I started learning Perl 3 years ago. It was my first programming language. I did not learn with the benefit of schooling, rather, I taught myself with the help of O'Reilly, and the Internet -most recently http://perlmonks.org. Perl has helped me get my job done, time and time again. It has never failed me, and at the same time it continually re-assures me that I have much more to learn and that I am not as smart as I think I am. I love the language, that's all I can say. I also enjoy Seinfeld re-runs, beer (Guinness), punk rock, Slackware Linux, foreign cars, Internet Relay Chat and Zen Buddhism.