hey brian, and the rest of you. thanks for your replies. first of all, those of you who mentioned the whole insurance and sick days thing have an excellent point, and it is one that i had not thought of. you gotta truly love it to wanna take those kind of risks. although i very much enjoy playing for crowds, i find that nothing quite beats the quiet solitude of me and the logical processes of programming. i have played at quite a few functions around town, including a parade, during which i was up on the back of a truck, (do you how hard it is to hit a Em7 chord when the truck turns and the board is going one way and you the other??) and at quite a few fancy dinners and parties.i havent really had much of a chance to build up that much experience, since i only started a few years ago. but i definitely have tasted the joy. so taking what you all have said into account, and i thank you for your wisdom, i think im going to continue in the way i had originally intended. computers, gigs on the side. oh, and brian, thats one of my favorite sayings. but we still gotta make our own choices, even if what we plan and try for is for naught. we gotta put forth that effort. :-) so thanks so much for all your wisdom. Zack

[This message has been edited by Zack (edited 08-01-2002).]