Simple Habit operates out of an increasingly competitive meditation space. To differentiate themselves, they offer a large library of situation specific meditations. The model enables users to turn to the application no matter the scenario: a working professional before a big presentation, a parent after a long day chasing a toddler, or a student before a big exam.
Simple Habit has a loyal following, but suffers from a problem that afflicts many startups: finding and retaining new users. To discover what was leading to their retention problem, the team at Simple Habit wanted a different perspective, so they looked outside of the company to our team of designers.
User Testing
After our initial consult with the Simple Habit team, we set out to find the friction that prevented people from starting to use the app. To uncover pain points new users encountered, we asked prospective meditators to go through a series of tasks
Diary Studies
Combing through the data the team at Simple Habit shared, we learned there was a considerable drop-off after 7 days of using the app. After taking a sample of users through traditional user tests, we decided to conduct a diary study to track how people interacted with the app over the course of the high-attrition period. We sent out a daily survey to 5 users that mirrored Simple Habit's user base.
User Persona
Though the user base of Simple Habit is diverse, women - aged 20 - 40 years old - make up their core audience. While experienced meditators enjoy the platform, the team at Simple Habit are primarily concerned with onboarding and retaining people new to the practice. Armed with his information we developed a persona for a typical user of Simple Habit:
Competitive and Comparative Analysis
Simple Habit operates in what is becoming an increasingly competitive meditation app space. We scoured the market to learn how others served guided meditations to a varied user base. Though valuable, few competitors were attempting to deliver the amount of content Simple Habit was.
We turned outside of the meditation space for inspiration to see how we might break down the immense library we were working with.
Affinity Mapping
Because of Simple Habit's targeted meditations, their library is immense. Filled to the brim with content created by an extensive network of teachers, the volume delivers continuous value for Simple Habit veterans, but meditation rookies must wrestle with a wealth of information in order to reap any value. Unfortunately, many fail at this initial step.
Our testing confirmed this when we examined and mapped the collective results of our research. By affinity mapping insights scribbled on post it notes, we uncovered underlying patterns we were able to group into the following pain points:
Design Studios
We had our pain points, now we needed to find out how to solve them. To kick off the ideation phase, I led a series of design studios. Design studios might look different dependent upon the design team, but I typically structure mine as follows:
Sample of Design Studio output
Coming out of consecutive design studios, we had a clear direction going forward. We decided to address the pain points uncovered through the research phase through the following methods:
With the original design, the majority users were either overwhelmed and confused by the content presented to them. To judge the success of our new direction, we performed comprehension tests with 5 users that were within the demographic of Simple Habit's user base.
Results of our Testing
Blue sky thinking has its place, and designs that mirror the process do as well, but working with an established company comes with constraints. In order to redesign Simple Habit without alienating existing users, we performed an audit of the UI of the app and created a makeshift style guide:
With the guide as our compass, we translated our lo-fi sketches into a hi-fidelity prototype that we took into the wild to validate our designs.
Home Screen
TOpic Page
Working with Simple Habit and the team we assembled for the redesign was a rewarding experience. As a lead for the project, I enjoyed motivating my team through the dog days of research and ideation. Working within the constraints of the company's style guide forced us to adapt while we were sure to maintain the thrust of our designs.
In order to onboard and retain prospective meditators you must educate them and reduce any friction. Meditation is a foreign subject to many, and most feel they have little time for self-care. If you present its benefits upfront through on boarding and allowing users to start meditations as quickly as possible, the content will bring them back repeatedly.


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Great, not another million-dollar Pro Touring car! Where are all the real street machines at? You know, the kind that the average working stiff can afford? We hate to break up the whine party, but you're looking at it. As the saying goes, appearances can be deceptive, and despite looking the part of a pro-built, mega-buck Mopar, Tyler Hunkele's '70 Dodge Charger isn't the product of checkbook engineering. To the contrary, it's the culmination of 10 painstaking years of pulling off savvy trades, swindling family friends, and getting down and dirty in the garage. The no-cost mentoring and advice of a very well-known yet generous car builder didn't hurt, either. Evidently, building a car that looks like a million bucks doesn't always require a million bucks.
Beyond the Charger's stunning good looks is a surprisingly back-to-the-basics parts combination that belies what its Pro Touring persona suggests. While purists may take issue with the dropped stance and big rollers, the B-Body retains its torsion bars, stick axle, and leaf springs. No fancy-schmancy independent rear suspension here. Under the hood is a good old-fashioned big-block and a four-speed manual, too. Gen III Hemis and overdrives needn't apply. Likewise, the sheetmetal is 100-percent stock, and Tyler even kept the vinyl top. Interestingly, a car that looks full-tilt Pro Touring on the outside is deceptively old-school on the inside.
