I'm having the same problem that you were, which I find weird.
Glad it wasn't just me. I'm not brilliant with these things, but I am capable on inputting a link and the height in pixels...

But I found some custom css before I found answers.
And that's where i tend to get lost. (I should probably learn it, but I get bored.)

Would what I have up right now be generally acceptable? (we can tweak from there)
Pretty much, apart from the top (right) module covering part of the banner. I guess that might be part of the basic layout?

Can I ask why you want your sidebar on the left instead of right like on lj?
I was just playing around, I prefer it on the right. Although I wish the default icon was as big as on LJ.

Incidentally love your 'About'. That could go back up top (although I know I can input text in the modules, so no worries).