(this is my scratchpad)
I installed mysql on a mac straight from mysql website. Not sure whether that was a wise decision.

cp /usr/local/mysql/support-files/my-medium.cnf /etc/my.cnf
vi /etc/my.cnf 
/Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM/MySQLCOM stop
/Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM/MySQLCOM start