My hard drive died, so here is a photo of me from back when I was a happy person with a working computer.

This is a picture of me from a couple of weeks ago (and also the picture I used on the back of my moo cards), back when I was still carefree and had a working computer. Oh, how I miss those days!

My hard drive died on Friday. My wonderful husband did his best to revive it, but the best he could do was pull my files off of it. Which of course, I am insanely grateful for. So now we're trying to decide what to do next - just replace my hard drive? Get me a laptop? I have a four year old Powerbook that I have loved to pieces but has never had the processing power to handle the stress I put my desktop through when I'm editing photos, writing and doing research. So, get me a laptop and dock it at my dual monitors for when I want to do my heavier computing tasks? That's certainly the most (horrifyingly) expensive option, but it's also probably the most sensible for the long term. We're also thinking about getting a NAS to back up our data, which is a great opportunity for my husband to geek out.

Okay, enough emotional catharsis through writing, and on to the photo.

This is Straight Out Of the Camera. I went out in my backyard and played with sunlight. Depending on which direction I faced and how I angled my camera, I got some really neat effects. This one turned out with warm colors, and my hair looks very dark here. I had white balance set on auto because I got tired of re-measuring everytime I turned around, but on this one, I think it would have been useful as it would have toned down the warmth a smidge.

Mara and Franco's wedding reception.

Last Thursday, I served as a bridesmaid in Mara and Franco's wedding. It was an honor to stand by them as they said their vows. In the midst of alternating happy tears and laughter, they did a reading from Corelli's Mandolin by Louise De Bernieres that I had never heard before:

Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion... That is just being "in love," which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident."

Thank you for letting me be a part of your wedding, Mara and Franco!

Honeymoon: Rob looks out at Nyhavn in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Honeymoon: Rob looks out at Nyhavn in Copenhagen, Denmark., originally uploaded by Victoria Shade.

Ah, you are going to see so many photos of my husband with the back of his head towards me. I enjoy taking photos of people - I like the capture the moment, the feeling, their existence in that very slice of time. Unfortunately, my husband is not a fan of having his photo frequently taken, so I have to try to be a little sly. I fail a lot as stealth is not one of my strongest traits, so there are many pictures of his hand in front of my camera lens.

But here he was jetlagged and enjoying the view from our room. We left Orlando around 2 p.m. on Saturday and landed in Copenhagen around 9 a.m. Sunday. When we arrived at Hotel Bethel on Nyhavn Road, it was too early for us to check into a room. Quite honestly, I passed out at a little table we waited at in their dining area.

Rob enjoyed the view and I enjoyed my picture taking for a few minutes before we promptly passed out in a jetlagged stupor. They were a wonderful few minutes, but boy, sleeping was pretty wonderful too.

Taken on a Nikon D40.

Photo originally taken on September 13, 2009, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Photo posted on November 3, 2009.