A little while later, and I’ve got a sea of interesting suggestions. Of course some just start at the basics…

Well, it is a start I guess. I do remember struggling as a teenager, with my mother trying to teach me a simple two category system, as practised by Rita, Robert et al.:

Some take a more technical approach…

Sorting by type, then by colour seems reasonably popular too.

Even if it doesn’t always go according to plan…

I like the idea of “chromatic sorting” – it sounds suitably geeky. The idea was just plain weird to others though…

You could even go multi-dimensional with the organisation.

I like Meriem’s use of two dimensional space, sadly my storage is strickly 1D – tall and narrow. You could just subvert the whole need to sort, with a lifestyle choice…

But sorting by some category seems to be the norm! Sorting by use is another popular theme, which is how Josie tackles her non-super-hero outfits:

Or by taking a seasonal approach:

That’s a big pile in the middle. Seasonality has its own challenges…

I think I’m going to go for storing “off season” clothes separately, then sorting by type and – yes – by colour. We’ll see how it goes.

Finally, there are those who are left cold by the whole idea of the topic…

Update: Turns out not everyone is so chilled

]]> http://benjaminellis.org/2009/08/29/getting-the-wardrobe-organised-with-a-little-help-from-my-friends/feed/ 1 http://benjaminellis.org/2009/08/01/summersandwich/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid= http://benjaminellis.org/2009/08/01/summersandwich/#comments Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:49:25 +0000 Benjamin Ellis http://benjaminellis.org/?p=304 If you are unfamiliar with the regular Twitter cook-offs, then check out  the Summer Pudding Twitter Competition post for a bit of background. Dozens of people from around the globe in an on-line cooking competition, co-ordinated via social networking site Twitter, watched by thousands.

This month’s competition has less to do with cooking and more to do with making. Last month’s winner chose a Summer Sandwich for this month’s competition, so the only heat was in the competion, rather than the food… Well, apart from the occasional chilli in one of the sandwiches.

The usual host for judging, Maggie Philbin, was being held hostage by family, so Caalie and I headed across the county border on behalf of Nickie Philbin, to meet the judge and show off the entries in a slightly rainy Farnborough in Hampshire. This month’s special guest judge was Darius Zvinis, Executive Chef, at the Landings Restaurant in Farnborough. I’ve blogged about the Landings before, over on the Redcatco blog, for their use of Twitter in their business.

Darius turned out to be a very diligent judge! He is Canadian, with Polish roots, and thoroughly enjoyed himself as we bemused him with antics from the Twitter community. The Landings is a wonderfully presented restaurant, with great food, so it was interesting to hear Darius talking about the importance of high quality ingredients and presentation that is practical as well as attractive - the dish has to make it to the table in one piece! “Less is more,” he said, “Great sandwiches can be spoiled by being too busy.” Caalie and Darius huddled over my laptop as they thumbed through the entries:

There were 15 entries in total. Here’s is the judge’s feedback for each:

• @M4ryDeNovo – great bread!  Too bad crusts were cut.  Good example of less is more.
• @Andyqsmith @nicolarse51 – prob v tasty, great marinade. Presentation not best, but  looked a lot of fun!
• @Redmummy – Not too keen on presentation. looks very tasty, especially smoked salmon.
• @edwardclarke – Pastrami looks good – this is key. Maybe too much flavour – perhaps gherkin, mustard and chilli would be enough.
• @squidge1997 – you’re like me in the kitchen – who needs recipes?!  Very Creative and a lot of fun!
• @caalie – looks like a real sandwich! Some good flavours.
• @annraulston – this made me laugh. More art than sandwich
• @shar13 – very nice, very creative, an interesting combination which  is definitely worth trying.
• @stu_art_ist – very creative and the flavours are there. How practical is it? It needs to make it to the table!
• @JimAnning – you know something about food. Great ingredients,  properly put together, looks good.
• @bubith – this looks really great and really tasty
• @maggiephilbin – a little crazy! (sandwich not person)
• @TrinityRhapsody – Nicely done, perhaps a little fussy
• @TrevorLamont – it should have been a stella!
• @nickiephilbin – too many ingredients, but a great steak sandwich

And last but not least: @handbagpets,  best unjudged entry and best bikini!

