need help adding “read more” to excerpt

hey all …

so i read Customizing the Read More in the Codex, but I can’t figure this out …

i’m using this snippet of code on my Main Index to show my entire first post and then excerpts of the subsequent posts:

<?php ($post == $posts[0] && !is_paged()) ? the_content('', 'FALSE') : the_excerpt() ; ?>

i’d like for the subsequent posts to include a “Read more …” link. i have this code (see below), but I can’t figure out how to integrate it with the above code:

<?php the_excerpt(); ?><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><span class="read_more">[ more ... ]</a></span>

Plain English: On my homepage, I’d like the first post to be shown in its entirety, and each subsequent post to be an excerpt with a “Read more …” link.

My site: Touching Harms The Art

Thanks a million for any help / advice.