Today’s Starbucks Alter Ego comes from Iris, who gives her barista “points for trying.”

Thank you to everyone who help make last night’s Trivia for Sandy Relief a great success—and a great time! Organized by Trivworks, we managed to raise more than $5,000, money that will be split between two organizations—the The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, and Brooklyn Community Foundation Recovery Fund. There are so many people to thank I had to make a list:

Just a reminder that our Trivia Night to benefit Hurricane Sandy relief efforts is taking place this Tuesday (November 13th) at the Bell House in Brooklyn. Tickets are only $15 and the entire ticket price will be donated to the Sandy relief effort. Read on for a video message from Pat and TrivWorks founder, David Jacobson.

I just did an interview with Monocle. It was a wide-ranging affair. We talked about everything from news aggregation to the changing times for media. Host Frederick Bernas asked me if I thought traditional forms of media still have a place in the digital landscape we now inhabit. How NY1 differs from the majority of cable news shows, and of course, what time I wake up in the morning.

The Washington Post has a cool round up of which candidate editorial boards from the country’s largest newspapers are backing. They provide the candidate the boards endorsed in 2008 as well, for comparison. I found it interesting that some of the big Florida papers—the Sun Sentinel, the Orlando Sentinel—went for President Obama in 2008 but reversed course this year and endorsed Romney.

Today’s Starbucks Alter Ego comes from Johanna. She writes that usually her name gets butchered, “but one Starbucks near my office gets it right every time.  Today stopped at a different one and got a very unique new moniker… so far my friends have thought the second ‘letter’ is either a Mercedes logo, an ampersand or a crude, kind of obscene drawing.”

It’s never fun to talk about your exes. But I thought Taylor Swift handled the subject well on her latest visit to the Ellen show. I was impressed that Ms. Swift had such a good sense of humor about what has become a national fascination on the heels of her new album. Even when Ellen handed her a cow bell to confirm her relationship status with several rumored suitors—Zac Ephron, Danny DeVito—who flashed on the screen.

Last night’s Alfred E. Smith dinner provided a nice reprieve from intense he said he said of the presidential campaign. Both President Obama and Mitt Romney gave funny monologues at the annual fundraiser and both used the opportunity to joke with each other.  Romney also poked fun at himself, saying “usually when I get invited to gatherings like this, it’s just to be designated driver.” SEE VIDEO

Mental Floss one of my favorite websites. I mean seriously, where else can you be schooled in cockroach anatomy (Amazing Mental Floss Fact: The Cockroach can live up to two weeks without a head because its “brain” is spread throughout its body.); the history of NBC sitcoms (Amazing Fact: NBC executives originally wanted Paul Giamatti for the role of Michael Scott on The Office, but Giamatti wasn’t interested.); and intimate details about the lives of celebrities? (Amazing Fact: Donald Duck’s middle name is Fauntleroy.)

Which is why I’m so psyched that the good people at Mental Floss have decided to collaborate on a trivia throwdown to get people in the “spirit” for my upcoming Ultimate Halloween Pop Culture Night at The Bell House on October 29th.