Although Tyler had no plans of intentionally building a master of deception, setting his sights high, then resourcefully adapting his restoration strategy as circumstances dictated, somehow spawned a machine that looks far more expensive than it really is. As a former Ford owner and the son of a Chevy man, it seemed unlikely that Tyler would cross paths with a Charger, however, experiencing Detroit's lesser makes up close made him realize how badly his heart pined for a Mopar. "My dad was a Chevy guy, and all my friends in high school had Mustangs, so I got one too. It was just something to run around with in high school, and I sold it when I went off to college," Tyler recalls.
Granted that both father and son had yet to own a Mopar, they both appreciated the ultra-aggressive lines of the Charger. "The two of us always talked about building a Charger someday. He liked the '66 and '67 body styles, but since I grew up watching Dukes of Hazzard reruns, I always loved second-gen Chargers," Tyler remarks. "After I got out of school, I started looking for a new project car. My dad and I hunted down a pretty rough '70 Charger in Pennsylvania. There wasn't a lot of good metal left in it, but we weren't too worried because my dad's friend from high school, Ken Elsesser, was a great body man that ran his own shop. Since it was an ordinary 318 car, we didn't have to worry about ruining something rare."
To say that the Charger was rough is a bit of an understatement. Maybe that's what the Hunkeles said to try to swindle their body man, but after nearly 40 years of brutal Northeastern winters, there wasn't much '70 Charger left. "The car was a shell. The quarter-panels were hacked out, and it only had one door," Tyler recalls. "Ken's Auto Body ended up replacing the quarters, floors, and fenders. The only original metal left is the roof, firewall, and framerails. Since I didn't have a ton of money to spend up front, we worked out a pay-as-you-go deal. Over the next several years, Ken worked on the car in his spare time."
As the body work progressed, Tyler toyed with the idea of building the Charger into a Daytona clone. That soon changed after seeing a Pro Touring '70 Road Runner built by Steve Strope featured on TV. Much to his surprise, Tyler got some much-needed help from an unexpected source. "After seeing that show I fell in love with the Pro Touring theme. I started researching Strope's builds on Google, and read a bunch of magazine articles on his cars. Not all of the parts used on those cars were listed in the articles, so I emailed Strope asking where exactly to get various suspension and steering components. Email exchanges turned into phone calls, and he gave me tons of tips and advice to all my little questions. He told me exactly which companies to call and who to talk to. I was very surprised by how willing he was to help out a no-name like me who was just building a car in his own garage. He's a great dude."
With the body work nearing completion, Tyler got a move on collecting all the chassis and suspension components needed to pull off the Pro Touring transformation. Up front, he matched a set of Magnum Force upper control arms, drop spindles, and Sway-A-Way torsion bars with Eaton Detroit leaf springs in the rear. Bilstein shocks control the wheel dampening, while front and rear Hotchkis sway bars keep body roll in check. A set of Wilwood four-piston disc brakes provide the stopping power, and Toyo rubber wrapped around 18-inch Forged Union Laguna wheels stick it all to the pavement.
Since even Pro Touring cars don't live on handling and braking alone, Tyler wanted something a bit more potent than the wimpy factory 318 the Charger originally came with. He figured the big B-Body could benefit from a big dose of cubic inches and torque, too. As such, he looked right past a Gen III Hemi and built a 499ci big-block Wedge. He sought the help of Nick Wilson at Compuflow to piece together a stump-pulling combo based on a 400 block.
Bored to 4.375 inches, the motor uses an Eagle 4.150-inch crank, steel rods, and JE 10.0:1 forged pistons. Edelbrock Performer RPM aluminum cylinder heads and intake manifold provide the air supply, while a custom solid-roller camshaft actuates the valves. Exhaust exits through a set of Hedman long-tube headers and Flowmaster mufflers. Tyler estimates output at 550 horsepower. In keeping with the old-school vibe, torque is channeled through a A833 four-speed manual trans, which he acquired in a trade for some spare parts.
While stretching a buck always ranked high on Tyler's priority list, sometimes showing restraint wasn't always about saving money. "This isn't a $100,000 pro-built car so I didn't want to build something too flashy. I wanted to keep things basic," Tyler explains. "Something Steve Strope always says is that just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should. You got to do what works well for the car to achieve the goals you have in mind. Because the car is so big, I went with a black vinyl top to break up all the green. I thought adding a chrome lip to the black wheels would accent them nicely without looking too flashy. That's why all the black parts on the car—like the vinyl top, wheels, and grille—are outlined in chrome."
As with the rest of the car, Tyler had some very specific ideas on how to update the interior without making it too modern. "I love the look of basic old-school interiors, so I wanted to keep it that way. I upgraded the upholstery to leather, but kept the same pattern as the factory vinyl seats," says Tyler. "I hate when people cut up the factory dash and put a modern stereo in it. With the help of a friend of mine that does custom wood work, we built a custom mini console located between the seats to mount the head unit."
