According to my Patented Numbers Ticker, FrillyShirt has a
number of new readers – a circumstance I attribute to the capabilities of modern
up-to-date-style social media. If I am to manage this influx, or ‘glut’ (from
the 13th-century word ‘gluten’, as popularised by medieval fad diets,) I must
be a perfect Bonaparte, determining the structures of civil society with a
clear and definitive Code, or, at the very least, a short and obscure
constitution granting me supreme executive power. Er, what was I talking about
again?
Oh, yes, new readers. To begin with basic introductions, I
am Sir Frederick Chook (or Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook, to use my married
pen-name rather than my bachelor pen-name.) FrillyShirt updates weekly or
bi-weekly, depending on my ideas-to-free-time ratio. A typical update will be
auteur-ish, autocratic (auteurcratic) nonsense of my own choosing, but I do
accept reader submissions at my email address below, both of complete work and
of questions that I might answer in my irregular advice column, Teacup in a
Storm!
Teacup in a Storm is where I offer what little wisdom I have
to aid FrillyShirt fans in maintaining composure and civility against the
capricious winds and battering rain of this absurd pantomime we call life. For
instance, you might ask “Is it good manners to open a door for a lady?”
(Answer: Opening doors for others is typically good manners, even when, like
ladies, they are capable of ferocious strength.) Or “Does this tie go with this
shirt?” (Answer: Yes, but lose the tie-bar.) Or “Who is the best detective who
is also a pony?” (Answer: There is much to be said for the greats, such as
Sherlock Horse, Miss Mareple, and Lord Peter Whinny, but I think it’s worth
pointing out that Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie have solved every single case
they’ve ever faced, and there’s not many that could say that!)
One final note, for established readers and arrivistes alike
who enjoy the overanalysis of cultural works: FrillyShirt now has a TV Tropespage where you can sort my Ham And Cheese from my Narm, and identify all the
nationalistic slurs encoded into the liner notes of the Three Swell Chaps’ last
EP. Oh, those Three Swell Chaps. They’re a pack of cards.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sir Frederick Chook is a foppish,
transcendentalistic historian who lives variously by his wits, hand to mouth,
la vie bohème, and in Melbourne with his wife, Lady Tanah Merah.
When not reading Milton and eating Stilton, he writes,
ponders, models, delves into dusty archives, and gads about town. He has
dabbled in student radio and in national politics, and is presently studying
the ways of the shirt-sleeved archivist. He is a longhair, aspiring to one day
be a greybeard. He has, once or twice, been described as “as mad as a bicycle.”
FrillyShirt is a compilation of articles, essays, reviews,
photographs, artworks, question-and-answers, promotions, travelogues,
diatribes, spirit journeys, cartoons, ululations and celebrations by Sir
Frederick, his friends and contributing readers. Irregularly regular features
include Teacup in a Storm, an etiquette column, and How to be Lovely, advanced
speculations on the aesthetics of the self.
Other topics that pop up include fun things in and around Melbourne, art, nature, history, politics and schnauzers. Sir Frederick’s favorite color is all of them. Enjoy his writing? Drop him a telegram at fredchook@frillyshirt.org.
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