So far I don't think you're making an ass of yourself at all.

And as a pagan, I think you'll be quite intrigued by something
we're doing (actually, several things we're doing) in an episode entitled
"The Parliament of Dreams."

The points you make re: the use of vocabulary are very close to my
heart. I grew up reading mountains of books, chewing through Bradbury
and Matheson and Clarke, as well as mainstream novels, history,
philosophy and the literature of other cultures. I love the rhythm and
flow and sense of language, the simple elegance of an honestly stated
emotion, and the lightning and thunder of argument. (Which is one reason
I enjoyed spending time in Ireland lately, running around Dublin and
New Grange and -- I'm about to massacre the spelling -- Glen de loch; the
Irish people are the biggest bunch of high-verbals you'll ever find.)

I grew up on books, and radio drama, and reading plays and writing
all of the above. Serling, Corwin, Chayefsky, Bradbury and Ellison tended
to be the templates I looked to when I was learning, not how to write, but
how to *listen*. And I'm constantly feeling as though I'm just now, after
several books, 500+ articles, short stories, and over 100 produced
television scripts...just *now* learning a little of what it means to
write...and how far I have to go. It's a real challenge. There are
moments when I fire up an -- just about ANY episode -- of the original
Twilight Zone, or some episodes of Night Gallery (such as Serling's
"They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar") and I'm ashamed to even call
myself a writer in that company.

Anyway, now *I'm* running off at the fingers....

jms