Literature

Let's meet to write! Schedule : 18:00 - 18:30: Arrival & introduction tour. Share briefly with the group your project and the "goal of the day". 18:30 - 20:00 : Let's write! 20:00 : Closing tour. Did you achieve the "goal of the day" ? See you soon !

La idea es quedar y practicar francés y español en Bruselas. Apto para todos los niveles. Groupe pour améliorer l'espagnol et français à Bruxelles. Pour tous les niveaux. Nos juntaremos en el Centro Cultural Metaprosa (Chaussée de Saint Pierre 9, 1040 Etterbeek, Bruselas) para conversar con un café o una cerveza en la mano. Todos los martes de 19.00- 21.30.

Nos juntaremos en el centro cultural Metaprosa para practicar español/ castellano y Neerlandés/Flamenco/Dutch con un café o una cerveza en la mano. Apto para todos los niveles. Dirección: chaussé de Saint Pierre 9, 1040 Etterbeek Hemos creado un grupo de Whastapp en caso de que estéis interesados en comunicaros antes de cada martes ya que somos consciente de que a veces nos hay suficiente gente para practicar neerlandés [https://chat.whatsapp.com/IaESqYfdbGiFVPR5teQkIf](https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/chat.whatsapp.com/IaESqYfdbGiFVPR5teQkIf__;!!DOxrgLBm!DOeGH6jS_pBgwY_CvN1vYuh-JPX71kQpuIJl8WlhFejYKqyHCL0Q3HkfIXxOF7cvSDOpeAeYzr8K_zELLw75wZA7pfw2-jQW7_2x6UaK$) No Spam please!

We are going back to Brussels, which means we'll once again be teaming up with the [Brussels Java User Group](https://www.meetup.com/brujug/) <3. We'd like to thank [Adesso ](https://www.adesso.be/)for graciously hosting! This edition features **3 talks**! * *Finding Java Memory Leaks with Heap Dumps (JDK 25)* by [Badr Kacimi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/badr-kacimi/) * *Vibe Coding a Home Server on the Raspbery Pi, What AI-Native Development Actually Looks Like* by [Wim De Troyer](https://www.linkedin.com/in/wim-de-troyer-40647b130/) * *Fraud detection on card transactions, Supervised learning with extreme imbalanced data using Python* by [Franck Benault](https://www.meetup.com/members/127308222/) Come join us for this next event! **Schedule** \- 18:00: Doors open \+ Food and Drinks \- 18:45: Intro and BeJUG updates \- 18:50: Talk 1 \- *Fraud Detection* \- 19:05: Talk 2 \- *Vibe Coding a home server on the raspberry pi.* \- 19:30: Little break \- 19:45: Talk 3 \- *Finding Java Memory Leaks with Heap Dumps (JDK 25)* \- 20:30: Mingling \+ Drinks **Topics** **Finding Java Memory Leaks with Heap Dumps (JDK 25)** This talk will demonstrates how to identify, analyze, and fix Java memory leaks using heap dumps and practical JVM diagnostic tools in JDK 25. **About Badr** Badr Kacimi is a Senior Software Engineer at ABN AMRO Bank and GenAI Whisperer at Blue Harvest Belgium. With a strong Java background in large-scale banking and booking platforms, he now builds financial risk models in Python. **Vibe Coding a Home Server on the Raspbery Pi: What AI-Native Development Actually Looks Like** It's been over 3 years since the release of ChatGPT and the innovations in the AI space still do not seem to be slowing down. On the contrary, agentic tooling like Claude Code and Codex have since launched, kept improving, and according to some have now recently reached an inflection point where they can handle long running coding tasks (mostly) unsupervised. Let's find out together if those claims hold up and what that new AI native development looks like. We'll do this by showcasing a very personal case study. Over the past few months, I've developed a home-server setup on my raspberry pi with tons of weird and quirky apps all developped with varying degrees of AI assistance. Join me to find out how that went, how much time I saved (or wasted!) and my biggest take-aways and future plans. **About Wim** Wim is a freelance Software Engineer from Belgium with around 7 years of experience. He focuses on backend web development, using the Spring Framework on a daily basis. He's a firm believer in learning something new everyday (not just about java or spring!) and doing so in public is always the greatest motivator. So he blogs on wimdetroyer.com, and talks occasionally in front of an audience when he can muster up the courage. **Fraud detection on card transactions, Supervised learning with extreme imbalanced data using Python** I will explain: * The context and the goal of this work (supervised learning) * The challenges related to the data (availability and preparation) * The strategies to apply when dealing with severe class imbalance **About Frank** Research and development engineer in computer science, Java developer, passionate about physics, astronomy, and cosmology.

