I found a more configurable LCD library a little while ago. Main page is here: Slashdev
The pins are configurable via software, and it uses the R/S (or is it RW?) line instead of hard-coded delays, so it should be more efficient and faster. I've only just started playing with it and I think I've got some wiring issues at the moment, but it's got promise.
Right now, I'm trying to solder something together to play with an LCD, but I'm having trouble deciding how to do it. Ladyada's way is great but I forgot to order spare protoboard PCB's :).
I have plenty of perf board but it doesn't line up with the pins. So I'm thinking of something that will connect to the pins 0-7 header and use 2-7 as my 6 lines, then have wires coming off it to ground and vcc. It sounds pretty sloppy though and I haven't decided how to connect the LCD itself. I like the female socket idea but I was envisioning a small piece of perfboard, so the whole thing might not be mechanically strong enough or put too much pressure on single ardunio socket it's connected to.