Great thoughts. :-) So sorry to hear you had your FRNs stolen. That really sucks... I applaud your positive attitude, though!
I'm not certain from what you wrote whether you're interested in the mechanics that drive Bitcoin at all (the blockchain), but if so, a lot of people tell me this video was really helpful to them. I confess that there's a certain degree of self-promotion in that reference, since it's my video, but people seem to like it all the same. ^_^
Also, something to be aware of in case you're not already, all Bitcoin transactions are public, so when you post an address publicly where everyone can see that it's your address, they can also see how much btc you receive at that address, and when you use it, which addresses you send it to. Personally, I don't much care, but that's an fyi that I think people should know when picking it up, especially since it's so often touted as being anonymous (which it really isn't).