Maybe it's not what you've been trying to learn, but how you're going about doing so...
if you really want to learn how to program, i assume that you are very interested, it might be worth the money to take a class. to me- having someone explain the basics, makes all the difference in the world. and if you don't want to shell out any cache- GOTO your local community college and sit in a few of the classes (i do this all the time, it's free education- you can even get away with this at a nice university, if the classes are large enough)- but, before i start to ramble on: taking a class might be the way to do it? or even find a friend who wants to learn the same stuff, and study together...

i hope this helps :-)

btw- i love to program, and wouldn't mind answering a few questions...