i can only wish you good luck in dealing with the twinge, and whatever else is going on. as for perspective: i find it's one of those things that seems to come more easily when looking at other people's lives. it's too bad that people can't loan out perspective to each other, like money ...

re: bremen musicians, when i was like five or six years old, i was exposed to a version of that story in some class i was in. i can't even remember whether it was a movie we watched, or more likely a filmstrip (BEEP), or even a good old-fashioned book we read. anyway, one girl in my class tried to tease me at some point by addressing me not as Peter Berman, but as Peter Brementown Musicians. i don't think i got much pleasure out of that.