Their new space is relatively close to my office and so I had planned to have a drink or two and a bite to eat before heading over. If I'd gone home, I would never have come back (and yes, that's how I justify drinking alone in this particular situation so don't judge me). Nick was going to come down early and let me know when he arrived at the gallery. While I was sipping my Makers Mark Manhattan, Nick called and said he'd finished up whatever he was doing early and would come meet me for a drink so we could go over to the show together.
As you may or may not have guessed at this point, Nick is the recipient of Day Three's "What I Like About You" Note and my word of the day was bestowed upon the gallery. Here's the thing about Nick, and please keep in mind he is a very good friend whom I love dearly. Nick is often "very busy" and difficult to pin down. It is not unusual to try to reach him and be unsuccessful for weeks at a time. Despite the fact that all of us have our cell phones basically grafted to our bodies these days, I do sometimes wonder whether Nick's has fallen off the face of the earth. It can be very frustrating.
Now, the great thing about Nick is that once you have pinned him down and gotten him to commit to something, follow through is imminent. Absent some sort of genuine extenuating circumstance, if Nick says he'll be there, he'll be there. I decided to take this opportunity to let him know that I appreciated his willingness to make an effort to be where he said he would. His note read: "What I Like About You: Even though it is sometimes difficult to get you to commit, once done, you follow-through."
I hadn't realized until now that this is the second of only three notes total that are of a "I still like you even though you're a pain in the ass for one reason or another" nature. These all of a sudden seem like back-handed compliments. I've been sitting here trying to justify it but I'm getting distracted. Part of me thinks it's not very effective for the purpose of the challenge. Another part of me thinks that who cares about the nature of the note because I don't have to do it at all. This second thought feels petulant and snobbish. I suppose now that I've noticed this I'll just have to be more aware of the words I choose and make an effort to not make future compliments conditional.
Now that you have all the background information about where I was and what I was doing, I'll tell you about the word of the day. It'll be brief, I promise! As I said, I was in this local gallery waiting for a show to start. I had decided earlier in the day this would be my venue but just needed a word. I tried to find a word that meant artsy people who like to put on plays. For future reference, there is no such word. I ultimately settled on Histrionics: of or pertaining to actors or acting, performance of a play, dramatic representation. True to form, I went into the bathroom, which was home to a large metal exhaust system, which became my canvas.
Interestingly, after deciding on this word, I noticed that histrionic is also a form of personality disorder wherein the sufferer acts in an emotional and dramatic way that is meant to draw attention. I was satisfied I had chosen the right word for the occasion.
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