Hey Bill regarding your whole collaboration dilemma... you know you are NEVER going to find anyone who shares your artistic/musical vision, right? But, you might find somebody who has their own vision, unique from yours, that inspires or interests you in some way...  then you can combine visions to make a super-vision. Like when the Power Rangers link up all their giant robots together to make a mega giant robot and together they defeat some intergalactic monster sent by Lord Zedd... that's what collaboration is. You don't have to compromise your own ideas and direction.
collaboration is not a dilemma for me. it has been a dilemma any time i have tried to make it happen, but i have found that working alone, while largely frowned upon in today's society, is actually wonderful for me and there is no dilemma when i do that. although it results in a lot of frowns, coming my way, on the subject