Mike Manning,

PROUDEST MOMENT:

Being drafted first in the 1990 Southwood Elementary school-wide Recess Softball League (RSL)...as a 5th grader.

SPECIALTY:

I'm known for my exceptional table manners.

FAVORITE PASTIMES:

Desparately trying to relive college, reading, people-watching, dining at Dorsia, observing the madness that is 21st St between 5th and 6th.

HEROES:

MLK, Teddy Roosevelt, Alexander Hamilton, Ralph Nader pre-2004, Arthur Ashe, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., my parents. Second-tier heroes: Snoop Dogg, Thomas L. Friedman, Bill Emmott, Roger Waters, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Page, Steve Nash, Daniel LaRusso, Ari Fleischer (he could manhandle the press like no one else).

FAVORITE THINGS:

The Economist, Led Zeppelin, all Wisconsin-based sports teams, The Sports Guy, Roger Ebert, The Shawshank Redemption, Heineken, March Madness, Marky Mark's seamless transition from rapper to actor, No-Limit Texas Hold-em, suitcases full of money, Google News, The Simpsons (particularly seasons 4-6), The Low End Theory, monkeys and robots (the pillars of comedy), my family.

PERSONAL QUIRKS:

I'm prone to singing the national anthem at inappropriate times. I insist on an authentic Cuban cigar with my apple martini. I don't want no scrubs.

DREAM CAREER CHOICE:

Op-ed columnist for the New York Times, complete with the occasional appearance on Meet the Press and my own gaggle of jealous partisans disagreeing with everything I say...what a life.

PERSONAL STRENGTHS:

Ummm...I can juggle?

SPECIAL PLACE:

I sleep in a cupboard under the stairs.

ASPIRATIONS:

To get as tan as possible.

FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOODS:

East Village in NYC, Belltown in Seattle.

FAVORITE BOOKS:

The Godfather by Mario Puzo, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris, 1984 by George Orwell, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.

THE WAY I WORK:

Sitting down, hands on the keyboard, pen in my mouth, listening to the Flaming Lips.

COOLEST THINGS:

Playing Stairway to Heaven backwards, doing J-skids on my BMX, catching fire on NBA Jam, Ice-T in New Jack City, the bloody yeti at Abracadabra.

PHILOSOPHY:

"If ignorance is bliss, then knock the smile off my face." Either that or "hit me as hard as you can." Is that a philosophy or a request?

BE ANYWHERE RIGHT NOW:

Walking on the white sand at Monkey Beach in the Phi Phi Islands.

ANYTHING ELSE:

Don't believe everything you read, hear, see, touch, taste or smell. Especially if Ann Coulter is involved.