Reason

What's the purpose of protest? What does it achieve? Is a cause-inspired protest too easily hijacked by important - but ultimately unrelated - right-wing or left-wing causes? What motivates people to protest? Are there ways to advocate for change apart from speechifying, flag-waving and public disruption? Consider these and other important questions this coming Tuesday; buy a drink at the bar @ Walters and add your voice to the civil discourse that is Socrates Café.

What's the purpose of protest? What does it achieve? Is a cause-inspired protest too easily hijacked by important - but ultimately unrelated - right-wing or left-wing causes? What motivates people to protest? Are there ways to advocate for change apart from speechifying, flag-waving and public disruption? Consider these and other important questions this coming Tuesday; buy a drink at the bar @ Walters and add your voice to the civil discourse that is Socrates Café.

Hello! We meet in the foyer (the area between the entrance and the ticket office) from 7pm. We take our seats when the doors open. The play is 1hr 15mins. It starts at 730pm and ends at 845pm, no interval. Please buy your ticket in advance as this is very likely to sell out. (As always, attending any event in this group os entirely at your own risk) Thanks! Alan https://smockalley.com/sorry-you-felt-that-way/ An award winning domestic thriller about love and the things we wish we didn’t know. Emma met Adam in a Tesco at a strange time in her life. After six months of romance and joy she decides to move out of her mouldy box room and into his apartment. Things are looking up for Emma. But on her first night in her new home Adam’s ex-girlfriend is waiting for her in the sitting room and she no longer feels safe. Following on from a sold out, award winning run Sorry You Felt That Way returns to Smock Alley Boys’ School. Winner of The Fishamble New Writing Award 2024 “A must see” – Trinity News “A thought piercing piece” – Reviews Hub Age Suitability: 16+ Warnings: Strong language / References to domestic abuse WRITTEN BY Harry Butler DIRECTED BY Anthony Biggs CAST Hannah Brady Harry Butler Chloe O’Reilly PREVIEW TICKETS €15 TICKETS €18 | €15 (student/OAP/unemployed) RUNNING TIME 1 hr 15 mins no interval ABOUT THE COMPANY Harry Butler is a actor and writer from Dublin. He trained at The Lir Academy in Dublin. His first play ‘Changing the Sheets’ played in Dublin, London and Edinburgh Fringe to critical acclaim. ‘Changing the Sheets’ has recently been translated into Italian in being performed in Naples and Rome in Spring ‘26. Anthony Biggs is former Artistic Director of Jermyn Street Theatre in the West End in London as well as The Playground Theatre in London. His work has been performed in the West End and Off Broadway.

Do you like to try an indoor pool scuba dive with 🐟 scuba dive equipment🐳? If you are interested in going for this Pool scuba try dive🐬class, please RSVP early as there will be other people going beside this meetup. If anyone cannot make it on this day and wants a different date, RSVP and you can change your date to another date. I will send you the information details to book your pool dive🐡 a week that suites you. 😊 https://www.padi.com/ https://youtu.be/kvmgy4XsqrU This event is (PADI) scuba dive for First Timers who are interested in trying Scuba Diving. This will be a scuba dive in a large swimming pool 5m deep at one end. Cost is about 55 euros. Scuba dive equipment will be included and supplied. You will be shown how to use scuba diving equipment by a dive instructor. If you do well in the pool, you can go to the next step and take up an open water PADI dive course qualification. With this qualification it will allow you to do open water scuba diving world wide. Dublin open water boat dives and weekend Atlantic sea boat dives trips and or Fjord boat scuba dives trips will be also avaliable to you around Ireland and World Wide once you are a PADI Open Water qualified scuba diver. People use Sea swimming for its healing properties,it washes viruses, bacteria and cleanse your skin amongst other things due to the sea salt content. Since the pandemic there has been a large increase in people going swimming. Scuba diving also refreshes your mind like hiking to start a new fresh day and a new work week. Anyone interested, please RSVP and I will send you the booking information. As usual this is a sporting event, so when you RSVP and attend this meetup, every person is responsible for their on health and saftey and accept full responsibilty.

