Relational databases - there has to be more right?

Question

I really enjoy database design and the whole concept of managing data semantically and all the logic that comes with it.

My knowledge level when it comes to databases is

Answer 1

Get more dirt from C. J. Date's Database In Depth: Relational Theory for Practitioners if his An Introduction to Database Systems isn't grubby enough for you.

Seriously, these two books will give you a great deal more knowledge about RDBMSes, in a great deal less space, than many other professional database workers possess. Database in Depth, in particular, looks at how to think about databases relationally even when the language doesn't support it, and how to trick SQL into being a close-to-relational language.