Café

**☕ Welcome to the Kindness Cafe Crew! 🌟** Hey there, wonderful souls! We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our new meetup group: **Kindness Cafe Crew!** 🎉 Our mission? To gather amazing people like YOU to share life experiences, learn from one another, and sprinkle a little kindness into our lives! Join us at **Panera** for a cozy cup of coffee, delightful conversations, and a chance to connect with fellow kindness enthusiasts. Let’s create a warm space where we can get to know each other better while sharing stories and insights that help us grow. So, grab your favorite mug and come be part of our journey! We can’t wait to meet you and make some beautiful memories together! **See you at the cafe! ❤️**

Un'ottima occasione per parlare in Italiano con persone di madre lingua. Aperto a tutti i livelli di conoscenza dell'Italiano. Specialmente gustando una buonissima pizza. A presto. Please consider donating to us via the Pledge widget on this page to help us defray the costs of running a Meetup group. **Note: This event occurs on the third Wednesday of every month at Redrocks Columbia Heights**

To secure your spot, purchase your ticket from the Eventbrite link ([https://www.eventbrite.com/e/language-exchange-happy-hour-and-friending-tickets-374527881977](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/language-exchange-happy-hour-and-friending-tickets-374527881977)). RSVPing only on the Meetup Page doesn't allow you to attend the Event. ADVANCE TICKET PURCHASE IS REQUIRED TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT. If the link doesn't work please Copy and Paste the Ticket link in Google to see it. ABOUT THE EVENT Venez apprécier l'ambiance chaleureuse d'une conversation en français autour d'un verre de vin et d'apéritifs à moitié prix. C'est ouvert à tous quelque soit votre niveau, que vous soyez débutant ou bien que le Français soit votre langue maternelle. It is irresistible, to enjoy French convo with half-priced appetizers, glass of wine and rail drinks. The Event is open to all levels of French language, from beginners to native fluency. METRO & PARKING INFO : The closest metro station is Woodley Park/Adams Morgan. Street Parking might be a challenge. But if you plan to drive, try your luck on Champlain Street. Otherwise, there is a parking garage around. We highly recommend a shared ride or taxi service.

**X is an illusion** There are a large number of philosophy views that hold that major features of what we think is real, is instead an illusion. Examples: Solipsism. The ultimate of “illusion” movements is the belief that oneself, and one’s mind, is the only thing that is real in the world, and that everything else, including everyone one supposedly knows, is an artifact of one’s own mind. Great Deceiver or Long Dream. Similar to solipsism, but with an added wrinkle of a Trickster God, or a Trickster Dreamer leading to everything being illusion. Buddhism. Similar to Long Dream, but the illusion is shared between all of us, with the added wrinkle that our own selfhood and identity is also part of the illusion. Delusionism. We are not actually conscious, and do not have experiences, or a self. We are instead a meat machine computer, which creates and backdates all of our supposed internal experiences when our neural net computer’s choices are written into long term memory. Consciousness is an accidental byproduct of that memory writing process. (This is Daniel Dennett’s model of Consciousness, spelled out in Consciousness Explained). Eliminative Materialism – We are fundamentally confused about consciousness and selfhood, and all of our “folk psychology” is simply wrong. Explicitly our views that we are: self-conscious, hold beliefs, have emotions, and have the power of reason – are wrong. Instead, we are a neural net, and all of our wrong beliefs simply reduce to neural net functions (this is very similar to Delusionism, but with a different version of theory -- this time Paul Churchland’s). Free Will Illusionism – we think we have free will, but are deluded about this. See The Illusion of Conscious Will, by Daniel Wegner for an example. Time passing illusionism. In Einstein’s 4-D Block time, the passage of time is only apparent – and is very location and travel direction dependent. One can plot graphs in all sorts of axes in the 4-D space, and there is nothing special about the ones that appear to create the passage of time. Idealism – The universe is fundamentally mind, or abstractions (there are two significantly different versions of idealism), and all appearances of matter (and sometimes of selfhood) are just illusions of the fundamental mental or logic/math reality. "Illusion" is a common enough claim that I think it is important to have a method to evaluate Illusion claims. I have a method I use, that is based on my approach to epistemology. I don’t think there is a general method across philosophy, and I welcome suggested alternative to mine. **My Epistemology** I start with empiricism, assisted with reasoning, as my base method. We have data inputs to empiricism, they are intuitions. They include our perceptions of the world, perceptions of selfhood and mental state, and intuitive knowledge and reasoning’s. I use the 2-system model of our minds from thinking Fast and Slow – that we have a fast intuitive neural net and a slow rational reasoning process, and the 2nd of these is conscious and the first unconscious. I also use the “trick the CEO by using a few props” model from David Eagleman’s Incognito, that system 1 misleads System 2 into thinking it came up with system 1’s ideas, and fully understands the world. The ideas and props of our intuitions are themselves generally highly processed hypotheses about the world, which are presented to our consciousness as unsupported intuitions. SOME of our intuitions are therefore raw data, and basically fundamental. These include that we have two systems, that we can perceive, emote, and act, that we experience time, and that we can reason. Much of the rest is – probably true. We have tuned our system 1 neural net pretty well after all – but it can be mistaken. That is why System 2 needs to check it. As an empiricist, who treats data as king, and theories as what gives way to data, the “illusion” theories that claim our base data is an “illusion” – I am strongly suspicious of. Illusion claims about more complex processing – are more intrinsically believable. However, I am a falliblist. I maintain an open mind that we could be mistaken about everything. Including this apparent base data. The criteria for rejecting basic data, however, comes with a very high Burden of Justification. My criteria: Is there a massive increase in the accuracy of our models and ability to understand the world, by adopting a philosophy that treats basic data as an illusion? If not, then dismiss the theory. **Applying my standard:** Solipsism, Long Dream, and Buddhism hypotheses do not seem to carry a significant life advantage over treating the world, others and one’s self as real. Interestingly, Susan Blackmore actually wrote a book, her “Very Short Introduction to Consciousness”, that tried to meet my criteria for delusionism. She claimed that physicalism was so well established it must be true, and all physicalist theories of consciousness failed one test or another, therefore consciousness must be an illusion. I disagree that physicalism is unquestionably true, which left her book unable to meet my criteria. I have not encountered a free Will, time passage, or material world illusionist who has come even as close as Blackmore to meeting my criteria. So for all of the above Illusion theories – I tend to respond – “your philosophy is simply not complex enough to capture our world. Simpler theories, that are wrong, are pretty common. And we don’t throw out our data, but the theories, when we find they are wrong.” This is me. **Questions:** What do you folks think of my approach? I am a skeptic of illusion claims, do others find them more useful/insightful than I do? I went down the pragmatic empiricist path early in my philosophic career, and sometimes have difficulty Groking how other philosophic traditions will address some fundamental issues. Analytic philosophy, phenomenologists, existentialists, Thomists – all could take a very different approach. Any other methods to address these claims anyone would like to share? There are lots of other possible “illusion” claims. Other examples anyone wants to share? We meet in person and online. In person will be at the cafeteria of the applied physics lab. Snack and drinks are available for online purchase. Pizza will be provided as well at a price of $2/slice. Online will be: https://teams.live.com/meet/93583191724730?p=hY3jxVvnOciVl2aRn5 \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-

