In a message dated 8/4/99 11:28:36 PM Eastern Daylight Time, BYRDS@papa.uncp.edu writes: << I realize I stopped making sense a few paragraphs ago. I can live with that. Any questions, ask later, I'm spent. I'll apologize for the length of this tomorrow, after I wake up from my coma. --stephen icarust >> It all sounds pretty good, but every time an artist/writer/whathaveyou sets something down on paper it becomes independent of them. Even Joyce's Portrait...it's highly autobiographical, but at the same time there's a good deal of distance between the artist and his art. Remember the quote about the artist being like the God of the creation? "Refined out of existence, paring his fingernails"? That's Joyce's point of view (of God as well as art :) ) even within the context of something so intimate. I've done a lot of semi-autobiographical stuff myself, and no matter how close to the real details I get, it's still not me. Jim