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I should probably just let this thread die out, as I have gotten probably all of the useful advice and answers from members here already, but I will reply to the above in this way. I agree with jpv, and that is part of my reason for thinking of taking a local college course on computer programming, no matter what language they start with. Learning some of the most basic principles of programming "correctly", I believe would be useful to me, and perhaps prevent me from making silly mistakes in the beginning. I would rather not start out writing spaghetti code, and later having to learn how to code in a more proper fashion. I'd like to start out doing things in a more correct and understandable way, and then build on that "good start".

So, that is part of my explanation of why I am considering taking a college course. The other part of the reason, is that I find it hard to force myself to stick to a schedule for learning how to program, and get easily distracted. Attending a college course once or twice a week, would give me at least a few hours of no distractions, where I could focus on learning to code. It's like I'm trying to set myself up for a kick in the ass to get me started, and I'm hoping that after one or two courses, I won't need anything else to keep me going, and I will fall into a good pattern of setting that time aside, that I would have been going to the college to attend the course, and replacing it with time coding at home. We shall see.

I really appreciate all the offers for help, and I plan to take advantage of them in the near future.