Category: Shakespeare Geek

Shakespeare Cookies Are Back

~ duane ~ Leave a comment

I think that many Shakespeare geeks out there probably have the same Shakespeare cookie cutter I do. It’s huge, right? It’s fun to have such a thing but it’s tricky to actually make them because half the time they break or warp or just end up a big, unrecognizable blob.

Well, we can change that. Recently I had the opportunity to go into my son’s high school class to talk about why Shakespeare is fun and exciting, Did I mention I own a 3d printer? So one of the things I made sure to do was bring a bag of takeaways for the kids to…ummm…take away.

One of the things that I made was a new Shakespeare cookie cutter! I found a new pattern on Printables.com by user KingOfTheCouch. Check it out!

He’s kind of cute, even if he does look a little more like Shakespeare’s uncle than Shakespeare. The beard needs to be less bushy, and there has to be some hint of a beard. Of course the real question is what does he look like after he’s cooked?

As you can see, I’m pretty amateur when it comes to frosting. And green is the only color I had for the eyes (other than red). Still, though, I’ll call it a win. Glad I made him.

Here’s the funny part of the story. I made a bunch of cookie cutters to give out during my classroom visit. I promptly ran out of time and forgot to do so. I gave one to the teacher afterward, but it was too late to make the kids stay around just so I could give out something they may not even have wanted.

Which means I’ve got a bunch of these, already printed and just sitting downstairs in my office. In the interest of putting them to use and getting some more Shakespeare out into the world, I’m happy to ship them to any Shakespeare geeks out there who would like one – I’d just ask that you Venmo me something for shipping cost. Just drop me a note, either via email or Twitter. I’m not trying to sell something that’s not mine — the link to the original print is up there and if you’ve got access to a 3d printer you can totally print your own. It’s just considered proper etiquette in the maker space to not sell other people’s work.

All Is Forgiven, ChatGPT Loves Me Again

~ duane ~ Leave a comment

When a new toy like ChatGPT comes online, one of the first things I do is start asking it Shakespeare questions. In this case, that resulted in almost immediate failure. Having proved what I wanted to prove I stopped experimenting. When I had a chance to talk to high school students about the dangers of using ChatGPT to do your homework, I told the story of home ChatGPT will just flat out make stuff up, and you’d never know the difference.

I recently discovered that you can do more dynamic things with it. For instance you can give it a web site address and ask it to summarize the site. Well, you know what I had to do next. I asked it to tell me what https://www.shakespearegeek.com is about.

For those in the back, what it said was, “Sure! Shakespeare Geek is a popular blog dedicated to Shakespeare’s works, offering insightful analysis, reviews, and commentary for enthusiasts, scholars, and students. The blog covers various Shakespeare-related topics, including play analysis, production reviews, and discussions of the playwright’s life and legacy. Written by a knowledgeable and passionate Shakespeare fan, the site provides valuable resources and engaging conversations about the enduring legacy of the greatest playwright in English literature. For those interested in exploring Shakespeare’s works in-depth and staying up-to-date on the latest news and insights in the Shakespeare community, Shakespeare Geek is a must-read blog.“

Well gosh, I’m blushing! Knowledgeable and passionate? A must-read? Thank you, ChatGPT! I shall sing thy praises from now on! ChatGPT speaks nothing but gospel!

I Guess Google Bard Prefers The Comedies?

~ duane ~ Leave a comment

I have a database of Shakespeare character deaths that I use for various projects (doesn’t everybody?) I need to make a comparable one for characters who survive. But not everybody, just enough to balance the list. Hey, I thought, I’ll ask ChatGPT to help me with it. Or, wait, better – I’ll ask Google Bard.

This isn’t what “never say die” means, Bard.

It’s all in the wording, apparently

This screenshot is the result of my whittling down a number of surprisingly poor answers. I asked, “can you name 10 well known characters from Shakespeare plays who don’t die at the end” and it could not. Told me it’s only a language model. To put it differently, I asked, “who are some popular Shakespeare characters that die at the end,” same answer.

So I thought maybe it was having an issue with “popular.” Then I asked, “can you name any Shakespeare characters” and it happily gave me a list of the “most famous” ones. Lastly I tried, “name a Shakespeare character that dies at the end,” and, again, an error message (“I am not programmed to assist with that”).

