December 25 – Sunday

Cafe Discussion is cancelled this week. PC (RSE Su)

Channing Club is cancelled for December. We’ll return in January. PC (RSE 4 Su)

January 1 – Sunday

12n Cafe Discussion: Mindfulness. What is your personal view toward mindfulness? Do you dedicate time toward being mindful? Can you be too mindful? Cafe Discussions are lively, interesting, and you always come away with something to think about in the week to come. Drop in and stay for as long as you like. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup. Hosted by James Monschke. PC (RSE Su)

Albany Hill Hike is cancelled for January. (RSE 1 Su)

3 – Tuesday

5:30p Tuesday Tipplers will meet at San Rafael Joe’s, 931 4th St., San Rafael 94901, at 5:30p for drinks in the bar and then move on to dinner in the dining room after an hour or so. Park on the street or in the city garage behind the restaurant. If you have questions e-mail Carole at caroleptaylor/a/t/gmail.com or call (415) 472-1207. PC (RSE 1 Tu)

4 – Wednesday

6p Atlas of AI Book Discussion. We are reading Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence by Kate Crawford, one chapter a week. This week we’re reading Chapter 1, Earth. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup (meetup.com/sfmensa/events/290197728/). Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE W)

5 – Thursday

LGBT+ SIG meetings are on hold. Contact Gary at pedler/a/t/sbcglobal.net for more information.

7 – Saturday

6p Start the Month Right. At Elna and Adrian Tymes’ home in Mountain View. Come celebrate the 42nd year and longest running monthly social event in all of American Mensa (at Elna’s home every month since 1981)! Potluck dinner, unstructured socializing, games, and talk. We provide the main dish; you bring salad, bread, or dessert to share and YOB. $1 donation requested. No reservations needed. Info (650) 969-6650. Guests of Mensans must be accompanied by the member. Masks optional. PC, SO, WBC, WCD, C/D (RSE 1 Sat)

8 – Sunday

12n Cafe Discussion: Social/economic systems and how they evolve and adapt in response to ever-present “forces”. Dynamic stability vs. static stability; systems theory and patterns; chaos theory, strange attracts, and tipping points; etc. See January 1. (RSE Su)

9 – Monday

4p San Francisco Pub Get-Together. Stop by after work or, if you don’t work downtown, just come anyway. All Mensans and their guests are welcome, provided that they are at least 21, at Patriot House in 2 Embarcadero Center (Sacramento St. between Front St. and Davis St.), SF 94111. Take the inside escalator to the 2nd floor, turn right twice, and then follow the sign to the stairs to the 3rd floor. The restaurant’s entrance is near the top of those stairs on the 3rd floor. Look for the Mensa logo on our table or ask one of the waitresses to find us. Starting at 4p, but arrive when you can and leave when you’re ready. We will be there for several hours. They have a Happy Hour from 4p until 6p, with the kitchen closing at 9p and the bar closing at 10p. RSVP preferred on Mensa’s Meetup site at www.meetup.com/SFMensa, less preferred by e-mail to Barry Krasner at bwkbwk/a/t/pacbell.net. If you find that you can’t come after RSVPing “Yes”, please change your RSVP to “No” before the event takes place. PC, NC, NS, NMPCW (RSE 2 M)

10 – Tuesday

6:45p Puzzled Pint. (NOTE: If Game Control has not chosen a pub, this will instead be a virtual event on Zoom. Contact Karl as below for instructions on how to connect.) Who likes PUZZLES? The kind where part of the game is to figure out what you need to be doing in the first place? Want to do it as part of a team, so you can bounce ideas off each other, and let someone else do the parts that you find uninteresting? This is a monthly event held in the Bay Area (and simultaneously elsewhere in the world), at a convenient pub where we might order food and drink before or during the game. RSVP to Karl Heuer at puzzles/a/t/sfmensa.org or (650) 648-3594 (voice or text) to reserve your spot and learn the address; it’s almost always either Sunnyvale or Mountain View, near Central Expressway. PC, NMPCW, NS, NXM (RSE 2 Tu)

