Yes, the community is great! I've gotten some really helpful responses.
No success yet; so far, I have tried the hardest with the SteemSQL that @inertia pointed me to. I've tried accessing it with two versions of Python, no luck yet. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.
There's some indications there may be problems with the server, and some say they're fixed, but I don't have enough experience with Python to decode whether I'm the problem or the problem is "out there."
I may just have to learn how to interact directly with the blockchain! ;)
Thank you, @sostrin, for stopping by and commenting. :D