My idea for friends of Al (FOA)

My idea for friends of Al (FOA), is to have a group where every member is either a personal friend or someone on the way to become a personal friend, not a so called internet or web friend but an actual old fashion, real-life friend where we facilitate our face-to-face interactions with the meetup software. I hope to have a small but growing group of people with whom I can have a personal interaction. FOA is not about quantity it is about quality. This group my never be larger than 5 or 10 people. I hope we are a very diverse group.
People in this group will like to think and learn and then meet with others to study more. We can talk, walk and socialize together. We are interested in current events, science, technology, art, music -- the past , present and future -- what ever! With your feed back I will plan our events to meet our interests.

I am a learning machine -- are you? I want to Google everything and everybody!
The greatest invention in the world is that you can highlight text anywhere and then Google it!
Everyday I get very interested in several new topics. I will use the message board here as a sort of a blog. You can do the same. For every new idea I get, I will start a new discussion on the message board. Every time I have a question I will make a series of questions in the polling area. If you want any help on how to use the meetup software call me( Al, cell: 510 396 9303) or email me at rogers.alvin@gmail.com

We like questions and love to speculate. We are not constrained by topic. I will schedule a new meeting every time I think of an interesting topic or question or activity. Our meetings will all all over the map. Every time I see a bench or a room somewhere I will think about a meetup there.
What was it like in Carl Sagan's critical thinking class?
Is there life on other planets? Have aliens ever been to earth?
What was Edison really like. Why was he the big inventor and not me?
What is Steve Job's place in History.
Can we get The other Steve to join our group?
How can 20,000 genes provide all the information to construct a human being?
What about X chromosome inactivation and X-linked diseases in men vs women?
What is happening in the smithlab at Stanford?
What is another science writer on par with David Bainbridge?
Is sexual selection a form of natural selection?
Is emotional intelligence a valid concept?
Does music therapy work, OK lets jam!
Issues in Autism and Asperger's
What about the National Parks. I just went to Yellowstone. Great fun!

Recent Books:
Our Inner Ape by Frans De Waals
The relationship Cure by John Gottman
Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child by John Gottman
Teenagers by David Bainbridge
The End of Over Eating by David Kessler
The X is Sex by David Bainbridge
Intelligence and How to Get It by Richard E. Nisbett

Using meetup
How can we get the best use out of the meetup software features.
How to best use the message boards and the polls.
I want us to be as high tech as possible.
I hope every one with put up at least one picture and hopefully several. Also I hope every one will put some effort into their profile. Why? Because I have a hard time developing a personal relationship with a grey box with out a profile.