Hey Karl ... I've been around cell phone developing for a few years now, and it seems like the mind set is to always jump on what's new and shiny. As you know, "new" is not always better. In the case of Android, even though our Nexus can run ICS, Gingerbread is really the sweet spot ... it's quicker, smoother, simply runs better. Of course, there are those who will disagree, but I have tried both, quite extensively ... and if someone were to try my setup, they would agree.
As for why you can't boot CyanMod ... hard to say. I have had no problem with it, ever ... other than it tends to bog down a couple of weeks after install. I do always begin with a clean slate, using the attached zip to make sure my device is fresh. If you've never used it ... just flash in recovery, just like a new rom, and then proceed with your rom install. Here is a link to the rom that I have installed on my wife's Nexus. It has quite a few features, and is super stable.
http://download.oxygen.im/roms/updat...S4G-signed.zip
If you want a choice of themes, here is the link to the latest CyanMod, which includes a theme manager and several themes. There are also tons of themes in the Android Market for GB. You will also need the latest gapps for this one. Gapps is built into Oxygen.
http://download.cyanogenmod.com/get/...o4g-signed.zip
Goo-inside.me Downloads - Downloading gapps-gb-20110828-signed.zip
Hope this helps ... noticed you are in Bakersfield ... I grew up in Tulare.