Since finishing the car last year, Tyler has logged a bunch of miles on the Charger cruising the streets and hitting up shows. Next on the agenda is putting the suspension to the test on the autocross. Regardless of the arena, bystanders will probably be shocked to see a million-dollar Pro Touring machine getting beat on out in the wild. Little will they know that despite its deceptively high-profile looks, it was actually built by a father and son team on a real working stiff's budget!
Fast Facts
1970 Dodge Charger | Tyler Hunkele | Akron, OH
Type: Chrysler 499ci big-block
Block: factory 400 block bored to 4.375 inches
Oiling: Melling oil pump, Milodon pan
Rotating assembly: Eagle 4.150-inch steel crank and H-beam rods; JE 10.0:1 pistons
Cylinder heads: ported Edelbrock Performer RPM aluminum castings with
2.140-/1.810-inch valves and 88cc combustion chambers
Camshaft: custom mechanical roller (specs classified)
Valvetrain: COMP valvesprings, Harland Sharp roller rocker arms
Induction: Edelbrock Performer RPM intake manifold, FiTech throttle-body
EFI system
Ignition: MSD billet distributor, coil, and 6AL ignition box
Exhaust: Hedman long-tube headers, custom H-pipe, dual 3-inch
Flowmaster mufflers
Cooling system: Mopar Performance water pump, Griffin radiator
Built by: Nick Wilson
Transmission: Chrysler A833 four-speed manual; McLeod twin-disc clutch
Rear axle: Dana 60 rearend, 3.73:1 gears, limited-slip differential
Front suspension: Magnum Force upper control arms and 2-inch drop spindles,
boxed factory lower control arms, Sway-A-Way 1.03-inch torsion bars,
Hotchkis sway bar, Bilstein shocks
Rear suspension: Eaton Detroit leaf springs, Hotchkis sway bar, Bilstein shocks
Brakes: Wilwood four-piston discs, front and rear
Wheels & Tires
Wheels: forged Union Laguna 18×9.5, front; 18×12, rear
Tires: Toyo Proxes R888 275/35R18, front; 335/30R18, rear


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We take a one-room schoolhouse approach to teaching while incorporating modern methods of pedagogy for all types of learners. Student to teacher ratios are what make the one-room approach work. The integrated classroom also encourages students socially, spiritually, and cognitively.
Our students work through specific learning groups rather than grades. Each student reaches various milestones on their way to secondary school. We also limit classes and teach subjects in context. Our integrated humanities course has an annual theme that all learning groups are working through together. Our humanities incorporates reading, writing, poetry, grammar, spelling, history language, and Bible. Math is tutored individually, and science is learned through hands on experiments where major concepts are practically realized. Memorization is practiced through songs, skits, and games. Classical input is given to each student and the expectation of output is based on their God-given abilities. This enables us to take students that are either accelerated or delayed in learning.
We offer a robust academic program that is fun. Our goal is not only to teach students concrete concepts but to do so in a way that fosters an intense love for learning. We accomplish this mainly through story. Minimal homework also assists with this. Children need to learn responsibilities outside of academics, and family time is more integral to development than math problems. Children learn not only through academics, but also through application and experiencing God's incredible world. With regular field trips, hands on activities, and relaxing lunches, our students feel comfortable in their "home away from home." When they finish school, they can have valuable time with family.
This is for the non-verbal student that is struggling with communication due to ASD or other cognitive delays.
This is for students just learning to read or that would fall into a K-1st grade learning level.
This is for students who are beginning to read well on their own or who would fall into a 2-3rd grade learning level.
This is for students who are good at reading or that would fall into a 4th-5th grade learning level.
This is for students who are fluent readers or that would fall into a 6th-7th grade learning level.
In history, we read stories. We study the story of God's world and of mankind, learning about the image of God. We rotate through history eras annually: Ancient Times, Middle Ages, Early Modern Times, and The Modern Age.
Mathematics takes mastery to understand. This means that individualized learning is important in mastering these skills. We use a combination of integrated methods to build important skills, ensure comprehension, and master problem-solving.
We study various science topics within each learning group. We place a special emphasis on hands-on science experiments as we explore God's world.
Music is interwoven in the fabric of our everyday worship. We study theory and history on Mondays.
Art is a part of the hands-on experience that goes along with our themed humanities program. Additional skills are taught on Mondays with longer projects.
Our humanities integrates Scriptural stories, and a biblical worldview is woven throughout the program. We also read, memorize, and discuss the Bible.
Copyright © 2018 thejubileeschools.com - All Rights Reserved.
