Sometimes, those nearest and dearest to me don't appreciate my special gift with words. My husband, for instance.
We are not amused.
Kyle has many fine qualities, and certainly ones that are necessary in a partnership with me, including a certain stone cold pragmatism and a distinct lack of sentimentality. But he also holds a disdain for flowery language that kind of breaks my heart. You know, he's a "say what you mean," "get to the point" type of person. Pardon? You mean you aren't breathlessly waiting for me to dazzle you with my wordplay and poetic imagery and immense store of unnecessary adjectives?
Please?
Here's another Kyle trait. When I go fishing for compliments from my husband, his spidey senses kick into high gear, he immediately beats a hasty retreat from whatever conversation we might have been carrying on, and the fish... well, they ain't bitin.' Years of matrimony will hopefully remedy that minor flaw in his character, though I hear the compliments actually decrease as the years pass by, in which case he better pick it up a notch now. I am very high-maintenence with my need for praise, you see.
Do I even need to link this anymore?
Don't get me wrong, I get compliments from him -- delightful, surprising, delicious compliments that I love and cherish (can you tell I was the kid motivated by the gold star in kindergarten?) -- but the issue here is that he doesn't give them when cunningly prompted. In other words, my "gentle nudge" for a compliment is gently met with a certain look. And a certain smirk. And the look and smirk seem to know something. And the offending look and smirk are followed by a certain silence, which leaves me with "a wound I shall bear forever." You know the kind.
Am I being wordy again? This is all to set up the following conversation yesterday. When prompted, here is Kyle's level of appreciation for that last blog post, in all its wordy splendor:
Stevenson, Caroline [3:47 PM]:
new blog post up
Stevenson, Kyle T [3:48 PM]:
i already read it
Stevenson, Caroline [3:48 PM]:
did you like it?
Stevenson, Kyle T [3:48 PM]:
sure
...
Sure?
...
This might even be better than Helga hitting the nose-breather.
Kyle, did you like this one?
Choose wisely.