new year, new look

I'm working on a slightly new blog look/layout to start out the new year.
I was having some trouble with my right column moving down below my posts, which was just really bugging me. So I thought I'd try something different for awhile.
Also, my friend, Kristine, introduced me to Windows Live Writer, which is awesome for posting pictures. It makes it so much easier to insert pictures and I can enlarge them.
So I think this new layout will work well for that.

Does the dark background make it difficult to read the text?
I was getting tired of the white. But I don't want the colors to be too much. Know what I mean?

So please bear with me as I make some changes here and there. Feel free to leave feedback or make suggestions. I'm still new to the "artistic" side of blogging. But we'll see what I can do.