EN (FR en bas): We're still accepting people in our classes. Join us!​ -step 1: Book here! -> [https://www.danceproject.be/reservations.html](https://www.danceproject.be/reservations.html) -step 2: Show up! Schedule: [Monday to Thursday](https://www.danceproject.be/classes.html#schedule) Fees : [All info on trials, packs, subscriptions here](https://www.danceproject.be/classes.html#fees) Locations: -Rue Brialmont 7, Brussels Metro/Tram: Botanique Salsa, Bachata, Lindy Hop, Forró Intro - 1: From base to the dancefloor! When you come for the first time we go over the base & rhythm with you. Then you are included in the group and everybody learns the same new steps for which you just need the base. Practice makes perfect: just relax and enjoy Salsa, Bachata, Lindy Hop and/or Forró! Our group is very welcoming and looking forward to meet new dancers! Salsa, Bachata, Lindy Hop, Forró Roots I - 2: Ready to go deeper on Salsa, Bachata, Lindy Hop &/or Forró? Let's go! [https://www.danceproject.be/classes.html#improvers](https://www.danceproject.be/classes.html#improvers) Salsa, Forró Roots II - 3: Looking for #SalsaChallenge? Already familiar with Forró Root? We've got your back! [https://www.danceproject.be/classes.html#intermediates](https://www.danceproject.be/classes.html#intermediates) More info: -Web: [https://www.danceproject.be](https://www.danceproject.be) -Whatsapp: +32 493 16 41 10 -Mail: brussels.salsa.project@gmail.com -[Facebook](https://facebook.com/brussels.salsa.project) -[Instagram](https://instagram.com/brussels.salsa.project) \-\-\-\-\- FR: Nous acceptons encore de nouvelles personnes dans nos cours. Rejoins-nous ! -1ère pas : Fait ta réservation ! -> [https://www.danceproject.be/reservation.html](https://www.danceproject.be/reservation.html) -2ème pas : Vient danser ! Horaire : [lundi à jeudi](https://www.danceproject.be/cours.html#horaire) Les prix : [Toutes les infos sur les essais, packs, abonnements ici](https://www.danceproject.be/cours.html#prix) Endroits : -Rue Brialmont 7, Bruxelles Metro/Tram: Botanique Salsa, Bachata, Lindy Hop, Forró Intro - 1 : De la base à la piste de danse ! Lorsque tu nous rejoins on voit la base et le rythme avec toi. Ensuite, tu es inclus dans le groupe et tout le monde apprend les mêmes pas pour lesquelles tu as juste besoin de la base. C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron : détend-toi et profite la Salsa, de la Bachata, du Lindy Hop et/ou du Forró ! Notre groupe est très accueillant et a hâte de rencontrer de nouveaux danseurs ! Salsa, Bachata, Lindy Hop, Forró Roots I - 2 : Prêt à approfondir la Salsa, la Bachata, le Lindy Hop &/ou le Forró ? Allons-y! [https://www.danceproject.be/cours.html#inities](https://www.danceproject.be/cours.html#inities) Salsa, Forró Roots II - 3 : Tu cherches #DefiSalsa ? Tu connais déjà Forró Roots ? Nous sommes là pour toi ! [https://www.danceproject.be/cours.html#intermediaires](https://www.danceproject.be/cours.html#intermediaires) Plus d’info: -Web: [https://www.danceproject.be/fr.html](https://www.danceproject.be/fr.html) -Whatsapp: +32 493 16 41 10 -Mail: brussels.salsa.project@gmail.com -[Facebook](https://facebook.com/brussels.salsa.project) -[Instagram](https://instagram.com/brussels.salsa.project)

[This is a paid workshop and sign-up via the website is obligatory.](https://www.wordcraft-collective.eu/courses/the-poem-of-the-book) Do you have a favourite book you want to make the subject of a poem? This workshop will explore poems that are in dialogue with literature, and how poets bring in their favourite authors. From the classics to the contemporary, we'll look at how poets explore their relationship with the novel and their authors. Homage, dialogue or exploration, we'll see how prose becomes the subject of poetry and discuss the significance of particular novels for you. We'll use poems as prompts, poems that look at Woolf, Keats, Gide, Tolstoy, Cavafy, to see how poets and those closest to them have engaged with their literary heroes through poems. Please have a think in advance about the books and novels that have been important to you or to those around you, perhaps the characters in the novels you related to or reacted to, or your relationship with the novelists themselves. 📅Date and time: Saturday 28 March 11:00 to 13:00 📍Venue: Pianofabriek, Rue du Fort 35, 1060 Saint-Gilles 💰Price: €25 Eur (non-member) €20 Eur (Member).

We'll be discussing Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir and choosing the next book.

