Brilliant! Applies equally to JavaScript, CSS and .NET frameworks, etc.
Most mega-frameworks pat themselves on the back with examples that declare "See, you can write an entire CMS in 10 lines of code!" That's impressive except you can't write anything else and extending the CMS requires that you read and understand 100 pages of framework API entangled with assumptions and design tradeoffs that expertly fit the author's needs and not necessarily yours.
The problem is that the ideal framework requires zero lines of code because it already solves your exact problem. The worse framework requires more lines of code than coding your application from scratch. So, the key is finding a framework that satisfies 80% of your needs easily and doesn't get in your way for solving the other 20%.
As a developer of approximately the same vintage, I'd say the most natural transition is to C# and full .NET skills. Add to that SQL Server skills for good measure. Most of your ASP skills will translate naturally and you can take advantage of Microsoft's free C#/VB.Net Express compilers and SQL Server Express.
Also, I'd highly recommend you invest in a Microsoft Certified Software Developer (MCSD) certification. Get one of the study guides and take the exam. It'll only cost you $200-$300 total but will give you proof that your skills are verifiably current in an interview.
Granted, sorry. The problem I have with Republican rhetoric on the issue is the "I got mine" smugness of it all. The message seems to be "If you want health care, get a job like me. Problem solved." But it isn't that simple. Unemployment is real even for the able-bodied and a common consequence of being underinsured. Some jobs don't offer health care (at all) or offer inadequate, unaffordable health care (small businesses, in my experience.) Preexisting conditions can lock hard-working people out or keep them from seeking optimum employment.
I'd love to hear from even one anti-healthcare reform advocate who has ever been "outside the system" (as outlined above) and thinks that's a principled position to take.
Answer: Hell yes. Self-insurance is absurdly expensive while group insurance outside of an employer or credit union is harder to find than a Republican with a conscience.
The lie that "Obama-Care kills small businesses and/or jobs" is a smokescreen for the truth: Healthcare reform would free employees from indentured health care servitude and allow small businesses to hire more competitively, creating more jobs.
Ask any non-English speaker: Idiomatic speech is one of the toughest codes to crack because the meaning is "stored" in the reference, not the language. Imagine deciphering these without knowing the idiom: "That takes the cake", "A stitch in time...", "Use the force, Luke", etc.
Drawing idioms and fragments of idioms from music and video games rather than larger culture is a brilliant way to fly under the parent's radar.
You should read GEB like a playful, mathematical Alice in Wonderland full of puzzles, philosophy and sometimes self-indulgent wit. Once you go down Hofstadter's rabbit hole you'll get a mind-expanding romp through the meta-logical underpinnings of modern mathematics, information theory and computer science. At the end, whether you find it deep or simultaneously twee and pretentious is a matter of taste, but you'll definitely find yourself a lot more capable of thinking of three impossible things before breakfast.
Really great: I like its speed and layout. The color search is a nice touch. My only complaint is about the quality/quantity of results. When I searched for "pulp art" I only see _3_ results whereas Etsy itself finds 531.
http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_query=pulp+art
Most mega-frameworks pat themselves on the back with examples that declare "See, you can write an entire CMS in 10 lines of code!" That's impressive except you can't write anything else and extending the CMS requires that you read and understand 100 pages of framework API entangled with assumptions and design tradeoffs that expertly fit the author's needs and not necessarily yours.
The problem is that the ideal framework requires zero lines of code because it already solves your exact problem. The worse framework requires more lines of code than coding your application from scratch. So, the key is finding a framework that satisfies 80% of your needs easily and doesn't get in your way for solving the other 20%.