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Hi all and Alaric gosh, Alaric, thanks for elevating me to a 'rarefied plateau', I've always wanted to visit one of those. I do wonder whether there is something of relict Christianity in our noble attitudes, I recall that The Apostle insisted that speakers of the Word should have a trade by which they supported themselves - what was he now, a tentmaker, a sailmaker?? - so that the spreading of the 'good news' should be independent of financial considerations. However (hey, my teachers always told me "you should NEVER begin a sentence with 'however'") so, to re-start: I, however, have always felt alignment with the non-moneymaking conceipt of the calling, neo-Christian, neo-Marxist, neo-goody-two-shoes though that may be. But it does leave rather sorely open, as JJ points out, the question of how poets are to make a living. As academics? As 'poetry consultants'? Toilet cleaners, debt collectors, traffic wardens, gravediggers, psychiatric nurses, vending machine repairers, mapmakers, advertising copywriters???? I, for one, feel ill at ease at the 'split' between what I do for a living and what I do from love ( and scurrillity, bad-temper and pranksterism) The divorce in mindscapes between the two is almost schizoid. Now as for the value of the mind - well, if we regard the mind and the brain as synonymous, the power outage (is that the right/write word?) of the brain is roughly 60 to 75 watts, similar to a 25p light bulb, so far half of Alaric's valuation. However (yah, boo, head-teachers) as the organ in question lasts in alleged working order for shall we say the biblical three score and ten, far longer than a 25p bulb from Mumtaz Off-Licence and General Stores, I would posit that the brain-mind entity is worth at least a tenner, maybe even twenty quid. But industry would never stand for it. Hence the famed 'dumbing down' and 'shortening attention spans' - the ultimate triumph of built-in obsolescence. So in that light, a rather dim one, Alaric's 50 p looks quite high. I've often wondered why my bright ideas never properly illuminated my rooms. May be quills be with you David %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%