So I started a blog ... about learning how to code

I will second the recommendation on python for a beginner. It is my favorite language to teach to people coming from a non-technical background, as it has a very small number of syntax rules. I'm currently attempting to teach ruby to a crop of students whose backgrounds range all over the place. While I love the language, I'm constantly butting heads with the 'beauty' of ruby, which was traded away for consistency of syntax. You _can_ use explicit parentheses and return statements in ruby, but I challenge you to find any instructional text which does. Python will give you fewer headaches to start.

That said, I'm going to disagree on the recommendation of starting a university course. We have to be clear: programming is not computer science. Some of the best computer scientists often write programs with poor implementations, and some of the best programmers I know have no formal computer science education (they tend to pick it up along the way, though). You should absolutely engage in structured learning, but understand that university-level CS may be not be in line with your goals.

Don't take this as a condemnation of CS. I have a background in it and enjoyed it immensely, but after four years of it I decided I simply wanted to be a programmer instead.

Thanks for the tip! I'm trying to get some good online learning courses to look at (learning on one's own can be so directionless). I'll definitely look at it, thanks again!