My birthday party last week was an outstanding success, filled with old friends with new issues, the perfect spur for gossip and hi-jinks. David turned up with new squeeze Jenny, who works in a cosmetic surgery studio, specialising in laser hair removal and tattoo removal no less, and she was suitably well groomed in a Desperate Housewives kind of way. Katie had a top infertility treatment Doctor on her arm, I’m sure she has some plans for him, who conspicuously bought a bottle of the most extravagant Champagne every chance he got, not that anyone complained. By the end of the night everyone was pretty much wasted and all barriers were lowered as secrets and stories were bandied about as social currency. Luckily, I awoke not needing the tattoo removal studio or any other help besides a long shower and some paracetamol. I’m sure as the weeks go by I will construct a clear picture of what actually happened from whispered snippets of gossip, although by that time they will have snowballed and taken on new and ever more extravagant forms. That’s just the way it goes, roll on the next one, and we’ll see how that cast has changed.