Michael Strahan made his debut this morning as Kelly Ripa’s co-host on Live!, a year and a half after Regis Philbin announced his plan to retire. When I co-hosted the show in the spring, the New York media graciously adopted me as a local favorite and presented the Live! gig as my “dream job.”

Some people go to the US Open for the Tennis. And some, apparently, just go for the Honey Deuce. Created as the signature drink for the 2007 tournament, the grown-up vodka lemonade has been an Open staple ever since—despite the $14 price tag.

Today’s Starbucks Alter Ego was delivered along with the note:“My name is Contessa, spelled like it sounds. The woman behind the counter does get a slight break since it was 5 am and at the inter-island terminal of Honolulu’s airport.”

Today’s Starbucks Alter Ego comes from Cassandra, and it’s a doozy. She writes:  “I mean I was a little tired but I’d love the playback of what they thought they heard.” If we had a dime for every time we heard that…

It’s official, folks. Last night borough president Marty Markowitz stopped by our trivia event at the Bell House to declare Tuesday, August 21 “Pat Kiernan Welcome to Brooklyn Celebration Day.”

What are you doing next Tuesday? If you’re in town and don’t have plans, come to the Bell House in Brooklyn for a night of trivia. I’ll be hosting, and giving out a grab bag of awesome prizes, including tickets to see “War Horse” on Broadway. The theme, which was decided via an online poll, will be “15 Minutes of Fame.”

Today’s Starbucks Alter Ego comes from Jen. She writes: “Just went to get my tall skinny soy caramel frap ...the barrista didn’t even know what it said. Luckily she believed it was close enough to Jennifer (my name, that was clearly given at time of order) that I was able to collect my afternoon caffeine fix.” Whew.

It’s good to be passionate about something. In the tradition of the Double Rainbow Guy, the internet has now found the “Excited Train Guy.” Apparently, the more you know about trains the more the little things excite you.

We got this message, along with today’s Alter Ego: “My name is Micah, but that is generally too hard for the Starbucks crew so I told them my name was Mike.