re the "you write very good". Love: "Thank God!"--perfection.

My mech. drawing instructor (who had his own prof. grade Ampex tape recorder) took me to hear Kirsten Flagstad, in a Pasadena recital (think: anything Wagner.)
IIRC she had just retired from opera roles.

And we met her backstage. And apparently I was to say ... Something!
..and I think it came out similarly, maybe, "I thought you sang very well."

Which--actually is ... truthiness enough, one would think. Only later does a one realize ... "What, you're a critic now?"
I may have gotten a small elbow jab from friend, but she was gracious,
maybe even pleased to see a {superlatives-challenged} yout amidst the well-heeled mob?

<sigh>