"There are few social situations more awkward than the failed dinner party. The novelist at the table blathers on about his latest opus, to the adoration of the editorial assistant seated at his left and the eye-rolling of everyone else; the beef tenderloin is tough; someone repeatedly leaves to "take a call." That's Doree Shafrir in today's Observer. See the thing about blogging is we're all just too awkward to even attempt a dinner party (they aren't on Facebook) or even sentences with two semicolons! [NYO]