And we are back to the recurring "Oh Woe, there is no point in trying to learn a musical instrument unless you started at an early enough age that you probably couldn't actually read or post in forums, and unless you were putting in 8 hr days on the instrument from about the time you learned to walk (if not sooner)."

Well, to be reasonable, I don't think anyone would deny that a lot of work starting from an early age might be a decided advantage.  And of course it is pointless to pursue anything meaningful or enjoyable in life if you are old enough to have started grade school. 

LOL  Bah. 

If that were actually true, then there would be no point in adults participating in sports, taking yoga or martial arts classes, learning touch typing or taking classes in anything but sitting in front of the computer complaining.  (And as a side note, they can still complain faster with some touch typing classes or even self-study.)

Now, the odds of becoming a "star" musician, or athlete or anything really probably do decrease with age.  But let's face it, those odds were never better than the chances of a very large lottery win anyway.  Anyone actually banking on those odds is playing a fools' game, no matter what age they are.  People making their toddler practice for hours when the child might prefer to be playing still get no guarantee the kid will be a star.  There simply are no such guarantees to be had.

But is that the only motivation there is for learning music?  I think not.  In fact, I think it a rather poor motivation.  One should play because one enjoys it, for the love of it.  If one gets good enough to entertain or teach at some point, well that's ok.  But to enjoy and learn are the only motives I personally believe in, when it comes to things like music.

So I'm going to play anyway, even if I knew 100% for a fact that it will absolutely never go anywhere.  What about goals?  I have no goals at this time.  I won't even let myself consider the possibility of actual goals until my first year with this instrument is done, and I have a couple weeks to go on that yet.  I feel it takes at least a year of regular play on an instrument to even be able to tell if you enjoy it enough and are making enough progress to decide to stay with it.

Is my cartilage old?  Dang straight it is.  Half a century old with plenty of playing on it.  But I prefer to think of it as "vintage". 

Adaptable neural structures?  Well, one thing is for certain.  The *least* adaptive neural structure will be the one that gives up without even trying and buys into self-defeatist logic. 

I'll just keep on going and see what I can manage.  It's the only game in town.

Vibrato?  People angst so much over one stylistic technique.  I find a player with good intonation and timing, who can use a bit of dynamics far more impressive than I would one that can just do vibrato. 

So chill your jets, folks. Relax and enjoy your playing and see what you can make of it.  There is just no need for all the argument and unpleasantness.  It cuts into your playing and VIL (Very Important Loitering) time.  Life is too short as it is.  No point in wasting it when we could be playing.