I spend more time thinking about camera equipment than headphone so...
First, I agree with both Smeggy and KG. A fast prime that gives you close to the 50mm equivalent focal length will do you well. The EF 35mm F/2 is an excellent choice. It's cheap, light, tack sharp wide open (especially on an APS-C sensor) and it has a very close minimum focus distance. It's wide aperture will allow you to do available light shots not possible with zoom lenses. As a bonus, it works on film bodies and full frame digital, were you to go that route in the future. Downsides are a noisy focus motor, and no full time manual (FTM), but what do you want for $250? An external flash is a must. The price of the 580EX has gone down significantly now that the 580EX II is out. A bracket and a extension cable will help even more. The farther your flash is from the lens, the better.
Next, I would avoid the EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8. It's expensive for an EF-S (APS-C only) lens, and it's not terribly sharp wide open, which is the only reason to own it. $1000 for a constant F/2.8 that's blurry and won't work if you upgrade your camera is crummy deal.
The EF 50mm F/1.4 is the cheapest way to get a Canon-branded F/1.4. It does let in a lot of light, and has USM and FTM, but it's not a paragon of sharpness until F/5.6 or so, and it tends to mis-focus in low light (which is when it's needed most.) The autofocus assist beam from a 580EX or other external flash will help with this. It also has mediocre bokeh, but this is probably irrelevant to you. The 50/1.8 is indeed a bargain, cheap enough to be an impulse buy purchase for most head-casers. It pretty sharp, and has less barrel distortion than the 50/1.4, but it's REALLY noisy, and feels like a cheap plastic toy. Caveat emptor.
The EF-S 18-55 IS seems like a good idea, but I can't comment on it directly as I've never used it. It has the same slow aperture (F/3.5-5.6, depending on zoom) of the crappy kit lens Canon sells. I assume the optics are better, but it's kind of expensive. For the cost of it, you could get the 35mm F/2 and 50mm F1/.4 (or nearly) and they'd be useful film and full frame cameras.
The one EF-S lens I would suggest is the 10-22mm. It's a superwide, making it quite useful in crampt quarters, and it's wonderfully sharp. It's a much better deal than its full frame cousin, the EF 16-35mm F/2.8L.
In short: consider fast primes and an external flash. Avoid EF-S lenses (other than the 10-22) if possible.
