Recent Posts in sidebar.php

I’m looking for a little help on an issue with code I found for “recent posts” in my sidebar.

the php is this:

<h2>Recent Posts</h2>
<?php query_posts /* enter # of posts here—-> */(‘showposts=10’);/* For a full list of possible arguments you can pass to query_posts see http://codex.ww.wp.xz.cn/Template_Tags/query_posts */?>

<?php while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>
• ” rel=”bookmark” title=”Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>”><?php the_title(); ?>

<?php endwhile; ?>

I placed this in my sidebar.php.

<?php include (TEMPLATEPATH . “/recent_posts.php”); ?>

I want the Recent Posts to look like the Related Sites and Log in sections at the bottom of the sidebar. Also I would like to it to not include certain categories (i.e. Best Bets and Video).

Any help anyone could offer would be great. I read something on template tags/query posts that I thought might have been the solution but it wasn’t making sense.

Thank You,

Indiepunk
http://www.anti-fascion.com