Sedayne--

I'm not talking "mediocre." I'm talking hair-raising, teeth-clenching, nails on the chalkboard, shivers up the spine type stuff.

I don't care how little I paid at the door; I resent having to sit through somebody trashing my art form of choice. Self-expression is great, but what if you don't have a self to express? Poor old Faust spent all his life striving for just an instant of happiness, as did Hokusai, rather famously, and I may dig out his quote and post it, because it hits right between the eyes of this, "This is crap, but it's me, so here I go" school of it's all OK as long as we enjoy it thinking.

I don't want to "do it as well," I want to do it better. I want to do it better until my fingertips feel like they're going to drop off.

Oh, well. Guess I'm vocalizing up the improper dendrite. (After reading your erudite post, I couldn't lower myself to say, "Barking up the wrong tree.")

CC