For our first meeting, we’ll be discussing Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid — the book that took the #1 spot as readers’ favorite book of 2025 on Goodreads in the category of Historical Fiction. About the book: Joan Goodwin has been fascinated by the stars for as long as she can remember. When she sees an opportunity to apply for NASA’s Space Shuttle program in the summer of 1980, she decides to take the chance. Selected from thousands of applicants, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center alongside a group of brilliant and very different candidates. As they prepare for their first missions, Joan discovers a passion—and a love—she never expected, and begins to question everything she thought she knew about her place in the universe. But in December 1984, during mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.

Let's meet to write ! Schedule : 11:00 - 11:30 am : Presentation tour. Share briefly with the group about your project and your "goal of the day". 11:30 - 13:30 : Let's write ! 13:30 : Conclusion tour. Did you achieve your goal of the day ? See you soon !

Book Club Invitation: Hiroshima by John Hersey Hello thoughtful readers, history explorers, and reflective minds, This March, we turn to Hiroshima — John Hersey’s powerful and deeply human account of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, told through the lives of six survivors. First published in 1946, this short but extraordinary work of narrative journalism changed how the world understood nuclear war. Rather than focusing on strategy or politics, Hersey brings us into kitchens, hospitals, streets, and ordinary lives — just before, during, and after an unimaginable event. It is not a book of statistics. It is a book of people. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering: • What does technological power mean when it outpaces moral imagination? • How do ordinary individuals survive extraordinary catastrophe? • What does war look like when we strip away ideology and see only human consequences? • Can we truly understand history without listening to those who lived it? …then this discussion will offer space for depth, nuance, and reflection. Date: Saturday, 28 March ⏰ Time: 11:30 Venue: Carpe Diem, Avenue de Tervuren 13, 1040 Brussels Expect a thoughtful and grounded discussion about memory, responsibility, resilience, and the human cost of progress — in a relaxed atmosphere with good coffee and good company. As always, those who wish can stay on for lunch afterward and continue the conversation informally. Questions: 0474.60.83.70 Book Club Home Rules 1️⃣ You are welcome whether you read every page or focused on key sections. 2️⃣ We listen to understand, not to win. 3️⃣ Curiosity, respect, and openness are essential — especially when themes are heavy.

Welcome to our weekly event in the upstairs room of The Sister Café, rue Chair et Pain 3, one block from the Grand Place. Please get there early enough to order your drink at the bar first. Thank you! After introductions we will collect questions from the group participants, choose one by voting then discuss it for an hour. Then most of us stay for drinks and bizarre conversations. Past questions have been wide and not confined to academic philosophy: What is a genuine friend? Is social media turning us into emotional zombies? Do we lose some of the experience of things by defining them? Are we driven by sex? Is loneliness a personal failure? Is morality relative? **Crucially, be kind and respectful and generous** in your disagreements; remember how much you personally enjoy someone else proving you wrong before celebrating your cutting counterexamples.

**Cinema Flagey : Dreams** 28/03 @ 17h20 **An aspiring dancer. A wealthy benefactor. And 'Dreams' turned to nightmare** Franco is vague on specifics; he observes and implies more than he explains. One of the migrants is a young man named Fernando, played by Isaac Hernández, and he quickly separates himself from the others and makes his way toward San Francisco. There's determination as well as exhaustion in Fernando's stride, almost as if he knows exactly where he's going. [...] In a way, Dreams plays like a cruel B-side to Memory's more optimistic romance, and Chastain, so sympathetic in the earlier film, here swaps virtue for outright villainy. She's long been one of our most fearless actors, and she gives herself over, chillingly, to the role of Jennifer, a monstrous manipulator and exploiter of someone she claims to love. [...] [Cinema Flagey](https://www.flagey.be/en/activity/13913-dreams-michel-franco) [Justin Chang for the National Public Radio](https://www.npr.org/2026/02/27/nx-s1-5726364/dreams-review) **For Dreamers, Coffee shots, Orezza, eau de Saint-Georges !**

Greetings writers! Come down and join your fellow wordsmiths for one hour of uninterrupted writing time in the upper level of the Market District Supermarket in Upper Arlington. The main entrance of the shopping center opens onto stairs/elevator leading up to the 2nd floor cafe section where we will have a table displaying a sign with the Shut Up & Write logo. Writing is largely a solitary craft. Practicing with others in a community setting may be the thing you need to fire your own routine. We’ll meet on Wednesday evenings, starting the clock at 6:30, following a brief period of introductions. This is solid writing time and all inclusive. Any project is acceptable, be it fiction, non -fiction, work or homework assignment. All is welcome and will remain private to you. The market boasts a Starbucks, a full service bar and various affordable food options. Parking is plentiful, free Wifi is provided as well as outlets for charging your devices, though they are somewhat limited, so plan accordingly. Show up as early as you like, or stay late. This group tends to socialize some, both before and after the alloted time, but this is not mandatory to you. Feel free to come and go as you please and late arrivals are welcome. The cafe may be noisy on occasion so headphones/ earbuds are reccommended as you see fit. Please try to RSVP if possible so that we may grab enough seats for all—the venue can be busy at times. Feel free to message me privately wth any questions and/ or concerns you may have. Happy writing!

