What logic family is best for general-purpose hobbyist stuff?
HC is the most useful. It has a very wide supply voltage range, is easy to interface to most MCUs, has good noise immunity, has plenty of speed, and is widely available. HC is also available as single gates in tiny packages. Forget TTL and LS TTL, no one uses them for new designs these days.

It's also worth learning to use CPLDs, Using them often makes a lot more sense than designing with individual logic chips.