Any ideas where to look / to whom I can turn??
I am HELL BENT on learning PHP by September. I’d be thrilled to spend 12 hours a day for three months to get there. At least to develop a solid understanding of the basics and capabilities so as to put the language to good use. I’ve got this weird fascination with wordpress and magento and really want to dive in.
I have a good understanding of HTML and a growing proficiency with CSS. But I want actually to BUILD. Connect me and I’ll fund you a six pack!
:tup: 
If you are looking to learn the basics and even some of the more advanced topics I would suggest Lynda.com and I would also recommend being on Stack Overflow. Trust me with these two you will learn quite a bit.
Another good source for learning web things is Codeacademy.
I’m glad that you are excited to dive into a topic and that’s a very very good sign that you will go far. The only thing that I would be cautious about is getting burnt out, because 12 hours is quite a bit in one day. But anyways, good luck on your journey!