Intelligencer Deadline. Deadline for calendar events, advertising, members’ free ads, and all other content. See above for information on submitting events. PC (RSE Tu after 1 Sa)

11 – Wednesday

5:30p Re-BORG. (NOTE ONE-TIME CHANGE OF WEEK.) Berkeley-Oakland Restaurant Group is reborn and revived in honor of the incomparable Cathy Roha, who initiated this event and hosted it for many years. Assimilate delicious food and interesting conversation at a good restaurant somewhere in the central East Bay. Bring cash, your vaccination card, and a mask. Limited seating. E-mail or call ahead for location up to a week ahead. RSVP by 3p on Tuesday, January 10. Roberta Maguire, robertamaguire/a/t/hotmail.com, (510) 292-6370. PC, NS, NMPCW, ACW (RSE 3 W)

6p Atlas of AI Book Discussion. We are reading Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence by Kate Crawford, one chapter a week. This week we’re reading Chapter 2, Labor. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup (meetup.com/sfmensa/events/290197739/). Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE W)

12 – Thursday

11:45a South Bay Lunch. Meet at Scrambl’z, 5055 Almaden Expressway, San Jose 95118 (near Hwys. 85 & 87), (408) 269-2900. Voted one of the best breakfast restaurants around. Extensive menu online at www.scramblzalmaden.com. Sandra Anderson, (408) 997-3187. PC, NMPCW, WCE (RSE 2,4 Th)

12n Thursday Munchers meets on the second Thursday from now on. Rising up from the old Ethnic Dinner, a lunch group in Marin dedicated to trying different restaurants. This month we will visit Il Davide, 901 A St., San Rafael 94901, (415) 454-8080, www.ildavide.net. RSVP by Monday, January 9, to Elizabeth Calaway at (415) 456-9220 or elizterrycalaway/a/t/aol.com. PC (RSE 2 Th)

14 – Saturday

4p Big Ideas Reading Group: Being You: A New Science of Consciousness by Anil Seth. On Zoom. Seth’s quest to understand the biological basis of conscious experience is one of the most exciting contributions to twenty-first century science. His radical argument is that we do not perceive the world as it objectively is, but rather that we are prediction machines, constantly inventing our world and correcting our mistakes by the microsecond, and that we can now observe the biological mechanisms in the brain that accomplish this process of consciousness. For February 11 on Zoom: What Is Life?: Five Great Ideas in Biology by Paul Nurse. We have a list of books read at www.bigideasreadinggroup.com/BIRG2.html. For questions and invitations to our Zoom meetings please contact Chris Boyd at snoboyd/a/t/sbcglobal.net. PC, NMPCW, NXM (RSE 2 Sa)

15 – Sunday

12n Cafe Discussion: Corruption. It is said that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. What other factors are involved? What can be done effectively to limit corruption? See January 1. (RSE Su)

1p Ramses Exhibit at the DeYoung Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., San Francisco 94118. Join SFRM Officers visiting the DeYoung Museum during the 1-3p time slot to see the Ramses Exhibit. Tickets required in advance. To join the group on site, after you have tickets, contact Jennifer Storm-Alves at locsec/a/t/sfmensa.org or (614) 352-5227 or Mike Eager at (650) 325-8077. PC

16 – Monday

6p Online Board Games. Come explore some board games that can be played on the Web. If you’re new, please create a (free) account at boardgamearena.com and follow the setup instructions. We’ll meet online with Zoom to establish voice contact, and then we’ll decide on a game to try out. RSVP on the Meetup calendar if possible, otherwise contact Karl Heuer at puzzles/a/t/sfmensa.org or (650) 648-3594. PC, NMPCW, ACW

18 – Wednesday

6p Atlas of AI Book Discussion. We are reading Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence by Kate Crawford, one chapter a week. This week we’re reading Chapter 3, Data. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup (meetup.com/sfmensa/events/290197744/). Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE W)

