What does one do when one keeps attending gatherings of the same friends, and the conversation palls? They are, after all, good friends and have kept one going through good times and bad…and yet, there is something stale to the conversation, the evening drags, and though each dinner creates a need to reciprocate, one does not, in the least, feel like calling them over home for yet another dreary evening…no one seems to want to sing, or play games, but just talk, and talk, and talk..when one is sleepy at 9.30 pm and dinner is served well after that, it is difficult to be the life and soul of any party. Should I refuse to go to such dinners in future? I see no way out of the dilemma…..