Ha ha, thanks guys, you are making my head swell.
I would suggest you take the time to figure out what everything does, and shoot like crazy. After time you will learn what works, and what doesn’t. Learn from your mistakes, and from you achievements and you will get better in small steps every time you pick up the camera.
When I first started out I didn't know anything about photography at all. I sat in my chair in the basement and took shots of whatever (mainly my feet because they were always the same distance away and I almost always wear the same color socks). I went through every setting my camera and looked at the photos to see what the settings did to the photo. I learned a great deal by doing this.
The other thing I can say is that you will reach a plateau with your shooting and feel that you are not getting any better and that you should just give up. I have been there a few times in the last couple of years, but you just have to keep pushing yourself to do something different. I was getting a bit bored shooting the moto thing, so I have shot a couple things like prom and dragon boat races to re-lite the fire inside me and get the motivation to get the camera out again.
So just get out there a fire off some shots. That’s the only real way to learn.