20 – Friday

6:30p Near Palo Alto Dining. Join us this month for pre-Chinese New Year dining (the Year of the Rabbit begins on January 22). We will be revisiting Chef Chu’s at 1067 N. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos 94022 (at El Camino Real), chefchu.com. Rather than select a banquet in advance, we’ll see what first responders would like, and we’ll go from there. You can see the menus for yourself on their web site. To reserve, contact Susan at (650) 714-4972 or Susan.Heimlich/a/t/gmail.com soon. This year I’ve made reservations for 10, so don’t delay. Be sure to get a confirmation. Ask for Susan, and please bring cash. For last minute changes, call/text cell phone (650) 714-4972. Vaccinated people only please. PC, NMPCW

21 – Saturday

7p Teton Tea. Teton Tea Parties are folk-singing parties going back to the 1950s. We welcome both traditional folk singing and singer/songwriters. Our meetings are currently on Zoom. Join the Zoom meeting: us02web.zoom.us/j/6912937135?pwd=WVlpMEs1SCs0c1FoZk5seUhoREVaZz09. Meeting ID: 691 293 7135. Password: berkeley. Hosted by Kevin Langdon, kevinlangdon86/a/t/yahoo.com. PC (RSE 3 Sa)

22 – Sunday

12n Cafe Discussion: Good vs. Evil. We can pose some different questions about “Good and Evil”. Are they mutually exclusive? Who decides what is good or evil? How do you (does someone) decide whether to choose a good or evil path? Mae West said, “Between two evils, I always pick the I never tried before.” See January 1. (RSE Su)

7p Channing Club is a wide-ranging discussion group which has been meeting, in one form or another, for over half a century. There are no assigned topics; we discuss whatever is on participants’ minds. Our meetings are currently on Zoom. Join the Zoom meeting: us02web.zoom.us/j/6912937135?pwd=WVlpMEs1SCs0c1FoZk5seUhoREVaZz09. Meeting ID: 691 293 7135. Password: berkeley. Hosted by Kevin Langdon, kevinlangdon86/a/t/yahoo.com. PC (RSE 4 Su)

25 – Wednesday

6p Atlas of AI Book Discussion. We are reading Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence by Kate Crawford, one chapter a week. This week we’re reading Chapter 4, Classification. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup (meetup.com/sfmensa/events/290197752/). Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE W)

26 – Thursday

11:45a South Bay Lunch. See January 12. (RSE 2,4 Th)

27 – Friday

6:30p Virtual Happy Hour. Mix up your favorite beverage. Bring out some happy-hour munchies and join us for a virtual relaxing time. RSVP on Meetup for the Zoom Link. Hosted by Judy Unger, junger2040/a/t/gmail.com. PC (RSE 4 F)

28 – Saturday

6p Online Board Games. See January 16.

29 – Sunday

12n Cafe Discussion: Ethics of the privatization of the public good, e.g. public utilities. How does it relate to “the theft of the commons”? When is it a good or bad thing and why? To what degree is it inherently or in implementation linked to public corruption? See January 1. (RSE Su)

31 – Tuesday

5:45p Drinks, Dinner, and Neuroplasticity at Hopmonk Tavern, 224 Vintage Way (Vintage Oaks Shopping Center), Novato 94945, www.hopmonk.com/novato. Wonderfest is coming back to the Hopmonk Tavern in Novato! January’s presentation is on Neuroplasticity. We’ll meet for dinner at 5:45p, then at 6:45p we’ll move to the session room for a talk by Dr. Linda Wilbrecht, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at UC Berkeley, who will discuss “sensitive-period brain plasticity” and its implications for education. Complete details of this free event are at wl.seetickets.us/event/Wonderfest-Neuroplasticity/516601?afflky=HopMonkNovato. RSVPs are helpful to get a right-sized table, but are not required. RSVP on the SFRM Meetup group. You can also e-mail Valerie at northbay/a/t/sfmensa.org, subject “Marin Mensa”. PC, NMPCW, WCE, NS, NC, NXM

February 1 – Wednesday

6p Atlas of AI Book Discussion. We are reading Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence by Kate Crawford, one chapter a week. This week we’re reading Chapter 5, Affect. This is a Zoom event. The login details are listed on Meetup (meetup.com/sfmensa/events/290197760/). Hosted by Pia Smith. PC (RSE W)

4 – Saturday

6p Start The Month Right. See January 7. (RSE 1 Sat)