HTC Eris :: Sms Pop Up Over Pattern Lock Screen Or Transparent?

I'd really like to be able to read my most recent text BEFORE I unlock my pattern lock screen. Preferably in the form of a popup. I really don't care if it's over it or on top I just want to be able to read it before I unlock. I've done a good deal of searching, on xda and elsewhere, and I really can't find any information on how I might be able to do this. I tried playing with the popup settings in handcent and I have got the pop up to show up over the lockscreen, but if the screen turns back off then I have to unlock the phone to see the text again. Is there anything I can do about that?

I even tried playing around with Sms Popup with no luck either. Could I perhaps somehow remove the background on my pattern lockscreen so that I can see the popup behind it? I'd also like to add that I'd really rather not use any third party lockscreen apps like WidgetLocker or Lock 2.0 because I really don't like them. I know it's kind of a specific question but it's just kind of an aesthetics thing I guess.