Definitely go with Google AppEngine (GAE). I started off with zero Python experience and an interest in checking out GAE as well as learning Python, and rapidly picked up both thanks to the ease of developing and deploying on GAE. Just go through the Getting Start Guide (http://code.google.com/appengine/docs/python/gettingstarted/), which will covers some of the services you get with GAE out of the box. In fact, the Getting Started Guide walks you through building a simple guestbook app. Feel free to contact me if you need more information or have questions.