Like my daddy said..there aint no dumb questions..only dumb answers. With that in mind....I am new to reloading (and having a great time!)..so...
Questions...
1) when people here talk about bullet seating, what does the term "Lands" means...such as seating until it reaches the lands?

2) (the really dumb question) can ALL .357 mag jacketed hollowpoint bullets be used in a .38sp case (with .38sp load of course). I ask as I just got a box of bullets from midway that I had thought were 38sp, but only say on the bag ".357"
Yes, I know the history and how .38 was the original measured shell outside diameter while .357 is the actual bullet O.D....but I just wanted to be sure. (especially as these are much shorter than the JHP I used before).

Thanks, I really love this forum!

The lands are the raised part of the barrel's riflings. Seating "just short of" the lands means seating the bullet so that the portion of the ogive that is full caliber diameter does not quite contact the lands.

A .357" bullet may be used in either a .38 Special or a .357 magnmum with the proper charge of powder.

Welcome to reloading!

What SC said. Remember, it's not a 357 mag bullet. It's a .357" bullet that can be loaded to make a 357 mag round. 38 specials don't use .380" bullets, they use .357" bullets. It would make more sense if they had followed the naming convention they did later (44mag/44sp) but the 38sp has a lot of history behind it. I guess it could have been called a 38mag and made as much sense (44s are usually .429-.431).

So with revolver loads, depth is not much of an issue as long as you are under the rated maximum length stats?
Is there any sort of standard for knowing if you have too much or too little bullet depth on a handgun load (as long as it is under max length ratings of course)?

You don't want the bullet to "set back" in to the case, this can cause pressure problems. As long as your rounds are not longer than the cylinder face, they will work. Use the crimp groove supplied, you should be lightly crimping anyway.