A bit more research, maybe...

After several hours of looking over Ubuntu's source, I finally figured out how to change a few simple things, but I know now for sure that it will be a long time before I'll be able to make my own release that's very different from the original.  Ubuntu kind of sucks, you know.  I think I may use Linux Mint as my base instead.  It seems like a better built OS, much more user friendly.