I've been teaching myself JavaScript for a few months. It's the first programming I've done since college when I took a class in C (and used some BASH). I like nodejs and mysql so far. Any project ideas?
Build some home automation system with node.js. Begin the Skynet. That's what I'm going to do. Seriously, I mean it.
All I can do now is turn on/off the light, tv, lock/unlock door, fly a drone, tracking my car position, all doing from my secret website and JavaScript. But I still has a padlock over my electronic lock LOL. You can do that with Espruino or Arduino micro controller board.
The easiest thing you can do with Node.js is networking. Building a HTTP server, or a proxy, or anything else that talks over the network is really simple, since that is the initial purpose why Node.js was created. I suggest to look through the API docs (http://nodejs.org/api/) and see if something inspires you!