[ALUG] Can one get rid of Desktop?

Is it possible to get rid of the (IMHO) stupid Desktop directory and the concept that goes with it? If my screen is anywhere I want it to be my home directory, not ~/Desktop. I can delete ~/Desktop but it just gets recreated whenever I do anything like open a terminal 'here'. Why can't I just get a terminal to open at /home/chris when I right click on my screen? (Not to mention the silliness of all those directories like Pictures, Videos, etc. starting with an uppercase letter) -- Chris Green