Jed, one of these years...
One of these years, you may be able to pop up in your private jet, but until then, think about pencilling a Getaway in the schedule and doing a few house concerts on the way to give people a taste of whatever's on whatever CD you happen to be making at the time. I miss you at these things!

'Fat chorus' could mean a nice, long one, or one with a ton of harmony.
I like "ToneDeafDave hosts BellowFest 2004" sounds pretty good to me. Of course, well-fleshed harmonies tend to get a bit loud. In any case, everybody needs a good bellow now and then, and it sure helps me loosen up.

I'd go to a slide workshop, provided it wasn't scheduled opposite an obnoxious chorus workshop.

Clarification on Fingerpicking for Dummies: My problem (one of them) is combining picking patterns, figuring out what works for a song. Rick taught me a couple of basic patterns, I came up with a few on my own, but I don't understand how to vary them within a song, how to make it smooth, or how to work tunes in. I suspect I'm over-complicating things, but it would help a lot if I were able to 'pick' the brains of someone who was good at it.