FTFA:

"... instead of grabbing myself by the balls and admitting that I was climbing a ladder propped against the wrong building.."

Indeed a complex metaphor! Perhaps it has a Russian cultural source? An origin story?

But i also must ask: would it make any difference if one were climbing a ladder propped against the right building?

In any case I am glad I am not a Russian painter - it appears to involve skills that are difficult, painful and not at all easy-to-acquire.