A head's up: Looks horrible in Firefox 2.0.0.15. Yeah, I know, you'll say everyone is using 3.x. But no, plenty of weak old PCs out here still. If I could see how it worked, I might use it. Good luck.
I think I like your concept (even though feeling slightly blinded).
I'd play with your colour palette and background. Try to take some 'weight' out of the design with lighter background and darker colours.
I like your sidebar nav, and collapsable menu may be good.