Hello there! Learn to Meditate in 2026 - Free 10 Week Ongoing Sahaja Yoga Meditation Course - hosted by Jayant, Violeta, Vivek, Seamus and friends every Tuesday - All Welcome - Join any Week - The address: Fringe Lab, Sycamore Building, Sycamore Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, DO2 TD81 - on Tuesday evenings from 7:30 pm until 9:00 pm With Sahaja Yoga Meditation, we usually sit on chairs to achieve yoga effortlessly & spontaneously. So there is no need for mats or special clothing. All across the globe, many are seeking new sources of energy. Meanwhile, the most transformative energy is hiding in plain sight within us, and it's natural, sustainable, and infinitely renewable. It's called inner kundalini energy. And everyone already has it — everyone!. It is often likened to an inner feminine or motherly energy which automatically knows about us and what is needed to help us restore balance and harmony within our subtle being. It works spontaneously, effortlessly, organically, and cannot be paid for. Sahaja Yoga Meditation is a simple, time-honoured technique that lets you tap into that energy and harness its power to become better balanced and better connected to yourself — emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. If you're having trouble juggling the challenges in your life, Sahaja Yoga Meditation might help you manage stress, master your emotions and find solutions to your problems. You may enjoy better health, better focus, and a deeper understanding of the universe and your place in it. Meditation is not just for mystics and monks. Sahaja Yoga meditation is for everyone. Anyone can do it. It's that easy. But with the Sahaja Yoga experience, you'll quickly realise it isn't your typical Meditation. It's much more than just feeling peaceful and relaxed. Sahaja Yoga Meditation has many layers, varied and deep. Explore at your own pace, in your way. Our volunteer experts are always available to help. Ready to plug into your inner energy? A few minutes of your life may be all it takes to connect to your inner energy and light the path to lifelong transformation. It's all about energy — guaranteed pure and carbon neutral, and you can never have too much of it. All classes are free. No strings, no catch. Everyone is welcome. Bring a friend. ONLINE GUIDED MEDITATION Mondays from 7:00 to 8:00 pm To Join Zoom Meeting, please click the below link (Recurring meeting) http://online.freemeditation.ie/ Sahaj Yoga Ireland 🤗🙏😇 https://www.facebook.com/groups/MeditationOnlineIreland Facebook Group: "Meditation Online Ireland" for about 30 minutes On this group, you can scroll through past guided meditations and watch any one of the hundred or so meditations there, and you can watch them anytime, day or night. Also available: https://wemeditate.com/ Our website: www.freemeditation.ie For classes in London visit: www.sahajayogalondon.co.uk

Hello Everyone, For this meetup, I'll present a lightning talk that touches on early reflection in 2020, and where we are now. I am a doctoral candidate at Maynooth university where I work on the ossia.io software. I have been involved with this software for a number of years, and this talk will present its plugin system called Avendish. We sometimes call it a “post library” because it is not really a library.... It has implication well beyond ossia.io, and introduced an approach in 2020 that resembles a number of recent projects leavening c++26 reflections. As always, the good folks at Anseo are graciously letting us use their room! You can get a drink downstairs and bring it up to the room. Avendish git repository : https://github.com/celtera/avendish Avendish Documentation : https://celtera.github.io/avendish Our matrix chat is : https://matrix.to/#/#cppdug:gitter.im And videos of past talks can be found on this peertube instance: https://indymotion.fr/c/cppdug/videos See you then ! Thibaud

Join us for an evening of lively discussion and spirited argument as two teams of three speakers go head-to-head on the issue of non reusable plastic and if we should ban the use of one single use plastic Expect passionate speeches, sharp rebuttals, and fresh perspectives Before the main debate, we’ll kick things off with Table Topics, where participants are invited to speak off the cuff on a wide range of issues. It’s a fun, supportive way to test your quick thinking and hone your public speaking skills. Dublin Debaters isn’t just a club—it’s a community built around the art of communication. Whether you’re a seasoned speaker or someone who feels a flutter of nerves at the mere sight of a microphone, you’ll find a welcoming space here. Whether you’re an experienced debater or simply curious about the issues shaping our national identity, this is an event not to be missed. Attendance is €3, payable on the night.

