From Richard II:

As dissolute as desperate; yet, through both,
I see some sparkles of a better hope,
Which elder days may happily bring forth.

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

Iran deal hedges? Obamacare posts possible? Let’s pray the freakish tragedy the Trump White House hotly forbodes is hype.

I’m to make dirty money you’ll probably wash;
I’m put over your shoes like a snow-day galosh;
The loud clamorous noise you might hear at a mosh;
And the hand-held equipment for tennis or squash.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by Asher. See comments for answer.

I’m the coral pink tissue your teeth poke out through;
I’m a rubber adhesive: a postage stamp glue;
I’m to clog up the works; a detective’s wet shoe;
And by golly, by gee; I’m a stick that you chew.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by Asher. See comments for answer.

I can process a product, or generate power;
I blend in the crowd, but I’m paid by the hour;
I’m placing fake evidence, crops, or a flower;
And Led Zeppelin’s frontman, his fans would devour.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by Asher. See comments for answer.

The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union. What might Shakespeare say?

From Cymbeline:

Our Britain seems as of it, but not in ’t

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

It’s best not to ruin from anti-EU bias.

From Richard III:

Woe to that land that’s govern’d by a child!

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

HC: Donald got a tenth bad TV reality show.

I’m some notes played in jazz; I’m a taste of a sweet;
I’m the crackle of flames; I’m to savagely beat;
An ephemeral stream; to completely defeat;
And a small block of salt that your cattle might eat.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by Asher. See comments for answer.

The final stop on the cruise was Amsterdam, and we decided to spend an extra night in the city.

The Van Gogh Museum was crowded and the Anne Frank House was booked, but I did get to spend some quality time at the Rijksmuseum which was amazing. I also spent a lot of time walking around. The city is beautiful, steeped in history, packed in architecture, and very welcoming. It is also filled with restaurants, bakeries, and store windows advertising things that are not legal in the United States.

I came home on Tuesday night, and Wednesday morning, I was back at work.

It turns out that when you come back from Europe, jet lag actually works in your favor, as “early to bed and early to rise” becomes an inevitability. I think I’m finally back on a reasonable schedule now. But the real adjustment has been transitioning back to regular life from fantasy world.

When you study something like Shakespeare in school, you never expect that one day there will be some SHAKESPEARE EMERGENCY that you have to fly out and be on call, but that’s what happened, and it was the experience of a lifetime. This was a 400th anniversary celebration, so I have no reason to think Celebrity will do this again, but it was great while it lasted and I have wonderful memories of the trip.

And maybe I picked up an extra reader or two for the website. Sounds like that’s my cue to start writing again.

If you are one of the passengers from the Celebrity Shakespeare & Scandinavia Cruise, welcome! As promised, I am posting digital copies of the handouts from my talks, so if you missed one or didn’t get a handout, you can find everything here.

My first talk was on Hamlet. You can download the handout here. You can also read more of my posts about Hamlet at the category link here.

My second talk was on Shakespeare’s Use of Language. You can download the handout here. You can also read more of my posts about poetry at the category link here.

My third talk was on Shakespeare’s History. During the talk, I referred to a series of eight family trees that I compiled to go along with Shakespeare’s history plays. I used the first and the eighth of these as a handout for the talk. You can find all eight family trees here.

My talk today will be on Shakespeare’s Science. You can download the handout here. You can also read more of my posts following up on references from Shakespeare’s plays at the category link for the Shakespeare Follow-Up here.

Enjoy!

The activities on and off the ship have been keeping me pleasantly busy, but I did want to check in about our shore excursion yesterday. I’ve been traveling with my friend Richard (known to Shakespeare Teacher readers as Bronx Richie). Yesterday, our ship docked in Copenhagen, and we took the day to visit the city.

First, we went to the Tycho Brahe Planetarium. Brahe is a big deal here, and we enjoyed the science museum that bears his name. We also hit the National Museum of Denmark, which boasts a wide range of impressive artifacts from time periods across history, whether it was coins from the Bronze Age, medieval weapons, gold-plated clocks owned by kings, propaganda posters from the occupation, or memorabilia from when the Beatles visited in 1964. It was a lot of fun, and one of the highlights of the trip.

We also took in some of the sites that Copenhagen has to offer from Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park, to Nyhavn, a harbor-front row of coffee shops and restaurants where you can dine among the boats, musicians, and fellow tourists.

It’s hard to believe the trip will be ending soon. I’ve had months to look forward to it, and now it will be over in a few days. It’s a good reminder to make the most of what’s left. I’ll check back in when time allows.

Farvel for now!