I'm starting to worry that the signs of ageing are beginning to set in ever so slightly prematurely, I keep having what are know as 'senior moments'. My short and medium term memory seem to be abandoning me and the problem came to a head this weekend.

Ages ago I was booked for a gig on Saturday night that was cancelled only a couple of weeks ago and as it turns out I had been forced to decline an invitation to a very close friend's house-warming because of the booking. So you would have thought I'd have called up the friend very excitedly to tell them I could now come along as soon as the cancellation came through, but no, I'd forgotten all about the party invite by then.

When I got in from work on Friday I received a call from a mutual friend asking me if I was going to drive to Steven and Ian's party or get the train. At first I had no idea what he was going on about and even suggested that perhaps I'd not even been invited. For a moment he thought he had put his foot in it and that I really was omitted from the guest list but then he realised that they had told him previously that they were disappointed I couldn't come.

I put the phone down and tried to think about the whole situation, then it dawned on me that I had received an invite and even had a phone conversation with the hosts discussing their disappointment at my unavailability when I said that sadly I couldn't come due to a booking.

I decided on Saturday morning that I was going to attend but wanted to keep it a secret so I could surprise them. In the end I met up with a group of people at London bridge and we hopped on the train to deepest darkest Kent. There were a couple of suggestions that we should buy some booze for the journey but in the end we decided against it which as you will hear was just as well.

The hosts had really splashed out, not only was there a hog roast and a full barbecue but they'd hired a huge marquee and furnished it with enough tables and chairs for everyone to sit while they munched. The icing on the proverbial cake was that there was also a string quartet playing and even a dancefloor set up.

The piece de resistance though was the vast amount of champaign, as soon as our glasses were less then half empty a waiter or waitress would appear and top us up. As I've told you before the only thing I can't say no to is free champers so despite my earlier assertions to myself that I'd have a soft drink for every alcoholic one I had realised that resistance was futile and I was soon quite squiffy!

We had a great time it has to be said, catching up with loads of old friends and relatives of the boys', one of which although completely straight tends to flirt with me and believe me he's a very sexy little f**ker indeed! Some hours later and very much the worst for wear a group of us said our goodbyes and headed back to town to stagger home from the station.

Although it wasn't too late by the time I got back to Le Vans Towers I decided going out was a very bad idea as I was probably more pissed than most people would end up by the end of the night at a club. I was sensible enough not to drink any more and instead sipped diet coke and coffee while watching the first edition of this year's X Factor which I had recorded earlier.

Oh my god! Even in my inebriated state I was amazed at how poor the standard was and still to this moment find it incredible that the judges put anyone through at all. I've since discovered that some of the contestants' performances were enhanced with technology to make them sound better which I can only imagine was done to prevent damage to people's TVs.

This weekend coming will of course be a model of sobriety, yeah right! We're off to Manchester Pride for the BIG weekend. Sadly I can't go up till Friday after my show but I've got a feeling it's going to be one of the best pride weekends of the year. I'm so looking forward to being on stage on Saturday along side Aggy Baker and Phil Marriott supporting the likes of Katherine Ellis and Chicane.

If there's any way you can get your arse to Manchester and find somewhere to lay your head for a few days then do it, I can guarantee you'll have a blast and if you really want to you can find me and buy me a drink, Champagne of course, these days I find it herd to drink anything else!