Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans.

Anyone following my Reverb 10 entries must be thinking by now what a grumpy, antisocial misery I must be. It's not true, I swear it! I am a happy little sunbeam generally, but... okay, I admit they might be a bit right about the antisocial part. I don't do parties. Loads of people I don't know drinking, dancing, networking and getting their groove on with each other just doesn't rock my socks. I'm not comfortable in large social groups and don't beat myself up about that nowdays. It's just the way I am.

I prefer small laid-back gatherings of people whose company I genuinely enjoy, and I've missed meeting up with my several good friends this year while I've been working at weekends, which is the only time they're not at work. We have our favourite meeting places where we can sit and put the world to rights. Traditional pubs are getting to be as rare as hen's teeth nowdays since the breweries are closing them down or turning them into Thai restaurants faster than you can blink, but we're fortunate in that we do still have a smattering of small local hostelries where one can leisurely enjoy a pint of the local brew with one's mates. Or in my case, cider or coffee since I don't like beer.

My favourite haunt serves up a pretty good taste in music as well as what I'm told is a decent selection of ales. On the average evening you might get Warren Zevon, Dylan, Nick Cave, obscure early punk bands, Irish folk and Joe Bonamassa. People bring their working dogs and ferrets in with them. I still get a kick out of that. You don't get people passing their ferrets round in the city winebars I used to frequent before I moved into the wilds.