Looking for low light photography tips

I’m trying to take better pictures with my DSLR. Particularly low light shots.

There is a street in our town where all of the homes have a bazillion xmas lights. I thought that would be good practice.

I cranked up the ISO to 1600 which is the max on my RebelXT. I had the f/stop at 9. Av mode (EXIF data).

Although this photo was the best of the batch, I’m guess it could probably be better. What else could I have done (minus a tripod which I’ll never carry).

Thanks for any tips. 

Update: my brother Amin has a good tip in the comments. And Marco reblogs this post and offers some good advice here. Low light photography is like a drug.