Design

Where'd the template come from?
This template is called "Stripped" by Nathan Rice.  It was converted by Fernando Coello for use on Blogger, and then tweaked by Erd for use here.  I'd give you a link directly to it, but Fernando's old site is gone and I cannot find it on his new site.  Either way, the original (WordPress theme) is released completely free here and you're more than welcome to dissect this blog as well.

How about the E-mail and RSS icons in the header?
Komodomedia.  There's actually nice icons for just about all of the services, and they're released under the Creative Commons Share-Alike with Attribution license.

And the aggregation linkage on the sidebar?
Sociable.  Make sure you correct the ampersand (&) in the code to & or you'll have problems with it (unless they've fixed it.  I haven't checked).  Sociable is totally free.