Thanks, but no thanks

Recently, a friend invited me to attend a small party. It was to be outside, overlooking beautiful Monterey Bay, and would feature the usual assortment you'd expect to find at a late summer gathering: food, beer, nice people, etc.
My response?
"Thanks, but no thanks".
Or rather, that was the gist of it. What I said was "Ah geez, I'd love to but I'm busy tonight. I dropped a pencil behind the refrigerator and it's pretty important that I get it out right away", or something equally preposterous. Before he had a chance to inquire as to why that couldn't wait (which it could, of course, even if it were true), I thanked him for the offer and walked home.
You see, I don't really like parties. I don't drink, or particularly enjoy being around anyone who is. Plus, I generally get bored having the standard conversation with someone you've just met (what's your name? Where do you work? Do you live around here? Oh really, you're a lint biologist? How fascinating!).
I wouldn't say that I am anti-social (though I've been accused of it on more than one occasion), it's just that I am not a great fan of making the pretense of being interested, when in fact I have no reason to expect you to find me amusing either, at least not based on what I say. Plus, with my atrocious memory capacity, an hour from now I won't remember two-thirds of what you tell me anyways (even if you are a merry-go-round operator), so what's the point? The main attraction for me will undoubtedly be the hamburgers, so I might as well quietly park myself next to the grill with a bun in my hand, and wait to catch the next hot thing to come off of it.
So does this mean I don't like socializing then? Not at all. I just like to know that, if I am going to invest the appropriate (and in my case, strenuous) effort to actually remember your name, I have to have some confidence that we will want to talk to each other again in the near future. Thus, an ideal social occasion for me involves actually doing something, rather than simply standing around talking. Invite me to play soccer, go for a hike, or even attend a tupperware party and I'll arrive on time and ready to participate. At least then, the chances of us having fun are greatly increased, plus we'll have something to actually talk about, some shared experience to reference when next we meet. In my mind this is is how friendships begin, not while standing in a small cluster with a drink propped in your hand in a show of camaraderie, chatting about the last movie we saw. Boring.
So in light of all this, you might be thinking that I stood up my friend on account of my not wanting to having to talk to other people on the supposed basis of exploring behind the refrigerator. Not so. Earlier in the day I had taken him diving at two of the best dive spots in Monterey, as per his request, and had a blast. I imagine we'll be talking about that a lot longer than anything that might have happened at the party.