Join us as we get together for an Arthouse Movie Friday event to see the A24 dark comedy /romance / psychological-thriller, THE DRAMA! The film stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as a happily engaged couple whose relationship is challenged when one discovers unsettling truths about the other. Here are details, a trailer and our plan for this event: DESCRIPTION: The film follows a happily engaged couple whose relationship is put to the test when an unexpected turn sends their wedding week off the rails. The film comes from A24, is written/directed by Kristoffer Borgli stars Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Mamoudou Athie, Alana Haim, Hailey Gates and Zoë Winters. QUICK WORD OF WARNING: The film hasn’t screened for critics yet and most of the details are being kept tightly under wraps. But, early buzz (possibly promotional) says the film is a brilliant psychological thriller/romance but also provocative, twisty and some contains occasional uncomfortable viewing! I love the cast and trailer, so look forward to seeing for ourselves! ZENDAYA-PATTINSON TRIFECTA CHALLENGE: Robert Pattinson and Zendaya will star in THREE movies together this year, including THE DRAMA, Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY this Summer and Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE: PART THREE at Christmas! TRAILER: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zmKcUa4Xxk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zmKcUa4Xxk) PLAN: We’ll plan for 7pm-ish showing and will meet in the lobby area about 30 minutes before showtime! Advance ticket purchase not required for this theater but early arrival is advised. Possibly post-movie get-together at the nearby Rusty Bucket! Complete details will be confirmed/announced as the date gets closer. Take care and look forward to seeing you there, Dan

We'll meet at The Capital One Café, 167 Easton Town Center, Space A-103. This is in the main mall where the Microsoft store used to be, on your left if you're standing at the bottom of the AMC Theater escalator. Join us on Saturday for an hour of uninterrupted wordmaking! • What we'll do Join us for an hour of writing! We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with other writers. See if it’s true for you at 10AM on Saturday mornings. Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done. SCHEDULE: 10:00 - SESSION 1: quick intros. 10:10 - timer starts: write for 1 hour. 11:10 - chat / take off / keep writing. OPTIONAL SOCIALIZING happens at 11A-11:30ish. Writing is very solitary. Connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers is a cool thing. BEING LATE IS OKAY: just show up and get settled, then check-in with me after the session. (I’ll be the person with the Shut Up & Write! sign.) If you were on time, please be willing to make room for the friendly latecomer. Happy writing and I look forward to seeing you! • What to bring Whatever you need to be able to write! Bring earbuds/earplugs if you want to block noise or the occasional conversation by other patrons. Electrical outlets are limited, so charge your devices before whenever possible. See you at The Café on Saturday!

So this month's prompt is more general. I think we can all agree that we are living in "unique" times that require coping skills. I think that one role and/or purpose of philosophy is to help us deal with our daily lives and our "unique" times. So, let's share our feelings and thoughts about which philosopher/philosophy we turn to in order to deal with our crazy events. Who/what helps you stay focused in your daily life and helps you sleep at night. I find that Stoicism with a little philosophical pessimism mixed in goes a long way in helping me deal with what I see as very destructive, fearful and mean spirited public policies at both the state and federal levels. Hope to see you on March 28th!

Join us for an hour of writing! We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with other writers. See if it’s true for you at 7:00pm on Wednesday, March 25 at Streetlight Guild. Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done. **SCHEDULE:** 6:45ish - Quick introductions 7:00 - Timer starts: write for 1 hour 8:00 - The End **OPTIONAL SOCIALIZING** happens before and after the writing hour. Writing is very solitary. Connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers is a cool thing. **BEING LATE IS OKAY:** just show up and get settled! If you were on time, please be willing to make room for the friendly latecomer. Happy writing & I look forward to seeing you at Streetlight Guild! **WHAT SHOULD I BRING?** Whatever you need to be able to write! You're welcome to bring earplugs/headphones if noise will bother you! **OTHER IMPORTANT DETAILS:** * **RSVP:** Please RSVP by 6:00pm the evening of the meeting. This helps me know how many to expect, and if we'll need additional space! * **COVID:** While masks are not required, please be mindful of the other writers around you and their comfort levels. * **WIFI/OUTLETS:** Outlets are limited, so please ensure your devices are charged when you come! But Streetlight Guild does have free WiFi! Yay! * **PARKING:** There is free public parking at Streetlight Guild.