My friend, that is some real content. I know what it's like to be seen as the master h4x0r when writing a basic existence check in vanilla JS, making stuff happen on a screen, blowing in a cartridge or locating a printer's power button. It helps me to get a little more serious when I do have to reject it, like "no, I'm not being modest here... I appreciate it, but I promise you this wasn't an impressive thing."
I have the opposite problem at work, though. The difference there is that the "top-notch programmer" at my current job, who is pretty good but not God's gift to CompSci, is not just perceived to be the best by others, but also believes so to his core / betrays an assumption of superiority every day, and consistently teaches me things that he knows I already know. One time he taught me all about a data model I created just two weeks prior. He understood it mostly, so that was good to hear, but it was so difficult for me to interject and gently nudge the conversation closer to what my actual question was. We are "equals" on paper, but he claims to make twice as much and is closer in age (by far) to our manager. If the manager hears that I am having a spirited debate with said colleague, I get in some trouble, despite neither of us thinking there was anything harsh about anything said during any such discussion. It is confusing.
He is an excellent friend, but has claimed himself to lose interest in learning more than need be way before he graduated, or even started, formal studies. Seriously, you ought to take pride in the simple fact that you know you could be doing something better, cooler, or harder. That doesn't exactly sort out your future, but it speaks volumes about your character and mindset, and it shows that likely are among the better candidates in a great deal of opportunities. Perhaps a change of scenery would solve it? That is, changing companies and joining a team where there are programmers senior to you and helping you learn. If that is your MO, then you may achieve it in a snap like that.
Otherwise, check out some open projects. What looks neat to you, tech-wise? Any websites making you wonder how they work? Music visualizers blowing your mind? Pull something apart, continue to self-teach, and realize that self-teaching isn't you teaching you; it's you learning from others' documentation and code. But if you begin pulling apart some open projects, you may then find ways to improve them, and then you'll perhaps be itching to contribute. It sounds like what you need is a challenge, not so much another superior or a more senior programmer to come and show you how code really looks. That person might not exist in your context. For all I know, you're doing some pretty challenging stuff, but suffer from illusory inferiority. So long as it's not the opposite... :-) Alright, not trying to be like the people you posted about.
Whatever the case, stay humble. That is an excellent trait, and coupled with your apparent thirst for knowledge and search for some means to improve with no immediate personal projects, I'd say you're going far and may have a good opportunity to be selective in your work. Not all have such a luxury!