i guess i just felt kinda condescended to, as though i would never have possibly imagined this amazing, brain-destroying concept without his benevolent sharing of obvious information.

LOL. OK, I can see that.

i gotta stop! it's my big failing. i can argue about books for hours, but then i'm all "cool ok lets have some margaritas and laugh" afterwards, and many people i've met are more like "die in a fire you horrible person" so i have these anxieties.

Yeah, art kind of makes people defensive. I'm not totally immune but ... yeah, the step back and have margaritas (although I prefer beer) is an essential part of the process.