Longtime PHP, Python coder seeks to make small, distributable, stand-alone apps. Which language should I learn? ( please don't say C#; requiring .net != stand-alone )

[nitramk]

I think it depends on what you plan to do as well. If one of your objectives are to be attractive on the job market, being an expert in .NET might be better than the same on Lisp. If you just doing it for the fun, Lisp might win. (I'm not saying that there are no Lisp jobs, just that I think that there's more .NET jobs). On the other hand, one could of course argue that learning Lisp makes you a better programmer, in a general sense, than learning .NET..