Endless Wheel Spinning

For the most part, this week was fairly successful for me as I worked my way through the seemingly endless Python tutorials on Code Academy. I guess my failure in completing 43% of the tutorial in the span of 8 hours in one day was that I simply could not wrap my mind around the practical application of the commands I was learning.  In my productiveness, I only failed on the theoretical level. I suppose if I ever needed to calculate a tip or keep track of grocery supplies in the most complicated way possible, I would have the tools and knowledge to do so. However, I'm definitely not comprehending how in the world I will be able to use "defining variables" and finding 6^12 equals on my website directly and for any research-based application.

Can I learn about real pythons instead?

As I was told, the tutorials for any new program (or language, really) always start with the most basic of terms in order to build a foundation that can be used in other settings. This makes sense to me, but I can more readily see the usefulness of asking someone their name in a newly learned spoken language than making strings of zoo animal names in a program designed to ensure your inventory is intact. As a medievalist, the theory about learning and interpreting languages makes sense to me, but the practice is, thus far, lost on me and I truly feel as if I am spinning my wheels while I complete lesson after lesson.

Additionally, I am still on a quest to figure out QGIS  (again, tutorials become horribly mind-numbing after a while) and how I might be able to use it practically. I have a concept that I think might be solid enough to not completely hate what I eventually create, but I still have to get there. Spatial relationships have never been my strong suit, so seeing this part of the project as useful or worthwhile is a tough sell.