A few days ago, I saw all of the chatter around the art show I curate – people coming for the opening and staying for the party – that I was excited.

“I may stay after on Thursday,” I commented to a few people.

The comment was met with excitement.  And I was excited too.  I was looking for some laughs and giggles and fun times with friends.  I was looking forward to seeing some people during the opening – then hanging out with them at the party.

Good stuff.

Tonight, traffic sucked.  I took the side streets between my house and the club.  No big deal – except traffic was horrid.  The 15 minute drive turned into over 45 minutes.

“Oh fuck,” I thought, “I hope this isn’t indicative of the night.”

I guess it was.

The show opened, people were filing in, and my phone buzzed.

“Sorry – we aren’t showing up tonight. Not feeling it.”

Ok. I get it.

Another person showed, didn’t get a wristband to stay as planned, then told me to have a good night as they left about 20 minutes after showing up.

This trend continued – then I noticed that the people who were vocal about showing up were not showing up.  I had been taking the night easy until this point – drinking water and all.  At this point, I went and got a drink – realizing that all I had hoped for – all that I was excited for – was out the window.

And it was.

I hit a point where I wished I didn’t have to be there.  One of the artist had a huge number of people plan on attending then showed up.  It was a huge party of friends which was awesome.  But it reminded me of how my night had fallen apart.

I left about 5 minutes earlier than I should have.  I didn’t care. I was done.

I looked at the restaurant nearby. I needed food. But decided not to go eat alone even though the idea of having some good food was more appealing than mediocre food.  So I headed home and got something along the way.  Ironically, the food I got, while decent, was cold meaning it was cold when I got it not because the trip home was long enough for it to get cold.

A good summary of my night.

“Expectation is the root of all heartache” is what William Shakespeare wrote.

Guess I’m feeling that tonight.