I greatly prefer taking NURBS planes then bending them to my will

lOL, yes maya can give one a sense of power as we bend metal bars and create images in our own likeness.

blendshapes are fun.., stick with the basics though and get one of alias's learning books, that way you will learn faster.

learn photoshop soon, you will need it, and a compositor for your animations, like after effects or videomach. (free/inexpensive)

its all a big learning curve, the WIP is a good place to start and a good idea.