To secure your spot, purchase your ticket from the Eventbrite link ([https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rooftop-language-exchange-and-friending-sunday-edition-tickets-432819734477](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rooftop-language-exchange-and-friending-sunday-edition-tickets-432819734477)). RSVPing only on the Meetup Page doesn't allow you to attend the Event. ADVANCE TICKET PURCHASE IS REQUIRED TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT. If the link doesn't work please Copy and Paste the Ticket link in Google to see it. ABOUT THE EVENT Venez apprécier l'ambiance chaleureuse d'une conversation en français autour d'un verre de vin et d'apéritifs à moitié prix. C'est ouvert à tous quelque soit votre niveau, que vous soyez débutant ou bien que le Français soit votre langue maternelle. It is irresistible, to enjoy French convo with half-priced appetizers, glass of wine and rail drinks. The Event is open to all levels of French language, from beginners to native fluency.

Come enjoy breakfast and conversation with us at The Kosher Pastry Oven in Silver Spring. This is a great away to break with your old routine and make new friends. Questions? Click on my picture below to contact me. Hope to see you there! Ross A.

We have taken more than a year off due to the pandemic. Our old favorite cafe in Bethesda is now closed so lets try the Panera Bread down the street on Wisconsin Ave. Please come and join us for some double deck pinochle, assuming (of course) that you have been inoculated for Covid-19 and you are willing to follow the current guidelines of the business on mask wearing. We will start the first game about 6 pm. We play 300 point games so the second game will likely start just after 7 pm, and we will rotate tables if we have more than 4 players. Card players of all level are welcome. We play primarily 4-handed double deck Pinochle but other variants are have been tried on occasion. Games go from 6 pm until Panera closes, which currently is 9 pm. This event is scheduled to repeat every other Wednesday night. Please don't wait until the last minute to RSVP.

