What a lovely weekend.

Friday night: Arranged to meet Guy and Neil in Comptons. I got there early and had an intense and somewhat depressing - but necessary - conversation with Andrew. Guy and Neil soon arrived, as did Dave and Nick. Chatted to Dave about his new flat, and then went with Guy and Neil to Barcode, where we bumped into JL. I took a bit of ribbing for my NEW! jeans, my NEW! brown leather jacket and my NEW! red T-shirt-with-japanese-writing-on-it. Neil: "What does that say, then?" Me: "My boyfriend went to Tokyo and all he bought me was this lousy T-shirt." It was soon chucking-out time (1? 2?) so I got a night bus home. Fell asleep and woke up at the end of the line. Again.

Saturday: Had a jolly afternoon in, watching Singin' In The Rain. Thought about going to the blogmeet, but decided against it, as I had a busy night ahead. Waited for Ian in the Cock, Kennington. He was late. Again. The Cock was OK - loud music, decent crowd. But were we satisfied with this? Oh no. So off we went to The Little Apple. You know, there are times when "no attitude" is not a compliment. The place has a community atmosphere. Care in the community.

Then we went to Hope. What a brilliant night. The same DJs as the Vauxhall, the same crowd, a similar layout, a terrific atmosphere - but open till six in the morning. Highly recommended. The occasion was Dave's pre-birthday warm-up and he certainly had a great time. His report of the evening should be worth reading, but I'd give him till noon to wake up.

Sunday: Dave's birthday drinks downstairs at Manto's. There must have been sixty people packed into the tiny basement - largely seven-foot strapping muscled men, but with one cluster of really short guys, seemingly all sticking together for safety. Off we all went to the Vauxhall, where the DE Experience gave a rambling, unfocused show, having been at Hope the night before. And Trade.

The gorgeous weather meant we could all congregate on the pavement outside for the first time this year. My spirits lifted and I briefly rhapsodised about how beautiful the sky looked with a vapour trail glowing like a streak of neon, before I stopped and self-consciously asked "it's not just me, is it?" It wasn't. Roll on summer.