In 1982 my parents treated me to a trip to New York.  They tolerated my interest in being “downtown” and they even let my brother spend as much time as he wanted in Crazy Eddy’s; but they also took us to see Amadeus on Broadway.  I can not remember which incarnation of the cast we saw; but I do remember feeling chills as I heard Salieri’s closing speech,



“I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint. Mediocrities everywhere... I absolve you... I absolve you... I absolve you... I absolve you... I absolve you all.”

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Like most people, I identified with Salieri.  (I try not to associate with the types who would identify with Mozart)  I felt out of my depth in this drawing project.  Yes, I would have preferred to feel confident in the brilliance that my completing the project would unveil; but that was not the case. If I could not aesthetically rise to the occasion, then, like Salieri, I could at least critique my own mediocrity, albeit in the form of criticism of my alter ego persona, Adrian Sidney.