Tonight is Mark “Tickle Me” Morgan’s birthday – and to help him celebrate, he’s inviting all of his friends, and friends of friends, and friends of enemies, and enemies of friends, and, well, you too. He’s expecting nearly 200 people to fill up the second floor of Cobalt, better known as 30 Degrees. And all to celebrate the fact that he’s turning five. No, actually, he’s turning several of several times that. (Still sounds young, doesn’t it? And that’s all that matters.) But the monthly gay networking event he throws with Keith “Burp Me” Petrack, called Friends of Friends is turning five. The two started it exactly so many years ago to the date, and at the same place too – though of course Cobalt has just been redesigned from top to bottom, so there’ll be plenty to talk about. The friends can also talk about how there’s now more than 700 people on the group’s email distribution list – new recipients welcome – and an average of 150 people show up for each monthly event, which hits a different bar the First Tuesdays of every month. Tonight, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., 30 Degrees will offer up 2-for-1 drink specials, as well as a special for dining afterwards at the new LevelOne restaurant downstairs. And they’ll even throw in a little retro action later that night upstairs. If you’re lucky, even a Raspberry Beret.

But wait, there’s still more to talk about: Morgan and Petrack’s group will likely continue to branch out this year. Morgan started the D.C. group as an affiliate of a Friends of Friends organization a friend started in San Francisco, and now there’s a regular Friends of Friends branch as far away as Northern Virginia too. Petrack says next up will be probably a D.C. brunch group, or a D.C. dinner group. Or maybe an organized D.C. art show excursion. Though what Hearsay would really like to see is a D.C. dog pooper-scooper group. Yes, Hearsay’s serious. That would be, as you youngins’ of youngins’ might say, the shit....