[Tom Edgerton]

Michael, I love 'ya but I've got to disagree. I believe that most of what is identified as God-given talent is, at most, just a pre-disposition to look at things and try your hand, or some small grain of eye/hand coordination. Two percent of artistic achievement, maybe.

There's a kid across the street who's a pretty good basketball player. He's crashing the backboard every day, rain or shine, for hours--sometimes well after dark. If he drew and painted as much, he'd put us all to shame.

Finally, there's just no substitute for hard effort--the other 98 percent. It's still fun, but it's hard.