I have come to the conclusion...

...that I need a teacher - an instructor - a mentor - a sensei. I will continue to improve incrementally; this I can tell. But I think that I need a much better player to help me out to push me quickly through the teens.

Now to figure out how, in the desert, I can accomplish this... especially when I'll never be able to afford lessons, so I am simply looking for someone who wants to teach.

It'll never happen, right? Ah, who knows. Life is funny that way.