SATURDAY MEET UP Let's mingle with anybody and everybody who's simply interested in Korean or Irish culture. This is a group for anyone looking to get out and about, meet new people, socialise and enjoy a night out. It will be for all to have loads of craic. Looking forward to seeing old and new faces. **For this week** **we have booked a table for us upstairs in the name of Dublin Korean Culture Meet Up. When entering the restaurant please ask for our group.** Our aim is to create a friendly, sociable and safe way for people to meet and discuss Korean and Irish culture. If you been made to feel uncomfortable or have seen inappropriate behaviour at a meet up then please contact one of our organisers in confidence. \*\*\* PLEASE RSVP \*\*\* Photo Credit: Pexels It is not necessary to buy food, but if you don't please buy at least one drink as restaurants have had a hard time during the pandemic. \*\*\* This meetup is for adults only (18+) except where accompanied by a parent or legal guardian (proof of status e.g. court documents may be requested) \*\*\* How to get to the meet up: *LUAS* \- the Drunken Fish is right next to the Mayor Square \- NCI Luas stop on the red line *DART/Irish Rail* \- Dublin Connolly is probably the easiest station for most people\, but the Docklands station is also close *PARKING* \- the carpark for the National College of Ireland \(NCI\) is probably the most convenient and only charges 5 euro for the whole evening after 5\.30pm Meetup details below: New faces welcome!! Bring your 친구 too. [Place] Drunken Fish Restaurant/Bar, The Excise Building, Mayor Street Lower, IFSC, Dublin 1 [Hosts] Caoimhe, Jay, Eileen, Saksham and Stephen Please contact us using the below details if you have any questions or trouble finding us. [Organiser contact] Bobbie: Instagram: GoodMoodFoodInsta Tim: (WhatsApp: 085 718 5658) \*RSVP ESSENTIAL!!!! PLEASE DO RSVP!!!! \*Bring your ID if you're lucky enough to look under 25! ;) \*There's no admission fee for our meetup however, you'll be kindly asked to purchase at least 1 drink after your arrival. As you could probably imagine, it's not so easy to book such a big place on a Friday evening in Dublin city centre and your cooperation in this will greatly help us to secure the place for our future gatherings. \*Take good care of your own belongings and do not consume more alcohol than you can handle, Meetup organisers nor venue management do not hold any responsibilities on lost items before/during or after the meetup. Hope to see you all there! :)

Make New Friends💏! This Event is a large Monthly Social Salsa Dance Party 🎉🎊🎇 for Salsa Dancers and for those New Solo people who want to learn Salsa dancing. This Salsa Dance Party will be held in a large hall. There is Bar facilities, cheaper drinks and toilets are avaliable. Time of Dance Party from about 9.30pm/10pm. till after 1 am. Dress: Neat Dress. (Salsa Dance class lesson from 8.45pm to 9.30pm.) There may also be free Pizza at the end of the party like in previous parties. There are Salsa Social Dance Classes on Thursday evenings for those who like to learn or improve Salsa dancing. The entrance fee for the Salsa Party is 10 euros at the Door, which includes the Salsa class lesson. This is very good value. Place of large Hall is in Dublin 8. There is a large Free Car Parking at the back also. Dublin Bus 2 mins walk. There will be many other solo people attending from all around Ireland beside this meetup who already know this venue. In the past Social Salsa Dance Parties, over 270 people attended. https://youtu.be/DWir_XczIE8?is=YWe0j-H3tECeWaQx https://youtu.be/iyLdoQGBchQ?feature=shared So if you are Solo, like Social Dancing, meeting new people and or like a free lesson to start learning Salsa dancing, RSVP and I will send you the Dance Party Address Details on the day of the event. Many people come solo, so do not worry, come solo or bring your friends with you and enjoy the great Latino music and social Salsa dancing.

