Believe It Or Not, There IS A Method To My Madness

Appearances are important, there's no denying that. 

But appearances can be deceiving if they're not built on a dang strong foundation, a healthy one, one that meets fundamental needs. Otherwise those appearances are nothing but a facade, fake, deceitful, a lie to save face.

If something is going to be put to hard use, best be sure you take the time, make the effort, and put forth the resources it takes to build something that's going to be able to stand up to that hard use. Make it attractive, absolutely, but under that attractiveness had better be something of substance. 

Really.

First you build your whatever it is as strong, as tough, as resilient, as task-oriented as you possibly can. You build it from the foundation up, and you build it to stand the testing. You make it meet specific requirements and you make it endure what it's going to have to endure. 

Then you refine and shape it.

THEN you make it pretty.

The paint is the last thing to go on.

You put a pretty facade on something that's not built to last, and it's deceit plain and simple.

It's like putting an overlay on a road that needs a re-build, for cryin' out loud. You can put those overlays on relatively quickly and cheaply (and it looks great!) but that road is still going to be weak and it's gonna give out sooner or later, taking all those over-layers with it. You've just wasted time and effort and money, not to mention putting others at risk. Because you KNOW that road is rotten underneath.

Yeah it takes a lot more time, effort, and money to do a re-build - but when you're done that road is going to stand up to the traffic load it has to carry.

So I suppose it's a matter of what you're setting out to do. 

If you want your whatever it is to just look good temporarily, go for the facade by all means.

If you want it to last ... ummm ... different story, huh?

Me, I'd just as soon be putting my own efforts into something that's liable to still be fully functional and strong long after I'm no longer there.

But that's just me.

The method to my madness in this case is based on that. Otherwise it would be simply madness. I'm not one to indulge in madness without method.

So I'm doing what I do, and keeping an ear to the ground to see if the road I'm on is one that will endure or not. If I find that it is not stable, and that there is an overlay going on instead of a re-build, why in the name of all that's Holy would I continue to risk my life on said road? That would be madness without method, believe me.