Good Afternoon and welcome to the Portland C99 meetup announcement and general info, as well as what I hope is a fun little discussion of philosophy.

Since I have realized that it's been far too long since we had a Portland Meetup. A small area where just for a few minutes even, we can step away from the chaos and enjoy the company of our fellows.

So with that in mind, I humbly suggest that we meet at Cartlandia (Edit: Linked to the wrong Food Pod). It's got a nice open area where I'm sure they wouldn't mind if a few folks sat down and had a fun discussion. Pretty sure the Cart Owners would be happy for the business, and my absolute favorite "The Pancake Underground" is usually there. Course, there's always Cheesesteak Nirvana, and if you want to do the tourist thing Voodoo Doughnut is there too. Anyway, the weather looks beautiful so far, and I hope this works for the rest of my PDX C99ers.

Thinking Next Weekend Either Friday, Saturday or Sunday, Depending on availability. Feel free to chime in with what works for you. Right now, I'm penciling in Noon on Saturday the 7th, but that's totally open. I'm pretty free that weekend, so look forward to talking with my friends.

So, on that note, the open topic of philosophy, I'd like to bring in the concept of Eudaimonia. And I gotta admit, I'm with the Stoics on this one.

To me, this concept seems both limiting, and extremely liberating at the same time. Socially, of course, this tends to limit the interaction and respect for society, but the focus on the self is actually extremely civic minded. The idea of reaching your full potential as a human being leaves no space for the accumulation of things that will separate you from that, and thus reduces the incentive to screw over your fellow man for a profit. In many ways it's similar to Buddhism's concept of rejecting desire. (Forgive me if I am understanding that wrong.)

However, the liberation in no longer searching to be better than your fellow man strikes me as particularly appealing. Ironically, the freedom from social pressure adopting this mindset affords has resulted in me becoming more socially accepted and out and about in the community. (Went from Getting out of the house approximately 3 or 4 times a month for maybe one to three hours, to getting out of the house that many times a week and for considerably longer.)

And I haven't watched anything if hasn't been a social event. Yes, I am rapidly realizing that television is much more powerful propaganda if you don't have somebody sitting next to you, and confirming with you that it is indeed bullshit. Thinking about it, that may be the worst part of TV. It takes a social event (Theater) and turns it into a private event. Everyone faces the machine alone, as the TVs became cheaper, and everyone got to pick their own brand of Propaganda to be enjoyed... alone.

So, thoughts on the date and time? Or thoughts on the topic? Or just thoughts in general, All are welcome.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDK9QqIzhwk]