I am through fiddling with page colors for a while-- at least until I digest enough code to build some layers from scratch.  I am not enough of an artist to really benefit from too many choices.  I remember when I had my first chemistry set, which I alternately demanded and begged for at Christmas when I was 7.  My experiments would start out ok, but then I would get bored or frustrated and begin to add a little of this and a little of that to see if I could get the mixture to change colors, or to smell real bad, or to come to life before my eyes. I was somewhat successful with the smell.  The color I achieved always seemed to wind up a peptibismol pink. 

The same thing has held true with art.  The more colors I have the more quickly things turn muddy brown.  Music, same thing.  I like to play all the notes at once.

And perhaps, too many choices can adversely affect one's writing style. Maybe one should always try to define, or at least feel inwardly, a subset of words that informs the diction of a piece?

As for LJ s2 style, it proves to be easy enough once the correct code is found for the style.  Attempting to write code simply by studying the s2 language itself was not enough.  I needed to go through the many good tutorials at the s2expressive page also to find correct examples of css to make things easier.  When it comes to this style you can rely on the examples given by  av8rmike.  I was able to find everything I needed from his past posts. His stuff always works flawlessly.  Thanks Mike!