Ron I taught myself almost everything I know... from manuals and textbooks. I have a degree from UCSD with an Independent Studies Major (where I had to set up my own classes in order to learn what I wished to learn). I learned to crochet and fold origami and read music from manuals. I learned drafting from a couple of textbooks over a weekend (I started the drafting job on the Monday). After Sierra hired me to animate King's Quest 4, I had to learn how to use a computer as well as how to animate. (They loaded a computer into my trunk and said "come back in two weeks". Gulp.) The only thing I know for sure is that I CAN LEARN ANYTHING. (And, at the speed with which knowledge becomes obsolete, this is a very good thing.) Anything... Chaos theory and superstrings. Puzzle design. Tatting. How to build a computer from scratch. Anything. (Except how to sing operatically... but I try.) A person who can't read, can't understand, and can't follow a tutorial, and who is PROUD of his or her ignorance, is just crippling his or herself. The worst of all handicaps is the one which is self-inflicted... and it is not deserving of pity. BTW, just scanning over how to do something usually isn't good enough, you actually have to do the steps as you read them. It reinforces what you are reading. Grokking only works for Martians. Carolly