Lensmaster Poddys has made quite a few lenses since I checked out his bio page a while back. He's now working on a lens apiece for each of the 50 states, including this starter lens, The United States Of America. Pretty cool, Tony.

Be sure to check out the "alternative" state's mottos, y'all.

Not only does A Weekend City Break In New York give us a glimpse into a trip that just about anyone would enjoy, it also gives us an example of what can be done with a lens. Cowritten by debnet and poddys, it's one of my favorite lenses, and this feature is my contribution (small though it may be) to getting the word out about it. :)

Squidoo Lens Reviews: What makes you passionate about Squidoo.com?

Poddys: I think it's the friendship that exists between many of the lensmasters that makes me passionate about Squidoo. Not only is everyone very helpful, they are also supportive of each other and willing to share ideas. It's not just about creating lenses, it's far more than that.

Squidoo Lens Reviews: Is Squidoo perfect already or what could make it better?

Poddys: It can always be better. I'm not sure how right now, but every month new features come along, and you know that HQ listen to the lensmasters and that they get good feedback on what we want.

Squidoo Lens Reviews: What inspires you to make a new lens?

Poddys: Ideally I would like to create lenses that earn me a lot of money and generate lots of traffic, but really what inspires me could be something on the television or radio, something somebody says, or just some random thought that comes into my head.

Squidoo Lens Reviews: How many lenses do you have?

Poddys: Right now I have 60 lenses. I have hardly created any new ones in the last 2 months, but I have plenty of ideas, just too little time. I have 10 of those lenses as works in progress, and a couple of blockbuster ideas (I hope) up my sleeve.

Squidoo Lens Reviews: What is your most popular lens?

Poddys: For the longest time my most popular lens has been My Claim To Fame which allows people to make known to the world any little thing that they feel gives them the right to be considered famous.

Squidoo Lens Reviews: What one sentence or one word describes your success?

Poddys: Overcoming procrastination at the last minute…

Squidoo Lens Reviews: What should a newbie do first?

Poddys: I don't particularly like the way that newbies are thrown in at the deep end, having to create a lens when they haven't seen any yet. I think newbies should look around – see what other lenses people have created, see what can be done, definitely visit the Lounge, but on no account just throw their hands in the air and give in. The one thing I would like to make sure that each newbie is aware of, is that you can't break anything when you create a lens. You can add, delete and change modules, re-order them, but you can't break anything, so just experiment and play around, and you will learn.

Squidoo Lens Reviews: Which of your lenses do you want to make sure the whole world knows about?

Poddys: Probably my lensography which might still take a few months to complete, and might end up as a multi-volume lens, but I have really enjoyed putting this together.

Tony aka Poddys