All points covered--
-I graduated in '73.
-I chose pastels for my fractals to irritate a fellow fractalist who stated a dislike for pastels in fractels. It's part personal joke, and part personal preference, since I DO like pastels. (But don't tell him...)
-We all prefer what we prefer when it comes to things literary and artistic. That is not to say one form is inferior or superior to the other-- I understand personal preference well. We are who we are.
-Thanks for the turnon to mathsong.com. It's a great place with a lot of unique artistic works. It will take days to browse it all!