A couple of days ago I came across a few words strung together in an order which made them seem huge and full of portent: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Yes, I know…it’s the title of a Pink Floyd album. But it seemed too… I dunno… magnificent for a mere album title (my initial reaction was that I had it wrong, and that it was actually Jethro Tull).

Maybe, perhaps, the title of a poem or painting by William Blake? The Piper At the Gates of Dawn could have come from the same mystically animistic mind that brought us The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun

So I did a little digging. After several pages of Pink Floyd I came across an eBook of The Wind in the Willows; a book of which I have been aware for many years, but have not read. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is the title of Chapter VII.

I read for a little while before noticing where I was: The Project Gutenberg site. Well, back in the day, I spent a lot of time there. Back in the day.

Some time in the last year, the PG people have got themselves a new domain, re-structured their site, and done a major re-design. The result is a fantastic place where whole days can be lost (and by lost I mean spent blissfully ) browsing, researching, and reading.

On a related note, The new semester at Kendall will be starting in a couple of weeks. Last semester I had my students create portfolio sites for their final projects. This year, I think they will take Project Gutenberg eTexts and turn them into online books.

I may have to do the same thing myself. Again.