Saturday, May 28, 2011

The Eagle Has Landed an Internship

Sonoma California
Sunny & breezy & kind of cool for wine country

Mill Valley California Public Library, Shot with my Canon G11

 The spring semester ended for me at Dominican University of California about two weeks ago. I'm happy to report to my two blog readers and the American tax payers that I've used the Post 911 GI Bill wisely. I manged a 4.0 GPA for the semester, and an overall 3.76 GPA. Of course I'm thrilled, but must temper my pride with the fact that my good grades can be traced with full throttle focus on educational pursuit while not balancing a job.

 However, the big news is my phat internship at the Mill Valley Public Library. I'm a Humanities & Cultural Studies student majoring in philosophy. This degree requires an internship, and this summer is perfect for such an endeavor. You'd think that the summer time for a retired guy like me would be a time of easy breezy saundering & sailing. No contrare. I'm as busy as ever! Hence my lack of blogging. 

 So why a library? I've always had a fetish for libraries. I've posted several pictures on this blog of me in front of libraries that I've come across in my travels. I discovered MV Library a number of years ago when I was stationed in San Francisco with the Coast Guard. When I returned to California last June, I reintroduced myself to the library, only to find that a bond had been floated, with a serious renovation. The library is more than a notch above. Mill Valley is very affluent with a location that sits in an old growth Red Wood forest. Bam! 

Pano of the Library, Shot with my Canon G11 and edited using Adobe Photoshop

One day while flopping around on my yoga mat at Red Dragon Yoga in Mill Valley I met the nice lady next to me. Turns out she is the director of the library. Of course I tell her how much I love the library. This is not news. Many people love that library. It is a busy place, a center of intellectual culture, but still maintains a serenity. I spend an amazing amount of time between the Mill Valley Library and the Dominican library. It makes perfect sense for me to intern at a library as I've really no clue how they operate. As I always say, when opportunity knocks open the damn door. People constantly ask me how is philosophy or interning at a library going to enhance my job seeking abilities. There is no simple answer other than to say educations biggest benefit is not for utilitarian purposes. Those who specialize to soon have limited ability to retool their life when their specialty evolves off the face of the planet. None other than John Dewey wrote extensively about this topic Democracy and Education, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education. 

So onto a bit of sailing news. Pat & Ali & progeny sailed out the Golden Gate Bridge yesterday bound for Mexico on the monohull Bumfuzzle. Check in with the Bums, they are a hoot to follow and a real inspiration. Good Luck to all hands!

Capt Chris

No comments: