Mostly a hobby hacker. Came to Lisp via C++. Loved programming but didn't know how hard the language was making it until around '98 when I read Peter Norvig's PAIP, and was blown away. Couldn't understand why such a great language had been more or less forgotten by the tech mainstream. Soon after that I quit the commercial scene altogether, and have stayed away ever since. These days I hack only as a hobby, and choose whatever tools feel best. Had some fun with Python, but have never enjoyed a language as much as Lisp.
I like Paul's approach with Arc for all kinds of reasons, most of them aesthetic. I look forward to using a language that remains simple and elegant at its core, but knows how to do messy stuff, and isn't sullied by it.
