BallPeanScrewdriver wrote:
I "need" (as defined by wife, not me) to move a 1st floor light fixture
about 56 inches. OF COURSE it's across joists, and OF COURSE it's on
the 1st floor so I don't have access to it from above.

Is this as ugly a procedure as it seems like it must be, or are there
tools and/or techniques to make it less painful (primarily defined as
not messing up the ceiling byond the existing hold and the one I'll
need to make)?

No.
Bite the bullet and cut the holes at each joist.

I am assuming I have to drill through all the joists
between the old and new locations, so some type of extended drill bit
seems like a bare minimum. But 20+ years of DIY home repair/remodel has
taught me others often know a "slick" way to do a given task, and I'm
hoping that's the case here (although the geometry and physics of the
problem certainly don't seem to leave much wiggle room for such a
solution).

If you want to operate the light off of a remote, it may be possible to
run a piece of 14/2 from a recepticle in the room directly above the
one you're installing in.
Make sure it's one of the inside walls. No insulation.

That way, the only cutting and fixing of drywall is below and to the
sides the recepticle.

I've done this many times.