Miss Independent

Walking to the subway this morning I thought, ‘Where the hell is everyone?

Starbucks was empty. There were vacant parking spaces on 80th Street. The subway platform was empty, save for a family of — judging by their struggle with the turnstile — tourists. There was wiggle room on the 1/9. Times Square was deserted.

It was great.

Still, it hadn’t quite dawned on me. Where the hell is everyone?

Ooooooh! It’s July Fourth Weekend.

Let’s see. My brother’s in Stone Harbor. My dad’s in Maine. My boss is in the Hamptons. My colleagues are in London….

Me? I’m in sweaty, swealtering, stinky Times Square.

Sweet!

So, I’ll be here in New York all weekend. What’s better? I’ll be working. Tomorrow’s Live 8. A hand-picked team of MTV News producers will be holding down the fort here at MTV Global Headquarters. We’re doing live reports and lots of photography throughout the day. We have some “Hustle & Flow” stuff to do on Sunday, and an R. Kelly video premiere on Monday. All on the the Internerd’s least-busy weekend of the year.

Oh well. I’m not complaining. I know a lot of people work a whole bunch more without getting any time off. Heck, I’ve had two days off this year. And I’ll get more. In fact, the Heartland Tour and recording is coming together for early-August.

But more on that when ya’ll come back from your glamorous foreign ports of call… Have fun, beeyatches!