Ask HN: I want to learn to program (in Ruby). How can I get to "doing", easily?

I want to learn to program (in Ruby). But with near-unlimited information, resources, etc., I've found it pretty overwhelming/difficult to find a good place to start.

To get started, I'd rather do than read. I'd rather someone tell me, in as much detail as possible: "do this this and this to get your environment up and running." (I'm on OSX 10.5.)

Then, I'd prefer if someone would just give me a bunch of "cool code" (meaning code with practical applications -- i.e. something i can use/experience right away, perhaps a very simple blog) to write and run (with specific directions as to how to do both), so that I'm able to experience it first hand.

And then I'd like the concepts to be explained to me (e.g. what variables, strings, classes, instances, objects, etc., are), after I've experienced/interacted with/done it.

I guess I wish learning to code was like learning to throw a frisbee, or ride a bike.

Perhaps it is, but that hasn't been my experience...

I'd happily (and eagerly) pay someone to make the initial process and core concepts of learning to code (mainly for web-development) a much more user-friendly experience...