I had a New Year's Party at my house tonight. I hadn't invited loads of people and in the three years since
I last did this many of my friends have had babies, so I was anticipating it being a quiet affair. Of course there's also a lot of competition for parties on this ever so special night and on top of that the weather was bad, and as I put out the nibbles I began to worry that no-one would turn up. What if I just sat in my house all alone all night, eating cheesy wotsits and trying to work my way through the litres of booze I had ambitiously got in. Worse, what if a couple of people turned up at about 11.30 expecting the place to be swinging and found only me, pissed, with Wotsit dust all over my face. It would be really embarrassing as the three of us sat there waiting for the New Year, with them pitying me for being the friendless idiot that I would most surely be. They might want to escape and go to a better party, but would they really be able to leave this pathetic figure to see in 2007 alone? What if only Chrissie Hynde and Beth Orton turned up, uninvited, like they did last time? I don't think they would have any compunction in leaving me on my own, but they would never forget the drunk unpopular man who was arrogant to think that anyone would want to spend New Year's Eve with him. They'd probably do a song about me and it'd get to number one and everyone would know what a friendless dick I was.
Of course this is the usual paranoia that most people go through when having a party. And of course when you say that an event will start at 8pm, no-one is going to come before 9. And luckily by half ten the place was buzzing and the drink was being drunk, the nibbles were being nibbled and the food I had bought from Marks and Spencers this afternoon (why I had left the shopping til the last minute? I was left with the few paltry morsels that no-one else had wanted) was mainly being eaten, though TV's Emma Kennedy complained about the presentation. She's changed since she got on TV. A pizza on a plate and some chips in a bowl aren't good enough for her. I hope her New Year's resolution is to be less mawkish, but as it had not struck midnight yet, she was able to carry on with her old ways.
Midnight came. There was kissing. Auld acquaintainces were remembered. I had some friends. Happy New Year everyone.
