Detail, "The Comedy-Ballet of Marionnettes
                                                                                                                    as performed by the troupe of the Theatre-
                                                                                                                    Impossible, posed in three drawings"
                                                                                                                    by Aubrey Beardsley
                                                                                                                    The Yellow Book, An Illustrated Quarterly
                                                                                                                    Volume II July 1894
                                                                                                                    London: Elkin Mathews & John Lane

I told a friend of mine, a hair and make-up artist, that I had not watched the Golden Globes.

"The worst night of my life," he replied morosely.  "Everyone keeps asking, 'Who did you do?' And I didn't do anyone this year.  It was horrible."  This last part came out as something of a wail.

I completely understand.  Although it is not my field, I know it is never easy being out of step with your colleagues.  "I was busy doing something else," even if true, hardly seems a very substantial excuse in a case like this.  "I forgot" sounds totally unconvincing.   

"I was too busy," you say to the other doctors in cancer research, when they ask about your work on a cure.

"I forgot," you admit to your fellow rocket scientists, when talk turns to the contributions everyone's made to the shuttle.

"I thought I'd let it all go to weeds," you confess to the other members of the garden club.

"No, I actually planned on not finishing my novel," you explain to the recently published author.  

Sometimes there is just no easy answer.