My lurking around typophile (and lesser related sites) for the last year or so seems to have finally given way to a fullblown obsession with typography, and i'm starting to feel anxious/excited to actually set pen to paper and try drawing some glyphs for myself rather than constantly looking on in admiration...

So, i'm wondering if anyone can give recommendations as to how to begin with this whole typography thing.. A masterclass/course isn't feasible right now (although hopefully will be sometime in the future) so any suggestions of appropriate exercises, books, websites would be fantastic. I'm an industrial designer, so although a little far from home, am comfortable with both illustrator and a tech-pen so don't shy away from ideas involving either (is starting entirely by hand/pen a better choice?)

also, just as a caveat, i don't in any way mean to be flippant about typeface design.. i have tremendous respect for those of you who are do design type, and don't want to imply that i think i can just pick it up and do it in my spare time. i think i'm just looking to gain a greater understanding of it by some measure of participation..

anyways, this is too long. thanks in advance for the help..