Are Single and Solo? Make new friends 🤗 👫 while hiking ⛰️🏞for health and to refresh your mind in the 🦋 Wicklow 🌻🌼🌺 Country side. (Is this a Boot Camp 😀😍??)This is an easy social hike 🐿🐐🐏 in Glendalough but you still need some hiking fitness and be able to walk on rocky paths. We will hike the lakes loop which is about 12kms or more. https://youtu.be/Yxo0ym2Z6eg?feature=shared https://youtu.be/nZjzoVBBSCk?feature=shared https://youtu.be/mfJC34tOZms?feature=shared https://youtu.be/Lgs9QUtWc3M?feature=shared The meeting spot will be in Dublin City Center at 10.20 am Opposite The Shelbourne Hotel St.Stephen's Green park. At 10.30 am we go ahead to board our bus. We will take the 11.00am express Bus to Glendalough. Be early🙂. The hike starts at about 12.15pm from Glendalough MAIN visitor's center at the bus stop and bus pickup point back to Dublin at 17.30pm. Please be on early and on time for those who are meeting us in Glendalough. This hike is not always on a track🏔, so HIKING BOOTS with Vibram Sole and ankle support highly recommended as some tracks are also very rocky and muddy. No JEANS for this hike ,No Running shoes please. Dogs 🐕🦮🐕‍🦺 welcome, But need to check with bus company if not driving by car there. Bring waterproof warm winter clothing, food, snacks and water or drinks as we will stop for breaks. You Need some level of fitness and some hiking experience but this is not a hard hike. This is a sporting event, so every person attending this hike is responsible for their own health and saftey at all times.

These group harmony singing and vocal exploration sessions are for anyone who is longing to connect to themselves and others through the voice in service to a more loving world. These 5 weekly Thursday night sessions which run from 30 Apr to 28 May, are all about freeing your voice, singing in harmony and feeling part of a community of warm, friendly people. We will continue till 2 July, so you can also enrol on another 5 week set after this one if you feel inspired to keep going! Over the course of these sessions we will explore together what it is like to cultivate a sense of **being enough (with less effort)**. This is a radical rejection of the ideology of self-improvement, productivity, speed, talent, growth and individualism which we are surrounded by. When we sing, we work intimately with worries around what we sound like, whether the sounds we are making are acceptable, whether we are ‘doing it right’ and ultimately whether we are enough. As we notice these thoughts and feelings, we can invite the ease with which we were born to return. We also work intimately with liberation of our breath and body. > In these sessions you will be invited to become more aware of opportunities to try less, let go more and you will learn about how to support your voice through diaphragmatic breathing and somatic connection. Humans have gathered to use their voices as tools for healing, prayer, divination, plant communication, echoes of topography, expressions of identity, creators of harmony and much more but music and singing have been reduced largely to entertainment and big business in modern capitalist culture. In these sessions we **reclaim our voices as technologies of connection and enchantment**. Singing is not for the few, it is our birthright and a means to better health and wellbeing. We will experience beauty not only in the aesthetics of our voices but in their authenticity and capacity to connect us. We do not have to sound or look beautiful to *be* beautiful as we are all miraculous beings simply by existing. Singing is one of the most powerful tools to connect and bond human beings so as we sing together, you will experience a sense of being held in a container of human sound, a balm for the soul. You may even experience a sense of ‘interbeing’, a deep sense of interconnectedness and non-duality. Contrary to what we are told, us humans are not on this Earth to compete with and dominate each other. > We are all leaves of the same tree, cells of the same organism, stewards of the same Earth. This course will also be rooted in what we can **learn from Indigenous and traditional cultures and from living systems (nature)**. We will sing songs which connect us to our ancestral lineages and to the Earth. We will musically explore and celebrate concepts from the Global South such as Ubuntu (a set of related African value systems emphasising interconnectedness) and Buen Vivir (a Latin American concept describing living well as sustainably living in harmony within a community including humans and nature) as well as those from closer to home such as ‘*Dinnseanchas’, meaning* lore and knowledge of place and ‘d*úchas’* (heritage and wildness, a sense of where you come from, to whom and to where you belong). This course is open to all, regardless of how you sound and previous experience. The Facilitator: Rachel is a song leader with a background in ethnomusicology and has spent time with many communities around the world facilitating and researching music making, Rachel is also an educator and uses music and singing as a tool for for learning and changemaking in the areas of wellbeing, diversity, sustainability, social justice and community building community. ##### **Booking & Pricing:** 5 week course €140 - €90 sliding scale Info and sign ups: https://fullcirclechange.ie/event/rooted-together-in-harmony/

