“Explaining humor is a lot like dissecting a frog, you learn a lot in the process, but in the end you kill it.” - Mark Twain
It sounds simple doesn't it? People are giving money away to folks with good ideas. You have good ideas. All you have to do is write them down and poof! Well it's about as easy as the 48 hours following a voicemail from a friend saying she needs a favor. And its just as nerve-racking.
I wrote a grant proposal today. I wanted to do something fun and my dentist was booked so I thought "What the heck?" It's an odd thing to fill out an application justifying yourself, your vision, your career, your art. You go through some strange emotions ranging from "Oh god this is stupid." to "I'm a lock!" All the while running through your head all you hear is that song from A Chorus Line "God I hope I get it. I hope I get it."
I'm sure biologists ave their challenges when grant writing. But getting an endowment for the arts is its own fresh hell. I mean you can't really expect a nerd in a lab coat to be able to sell tickets to his frog study in some bog some where. But art requires an audience. And therefor you could argue that if it is good enough to deserve a grant shouldn't it good enough to be self-sustaining through ticket sales? God I hope the committee doesn't read this.