Like you, NG (no, really Tom) inspired me to snatch a copy of Flash and give it a shot. It took me about a day to get accustomed to its most basic features, and then I started to fart out simple frame by frame animations using onion skinning. I've also done the even more basic symbol/ movie clip animation technique and I have to say, flash is a very powerful program and it's very easy to use. I would like to dive into it more in the future but at the moment I just don't have time for any other hobbies, and my art really needs to improve. Then again, I don't think I'll ever be truly happy with any of the art/animating I do.
Anyways, heres the problem, almost all of the kids on this BBS, and a majority of the moderators have never produced any flash content, which is the supposed heart of this website. I hope you enjoy your stay on this site, but you may want to try discussing these things elsewhere, or inside the NG flash forums because the general board isn't really NG centric.