MySQL... Where to begin?

Greetings all - just thought I'd pop in to say a quick hi and Happy New Year for the hundredth time. And if anyone's willing to impart some of that much needed anycdotes of wisdom oh so fine, I am all ears! I'm talking about the real stuff man. The shizz of the nizz MySQL aka DJ Love me sexy ringtone. At least I was told its the real stuff. Exactly what was I told? - Some kid told me I needed to learn MySQL before tackling other environments like C# C++ VB.NET and Java. He said it'd help form a nice foundation for IT and help with my job dilemma, unemployment. Man I hate being unemployed... And the way I figure it is MySQL is like servers, databases and shit. I've only worked with client so this could prove difficult. Anyone got any practical stuff that I can deal with? Like a server - database that's already set in MySQL. Otherwise I'm all ears as I said. If you got any pointers show me the ropes paleez!

Some kid told me I needed to learn MySQL before tackling other environments like C# C++ VB.NET and Java.

IMO the kid is dead wrong. Learn the language first or learn it simultaneously with SQL.  SQL is the language, MySQL and TSQL are different implementations of the language.

You can find a really simple introduction here: http://www.w3schools.com/sql/default.asp

I would also recommend this book as a hand reference and a good thing to keep on your desk when you work with .NET: http://www.murach.com/books/sql5/index.htm