Slow weekend afternoon, taking a break from packing up my life and doing a huge shift towards an entirely new adventure.
I ran into Perl through my first non-contract job. I picked up an ISP that was barely more than a start-up, and with a book off of a shelf, I fell in love (Perl 4/early 5 days).
Over the years, (but with 20/20 hindsight it started not long after I had to pick up Perl) I have come to appreciate the Perl community as a group who are loyal, dedicated and serious, all the while being able to take criticism quite well.
I savored the day I became a Friar; it allowed me to take part in some decision making on this site, which imho is the de-facto place to find Perl experts.
Since the first day I picked up that "Learn Perl in 21 Days" book, I've gone on to do a lot of interesting things, meet a lot of interesting people, learned more than what I've been able to share, and help a lot of people in this language (and thanks to it, other ones as well).
I'm coming up on my 8th birthday here, so while taking a breather from the physical duties of life, thought I'd once again share my appreciation for Perlmonks, and ask you, newbie or not, why you are invested in Perl, what it has done for you, and whether it has changed anything regarding how you approach other tasks/problems in your day-to-day.
-stevieb