Jason, re the photos, if you use the following link: (
help with posting photos) you get a choice of large, medium or thumbnail image. If you go the 'shorter' route that many others do and use the 'insert' link you seem to get only thumbnails.
So first you need to prepare your photo. With your Mac you will have a standard program called Preview that usually opens automatically when you double click on a photo on your desktop. In Preview, use Tools on the menu to Adjust Size (say to 15-20cm) and then on the bottom of that Adjust Size Screen - check the number of KB involved. This needs to be less than 100kb. You may need to Adjust Size smaller, depending on the original to get below 100kb. Then Save.
Now just follow the link above to Up Load your photos.
There may be a faster route but this works and give you options.
Re the stripes - why? It looks great now in simplicity.