I learned all the HTML I do on my own...it's nothing fancy, and I could probably learn to do it better. I'm working on it.
My website is fairly simple. I try to make sure that my backgrounds don't interfere with the text. About the only thing I use that might be considered obnoxious by some is the use of pop-up boxes (only on the parts of the site where I think they work best).
Oh, and I decided to be creative (or stupid, your pick) today and toyed with the
index page.