The Invisible Library

So, we had a guest speaker in my class today who gave a presentation (for an hour and a half) on resumes, cover letters and interviews. But she spent the bulk of the time describing in detail the new trend in library interview techniques, the Portfolio Presentation. Apparently, we now have to have a nice big book full of awards, cirtificates and thank-you letters scribbled in crayon from drooling anklebiters to round out our resumes. Who knew?

When I was in high school, conventional wisdom dictated that to get a decent job, a college degree was a must. After college, I discovered the reality: so many people have college degrees that they are pretty much worthless. The new CV had it that an advanced degree would definitely get you the good job (or at least, a decent one).

Now, less than two months to go and I find out the masters degree and skills honed over two years don’t matter so much as whether or not I can do a little tap dance and entertain some jaded librarian administrator, bored with the other seventy five applicants and in need of some way for me to set myself apart from the masses.

“Yawn. I’m bored. Dance for me library monkey! Play me a fiddle!”

Has Western Civilization decayed so far that now even librarians must be entertained 24/7? Has the corporatization of America become so thorough that Power Point slides and “Shameless Self Promotion” have become standard practice, even in Academia? If so, than I’m in the wrong fucking profession, in the wrong fucking country.

Guess it’s off to Nepal to heard mountain yaks.

On Bullshit, by Harry G. Frankfurt.

Bullshit is the operative word here. “Pure Academic Masturbation” would have been a more apt title. It’s a good thing the book is only 68 very small pages of very large type, or else I would feel cheated by the time I spent reading it. There’s probably a good reason no one has ever written a philosophical treatise concerning the nature of Bullshit before. Who said, “You become the thing you hate?” Well, your book also becomes the thing you write about, apparently.

On the plus side, if you have a thing for nicely designed, small press hardbacks, the book itself is a lovely object. I’ll probably dissect it in order to get a better idea how books are bound.