mccutch,
Thanks for the quick response! I tried using that plugin previously, but the issue is that it does not allow for orientation of the image within the post (eg, load in bottom right corner). As a work around, I could load a larger image with lots of white space and the image in the bottom right. However, that would increase the loadtime on the page.. multiply that by 10~ posts per page and it could become a problem.
Further, if you only wrote one line of text in a post, WP would only show one line worth of background image. In other words, you’d have to make sure that your text block is larger than the image.
I also tried another plugin called WP Post Styling. While this one seems a bit more robust, I lack the CSS troubleshooting skillzzzzz to make it work. :\
Anyone willing to lend more halp?