So, one of my worst computer nightmares happened today. Well, it happened over the past 24 hours actually... but this afternoon gave me a first hand glimpse into the horrid, dark world of Permanent File Deletion.

It all started yesterday when I had the very ambitious notion of doing some house cleaning on my computer. I had a bunch of files I had not yet backed up (yeah, viva la procrastinacion), and a bunch of files I needed to delete. The combination of the two meant I had almost 90% of my 200+ Gig computer crammed full, AND my external hard drive going into the red.

I had slowly but surely been backing everything up as well on DVD's over the course of the past few months. But, being rather busy these past couple of months... I delayed in doing that with some of my latest files. They were all neatly tucked in one folder.... 12 Gigs worth. All of my Abney Park/Steampunk art... all of my latest contest entries.... countless photographs.... you get the idea.

So I dove in head first, copied the folder, then pasted it into my external hard drive. Of course, copying over 12 Gigs takes awhile. So I left it to do it's thang. I check back in later, and voila - it copied over. Or so I thought. So I merrily move on, except I -quite predictably- get sidetracked. I start roaming through folders and deleting stuff I no longer need. Felt good ridding myself of all this excess stuff. In fact, it felt so good, I decided to do a little more deleting - and flippin' deleted the very folder I had just copied over to my external hard drive.

You would think when the warning popped up that said "This file is too large to put in the Recycle Bin - it will be permanently deleted - do you wish to go on?" I would have paused and thought...."That sounds wrong!" But... no. I happily clicked the button, and watched all the files go byebye.

I then went on with my evening, happily oblivious to the mayhem I had just caused.

So, this evening I sit down for a few hours of dabbling in Photoshop, when I realize I had deleted my folder off the computer. Silly me, I chuckle. But of course, I have it backed up on the external - so no worries, right?

I click into the external... and guess what? No folder. NO where. Nada. And then the madness ensues.

Panic sets in as I scramble to figure out what to do. I do a system search, checking my C drive and my external, in hopes that somehow the folder just got...misplaced. But, no - it was gone gone gone, gone daddy gone.

But, fortunately, hubby and our friend ~DarkstaR74 were here at the house, and both of them know that when a file is deleted, it isn't really gone. So, ~DarkstaR74 helps me locate a wonderous little free program to download, that helps search for deleted files. I download it, run it, and sure enough....up pops more deleted files than I could have hoped for. And yup, there was the folder I had lost! HUR-FLIPPIN'-RAY

I go to recover it, and open up some of the files and.... corrupted. Overwritten. Useless. Little by little, the wonderful triumph I thought I just had faded away, when I realized that many of the files I needed were already completely irretrievable. A few remained, but of COURSE they weren't the ones I really cared about.

That was the point where I slumped forward on my desk and had a little pity party for awhile. I know there are artists out there who have lost far more than that, but this gave me a really nauseating glimpse into that black hole.

However, later, after discussing it with the guys... they convinced me to run a search on the external drive for deleted files. I had searched everything else but it - not really thinking I *could* search it for deleted files. But I did. And guess what? There was my entire folder, only this time in a completely different 'section' of the deleted files than the first time I'd found it. I held my breath as I went through and recovered my prized .PSD files. One by one I started to open them up in Photoshop and.... they WORKED!!!!! Snoopy Happy Dance INDEED!

I lost photos, and some other things I had been collecting. But the main PSD's that I was really gutted over losing were recovered. And now, they are backed up in two places... AND burned onto DVD's. I have learned my lesson well.

That little program is a lifesaver!!! If anyone wants the link, let me know. I'll email it to ya. dA breaks the link every time I try to post it here, because it is too long.

Moral of the story... don't be a ditz like me and procrastinate. That is one bite in the butt I don't ever want to feel again!!

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Check it out! A friend of ours made it on CNN with his artwork of Jimi Hendrix! [link]

I gotta tell ya about a contest that is going on that needs LOVE, people!!
The sweet and talented is running a contest found here: [link] - and she needs your involvement! So go, enter, win!

And....See that banner up there? Yeah - that one, that says "Moving Sale". Seriously, you need to mark that on your calender! Why? Because this is one sale that you CANNOT MISS!! Duirwaigh Gallery is moving, and they have storehouses chock full of treasures and wonderments galore that need a new home! To quote what Angi is saying about the sale: "Among them you'll find Cheshire cats and frog footmen, drag queen roosters, high heeled teapots, flitting faeries, fuzzy-brained bears, and divas of all shapes and sizes. They hale from places like Wonderland, Narnia, Oz, the Hundred Acre Wood, Lothlorien, Neverland, Fairyland and the Duirwaigh forest."

Click on the banner or this link: [link] to read more about it - but take my word for it, there are going to be treasures to be HAD!!
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So, old news - but good news - I have projects in the works for Duirwaigh Gallery, TattoedSteel.com, and several other entities. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with these fantastic people.


This nifty badge means that I am going to be hunting down fantastical wallpapers from the lot of you!