Curious about what Irish SMEs are actually doing with AI? We’re getting together with the folks from The Irish Times, Buymedia, and Coolplanet to look under the hood of their data stacks. They'll be sharing exactly how they use Snowflake AI to clean up messy documents, speed up data engineering, and turn weeks of work into hours. Drop by for some honest talk about what works in the real world, plus food, drinks, and a chance to catch up with the local Snowflake community. **Right Story, Right Reader: Building a Hybrid News Recommendation Engine in Snowflake, Juliana Murphy, The Irish Times** At The Irish Times Group — home to The Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Breaking News, The Echo, and more — we publish hundreds of articles every week. The challenge isn’t the quality of the journalism, but helping readers find the stories most relevant to them, as discovery becomes increasingly fragmented across search, social, and other channels. In this session, Juliana Murphy walks through how The Irish Times built For Me — a pilot personalised content feed delivered three times daily to subscribers — using a fully native Snowflake architecture, with no external ML infrastructure or data movement outside the warehouse. The session covers the full pipeline: converting article text into 1,024-dimensional vector embeddings with Snowflake Cortex, building subscriber preference profiles from behavioural data, and using native vector similarity scoring and task orchestration to generate recommendations end-to-end within the warehouse, with output delivered to subscribers via an S3 stage. Beyond the technical build, we’ll explore the constraints unique to news. Unlike entertainment platforms, journalism must balance personal relevance with information diversity. We’ll show how editorial curation, controlled ranking logic, and user choice are embedded directly into the system design — and how those decisions shape both architecture and outcomes. Key takeaways: • Why editorial and ethical constraints belong in your data architecture, not just your product spec • Building a production-grade recommendation pipeline natively in Snowflake (Tasks, Cortex embeddings, cosine similarity scoring, Python UDFs) • What “hybrid” means in practice: combining ML signals with editorial control • Why domain knowledge matters as much as model performance **Accelerating Data Engineering with Snowflake Cortex Code, Jenny Zhou, Snowflake** This demo showcases Cortex Code, Snowflake’s AI-powered coding agent designed to automate and optimize the end-to-end data development lifecycle. We will demonstrate how Cortex Code moves beyond simple code completion by leveraging platform awareness—integrating your database schema, security context, and execution logs directly into the development workflow. **Extracting Structure from Chaos: Parsing Documents from 400+ Media Sources with Cortex AI at Buymedia, Estella Roberts, Buymedia** At Buymedia, ingesting data from over 400 unique media sources is anything but clean. Every source brings its own document formats, layout quirks, and edge cases that completely break traditional extraction tools. In this session, Estella Roberts shares how Buymedia transformed a manual, error-prone bottleneck into an automated, native pipeline using Snowflake Cortex AI and CORTEX.COMPLETE. We'll dive deep into the architecture, explore the messiest edge cases, and share practical solutions for when unstructured documents refuse to cooperate. Expect less theory, more real-world trade-offs, and actionable lessons on building resilient, modern AI pipelines. **From Sprints to Hours: Building an AI-Powered Data Stack at Coolplanet, Niall Magee, Coolplanet** At Coolplanet, we handle massive volumes of customer data effortlessly. But our internal business data? That started with Google Sheets, a basic BI tool, and a quiet confidence that it would scale. It didn't. In this session, we’ll share our honest journey from a fragile spreadsheet setup to a production-grade modern data stack using Fivetran, dbt, and Snowflake. More importantly, we'll reveal how AI became our ultimate force multiplier, turning sprint-long tasks into hours-long workflows. The highlight of the session is a deep dive into our AI-driven build process. We’ll show you how to take a plain-language brief and immediately generate dbt models, semantic layers, and functional Streamlit dashboards. Key Takeaways: * The AI Workflow: Practical steps to accelerate dbt, YAML, and SQL generation. * The Stack Evolution: Honest lessons from migrating to Fivetran, dbt, and Snowflake. * Beyond Traditional BI: Why we are shifting toward AI-scaffolded Streamlit apps. * Snowflake Cortex: How to ground natural language queries in a governed semantic model. **Location** Clayton Hotel Charlemont **Agenda** 6:00 pm – Food & Networking 6:30 pm – Welcome 6:35 pm – Right Story, Right Reader: Building a Hybrid News Recommendation Engine in Snowflake * [Juliana Murphy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/subiuliana/), The Irish Times 7:05 pm – Accelerating Data Engineering with Snowflake Cortex Code * [Jenny Zhou](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yingying-jenny-zhoudong/), Snowflake 7:25 pm – Break 7:35 pm – Extracting Structure from Chaos: Parsing Documents from 400+ Media Sources with Cortex AI at Buymedia * [Estella Roberts](https://www.linkedin.com/in/estellaroberts/), Buymedia 8:05 pm – From Sprints to Hours: Building an AI-Powered Data Stack at Coolplanet * [Niall Magee](https://www.linkedin.com/in/niall-magee/), Coolplanet 8:35 pm onwards – Drinks & Networking

