Highway To The Shakespeare Zone

~ duane ~ Leave a comment

Once upon a time I didn’t even have a domain. All I had was a free blog at http://suchshakespearestuff.blogspot.com. Anybody remember that one?  Anybody been around that long?

Over the years I’ve grown my little corner of the Shakespeare world just a little bit. In fact, there’ve been times when I had so many domains I didn’t know what do with them.  I thought this year would be a good year to get them all under one roof.

With that may I present. ….  The Shakespeare Zone.  Here you’ll find pointers to all (most?) of my Shakespeare properties, including:

  • The Shakespeare Geek Blog, which is still the center of my universe
  • Shakespeare Answers, my Q&A site 
  • Not By Shakespeare where we set the record straight about who said what
  • Shakespeare Geek on Facebook
  • Shakespeare Geek on Twitter
  • Shake Shareable, my quote-sharing iOS app
  • Original Shakespeare Merchandise
I also threw in a link to Shakespeare on Google News to keep it balanced 🙂 and because that’s where I get many of my shareable stories.  The whole blog/Twitter/Facebook thing gets very overlappy, but not 100%.  There are many things that go around Facebook and Twitter that are just too small or spontaneous to make it to the blog.  If you’re not following there, especially on Twitter, I really hope I can convince you!
What it doesn’t have yet is a link to my Amazon page.  I had something I wanted to put there first.  Is that foreshadowing?  Hmmm…

This year’s Shakespeare posting marathon is sponsored by “Shakespeare is Universal.” Help us prove that Shakespeare makes life better. Buy a t-shirt and support cancer research.

Happy Shakespeare Day! Let’s Do This

Happy Shakespeare Day
~ duane ~ Leave a comment

I don’t work full time on Shakespeare things.

I may never get to Stratford.

I do not have the time or the budget to see the kinds of shows that some people have the privilege to see.

Thanks reddit user kdoubleyou14!

On the other hand, my children sing me sonnets. Friends and coworkers spot Shakespeare references in the wild and pay attention to them for (and because of) me. Shakespeare is a very big, important part of my life.  I celebrate his name and his work in my regular daily life.  But today is special. Today is damned near a religious holiday in my little universe.

For the past several years I have celebrated Shakespeare Day with a posting marathon. In 2009 I made 9 posts. In 2010, 11 posts. In 2011 Shakespeare Day fell on a weekend and I could not sit behind my computer, but in 2012 I came back with a vengeance and posted 25 times.  And last year? 28.

Every year is an adventure. Last year we had our Shakespeare is Universal campaign.  Before that, I got to visit the Folger and see the most beautiful book in the world.

What will this year bring?

Those who have been following over the years (and for that I thank you for your loyalty) you may have noticed a certain tradition.  I like tradition.  It’s a quote that comes from Ben Jonson, to the memory of his (and our) beloved.  I’ve been looking forward to posting it here for days.  It’s a simple line from a larger work, but I don’t know, to me it feels like more. It’s more of an incantation, a plea for the Master to return to us if just for a single day. I say it over and over again in my mind, and I imagine myself as Prospero on his island, opening one particular grave, waking one particular sleeper and letting him forth, by my most humble art. Thank you, Shakespeare, and Happy Birthday.

Here we go, and I’ll see you on the other side.  I therefore will begin.

Soul of the age!
The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage!
My Shakespeare, RISE!

This year’s Shakespeare posting marathon is sponsored by “Shakespeare is Universal.” Help us prove that Shakespeare makes life better. Buy a t-shirt and support cancer research.

Ok, Could This “Shakespeare’s Dictionary” Find Be For Real?

~ duane ~ 1 Comment

Just last week, “World Daily News” published a story about Cardenio that got forwarded all over the place.

So naturally I’m skeptical when I see Shakespeare’s Dictionary Found come up just a few days later.

Only this time it’s Forbes and New York Magazine (among others) writing about it. In great detail. Corroborating each other’s stories.  Could this be real?

It seems that a book came up for sale on eBay about 6 years ago.  A copy of John Baret’s Alvaerie to be precise, riddled with handwritten annotations.

Which are now believed to have been made by William Shakespeare.

I’m intrigued.  They’ve got a whole website up at Shakespeare’s Beehive detailing their find.

What do you think?

Twitter 5000

~ duane ~ 2 Comments

Hi Everyone!

As you all know, Shakespeare Day is coming. My favorite holiday!  I spent the day tweeting and blogging, and try to have as many special events planned as I can.

I’ve noticed that I’ve got 4943 followers on Twitter, which is awfully close to that nice round 5000 number. If you’ve enjoyed the Shakespeare Geek blog over the years and you’re not yet a follower on Twitter, is there something I can do to convince you?  Everything that gets blogged gets tweeted – but not everything that gets tweeted gets blogged! There are many spontaneous games that we play, links that are RT’d, etc etc etc that you never get to see if you’re only hanging out on the blog.

If you are already a follower (and, thank you for that) how about introducing me to some of your friends? Share a few stories around. Let me know what you like, I’ll do more of that.

Can’t wait for Shakespeare Day!  Let’s make a 5000 Follower announcement one of my posts!

Duane