Percy Whatley, Executive Chef at The Ahwahnee in Yosemite National Park, California, doesn’t have to look very far for ideas: the local landscape instantly creates the perfect food environment. “We look outside and get inspired by our surroundings. Although a small hotel as far as rooms are concerned (123), the food and beverage operation feeds 2,000 people daily. Maintaining this kind of volume here is both challenging and stimulating. Our windows... 

The next time you happen upon Nikko Japanese Steakhouse, don’t be surprised when you see an excited young guy enjoying himself, just returning from a tennis match. “I go there every trip when I come back to celebrate. I had my birthday there. It’s a really nice place. I order the Nikko Special. It has a fillet, lobster and shrimp with double fried rice,” Donald Young said during our interview this spring. It hasn’t all been a fun ride. 22-year... 

As of today, Michael Russell is ranked eighth among American men and number 111 in the world. The difference between him and the others? He just turned 34 on May 1. To put this in perspective for new tennis fans, many tennis players are retired by this point. Returning for a comeback from his career high of 60th back in 2007, he e-mailed about how tennis is different with more wisdom and the latest book he is tackling. Where are you today and what... 

For 24-year old Frenchman Guillaume Legendre, tragedy morphed into the beginning of a new sports career. Returning to France after attending the University of Texas at Arlington, he plays wheelchair tennis and basketball, emphasizing in an e-mail conversation how unlike the common outdated thinking of years past, wheelchair or not, these sports are all real. Did you always play sports? When did you start? Yes. I used to play rugby and soccer before... 

We’ve all seen the stocks fall again to 2008 recession scare levels. I don’t cover finance for my personal blog as often as I do in my print writing, but this was important to me. Mickey Mikeworth, a public speaker who often gets questions about hard times from people, answered some of my own questions I thought everyone is probably wondering silently. With the way things are headed, what do you think is necessary for the economy to rebound? There... 

I do a lot of work for other media outlets, but I haven’t had a great Q&A for you guys on my blog in some time. What gives? Fortunately, I caught up via e-mail with Lew Marklin, host of this fall’s syndicated program Icon News. Lew, interviewing actress Christina DeRosa. Formerly the host of comedy sketch program ADHDtv, allow Marklin to describe the features/interview show in his own words: Why did you name the program Icon News? You, know,... 

With news e-books played a major role in Borders’ decline this past week, why not interview one such author? Jessica Buike was happy to chat about her e-book, Twin Rivers, over e-mail. What is the story about, without giving away any plot details? Rhiannon awakes from a two year coma to find the world as she had known it prior to her accident shattered. Her parents are gone, and so is part of her memory. The same nightmare haunts her endlessly,... 

Robert Klein Engler, a sociology adjunct professor for the past 12 years, found himself fired from Chicago’s Roosevelt University after one anonymous student’s complaint. Trying to remember what it exactly was, his lawyer Doug Ibendahl recalls, “It’s pretty funny actually. Could have been on Leno or Letterman. Robert can correct me if I get a detail wrong, but basically it was supposedly: A group of sociologists did a poll in Arizona about... 

The old Stefan Pinto probably never thought his abs would make The New York Times. Working in web design with Wall Street companies until he lost his job, he quickly discovered something else was meant for him in life. He lost over 60 pounds, was signed to a modeling agency and moved to Los Angeles where he now hosts a radio program, writes a fitness column and helps others work towards their indivisual fitness goals in his newsletter. Describe what... 

Michael Storrings is obsessed with Christmas. So much that he published a book of illustrations inspired by the holiday season in Manhattan, A Very New York Christmas, that has gained fans like Regis Philbin! A Very New York Christmas book cover Storrings, who calls himself a “big pug lover” – “I have two adorable muses at home, Spencer and Posey Pugglesworth. I have a modest but growing pug collection of statues and figurines,” he says...