When judging morality, should we prioritize **intentions/duty** or **outcomes/results**? It introduces two influential philosophers as representatives of these approaches. * **Immanuel Kant (deontology):** An action is moral when it is done from **duty** and follows rational, universal principles (the **categorical imperative**). Certain acts—like lying—are wrong regardless of the consequences; you can’t do a wrong thing for a right reason. * **John Stuart Mill (utilitarian consequentialism):** The morality of an action is determined by its **effects**, specifically how much **happiness/well-being** it produces. Mill argues that some pleasures are “higher” than others, and that good intentions don’t redeem harmful outcomes. ## Discussion Questions 1. **The lying dilemma:** A murderer comes to your door and asks if your friend is hiding inside. Kant would say you must not lie. 2. **Can good intentions rescue a bad outcome?** 3. **The organ harvest problem:** A surgeon has five patients dying of organ failure and one healthy patient in for a checkup. Killing the one to harvest organs would save five lives, and the math works out for the utilitarian. Why does this feel so deeply wrong? Is that feeling a point in Kant's favor, or just a bias we should overcome? 4. **Do rules need exceptions?** Kant insists moral rules must be universal, with no exceptions. But most of us can imagine extreme scenarios where any rule seems like it should bend. Does the need for exceptions fatally undermine deontology, or is the strength of the system precisely that it refuses to bend? 5. **Who gets to calculate the consequences?** Utilitarianism asks us to maximize good outcomes, but we're notoriously bad at predicting consequences. If we can't reliably know the results of our actions, is it practical to base our entire moral system on outcomes? Does this uncertainty push us back toward rules and principles? 6. **Everyday morality:** Think about a real moral decision you've made recently, even a small one. Did you reason more like a Kantian (what's the right thing to do in principle?) or more like a utilitarian (what will produce the best result?)? Do most people naturally lean one way? 7. **Justice vs. the greater good:** A town can prevent a deadly plague by sacrificing one innocent person. The greater good is clearly served. But is it just? Can an action be morally right and deeply unjust at the same time? 8. **The big synthesis question:** Are these two systems actually opposed, or do they often arrive at the same answers by different paths? Is it possible that we need both: rules to guide us in the moment and consequences to evaluate systems and policies over time?

This is a free, in-person meeting on the subject of betrayals, losses and how to get over them so you can build lasting relationships. Burdened by a stressful relationship? Unhealthy relationships can trigger feelings of anger, despair or self-doubt. They can create dwindling spirals of fights and seeking to make-up, or trying to “pin the blame” on someone or something. If you don’t find the RIGHT reasons, or select the correct sources of the problem, the problem can just get worse and worse. Whether in love or personal ties, with friends or at work, our life really IS affected by the quality of our relationships. Good ones can promote pleasure and survival while less optimum ones can lead to annoyance, anger, self-doubt, stress, or even affect our health and ability to survive well. Whether you are suffering from a divorce, or a painful break-up, don’t know who to trust (or who to CHOOSE) as a partner, friend, boss or employee - the anxiety of relationship troubles can really make a mess of things. Maybe you’ve suffered a betrayal, or are dealing with hostility or criticalness or invalidation. Dwindling relationships can involve destructive behavior, where we hurt those we love, or start succumbing to self-destructive thoughts, attitudes or behaviors that spiral out of control and affect much more than our immediate relationship. Past losses in love or life can affect how we act or react to new people and situations and hold us back from even starting to create new, possibly great relationships! How can one get back onto a saner course of action? Come to our Meetup, where we can introduce you to some of the knowledge, tools and techniques of the breakthroughs in the field of the mind that we can apply to this ever important area of life: human relationships! Break free from self imposed limitations Here we will discuss: • How to “erase” the trauma of past hurts and betrayals so that one isn’t always repeating past mistakes. • Why and how do the negative emotions of others affect you? • Why is my partner withdrawing and what can I do about it? • Why do we sometimes feel compelled to hurt the ones we love? • Fights & arguments - what's really behind them? • What underlies “corrosive criticism” or the need to invalidate self or others? • How one can stably change one’s outlook on life so they can affect positive change? • Where do compulsive destructive behaviors come from and what can be done about them? • How to form closer bonds & keep growing the relationships with the people you care about? • How to enhance one’s own ability to survive and create positive healthy relationships whether in love, family & friendships or in work, business or one’s career? Relationships can be hard and life itself IS challenging. Why not arm yourself with the knowledge and breakthroughs that have been made about the mind, mental reactions & interpersonal relationships, so that one has better awareness and control over themselves and life in general. Learn where painful experiences are “stored” and how they can unknowingly affect us. You will also find out how one can “erase” those past painful experiences so that one is free to move forward without being tripped up by the past. Learn too, about what can lead some people to become “toxic” personalities and how to identify those traits in others so you won’t be tripped up trusting the wrong person. Our free Meet-ups occur in a safe environment where one can learn, without fear of judgment or criticism, and without the recommendation of harmful mental techniques or therapies, just how YOU can get yourself onto a happier & more successful path: in love & in life. We look forward to having you join us! This class is sponsored by the Dianetics & Scientology Life Improvement Center of Central Ohio.

