What does a guy have to do to get a GMail account?

My efforts to secure a GMail account are proving fruitless. I really want to beta test GMail.  And every article that I have read has just whetted my appetite further. I'll tell you what has not worked to get an account. 

Using my Blogger account for the first time - didn't work.
Creating a beta group on the new Google Groups - nope

Oh well... I'm not so desperate that I'm willing to buy an account on ebay, so don't feel too sorry for me.