You're absolutely not wasting our time! You came here with some queries, and we're very happy to discuss it with you
It's a tricky one, for sure... shrimps need very stable water conditions, so a water change every few weeks wouldn't do them any good at all, and they're very sensitive to toxins like ammonia and nitrite, so the tank would need to be cycled and matured first. I honestly don't think I can recommend shrimps.
I really don't want to sound snobby, but if you had some experience with aquaria it might be possible, but for complete beginner? Wow, that's another matter all together! Keeping aquatic animals is a LOT harder than most people think, it really is.
However, a little planted tank, as Sean suggested, could look really nice; you'd probably get some pest snails come in on the plants anyway. Most snails you can buy are either too large for nano tanks (apple/mystery snails, for instance) or they're quite hard to keep (nerites), but the little pest pond snails would probably be all right. Then again, they won't do well in soft water...
Maybe it would be a good idea if you hung around here for a couple of weeks; have a read of the threads in the 'Shrimps and Invertebrates' and the 'Cycling Your Tank' sub-forums and get a feel for what's involved?