Thanksgiving Day.

Doug & Robin invited me for dinner. Her parents flew in from Oklahoma City, her brother from Nashville. Also invited was her friend Sarah from MTV, and Doug's classmate Tom and Tom's boyfriend Tony. And me.

I walked to Western Beef (love their mascot - a cowboy hat wearin' cactus!) around 1:00 and picked up supplies for my hors d'oeuvers. It was so sunny and beautiful. But, when I walked out, it was raining and freezing! Surely I hadn't been shopping for that long...

So I dried out by the oven as the turkey roasted. My BLT dip was a smash. (Oh, it does taste like a BLT!) As was the Chocolate Chip Cheese dip, but we were getting too full by the time that hit the table.

Robin did a marvelous job on the turkey! And Tony's broiled pears with Marsala were fabulous, too. We rolled ourselves back out to the living room and chattered until 10:30 p.m.

And when I arrived home, the Tavern was closed!

Tuesday.

It's good to have friends who are good, respected people. They can get people to be your friend!Armand called his acquaintance at Atlantic Records named Don. Armand called me. Donnie called me, and asked me to dinner!

It was a bit strange, like a blind date that you had to set up for yourself.

So, Don asked me my favorite thing to eat.

"Mexican!"

"Oh, I'm in love. There's a place near Grand Central if you want to eat Mexican."

Already I've forgotten the name of the place. But the tamales were great. We had a fun time. We walked over to the Virgin Megastore so he could pick up an MxPx DVD. (I hate MxPx after they tried to bail on my concert festival in Florida. You're the headliners, hello? We're finding you a flight in you have to fly the plane yourselves, you little neo-punk Christian brats, and the cost is coming out of your retainer.)

So, anyway, looks like I may have found a new buddy with whom to play racing games at ESPN Zone. I'm all Indy Car. He's all NASCAR. I think I'll beat his arse to the finish line. Watch for the appropriate headline.

New York Can Break The Will Of A Cat.

A man sat on the corner of 47th & 7th, right smack in the middle of Times Square. And with him were this sweet cat (sleeping in a cat bed at the time) and this terrier. They're all gussied up in sweaters and bows.

I stopped in my tracks, not just because of my affection for animals, but by the fact this cat, a cat mind you, was completely unaffected by the busiest tourist location in all of America.

"Why don't they run away?" I asked.

"Because they love it!" the man replied.

It was hard to determine if he was homeless and pimping his pets or vice versa.

I offered a tip for their photograph and was dismayed as he scooped the cat right out of her bed and sat her up in a pose. But she went right back after I snapped the shot. Again she closed her eyes, and again women "Oooo'd and "Aaahh'd" as they walked by.

Quite adorable.

Only in New York.

Yeah, Me2.

Totally bummed I didn't know the U2 thing was happening until it was over. They could've driven by my office at least!

Bye-Bye, Murphy Car Nissan.

Well, my car is sold. It was sold two weeks ago and nobody told me. I would've felt like an idiot if I had gotten that job at Rcktwn. "Oh, sorry, I have no transport. Nevermind!"

Nevertheless, despite all the issues that earned her the name "Murphy," she was a good car. She was my first car, purchased in 1997. A 4-door Nissan Sentra XE. Charcoal Grey. Excellent speakers. A feature I never even thought to examine when I made the purchase. What a much enjoyed bonus!

We went from Tennessee to San Francisco to Anaheim and back again, and all kinds of places in between. Not the kind of girl to always sit around and wait for life to come to me, I drove off to Napa, Sausalito (a favorite place!), Redding, Sacramento, Modesto, San Bernadino, Chico, San Diego, Encinitas, West Hollywood, Long Beach, and some other random places whose names I've forgotten.

Oh, I remember the time I was living back in Indianpolis and we hit black ice on an overpass in December. Thought we weren't going to make it. Thought we were skating off the bridge. Thought we were going to plow into a brand new pickup truck by the median. But you pulled through, Murph. And that time I was driving back to Nashville from visiting family in Kentucky and that tractor-trailer had dropped a tire in the middle of the lane. Thought we were going to flip over, Murphy. But we made it with just some sratches on your belly.

You've had your problems, like the oil leak since 2002, but you've been great, dear ol' car. Paint oxidizing, right rear window replaced with Plexiglas (thanks, Jim!), front driver's side fender crushed from that time that guy was dissing me and I was freaking out and I hit the gas instead of the break and drove into the library parking garage wall.

She started out with 90,000 miles and this past summer we passed the 200,000 mile mark. She'll be missed.

When I Smash The Jukebox And Stuff The Bartender Inside Of It And Then Plea "Insanity," Will You Vouch For Me?

Noise Complaint filed last night at 1:15 a.m. (C1-1-142360363 ticket closed by Triborough at 2:12 a.m. as non-crime corrected.)

I went downstairs after I phoned 311, just to see if maybe the police were going to come by, or maybe I'd just wrap the belt of my robe around the bartender's neck. Well, before either thing happened, my dear ol' lease-holder/the Tavern owner ran out the door of the Tavern. I dunno why. But, I was appalled. This the man who guaranteed me his dumb little bartenders would be informed to keep the music "low" Sunday through Thursday nights. At 1:30 in the morning, on a Monday, to see his skilly little arse coming out the door of the Tavern, knowing full well how loud the music was... Oh, I don't know what kept me from tackling him and leaving his body in the middle of Broadway.

Photoless.

I have, since last week, been unable to figure out how to post my sad little Sony Ericsson mobile phone/digital camera photos to my blog via Buzznet. I did it before with no problem. Now, I can't seem to locate the little "blog this" button on their site. I've e-mailed them, but not heard anything back. Maybe it's all in my head. I'm sure the button is just right there, somewhere that I've not been looking.