Going to two free drink events on Thursday night, plus buying drinks on top of that, saw such an influx of alcohol to my system that I'm fairly sure the effects lasted for the next 24 hours. Friday morning I had a Euphoric Hangover. The feeling that I'd been drinking heavily the night before, but feeling strangely okay about it. Perhaps I was still intoxicated even after a night’s sleep. Wandered around Muswell Hill and Archway happily in the December rain (always cheers me up), getting lots of chores done. Booked long-overdue appointments with dentist, optician, scanned the Evening Standard piece, stocked up on Resolve (the UK's most popular brand of hangover cure) for the next time, bought the Christmas Radio Times, and at Woolworths bought more copies of Morrissey's prowling new single "I Have Forgiven Jesus" than I strictly need, to show my hardy approval.

It’s only £1.99 and features a rather excellent b-side: a joyous cover version of Raymonde’s "No One Can Hold A Candle To You", complete with the sort of 80s-indie style jangly guitar that one often hears at the club How Does It Feel To Be Loved.

Wonderful to see him last Sat on CD:UK, the ITV Saturday Morning kids' pop show. Dressed as a Catholic priest. Wonder what the Westlife fans made of him. I could be wrong, but the presenter Ms Deeley gave me the impression she'd suffered all those times of having to smile while introducing some depressing cut-and-paste boy band, purely for the moment when she could say "And now, Morrissey".

I do rather like the idea of A Morrissey Christmas. Perhaps he could do as Cliff Richard or Shakin' Stevens in the past, always relied upon to release a single for the fans in December. Why else release a final single from an album at the hardest time of year to have a hit, unless you like the idea of being a Christmas fixture? Indeed, the last time he released an album, "Maladjused", he quietly put out "Satan Rejected My Soul" as a Christmas single. Again, the last single off the album. Again, a great title to see in the charts.

He's playing Earl's Court tonight, and though I've been reluctant to attend concerts by ANYONE in such cavernous aircraft hangars of venues, I'm now tempted to go along and see if I can afford a ticket from a tout (assuming it's sold out). If anyone reading this happens to have a spare ticket, please do get in touch.

In the afternoon, I wrote up my diary, prepared a birthday card for Ms Jennifer Denitto, then trotted off to Archway Video to do some community service for them.

Very untaxing: the shop was comparatively quiet for a Friday. Must be down to what ambulance drivers call Black Friday – the last Friday before Christmas, and thus the most popular evening for office Christmas parties. People are going out to parties, not renting films. Warnings about police crackdowns on "binge drinking" all over the news today. I'm not sure what the distinction between "binge drinking" and just, well, drinking really is. One of those new buzz phrases. Give it a new name and perhaps we can make people getting drunk sound like a new disturbing trend. Those statistic stories on the news are often amusing. The other day I heard on the BBC that <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4073775.stm" target="_blank">left-handed people are more likely to be violent than right-handers.</a> As a sinister southpaw myself who shirks from conflict and has never raised his hand to a fellow human in his life, I find this particularly amusing. Though having said that, I was curiously good at firing a rifle while a Scout, earning my Marksman badge at Colchester Barracks with flying colours. Perhaps THAT'S where my true talent lies: murder. Problem is, far too many names immediately present themselves as targets.

The hangover then mutated from Euphoric to Grumpy and Tired. At 8pm I put on the usual slap and went to the Boogaloo to have my photo taken by the lovely Ms Kim of the staff, for this year's digital Christmas card to my readers. Last year I was at <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/dickon_edwards/2003/12/25/" target="_blank">Somerset House, by the tree at the ice rink</a>. This year it couldn't be anywhere other than by the tree in the Boogaloo.

I posed with a glass of red wine, and chatted to Ms Alex. We discussed Mr Scott’s new magazine, The Mind’s Construction, with its rather good articles and sexy photos of Mr Bookish, Mr Pink Grease and Mr Scott himself, in full Cindy Sherman role-playing mode. Highly recommended.

Then, as I was about to make my way to Camden town for the house party of Ms Denitto and Ms Anna S (<lj user=my_name_is_anna>), I suddenly felt very shaky and broke out in a cold sweat. A reaction to the one glass of red wine? Delayed hangover from the night before? Whatever it was, my body wanted nothing more than to retire to bed early with ice cream, watching Have I Got News For You and Peep Show on TV.

Feel a bit better now. I must be more careful with the wine next time. Still, no ambulances were involved, and my left hand remained distinctly unviolent.