Zorba's Cafe on Thursdays! We will be on the 2nd floor, or if the weather allows, we will be sitting outside at a table in the street. If you don't see anyone on the 2nd floor and the weather is favorable, it means we're sitting at the table in the street. Уважаемые участники группы! Информация для тех, кто еще не посещал наши встречи - обычно подписывается меньше людей, чем приходит на встречу, "старожилы" привыкли к тому, что записываться необязательно, и просто приходят в любое удобное для них время с 5:30 до 8 часов. Так что не стесняйтесь, записывайтесь на встречу! Welcome to the old venue! Old - since we used to get together at Zorba's Cafe for many years. Come to the 2nd floor. 1612 20th St NW, Washington, DC 20009 This is very close to Metro Dupont Circle station. This is the same place where we got together every Thursday evening for many years before 2015. Everyone is welcome, but please keep conversation in Russian only. For many of us, this is our only chance to practice our Russian. There are happy hour prices available. Timing: Someone is usually there by 5:30, but it sometimes takes the organizers till 5:45 or so. If you get there first, please wait - we will be there! And people are usually there till at least 8. So if you can't make it right at the beginning, that is perfectly fine to arrive late! RSVP's: I encourage you to RSVP. But please know that many people don't RSVP. So it may seem like only 3 people are planning to attend, but have no fear, we usually have a good-sized fun group! (And we almost always have newcomers. So if you are planning on coming for the first time, you most likely won't be the only one.) Also, when the weather is nice we are frequently sitting outdoors. So if nobody is on the second floor, just look for the group speaking Russian at tables out on the street. And to say again - we have often had only 3 or 4 people RSVP but have 15 or so show up. So don't worry about that. See you there! Questions? Check our FAQ (http://www.meetup.com/russki-razgovor-dc/pages/Frequently_Asked_Questions/) page.

**Event Title:** Coffee Meetup at Shotted Specialty Coffee **Date & Time:** Sunday\, June 14\, 2026 \| 11:30 AM \- 1:00 PM **Location:** Shotted Specialty Coffee, Tysons Galleria 2001 International Dr, 3rd Floor, Tysons, VA 22102 **Event Details:** Whether you’re a coffee connoisseur or just someone who enjoys a warm cup in great company, this is the perfect event for you! We're gathering at **Shotted Specialty Coffee**, one of Tysons' most popular spots for specialty coffee, to relax, network, and indulge in some of the finest brews in the area. We’ll kick off at **11:30 AM**, where you can choose from a wide selection of carefully crafted coffee drinks, from rich espresso shots to smooth pour-overs. Shotted Specialty Coffee prides itself on using only the highest quality beans, roasted to perfection – so you're in for a treat! This meetup is designed for those who want to take a break from the hustle and bustle, enjoy some downtime, and connect with other coffee lovers, remote workers, or anyone who simply enjoys a good cup of coffee in a cozy atmosphere. **Agenda:** * **11:30 AM - 11:45 AM:** Arrival & Casual Introductions * **11:45 AM - 12:30 PM:** Coffee Enjoyment & Conversation * **12:30 PM - 1:00 PM:** Open Discussion, Networking, and Mingling Feel free to come solo or bring a friend! This is a relaxed, low-pressure meetup, so there's no agenda beyond enjoying great coffee and conversation. Whether you're looking to chat about your favorite coffee beans, share local recommendations, or meet new people in the area, everyone is welcome. **Why You Should Attend:** * Discover a fantastic local coffee spot if you haven't been to Shotted Specialty Coffee before. * Enjoy delicious drinks made from expertly sourced beans. * Meet new people who share your passion for coffee and good vibes. * Take a mid-day break to relax and unwind in a comfortable environment. **RSVP:** Please RSVP so we can reserve enough seating and ensure everyone has a spot to enjoy the event comfortably. Feel free to update. **Parking:** Free parking **Meeting Point:** We will meet near the counter. Please feel free to text/call if you have issues finding the place: 571-435-1888 Thanks Manu your RSVP if your plans change! Looking forward to seeing you there and sharing some amazing coffee moments together!

Everyone’s heard of book clubs where the group reads the same thing and gets together to discuss, which is great… if you have time and interest in whatever’s chosen. This is a different type of book club where you bring whatever you’re currently or recently reading (or just a book you’re super excited about) and talk about it with fellow book lovers. We’ll start with people arriving/ordering food between 615-645, then go around and introduce ourselveslves and give a very brief synopsis of what we’re reading and why we’re excited (or not!) about it. Then devolve into informal conversations until people need to head out. The goal Is to create community and connections in a group of strangers - to facilitate this please make sure you have at least a clear first name on your profile. Upside on Moore has a great selection of food you can order from your phone or at the kiosks. There’s also a bar with happy hour, something for everyone! Arrival tips: if you’re taking the metro, it’s the building above the Rosslyn exit. If you’re driving, you can park in the public lot under the food hall (entrance from the one way bus street) and validate parking after 6!

