Skylar's birthday party was a huge success, despite the fact that someone at the JCC failed to cover the pool Saturday night and then lied about it this morning. Enough of us braved the brisk water to overcome Bean's break-of-day anxieties that things would go poorly. Still, when you pay money for the privilege and call several times to make sure that the pool will be covered -- let's just say that Kim will be calling the JCC tomorrow.

Anyway, after a relaxing lunch at Beyond Bread and a relaxinger evening of tidying up while Bean played with her loot -- to the Killers' record, incidentally, of which both ladies of the manor approve -- I drove to TJ's to get provisions. NPR reported on the start of early voting in Florida, for which both Kerry and Bush were in the state.

They played a bit of the speech Kerry gave at a rally. The gloves aren't just off. They're lying in the wastebasket, torn to shreds. Kerry repeated his recent criticism of the Bush Administration's failure to plan for a potential shortage of flu shots. Then he delivered a brutal uppercut with his left:

"But if Halliburton sold flu shots, there would be more of them here than oranges."

I'm not sure whether Kerry -- or his speechwriters, since it was likely scripted -- intended the implicit pun, but it's brilliant. The word "influenza," after all, means "influence." I hope that the Democrats' efforts to innoculate Floridians against political treachery takes.

Back to the game. It's apparently time for the Red Sox to break some more hearts. Wait. That was a tremendous catch by Cabrera. Sheffield or Matsui? Pick your poison. Looks like Sheffield. Or maybe not. Embree's pitching him out of the strike zone. Be sure to check kdotdammit's blog tomorrow for the photos from the birthday party, as well as yesterday's wonderful trip to Wilcox. Matsui it is. I have a bad feeling about this and I'm not even a Red Sox fan. Then again, neither is John Kerry.

Mode: sated yet serrated
Muse: Buck and McCarver