Darius opted for two categories in the end, a “fun category” and a serious one! First, the results in the fun category:

• 1st @Andyqsmith and @nicolarse51 – “well done!”
• 2nd – @squidge1997 “fantastic fun and clearly loves being creative.”
• 3rd – @TrevorLamont “(might’ve won if it had been a stella…)”

And, in the highly coveted serious category, the winners:

• 1st – @edwardclarke – this just looked so tasty, maybe it’s my Polish  roots.
• 2nd – @shar13 – really like that combination of flavours.
• 3rd – @nickiephilbin – it was the ginger with the steak that won me over.

With @JimAnning, @caalie and @bubith as runners up. As Nickie Philbin said, well done to Edward for winning for a 2nd time!!! Winner’s privilege is to choose the next challenge, and this time Edward has chosen “Summer Starter” for next month.

Well done to everyone who took part, and a huge cheer for Landings Restaurant in Farnborough (@landingsrestaur), and, as ever, to Maggie and Nickie for creating a little global community around food! Check out the pictures of the all the entries here. I look forward to next month’s adventures, huddled around a laptop, talking food. Once of these days I’m going to get to eat the winning entry!

And he’s posted more about What to Expect at TweetCamp:

The aim, is to bring people together in person who know each other through Twitter, but don’t necessarily know each other well in person. Given that, of the people coming, there is the full spectrum of people who have never been to an unconference style event before, aren’t technical, and just use twitter as a social tool. There will also be hard core geeks and techies who make social platforms that use twitter, and regularly go to unconference style events. It’ll be an interesting mix of people, with one thread in common we all use twitter.

Looking through the attendee list, it is certainly a diverse crowd, which will make for some energetic conversations.

Unlike previous BarCamp events, where there’s been a high level of structure to the day, and clear starting and stopping of sessions, TweetCamp won’t be so defined in the same way. Since we’re not focussing on the ‘learning and sharing’ element of BarCamp as much as building relationships with people we know, we want for people to take as little or as long as they need to have the conversations they want to have with the people they want to talk with. There’ll be plenty of people there who will be having interesting conversations, and will warmly welcome you to join them!

The usual BarCamp / unconference two feet rule applies – if you decide you don’t enjoy the discussion you’re in, then you can vote with your feet. There are some knowledgeable and creative people going along, so most angles will be covered. I’ll put photos up in the usual place after the event, and I’m sure I’ll have something to write up on the Redcatco Blog too!

More on the logistics of the day by Jon: The Fun stuff happening at Tweetcamp.

I think the trouble started with @Andyqsmith, @Maggiephilbin and @NickiePhilbin. I couldn’t begin to cover all of the details, but safe to say several days later there were summer puddings all over the place, and Maggie Philbin was battling with traffic as she navigated her way across the UK, taking the technology to celebrity chef Anton Edelman, at Great Hallingbury Manor, so that he could pass his expert eyes over the submissions. He was suitably bemused:

No smells via Twitter, sadly, but here are photograph slide shows of each entry, together with Anton’s comments on each submission. I’ve saved the winners until the end…

Canine tease (see the photos) @maggiephilbin ” Good shape and presentation” said Anton:

@flapjack50 ” This a little pale but had tremendous shape, well done”:

My personal favourite  @Caalie ”Loved sense of family and friends enjoying food and that is what cooking is all about”:

With video too:
 

And the ‘tip out’ – stop the film says Caalie!:

And enjoying the results with the wonderful @solobasssteve and @lobelia and @tapps – who flew in all the way from the US especially (oh, ok, she did come over for some other things, but Caalie’s pudding was the main reason, really):

@NickiePhilbin:  ”Collapse in centre has marred entry”:

 @M4ryDeNovo ”Mary’s entry is promising but not quite there yet, bit pale, but has lovely shape”

Mark Littlewood “Fun entry, well done”

The Gold Award winner was @edwardclarke for his #summerpudding! Congratulations Edward:

Super hero @andyqsmith (raising some money along the way, supporting Amanda Wilkie) at Silver “Outstanding sense of fun and joyful entry”:

Joint bronze went to: @annraulston and @handbagpets.

@annraulston ”Very adept, great use of location and exotic flowers”

@handbagpets remarks from Anton “Very stylish and beautifully dressed entry, with a great topping”

Well done to everyone, the conversations on Twitter  included much fun and japes!

The winner gets to decide what next dish is… Are you hungry yet?