Michael Arnold Home Page Blog

Recently had my friend Shando start up as a personal assistant for me (check out his website tasksolutions )

Anyway - here is the testimonial I wrote for him:

I am not a naturally organized person. So, when adding a hyper-demanding day-job, a social life of some sort, property, investments, etc... to the mix, I am afraid that my personal papers had acquired a semi-random system covering the 5 years since arriving in the country. Things had become specifically worsened in the last few months due to some work travel. Piles of paper where on whichever surface presented itself - and then moved to accommodate entertaining of guests etc...

So, I purchased a filing cabinet, and had Shando come over, with fairly minimal direction, to resolve the mess. Now, everything has a home, is neatly filed, in date order, with "old stuff" and "junk mail" dutifully sent to the shredder. A desk organiser now has pride of place adjacent my computer, which I now have Shando attend to, coupled with other organizational tasks, like re-organizing my storage unit (shudder!). He also happened upon my subscription tickets that had arrived without my realizing! and a number of violin parts to string quartets I had been hunting for.

The filing style is straight forward to understand - and was arrived at together, according to the specifics of having bills+tax, mortgages and the like.. There is now a specific location for me to "throw the mail I dont get around to opening", so that I have some chance of returning to it in a timely manner - or have Shando do the honors for me.

A personal assistant is surely a luxury, but when you are busy and don't quite trust yourself with your own organizational skills, I think it is a great investment. Thanks so much Shando!

Some Tolkein Geek Links

The Encyclopedia of Arda is a fun site – a little like “the complete guide to middle earth”
http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/

Synopsis of The History Of Middle Earth: http://home.insightbb.com/~sauron/histories_of_me.htm

Essays
http://www.istad.org/tolkien/
This is a particularly fun essay on Legolas
http://www.istad.org/tolkien/legolas.html

http://www.cas.unt.edu/~hargrove/
in particular
Who is Tom Bombadil http://www.cas.unt.edu/~hargrove/bombadil.html

http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/
In particular
Do Balrogs have wings : http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/TAB6.html

http://www.ansereg.com/ansereg.htm
What Tolkein Officially Said about Elf Sex : http://www.ansereg.com/what_tolkien_officially_said_abo.htm

Just something since I keep loosing (and wanting) the recipe

PUMPKIN FLAN

caramel
1/2 cup sugar
custard
3/4 cup sugar
1 tspn cinammon
1 cup (tinned) pumpkin
5 eggs
1 3/4 cups half+half
1 1/2 tspn vanilla

- caramelize sugar and pour into dish
- mix together the other ingredients- milk last
- place dish in a roasting dish with water in it, and pour custard mixture into dish
- bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until the custard no longer ripples when moved (should have a "roasted" film on the top - and be obviously not liquid)
- chill for 4 hours before serving

Donation button for Troy Dean Photography

My old friends Claire and Lachlan (and Olivier) began a blog this week - http://mcinnesinseattle.blogspot.com/ - probably will more active than mine!

Just made travel plans to Oz :)
Sydney: December 10th - 19th(ish)
Adelaide: December 19th(ish) - 31st
Will be putting on some private quartet soires at Thomas Brands place (my old home in Sydney), as usual! Plus Christmas breakfast on the beach in Sydney :)

Troy Dean Photography went live today!
Great to work with Troy, and to get a little experience happening with PHP (see the galleries)

Had a fabulous time at Lazy Bear 2004
No great gallery here - but g-rated photos are at http://www.mike-arnold.com/lazybear2004/
Off to Siggraph in LA next month