Event Setup

Rules, or How it Usually Goes

You are welcome to bring your partner, just let me know and give them my number. By tradition that helps focus on individuality, those who come together sit separately.

The dress code is dressy casual, creative outfits or refined simplicity are welcome. Leave your shoes on (hard floors). Often, we open windows for air circulation, so please consider additional layers of clothing.

Please bring your favorite drinks and easy to handle plant-based snacks, however avoid strong aroma and single-use plastics. It is usually a small potluck with finger food served in the middle of the table or Swedish style. We will prepare simple refreshments. Most of the time, I make floral and herbal infusion (with many fresh ingredients).

We gather in one large room. For games, we usually sit in a circle around a table. If we are under 8, we can sit in armchairs with head support around a coffee table. When over 12, we pull two tables together. When over 18, we sit in a big semicircle around an empty "stage" place.

Please let me tell you what these gatherings are not: not traditional board game nights, not a promotional or networking events, not dinner parties, not drug parties, and it is not for a quick date search.

Nowadays, these events are by invitation only, which are sent via text (SMS) or email. Please tell me within 3 days whether you are coming. This way, in case you RSVP "no," I have a chance to invite someone who may live further away or is less familiar with the crowd. Please send me a note if you would like to attend, but I have not messaged you for some reason. There are no fees of any kind, of course, all events are free and do not require any money exchanges.

The Place

Location and Parking

We meet in Oceanside, California, the Airport neighborhood, North of 76 and Benet or Foussat, on a hill behind a small river. The house is on the right, close to the round end of the short destination street.

You should find the street parking easily. There is a big streetlight to the left of the house, the front door is to the left of the garage, the narrow path to it should be motion-detector lit. The ring bell is to the left from the door, under the lamp.

The events are usually inside with an option to step out into the garden. Caution: in the garden, please step only on the white stones for yours and the seedlings' safety. For a picnic or plein air, please have sun, wind, and cold protection.

Kitchen and Bathroom

The open kitchen is to the South, to the right from the entry. Filtered water is from the top refrigerator dispenser (push activated). All glasses and plates are in a glass shelf by the bigger kitchen window. All silverware is in a big drawer to the right of the refrigerator. Please take what you need.

The guest bathroom is in front of the main entry, diagonally to the left (North), with optional individual hand towels, toothpicks, and other hygienic items in the wall mirror cabinet.

Why I Organize Informal Gatherings

The idea is to see those we like and miss as often as possible. We love to see multiple friends but have only one weekend a month for which we can plan a bit ahead, so one solution is to bring everyone together, even if some have not met each other yet. The group tends to be always different, which makes it more interesting.

Why at home? It is not easy to find a suitable place for a crowd to talk. Cafés and restaurants have many restrictions on tables, noise, open times, and can be loud and expensive for some. By chance, moving back to San Diego County, we found a place with a nicely divided living spaces.

Why conversations? Unlike board games, talk games are scalable, adoptable, and requires that everyone participates, which is good. We used to go in circles and free style, now I would like to give everyone a choice how the game moves forward. I prefer that we come up with questions ourselves because I had awesome experiences, but cool conversational games are welcome. And as I admitted to some of you, most board games are boring to me.

Why discussing serious topics? The current format arose from a mix of experiences with more formal secular gatherings, fun parties, fruit sharing, and meetings with three local intellectual discussion groups. Despite not having all qualities for being a good host, I dared to organize events for friends, humanists, filmmakers, fruitarians, vegans, artists, and a couple of times for a local conversational group. I am not an entertainer by nature, I just think that letting people experience each other in a free and safe setting is well worth my time. Even if I fail here and there, being together can be so beautiful.

I enjoy a good discussion a lot. I grew up in a subculture where people visited each other regularly in small and bigger groups and had candid conversations. My parent's friends' children and I were largely nurtured by the ideas from the ongoing philosophical debates, with all paradoxes and character knowledge they tend to reveal. In some way, I want to integrate the best styles of experiencing each other from Europe into my different culture here, and maybe you might like it.

Please share your view of the world, influence the flow of conversations, and, if needed, adjust it to your moral convictions with persuasion. Please stay concise and ready for an opposing argument. When free-minded personalities interact, "magic" happens, so do co-create our reality.

Hope you feel joyful, free, and understood in our company!