Where should I re-start?

I'll try to be brief:

I want to be able to code proficiently. My short term goal is to be able to work on a somewhat meaningful project. A simple internet chat client, perhaps, would be an example of what I'd like to be able to work on in the near future.

I wouldn't be starting from scratch. In fact, give me another year or two and I will have been programming for half of my life. The problem is that due to distractions and whatnot, I've never taken the time to learn a particularly useful language. QBASIC, Visual Basic, whatever language it was that they used for those Lego Mindstorms robots, at various points in my life I've known each those languages inside and out. So I'm familiar with the basics--loops, arrays, etc.

I'm not looking for hand holding, just finger pointing. I want to know

1) What language I should pursue.

2) Where I can get information and tutorials on it.

3) What software, such as compilers, I'll need to use the language effectively.

I know each of these questions probably has a debate attached to it, but I trust that any answer considered worthy of being included in the debate would suffice.

A couple of stipulations for the answers: any language I learn would need to work cross-platform. I don't know if that's even an issue, but I have friends on several operating systems and would like to (someday) create applications that we would be able to use together. Second, free is very good. Not to be melodramatic, but I have a hard time feeding myself. I can really only spend money on essentials right now. If absolutely necessary, I can probably get one of my friends to give me a copy of an outdated release, but I'd rather not.

Thank you so much for taking a look at my request, and for any help you can give me.

>>32
It's extremely simple to do many things in it.
You mean it's extremely complicated.

It is extremely powerful, you can do anything, as long as you're willing to put in much hard work.
Wat. Is a human powered vehicle more powerful than a motorized one because you have to work harder? Power isn't what you think it is.

It teaches you to manage resources (dat memory) well.
No, it teaches you to manage memory manually, not well. Good memory management is parsimonious memory management, and is equally an issue in all languages.

Supported by and protable to practially every platform ever.
You know how I love to prot, but how many of us are actually programming on every platform ever?

I recommend C++ or Java/C#
Just no. I shouldn't even have to explain why.


C has tainted you.

Learn Lisp, it's the only way.
Reasons:
It's actually simple to do many things in it.
It it actually powerful, in the sense that lets you work smarter instead of harder.
It lets you learn to abstract well.
Supported on all the platforms you're probably using.

After you have masteredbecome competant at creating a project of moderate size in Lisp, I recommend doing it again.