Hello Josh,
I'm hardly a month's pd user and right now pd is already starting to make happier!
At first all these geekish graphics and the "aura" that programming languages have, made me feel a litle uncomfortable, but with the help of the current list, the guys I mean that participate in it (cheers guys), I started to feel very confortable searching pd.
What I first did was to install pd and open all the /doc/.pd files one by one (I don't understand most of them to be honest).
Then I set an easy target. Once the target accomplished, I set another one more complicated.
Keeping track of what is said in the current list (even if I don't understand a s~~t) helped me (and is helping me, cause I'm a begginer) see what pd has to offer.
Regards,
Tasos