blog help

As you can tell from my site, I am new to this blogging thing. I know my site is dismal looking, but how can I change the looks if I don't know HTML? I would like to have a picture in my headline banner, but every time I try to put one in, I lose the title. I would also like to have a different layout, but where can I find templates other then those offered by my blog service?

My other problem is, how do I get people to read what I am writing? Is it just a matter of time, or do I need to do more then ping the various engines?

Anyway, if anybody has any ideas or suggestions,please let me know. I really enjoy doing this and would like to share my stories with others.

I found this cartoon and just had to share it. Thanks for reading.

Technology Blues

If I could sing, this song would be a hit. I just spent the last 4 hours trying to get my page looking somewhat normal. This is only my 3rd day at this and I realize that there would be a learning curve.....but WOW! Yes, it's alot of trial and error, but I am actually, slowly (insert your adverb of choice here), becoming able to recognize SOME things in the code. I am working on the classic template on purpose, so I am forced to work with Html.
I figure, it's going to be a pain and I could just as easily use the drag and drop of the improved templates, but I want to expose myself to something new and try to exercise my brain- believe me, it needs exercise. Any tips on Html, please let me know.
Thanks