Ironically, one of the projects I created with what would seem like the least amount of practical use also got the most positive feedback. Sometimes when you just do what you want for fun and self-edification, it results in a project that shows more passion and finesse than something banged out for more cynical purposes.

It's one of the things I struggle most with, besides the relentless self-consciousness that comes from being a 33-yo trying to retrain in a technical profession, is feeling like all that stuff I love has rather minimal crossover with the stuff that might pay the bills ...