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Above: My mother is a big Sesame Street fan. She carries a photo of Bert and Ernie in her wallet. Shot in FAO Schwartz - where you can create a muppet of any kind but the one you're actually a fan of, due to "copyright". What's up with that? I want my own Prof. Bunsen Honeydew , the most Chinese of all the muppets! My mother celebrates 71 years on the planet today - here in "the center of the universe" (as my NY friends call it). In a week she's practically walked the entire length and breadth of Manhattan. Twice. Not surprising - she's recently done belly dancing, quigong, pilates, tapdancing and yes, poledancing with me ! Read the full montymedia about that. I wouldn't be surprised if she enrolled in breakdancing like the show we stumbled on in Central Park last Friday - c heck out my movie . My mother's hero? "TINA TURNER". She even took yoga and pilates mat classes at Joschi , where I'm currently enrolled in a 200-hour yoga

Matador's Julie Schwietert Collazo interviewed me recently on the Handsomest Man in Cuba.

Bike Friday customer Colin Freestone is a long time yoga practitioner. "When I did a cycling trip and neglected my practice I became "unco" (uncoordinated)" he said. Read more . BACK from a month of customer evangelizing in Arizona and Colorado I've headplanted myself into a 200-hour yoga teacher training course at a small, Chelsea studio called Joschi Body Bodega . Yup, as I told my Facebook friends, "this is the year for getting certified in everything you normally pay for". Certainly better than sinking money into high risk stocks! I've noticed that my cycling life has probably created, shall we say, certain imbalances in my mortal coil. Crunchy knees , and a stiffish upper body which I sought to rectify by taking up poledancing . Only trouble with that one - you need a pole! I realized I can't be the only cyclist noticing these changes. I decided that with the right education, I could devise a yoga practise suitable for my bicycling br

So here I am in Boulder, Colorado, for the first time in my life, and direct from another Arizona Desert Camp . My Colorado Schedule I've already been treated to a couple of nights at the home of the Bike Friday Club of Denver leaders Tom and Dianna McDermott, who took me cougar spotting at the local Whole Paycheck on the first day. Cougar spotting? Git thee with the times or, for those too lazy to click: Cougar – an older woman who sexually pursues men at least eight years her junior.[12] The term has been used in (American) TV series, advertising and film. The 2007 film Cougar Club was dedicated to the subject. It is also featured in the recurring Saturday Night Live sketch "Cougar Den". There was only one possible sighting - a woman in a baby pink Chanel-cut suit, big glasses, blonde hair, beige pumps. Let's say, the kind of outfit you would not ride a bicycle in except for a Bond poster. "At 46, your qualify as a cougar you put on that flapper dress,"

Well here it is - some 8 years after landing in the USA on a temporary H1B work permit. In truth, I only started applying for it properly about 18 months ago, under the category National Interest Waiver, which I talked about here . The people I must thank include the referees I had to muster to build my case. Either that or get married, and we can't have me doing that, now can we? Thank you to the following people for providing glowing references: Fred Matheny, RoadBikeRider.com Alan Scholz, Co-founder, Bike Friday Dan Okenfuss, VP Public Relations, Little People of America Douglas Card, Adjunct Professor, U of O Eileen Lafer, Professor, U of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio Fred Iannotti, Life Member, Appalachian Mountain Club Gihon Jordan, Transportation Expert Jackie Huba, Principal, CustomerEvangelists.com Jeff Bernards, Bicycle Advocate Jerry Norquist, CEO, Cycle Oregon Jerry Segal, CFO, Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis, Inc. Jim Clash, "The Adventure

This is my submission to the Queensland Tourism Island Caretaker Job , along with the 30,000 other applicants (including Dean Martin's son, the Edmund Hilarys and Jacques Cousteaus of the world, and even an hilarious Osama impersonator). I use it now as part of my bio/resume, to demonstrate what I can do in 1 minute with a pocket digital camera, a guitar, a Mac, and an old tatty straw hat. My friend and multi-award-winning Art Director downunder, Sue Carey, challenged me to defend my self-styled title as a Multimediaclast - so this is for you, Sue! Judging from the staggering caliber of applicants, I'll be surprised if it floats (ha!) but oh, I do so love a 1-minute creative challenge. I can also I console myself that I've been doing this exact same job for the past 5 years as the Customer Evangelist and chief content creator for Bike Friday. The only difference is my butt is planted on a bike saddle, rather than a boogieboard. For tech trivia buffs, here's

If anyone needs to watch their shekels in this recession it's probably the average New Yorker, according to a recent report from the Center for Urban Future which revealed, among other things: * A New Yorker would have to make $123,322 a year to have the same standard of living as someone making $50,000 in Houston. * In Manhattan, a $60,000 salary is equivalent to someone making $26,092 in Atlanta. My NY recession tip of the moment involves saving money on entertainment without really trying, thus: I get the just-expired TimeOut NY dumped in the lobby every week. The idea is that you get so engrossed flipping through it and 'awwww shucksing' over all the things you just missed, you subscribe. The real benefit is that reading it takes so much of your morning you actually feel exhausted like you vicariously partook - but your wallet is intact. But I was foiled: a friend got so tired of me recanting just-missed events he bought me a subscription. Watch out wallet,