Mark Shea had a useful post on how to do "do-it-yourself-adult-continuing-education." So let me put this out there for people in the Central Valley. In Fresno, we have a small group that meets at the Holy Child bookstore every Thursday night. One night of the month, it is a Chesterton reading group. Another night is a Communio reading group. The rest of the time it is just people who get together to talk about philosophy, theology, literature and other stuff that you don't generally talk about once you leave college. It's relaxed, with a lot of good natured but sardonic shots taken at various participants so as to keep the whole thing grounded. [We've got to do one night devoted to "the 10 Reasons to despise Hegel" some Thursday.] Maybe it's pretentious. Perhaps, for 99% of the population, it's an egghead taffy yank. But I learn something every week. If you're in the Valley and you're looking for an occasional life of the mind, drop me a line.