Hmmm. I've gotten a few other thumbs down. I think I did try too hard for the "ugly" look.
Before I start getting creative, I guess I should just try successfully emulating some of the more standard "boring" type designs that I see on the bigger lists.
I had started a little project last week, and abandoned it. I may restart it. I went through Cleos, Link-o-rama, Penisbot and clicked through the more recently accepted ones, and picked out designs I liked best. Then I sketched the basic design on a piece of paper, w/ different colors, red for banners, green for text links, blue for non linked text, orange for non linked pics, purple for site nave (enter, gallery one, etc) black for gallery thumbs, etc.
Try to learn the standard forms. I guess it's better to "emulate" before I try to create.
Thanks again for the patience, guys.