Parties

A new drinks-party-shirking method has taken hold in society. I call it “Lastminute.non.” Previously, the way of not going to someone’s party was to write a polite message of refusal at least a week in advance, giving the host or hostess ample time to absorb the sad but inevitable fact that various friends would not be able to attend – usually for copper-bottomed reasons, such as that they had other plans for the evening or would be away on holiday. The new trend seems to be to accept an invitation, and then, mere hours before, to duck out of it. This means that from breakfast time onward throughout the day

The secret to working a room is to know when you’re in a room that can’t be worked

I’ve been thinking a lot about friendship lately because I recently turned seventy and was considering throwing a big birthday party

Ours is an age that prefers the battle of ideas and opinions rather than pleasure of discovering the mysteries of another person

Even an old grump like me has been having a good time