Hello, Thank you to everyone who makes these meetups a success! A special thanks to those who are able and willing to make a financial contribution to help keep this group going! Feel free to bring you coffee, tea, or preferred NA beverage from anywhere you'd like before heading to Quincy Park. **Logistics:** There are 3 parking lots at the park as well as plenty of street parking. The park is also located right near the Virginia Square - GMU metro station. **Note:** This event is on **Saturday**. We will either push to Sunday or another week if weather is an issue. Well behaved dogs on leashes are allowed(and encouraged!)

Let's enjoy a delicious Egyptian lunch! From the beginning, Fava Pot kept their eyes on the prize: serving the best of healthy, home-style Egyptian cuisine in an atmosphere that would make their customers feel like they were amongst a family. They do this by sourcing high-quality ingredients to cook their authentic meals. That means serving locally sourced foods such as chicken and game hens that are antibiotic-free and succulent meats that are grass-fed. And they also offer what more and more of our customers were asking for: delicious vegetarian and gluten-free options. Their motto has always been Eat Healthy for a Good Cause -through every purchase you make, they give back to Egyptian orphans in need. There is lots of free parking!

***Please [click here to RSVP](https://ntt-coffee-chat.eventbrite.com) on Eventbrite.*** Join a calm, community gathering and space from engagement, bringing our active NTT tutors together with each other and potential volunteers who would be interested in learning about the joys, challenges and logistics of tutoring! By focusing on bringing tutors and tutor-curious folks from different DC neighborhoods together, we can share insight and perspectives on the role and importance of tutoring as a community! Join us from **10:00am-11:00am** on **Saturday, June 13th** at **Grounded Cafe** *(1913 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE, Washington, DC 20020)*. Get 15% off any menu items when you join the event! **We need volunteers year-round: during the summer, fall, and spring** to support the youth **in the DC area.** You tell us when you're available, what age group you'd like to work with, and whether you want to mentor or tutor, and we'll do our best to find an easy way for YOU to get involved! **You do NOT need a college degree** \-\- just a good heart and a willingness to be a reliable\, caring adult in a student's life\. DCTMI connects you with volunteer opportunities **across 70+ programs** in DC in the **mornings, afternoons, evenings, and on weekends!** Volunteers can help in a traditional tutoring environment or more flexible mentoring programs. Got questions? Email or text us at info@dcTutorMentor.org or 202-688-1261. **We can't wait to see you there!** *By signing up for this event, you will be automatically added to our newsletter! This will allow you to stay up to date on our events and volunteer opportunities in DC and the surrounding suburbs! Please fill out* ***[this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGrf6cohR9ov2alVrDTjS1ChEWD0CUqlkjS4vTlm-X3KZFYA/viewform?usp=sharing "https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGrf6cohR9ov2alVrDTjS1ChEWD0CUqlkjS4vTlm-X3KZFYA/viewform?usp=sharing")*** *if you'd like to opt out.*

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/2/a/9/6/600_348310902.jpeg Instructor - Crow, HPS Class fee is $30 at the door or approved exchange RSVP with Advance pay of $25 (discounted) by PayPal on the web or by contacting Enchanted Elements (614) 437-2642. Reservations made directly to Enchanted Elements will be added to the class list manually not online. Private Instruction ~ Closed to the Public ~ Initiated Members Only Please come prepared for ritual. Blessings ~ Crow

Early-bird coffee and conversation at [Crimson Cup Coffee Shop - Clintonville](https://www.crimsoncup.com/about/location/clintonville)!

Who else is ready to sit outside? Join us for a casual chat over coffee & tea at Grandview Grind! Come out and meet some new people, enjoy your favorite drink, and make some new friends!

Private Group. Closed to the Public Knowing ourselves and understanding our abilities is the first step toward wielding our gifts with control and accuracy. In subsequent classes we will verify and hone our talents with activities and discussion. These are hands-on workshops and participation is expected. The goal of our series will be to develop expertise in areas of particular interest such as mediumship, channeling, divination, healing and, etc.. Our ultimate directions will be determined by class members as we evolve. I look forward to sharing and discovering with you. - Cynthia

Hey Everyone! Let's meet at Belle's Bread Bakery and Cafe. There is lots of free parking and easy access to the cafe and many shops and restaurants as well. This is a great way to meet new and old friends while chatting about life and practicing English language speaking skills. All are welcome and encouraged to join us anytime between 11am and 1pm. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Let's grab some coffee/food and share a morning chat! The East Market has an ample parking lot and outdoor and indoor seating. Grab a cup of coffee from Winston's Coffee & Waffles or on your way to East Market and meet us on the second floor - table behind or east of the elevator. Per what this group is about: "Everyone is welcome! International transplants to Columbus who want to improve language skills, Columbus residents who enjoy talking to people from other countries, and those who would like to discuss international travel and culture, and who enjoy getting together for good conversations."