Feeling a little out of touch? Hanging out with a bunch of knowledge junkies at parties and losing some of the references?
If you are wishing for a boost to feel in the swing of things, it's not as hard as you might think to at least get a basic grip on all those names, places and quotations flying around.
1. Read a complete issue of a real newspaper. The New York Times is ideal, especially the Sunday paper. Be sure to go through those sections you wouldn't ordinarily read, be they sports, fashion or business.
2. Read an amusing compendium of trivial popular knowledge. Any of the Mental Floss books are probably good for this, but Cocktail Party Cheat Sheets and What's The Difference are especially suitable.
3. Read a recent issue of the Economist.
4. Read a recent issue of People or Us magazine.
You should be well into the loop now.
Bonus ongoing step:
5. Start reading, or at least skimming, the Wikipedia Today's Featured Article and In the News items.
Discardia 
I thought it interesting that the folks that do the Mental Floss stuff are also known (on another stage) as Penn and Teller.
Small world…
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Another possibility – perhaps more appropriate to my stage in life – is to discard the expectation that I will always be on top of every reference I might encounter. Spend more of my time pursuing what really interests me and less pursuing what I think I “should” know. Let those who are kind have the pleasure of enlightening me if they wish to; let those who like to sneer have the pleasure of sneering if they wish to.
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