We are located in Moscow, Idaho


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Giving a face-lift to digital assets through our user-centric design.
For product insights, we conduct user testing and usability audit.
Providing an optimized digital solution to boost-up conversion rate.
Helping companies understand the emerging opportunities in the market.
Making digital assets accessible and compliant-friendly for all types of users.
22 July 2016
Mobile apps are ruling. Period! And this is all because the user gets all the information he wants then and there without having to leave the comfort of his personal space, whichever that might be. What makes mobile apps so special? Is it the design or the gestures and animations that come along, the content or the simplicity in it? Either ways, an app should do the job for which it was designed while not letting the user question its existence. There are many instances when the user feels that certain functionality in your app makes no sense at all.
A mobile app ui design comes with its own baggage and messing with the UI will do no good to any app. If your design does not allow the users to access a particular feature, it can lead to a major showdown. What if your design isn't guiding your users through their entire journey or if the text on your app is too small to be even remotely readable? If you are creating an app, just moving some blocks from a website and shrinking the screen size wouldn't do wonders. While these are some of the things that you cannot afford to miss out on, ensure that the following ghastly mistakes are avoided as well.
1.Designing a device-heavy app
What is your first step when you get a popup with a horrifying message, "Your device is running out of space"? You rush to the storage settings and check for the apps that are taking up maximum space in your device. And what could be the solution to save your app from such dreadful situation? Make it storage friendly!! Ensure that it is smaller in size yet valuable to your users.
2.Creating a mini version of website
Does creating a miniature version of user's online experience with websites suffice the purpose of designing an app? This is the one thing that burns almost every designer and developer who fail to understand the actual purpose of introducing an app to the dedicated users. Simply rearranging the blocks and shrinking the screen size won't actually render great experience for your users.
3.Using exceptionally small fonts
It's proven user behaviour to read the web content slowly and less comprehensively as compared to the traditional book reading or a newspaper. In such a case, you cannot really mess with the font size on your website. Apart from ensuring that your fonts are readable and double the size of what is normally found on print; make sure that other UI elements are of the desired size. This will have an overall impact on the User Experience perspective.
4.Fixing a single design for multiple platforms
An android user may not be able to quickly connect with the UI on iOS. So, a mobile app ui design should be able to cater to the needs of users on both these platforms. Likewise, the fundamental design patterns when designing for different platforms may vary and the designer must be creative as well as in touch with all these trends.
Making sure that your UI is usable and the functionalities are simple will make your app accessible on the homescreen of millions of user's devices. And when that is the case, the only way to save your users from pushing the uninstall button is to ace intuitiveness and UX on the whole.
Conduct free UA for your website before 5th August
If interested, please fill in the details


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Earlier this year, we made the transition from a world where everyone wants to be The Barista, to this strange planet where the average job title has more than 8 syllables. We have ergonomic chairs.
Yasmine included the phrase 'team player' on her CV but she used it ironically. Yasmine is a tyrant, and according to the office quiz, a 'dangerous narcissist', character traits expected of someone who has spent many years behind a coffee machine. Recent emails (sub heading: URGENT) sent to Yasmine's boss:
We don't have any coffee.
Are you going to get coffee?
There is no coffee.
Rachel managed to weasel her way into the office a little while after Yasmine. In her first weeks of employment, she avoided being outed as a fraud by pretending to take important phone calls when asked to do something.
Useful things we have learnt during our time in the office:
Autonomy - Like all long-term hospos, we have been institutionalised. In an office environment you don't have to update your colleagues about your where-abouts every 15 minutes. No one cares if you're 'just going to the toilet.'
Deadlines - deadlines are just guidelines.
Milestones - things that have deadlines/ guidelines attached to them.
Meetings - There are a lot of meetings. But meetings = Kingston Creams.
Excel - is sick and wrong. We have both put in requests for assistants to deal with all the Excel.
Vocabulary - we have added the following words to our once limited vocabularies: transformative, activate, zeitgeist, collaboration, populate, socials, Dropbox, meeting, matrix. Rachel thought this word was made up when the hit film came to a cinema near you! She refuses to believe that staff are serious when using this word.
If left in the office alone, after eating all the biscuits, we practice putting all of the above words into a sentence:
"Rachel, after you've polished off the rest of those Kingston Creams, I need to you activate a transformative matrix addressing all the relevant collaborations and populate it with zeitgeists before adding it to Dropbox and scheduling a meeting about putting it on socials."
We have learnt to nod in agreement or give off an air of confidence and understanding when we have no idea what someone is talking about. This is called acting, which is followed by a lot of Googling. KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. You're welcome.
Parties - Apparently these jobs involve a lot of parties towards the end of the year but we have to work at them. The first one is being held at the Goods Shed tomorrow. All invited.