Three decades ago, I celebrated my 30th birthday in the time-honoured tradition of all young people who think they are an adult but have no real idea about life, duty or personal responsibility — I got smashed.
In fairness, I had quite a lot to get smashed about. I had spent the whole of my 20s in one seedy rental after another while I supported myself with part-time jobs and tried to be a writer. But a week before my
