I think it’s incredibly sweet how much actor Mickey Rourke adores his chihuahuas!

Sitting outside LAX on Monday waiting for his bags to arrive, The Wrestler actor took his little dog Jaws out of his carrier for some one-on-one cuddle time on the sidewalk.

Mickey and Jaws are also currently part of a PETA campaign for spaying and neutering, which can be seen on billboards around Los Angeles. The ads read “Have the cojones to fix your dog. When dogs get knocked up, puppies get put down because there aren’t enough homes for them.”

[images: bauer-griffin]

I am one of those people who, if a celebrity were sitting next to me in a cafe, I would not recognize him or her–unlike my husband, who can spot a local tv weather person from across Fifth Avenue.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to be able to have a casual conversation with Sarah Jessica Parker in a downtown NYC diner.

On the other hand, on the rare occasion that I do spot someone, something happens to my brain, and I become a different person. (why is that?) Once I saw Matthew Broderick in a restaurant and I nearly trampled another diner, just to get a closer look. (more importantly, for him to see me.)

New York is teeming with celebrities. You always hear gossip about some starlet who just bought a fabulous loft in Tribeca for millions of dollars…when the average person wouldn’t be able to locate (never mind purchase) a mailbox sized place. Where are all of these apartments?

There is actually etiquette in dealing with the celebrity sighting…if you do see one, you ignore that person — then as soon as he/she passes, you call all of your friends to let them know, and of course you embellish the story as in:

“I just saw James Gandolfini in a bar and boy was he hammered! — I’m telling you, I had to escort him to the restroom, that’s how blottoed he was! AND he said hi to me.”

New York Magazine has put together a Star Map of the city by neighborhood…which should be helpful the next time you are out on your lunch break and pretend to see one of them. Here are a couple neighborhoods in which a siting is probable, not that you really care:

• Upper East Side: Woody Allen, Liza Minelli, Rudy Guliani
• Upper West Side/Central Park: Tina Fey, Penny Marshall, Bono, Ricky Martin
• Midtown: Rosie O’Donnell, Kim Cattrall, Paris and Nicky Hilton, Anderson Cooper
• West Village/Soho: Chloe Sevingny, Liv Tyler, Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore, Racheal Ray
• East Village/Tribeca: James Gandolfini, Sarah Jessica Parker, David Bowie

Shhh! Don’t tell anyone!

Image: Peter Rad/New York Magazine