I also edit with pictures, I’m not disciplined enough to log stuff well, I agree you need to push stuff past your eyes as much as possible to constantly evaluate your editing options.
However I would argue that you are getting hung up on the metadata functions, I’m not using them at all but despite it’s very many shortcomings, FCPX and it’s skimmer is actually enabling me to push more footage past my eyes even quicker.
Steve Connor
Adrenalin Television
Have you tried “Search Posts”? Enlightenment may be there.