LispCast

For what it's worth, I learned exactly the same way you are, it's been quite enjoyable and I'm still far from calling myself an expert.
This post would be even better with pointers to places where one could find good examples of .emacs, etc. I realize I can just Google and run across a number of them at random, but there's little indication of what's good / bad and what I should be looking for.
I see your point about keeping the keybindings standard, but unfortunately some of them suck for the Dvorak-ians among us. The point that non-standard bindings may interfere with new modes as you learn them is well taken.
If you can find them, the FSF books on Emacs Lisp are good as well.