I love Conky, it is a great tool to monitor your system while working on Linux.
You can find more about Conky and how to install it at: http://www.go2linux.org/conky-system-monitor-for-linux Now, if you really want to make it look great, something like this: You may want to install Conky Launchpad. Download link and instructions are: http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Conky+Launchpad?content=134620