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All good advices. Two reasons I'm asking about composting the "right"
way is because A) I don't want it to start stinking by having too much
nitrogen and B) I want to minimize the time so I can start using it
this summer. Being an engineer I tend to overthink things. No, it's
not rocket science, but I'm sure some ratios are better than others so
I'm trying to learn from other's experiences from the start instead of
trial and error on my own.

Just so I have an idea, is that 50/50 brown/green by weight? Would
make sense since it's the amount of material that would be working
with each other. That 30:1 ratio is probably by volume because brown
is so much lighter. We probably generate a few pounds of green each
day. That's a lot of leaves I have to keep around to keep up with the
green since brown is so light...Perhaps once I get the pile going it
would regulate itself so I don't have to worry so much about what I'm
throwing in.

My compost is 95% lawn clippings, with a few weeds and kitchen waste, layered
with dirt sprinkled in on each layer to innoculate with lots of appropriate
bacteria, and I've never had problems. Then again, I never rush it. For fast
compost, you will need to turn it frequently and keep it damp. I really don't
think you need to worry a huge amount about the correct mixture.

You could use the worm bin approach as another alternative.