I had to admit to myself that I've been guilty of the same phenomenon as described in the following article, but I've decided to keep listening and plucking away in spite of the somewhat depressing state of affairs. Is it just a romantic notion that life as a lute player would have been easier under the patronage of the Medici?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html