I just recently (a month or so ago) watched and did the exercises in the Google Python Class. That was my first introduction to Python and I stayed interested because the exercises were a bit of a challenge instead of the same old boring crap you see everywhere.
About two weeks ago, I wrote a somewhat complex application to "scratch an itch" at work and have since started in with Django.
A desktop GUI in Python? Or a GUI in a web app? If you mean the former, have you tried wxPython? It comes with a huge interactive library of samples, where you can see the code and the resulting interface just by switching tabs.
There are so many languages that it can be real hard for beginners to decide what to do. I use Ubuntu and ChromeOS. Ubuntu recommends Python and GTK whereas, if I am not wrong, ChromeOS extension and webapps are primarily written in Javascript. I am learning programming currently using Codecademy HTML and CSS tutorials and have to decide what to do next. In order to keep myself focused I want to write a clipboard app. I am not sure what to choose Python or JavaScript.
I'm learning python but find most tutorials boring. Your method sounds interesting.