Taking a break from Internet chess starting 1/1/2010. I'll be back.

I haven't updated my profile in a while, so here's some new material: Aside from chess, I like horseback riding (own 4 horses), playing blues guitar, writing, and setting up websites (sometimes for money, sometimes pro-bono, usually with Drupal).

My best friend at work, Lou Groccia plays here, too. He's a candidate for "most improved." Say hello if you play him. Anyone traveling in W. Massachusetts, USA, give me a shout and we'll get together.

I belong to WMCA and USCF, but I seldom have time for tournaments any more. Just too busy with other fun stuff.

As for play here, I will claim a time win, yes, and I expect to be flagged if I transgress; however, if we've played before, I try to contact you first. I try not to take things too seriously. I get enough "serious" at work.

Go Tolkien Clan! Go Red Sox! Go Blades! Go World Peace!

I love to travel, and I've lived in northeastern U.S., Alaska, Morocco, and Europe.

Original notes:
I'm a database programmer and systems manager at a small newspaper in Western Massachusetts, USA. I write a tech column for a weekly magazine, and I publish a holistic health quarterly called Many Hands.

My handle, "ariostel" is taken from the pen name of a poet from the 1940's whose identity has never been officially confirmed, "Arioste Londechard" -- quite possibly a secret guise of my father, Gordon, who died in the late 1980's.