I agree that the grey splodge does look pretty ugly -- but only when it's by itself.
When it's compiled with the rest of the header, it comes out very nicely and gives a nice tint of darkness around the text.
Here's the link to the blog so you can see:
http://lineolatedparakeet.net/blog/
Thanks for your attempts... I will see how they look
--------------- Added [DATE]1229274921[/DATE] at [TIME]1229274921[/TIME] ---------------
Shelley, I've decided to use your first one. It looks great. Thanks so much.
Now I just have to figure out why it's being cut-off...