Wide awake

I couldn't sleep last night. Instead, I lay awake pondering:

How tall could I make a layer cake without using an internal rod for support? Without experience, could I frost layers in different colors without bleeding onto other layers? Is fondant the way to go? How hard could butter-cream flowers be, really? What flavor would I make it? Are "scratch" recipes necessarily better-tasting that some of the mixes I've used? Why doesn't Food Network consider the cake texture and flavor when evaluating their cake-building contests? Do people really sit the entire several-hour competition time and watch the pastry chefs? What does contending in such an event do for their business - does it draw in enough interest to offset the time and materials spent to attend the competition?