I well know the trouble in accepting local praise. My mother thought I was the greatest dj that ever lived, though she'd never heard me actually on the radio. From that day on I've switched off the happy talk and only accepted the twins Digs and Smarmy from friends and family.
My poor wife, my biggest supporter, encouraged me to write from the get go when all she had to base her opinion on was a series of whiney letters to a former friend, masked as topical lj posts. She's read most everything I've written, or sat patiently as I read pages on pages aloud to her, she's continually offered critique in spite of the fact that I'm not very kind about being told when I suck...and yet I blow her comments off as often as not, as if she couldn't possibly be honest, as if even though our marraige is based on trust, I can't believe a word she says.

Luckily though it may hurt her feelings a bit, she doesn't make it into anything more than a slightly enlarged molehill. As for me, I'm not real bright to overlook her critiques, bias or no; and someday I hope to get beyond my predjudice and geve her just due.

Anytime lass. And anytime you want a kick in the pants, lemme know.