[evo_9]

Basic is really not terribly relavent or useful at this point. I'd consider good old Javascript. Its syntax is derived from C and gives you a foot in the web-world. It's also easy to get started as you can start with any text editor, a browser and there is no compiling or development environment to configure (a huge obstacle I think other programs forget btw - setting up and getting your IDE working is not so simply for a beginner).

From Javascript you can use your knowledge and move to just about any other langauge (C/C++, Java, C#, Actionscript are examples of other 'C' derived languages). Plus, Javascript's popularity is on the rise and it's a good skill for any programmer to have in his toolbelt (you are bound to run into it at some point in your programming experience down the road).

As far as putting programming skills to practice, I agree with the sentiment of others - come up with a pet project, even a simply one to learn the ropes. For example I use to always start by writing a simple contact/address book program; it contain all the elements you'd need to know for most business apps (a list of records (addresses), the ability to view 'details', add new records, delete records and edit existing data).

You should also consider taking a computer programming class at your local community college. That way you are assigned simply programs, have other classmates to work with and talk about sticking points with; of course the teacher is always an option to get some real feedback when you are stuck which is something a book alone can't provide.