I sent you an email with a one-minute MP3 of Helen Vendler reading one of Shakespeare’s sonnets, the XXIXth. I didn’t know how to get it to you otherwise. Please let me know if you think Blur’s video is still more beautiful.

(Or was that a lyric from the song?)

Don’t mind me, Carl, I’m just a twisted puppy. (Didn’t get the MP3, but I’ve heard Helen Vendler recite Shakespeare. I was her student for a semester.)

BTW, also giving the sonnets a run for their money, President Bush performing a mash-up of “Imagine” and “Walk on the Wild Side.” (From Boing Boing.)

My god man! You’re out of control! So… many… good… links!

Seriously though — is it just me or does the internet seem particularly alive with wonderful pieces of work lately? I mean REALLY lately — like in the last month or so? Maybe it’s just me.

You had a semester with Helen Vendler!? Jeeb-us Lou-eeb-us!

Have you written about that anywhere online? Seems a shame the fun internets rarely provide much depth, unless people are prepared to dig for it. I guess digging gets you depth, sure, but . . . Vendler is one of the finest critical minds in the last fifty years, and who knows anything about her?

Any stories to tell? Lessons learned?

Nope, Carl, I’ve never written about by Helen Vendler classes online. I’ve written pretty little about my academic experiences in general. But the Vendler class I took (English 10b) was one of those huge abysmal survey courses required for all English majors where you ostensibly go over half of English lit in 4 months. Also, I was a freshman, so I didn’t really know what was going on. I audited a few of the star lectures in her “Poems, Poets, Poetry” class, and while they were good, I’d say I prefer my Vendler read, not spoken.

I would love to hear the MP3 of Ms.Vendler reading a sonnet if anyone would send it to me.

You’ve got mail.