Aiight man, first off, your age, I'd like to know, just to see what's available, also your income (you have a job/unemployed, and how much spendable cash you've got)
Based on this you can do one of three things.
If you're unemployed and have little spendable cash, regardless of age, you should probably go in search of an online tutorial.
If you're still in school, I'd say try to look for a tech class you can take.
If you're out of school and have some spare cash, my best advice is to go to a local college and find a few classes on electronics, these are the best ways to learn because if you have a question, it may not be answered by an online tutorial, and your teacher will also have years of hands on experience so they can tell you a lot.
Also the magic blue smoke, well the only thing I can say is, if your stuff keeps puffing smoke, I'd definately say try to stand clear, because some of the stuff is toxic, like the smoke that comes out of a christmas light when you pop it with a string of 9v batteries, yeah, it's poisonous.