Hey Dave, I like your posts, especially about emacs as I'm an emacs addict too. I believe your experience is helpful and valuable.

Don't be frustrated by those words. C/C++ are truely a bit harder to master, but they gives back more. And it is not so hard if you just want to KNOW them instead of USING them. BTW, C is a good start, it is more simple and easier than C++, and it is more or less a subset of C++, making it a necessary entry path. Hope you do it well.