ASH is Atheists, Skeptics and Humanists of First Unitarian Universalists of Columbus Ohio TBD Snacks are usually available, and you are welcome to bringing something to share!

We’re still working to get more people into these Meetups, but our goal is to give PlayYourCourt members a few social tennis outings each week in addition to your practice sessions and Challenge League matches. These Meetups are co-ed, super laid back, and all skill levels are welcome. Post your skill level and a suggested court in the comments section so we can round up as many players as we can for some tennis fun! Also, if you’re looking to meet new practice partners or play some matches and you aren’t already in the PlayYourCourt Community, you can go here to see what we’re all about and sign up: https://www.playyourcourt.com/tennis-community/columbus-oh/meetup/ If you love tennis, we’d love to have you! Be sure and watch the quick video that explains how everything works. Happy hitting! - Scott

It feels like we just saw each other 🤷. Join members of the local design and UX community for our monthly breakfast. For May we’re stopping in for Rooh’s popup breakfast/cafe concept. You know someone is getting the lobster yuzu croissant, and that’s not even the prettiest thing on the menu!.

If you are interested in selecting investment choices for your 401(k) or other workplace savings plan, minimizing your income tax liability, or identifying the most effective investments for your brokerage account, we are the group for you. We are a local chapter of Bogleheads, whose investment strategy can be found here: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads%C2%AE_investment_philosophy Or you can peruse the Boglehead forum here: https://www.bogleheads.org/index.php I look forward to seeing you there. Mark Vonder Haar

Some trained COUNT volunteers work together once a month at RMH (http://www.rmhc-centralohio.org/volunteer.php) as Housewarmers (usually on the 1st Sunday from 1 – 5 PM). Some schedule other shifts at their convenience. You may try this out with less fuss by following a "Fast track" or go through the normal process. Fast track • Arrange a time to shadow a COUNT volunteer. Call Dave Nohle at 614-268-9558 (cell). • Show up and try it out. • Complete application, etc. later. Normal process • Complete an online application (http://rmhc-centralohio.org/volunteer/). • Attend orientation in advance. • At orientation you will complete forms agreeing to keep family/patient info private and allowing a background check and tour the facility. • Complete one training shift. Daily shifts are: morning 9 AM - 1 PM, afternoon 1 - 5 PM and evening 5 - 9 PM. • Schedule shifts online using the on the RMH scheduling system (http://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/?FROM=32895). The Ronald McDonald House (RMH) provides housing and meals for families with sick children. The Columbus RMH is the largest in the world with 137 rooms. COUNT has been volunteering there since May 2014. Housewarmers work with RMH guests to provide a home-like environment - greet, assist with family needs, answer phones, give tours, assist with checkin/checkout, prepare guest rooms after checkout, clean facility, laundry, restock supplies and staff the front desk. RMH Housewarmers volunteer at least one four-hour shift a month. All Housewarmers must complete an application and agree to a background check before they can be full fledged volunteers.