I was repeatedly let down:

Anne said that she would be late. She wasn't.

I thought I would bring cake. I didn;t.

I thought Mary would read from her novel. She didn't.

I though Lee would read about sex. He didn't.

I thought I would bring in something rewritten. I didn't (although, thank God, no one noticed).

On the other hand:

Anne as on time, so I got to chat with her. Awesome.

Cake it bad for you. Fair enough.

If Mary had read from her novel, I would be have been driven made with jealousy as it is so good. In the event, she read out something and, as soon as she was done, turned (to me? Or everyone?) and said 'you hated that didn't you?' I was able to say 'yes' and being so mean did my soul a power of good.

Lee reading about sex would merely have revved my engine...

People were very nice about my writing.

See... it was actually a great evening.