Most of my photography has always been outdoors with natural light. I took a college class on portraiture and learned to use the strobe equipment enough to pass the class, but not enough to feel comfortable. I also haven't ever wanted to cart around a lot of equipment or even to spend a lot of money on lighting equipment -- but I have wanted to learn more about adding and modifying light for my images.
One blog that I've been reading to learn more is
We don't want to "send you away" to strobist.com forever, but those of us who are interested in working with strobes can gather some good info there and then we can discuss and practice it here.