Smashup: Blend 2 vs Flash

I've been dutifully attempting to learn Microsoft Blend 2. I have a few gripes so far.

I am not a programmer. I often wish I was. While immersion techniques work well for learning things, it can be quite the learning curve. I really do think programmatic approaches are usually more flexible and can be easier to control, but c'mon Microsoft! give me a little break here!

Example you say! Ok, says I: Fading

flash
mc.onRollOver = function(){
--- mc.onEnterFrame = function (){
------- if(mc.alpha >= 20){
----------- mc.alpha -= 10;
------- }
--- }
}

blend 2
I am actually not sure how you go about this... I have found that you can't invoke a loop and use setTimeout or setInterval to achieve it (common and pre-existing methods to achieve this with javascript). It appears that you have to use a "storyboard". Storyboards are a method to animate things.

My understanding at this point is that there are three ways to go about this:

Non-programmatic. You can set up unique storyboards for each object you want to fade in blend itself. Imagine that you want to fade a button as you hover over it, each button will need it's own Storyboard (time line based transition). Not efficient use of my time or of the technology.

Semi-programmatic. Have several predefined duplicate storyboards that have the storyboard target dynamically modified with javascript. Why several of the same thing? Silverlight can only have one instance of a storyboard running at a time. So if you want multiple fading elements, you will have to have x number of storyboards that you switch back & forth between when they aren't in use. Kind of a hassle!

Programmatic. Dynamically create storyboards on demand and insert them into your xaml code structure. This approach is most flexible but I haven't gotten it to work yet. I find this method as annoying as the rest because, rather than just needing to manage my javascript fade code, I also need to create xaml, insert it into the document structure, and then remove it when I'm done. Way more complicated than what I did with flash.

I am left feeling like microsoft wants me to be a programmer. Or at least have one on speed dial. While I really enjoy learning programming, there is a point when it gets kind of ridiculous just to do something simple like an opacity fade.

Why so many hoops? Maybe someone can explain why their way is better?