Honestly, you're going to find PERL very confusing to learn from the ground up. It really is a unique architecture compared to the more common ones these days like ASP or PHP, and Zach used some pretty complicated coding schema along with encapsulation. I would really recommend taking a little longer to build fresh.
I'm also always available for email if you want to bounce ideas or coding issues off of. I believe you've emailed me a few times before, so you should still have it. I'm happy to assist with everything from database redesign to backend framework and logical design.
