It would make sense to me to have the category description in the link title="" in a "SimplifiedCategories" extension. That way you still get more information when you mouseover the link.
I have an extension that just changes the css on the categories page. To get what you want, Stash, I need to find out what delegate I can use to get the comment grid. I assume there is one like the discussiongrid, but haven't found it yet. I can upload a version one of this extension for people to use.
I've been looking at your request Stash for a couple of days and couldn't figure out how to modify the CategoryList. So, the easiest solution for me was to make a copy of the categories.php file and put it in my customvanilla theme and edit it to have the Category Description in the link.
So, if anyone thinks this is useful, I'll add my modified categories.php file to the extension with instructions on how to use it.
I guess I wasn't smart enough to figure out how to do it by an extension. I just uploaded a new zip file with the categories.php file I modified. If the readme is not clear, please contact me.