layout changes

I've been wanting to switch to the 'stretch' template for a while now, and I finally did it. I had to redo all my background colors and everything, so I thought I'd make a few changes. Most of you probably RSS my blog now and won't even notice, but for those of you who do visit the actual blog, do you like the new lighter green background? I'm also thinking about changing the banner sometime in the next year or so.