Well, quite a few things have happened. I'll post some sort of update (or not) sometime later.

For now, this quote moved me

The great ones work at it. I follow soccer and there’s a saying–”It takes a million touches [of the ball] to make a great player.” There’s a similar saying about writing, that “the first million words are just practice.”
Larry Bird was said to stay after every game and practice free throws.
As much as we would like to think there are naturals, in the end it comes down to putting in the effort.

I found this while perusing an article about A-Rod
I've always known, and probably now confirmed, that the best advice for poker isn't about poker at all.