Waxing Cerebral

Launch mysqld (server) on Linux (if not already running):
sudo /etc/init.d/mysql start

Connect to server [specific database]:
mysql [-h host] -u user -p [dbname to use]

Use the SHOW statement to find out what databases currently exist on the server:
mysql> SHOW DATABASES;

Pick one:
mysql> USE dbname

Create new one:
mysql> CREATE DATABASE dbname;

List tables:
mysql> SHOW TABLES;

Create table:
mysql> CREATE TABLE pet (name VARCHAR(20), owner VARCHAR(20),
-> species VARCHAR(20), sex CHAR(1), birth DATE, death DATE);

List tables columns:
mysql> DESCRIBE tablename;

Generate schema:
mysql> SHOW CREATE TABLE tablename;