It’s a beautiful day here in the Garden State, so I am off to spend it on The Deck with the Usual Suspects. Vodka, hot dogs and other treats, lots of great music, bobbing about in the pool and just generally enjoying a slice of Life 101.

Later.

Update 7/11/04: It was yet another great day (and evening) on The Deck. Ken, the always-attentive, anal cruise director, had purchased a more space-efficient and easier-to-manage cooler to hold ice on the bar and added a stainless steel scoop, all of which made making drinks easier and, more importantly, faster. What a guy.

Original Bill and Mrs. Original Bill, the Quietly Sinister Linda, arrived late, having spent the earlier part of the day in Ocean County Down the Shore at a family birthday party. They arrived during the live, extra LONG version of “Southern Man,” by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Of course, Bill hated it, which provided him with ample opportunity to pitch a bitch about the music — “You can’t dance to this shit.” We love it. His bitching is even better than the music.

The Other Bill (Bill the Ham) showed up with some excellent cigars for the boys and then spent the balance of the evening making “berrytinis” for him and several of the women Usual Suspects. (Skyy Berry vodka, cranberry juice, and a splash of lemon soda – shaken and served up in a chilled martini glass).

Shelley, our Jewish Usual Suspect, insisted that she doesn’t have a Jewish accent, but only a Jersey accent, to which I respond that she clearly is meshugeh. She pronounces the last name of the singer Billy Joel as “Joe-Well.”

I farookin’ love it.