Eventually we ended up at the screenshot above. Can you tell me whether someone is alive at the end? Yes. Can you tell me whether someone dies? No.

What about the other guy?

For the record, ChatGPT did just fine:

In Conclusion

Stick to the comedies, Google. They have a lovely dance at the end, maybe a nice wedding.

Hello, World. A Soon-To-Be Geeklet Story.

~ duane
And fix’d his eyes upon you?

Hello, class.

Soon I’m going to have the chance to do something I haven’t done in years. I’m going in to my son’s classroom to talk about Shakespeare. I used to do this all the time when my kids were in elementary school. But now I’ve got two off in college and he’s soon to follow them. I have no idea what I’ll do or say.

What I do know is that the class knows this, and my spies tell me that some of them immediately wanted to know about my site so they could cyberstalk me. I wish I’d anticipated that – the blog’s been a bit messy lately, for a number of reasons that I will not turn into excuses. I should do better.

That was a number of days ago at this point, so I expect that most of them got bored and forgot all about me.

But! Maybe I picked up some new followers. Maybe there are some other students in the class that are interested in the subject matter, maybe even as excited for the novelty of somebody like me coming in as speaker as I am about being said speaker. I remember high school. I remember being a nerd. I remember the joy of knowing things and the fear of showing it, lest ye be bullied. In fact, it’s part of my mission to do what I can to break that pattern. If something brings you joy, you shouldn’t be afraid to demonstrate it. I was almost twenty years out of high school before I figured that out.

So! For the secret nerds that are still reading, let’s have an easter egg:

Corambis

When I come to class, tell me that word and what its significance is to Shakespeare. I’ll have a prize for the first person to do so. (For the record, my son doesn’t know the answer, nor does he know I’m making this post. So there’ll be no cheating there.)

No comments on this post! No hints from regular readers!

Merry Little Christmas to Me!

~ duane ~ 1 Comment

A joyous Epiphany to you all! I didn’t think I would have anything to post this holiday season, but it turns out I got some Shakespeare stuff after all!

Be these the wretches that we play’d at dice for?

My oldest told us all ahead of time that college had been particularly busy this year and that everybody would be getting their presents at some point after the holiday. This added a level of fun because each person got their present separately instead of getting lost in the chaos of the big day.

Both my daughters, at one point or another, fancied themselves writers — my oldest won NaNoWriMo at one point, and her younger sister is in fact, a published novelist. So we have a collection of story cubes scattered around the house. You’ve perhaps seen them, each side of each die has an icon – a man, a woman, an alien, a weapon, an animal … – and you use them however creatively you like to take turns making up stories.

You see where I’m going with this? Behold, from the brains behind Upstart Crow Creations … Shakespeare’s Plot Device Dice (which I’m inevitably going to continue to call Shakespeare Story Cubes)!

Shakespeare's Plot Device Dice by Upstart Crow Creations
Shakespeare's Plot Device Dice by Upstart Crow Creations
Shakespeare's Plot Device Dice by Upstart Crow Creations

Five dice and six sides yield thirty symbols. Luckily there’s a guide to them all because some of the artwork does make you go, “uhhh…??” But how would you iconically show madness? or fate?

My only nitpick is the Death face which is labeled “Only Mostly Dead”. Don’t you be sneaking Princess Bride references into my Shakespeare toys 😉 Just kidding. I get it, and I appreciate it, but it is definitely out of place. There’s also “The Mighty Pen”, which I hope isn’t a reference to “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Because, you know, Shakespeare didn’t write that.

If Hercules and Lichas play at dice, which is the better man?

Like so many of my Shakespeare toys, I have no idea what I will do with this. But I’m happy to add it to my collection! I prefer to think of myself as more Smaug on his horde of gold than Gollum and his precious. My wife thought it was a game to play. I suppose technically it is, just not in the competitive sense. It’s more about storytelling. In theory, people go around the room and build a story collaboratively using what the dice tell them. My daughter chose it for me for inspiration because I, too, have attempted the NaNoWriMo challenge in the past. She thought I could use them when I get stuck on plot ideas.

I’m thinking about a game where you guess the play based purely on the dice (like with emojis). If I get any good results, you’ll be the first to know!