Selecting current post minus 1

So let’s say I am posting a multi-column blog. On the left side, I’ll have the latest post. This is easy, I just get the loop going and ask for only 1 post. In the second column, I want to put in the prior post. Is there a way to select this? (assume permalink will not work as I post daily and the maintenance would not make sense). I’ve looked everywhere and can’t seem to find the answer.

You can see a bit of this at http://test.systematichr.com/ The center area is the post area. It migrates from 1 column (currently – this is where I want 2 columns) to one column for google ads and a tag cloud, back to 2 columns for content. It ain’t pretty as I’m still working on it, and it only seems to work in MSIE.

Thanks!!!