Easy first-time languages

Okay, I'm completely new to programming. Java's giving me headaches since I've never done OOP before.

I'm trying to be a true hacker on steroids, can you help me /prog/?

I tried asking this in /g/ but I'm still indecisive.

I started out with Pascal and if you're interested in imperative programming I recommend youdo the same. It has pretty nice syntax (much more readable than the C-like languages if you're a beginner) and requires much less low-level knowledge than C. You won't have to worry about pointer bullshit while you're still learning the basic language constructs. Later on, you can move on to OO by using Turbo Pascal / Delhi-specific stuff and switching to C, C++, Java or anything else will be really easy.