Cocktail Deck Party

Until Google + decides to let us in on the big deal and create our own hangouts, we’re going to have to have our parties in the Oort belt of the blogosphere.  That’s cool.  I’ll bet a party with you guys would be a lot of fun in person.

Didja notice we broke 11,000,000 unique page views?  Not bad for a blog that nobody reads.  That’s not true, we have quite a few readers, even in the summer.  We know you’re out there but don’t worry, we’re not going to sell your email addresses.  I do wonder whether the Republican or Democratic operatives are hanging out here more…  The Republicans should forget about converting us even if they do pick up some dark shadows in our collective unconscious.  (BTW, I finished the Ghaemi book today and we are absolute toast if we keep electing the student body president types.  I was right when I said we need the Democratic version of a hairy, unibrowed Atilla the Hun.)

But anyway, let’s kick back and have a beer (or two).  My beverage du jour is, hold on a sec while I check the label…, Victory Summer Love Ale.  It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not picking up a lemony freshness in the finish as advertised.  Unlike my neighbors in Pennsylvania, it’s fairly easy to get weird beers and ales in NJ.  Liquor stores here carry all kinds of liquors, wines and beers and you don’t have to buy a case of beer at one fell swoop.  On the other hand, very few restaurants have liquor licenses (because the mafia has cornered the market?  Just a hunch based on the number of iterations and suspicious fires that some local restaurants have experienced)  Grocery stores, with very few exceptions, do not sell liquor.  In fact, one of the only grocery stores to sell alcohol in NJ, Wegmans, has a cool pick a six pack feature.  You can shop dozens and dozens of beers and make your own six pack.  It’s a great way to sample things you might not have tried otherwise.

Then there’s the Triumph Brewery in Princeton.  I love that place.  You can purchase a growler in a recyclable half gallon glass jug.  The make a great Coffee and Cream ale.  Flights are the best way to sample unusual fermented beverages for those of us on an unemployment check budget.

So, what is your beverage du jour and what did you do this week?  Reno a kitchen?  Go on vacation?  Transfer all of your 401K nest egg to cash?  Grab some chips and guacamole and some seven layered dip and chill.