​**Please note that these sessions are currently for Ruby members only**

​As everything speeds up and roars through 2025, it can be more challenging than usual to find moments of quiet and stillness. As a much needed antidote to busyness, it’s my pleasure to offer 12:30 pm yoga classes at The Ruby on Wednesdays.

​Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or a brand new beginner, these classes will offer a space to combine breath, movement, stillness, and surrender. The classes will be an accessible, heartful flow with some music and some silence. There will be plenty of room to dial it up or dial it down, depending on what you need from the class. I find that writing as a practice and yoga as a practice have many synergies, and I hope these classes will mark the beginning of accessible and affordable community yoga at The Ruby!

​PLEASE NOTE: The classes are donation-based on a sliding scale from $10-$30 (Marissa's Venmo: @Marissa-Mika). No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

​Class will be held on the 2nd floor, classic Ruby space.

​About the Instructor

​Marissa Mika has been on the yoga mat since 2010 and teaching since 2019. She’s studied and practiced with Yoga Like Water in London, Point Reyes Yoga in the Bay Area, and Yin Yoga with Corina Benner in Philadelphia. You can read more about Marissa and her approach to practicing and facilitating yoga here.

​Class Notes:

• ​Doors close for each class 10 minutes after the start of the course to prevent disruptions to the class.

• ​The Ruby has yoga mats for you to borrow (held in our storage room next to the kitchen) though you are welcome to bring your own!

Come join the Ruby Writing Accountability Group! A warm and welcoming community to support each other on our projects!

​Looking for a supportive writing community without the hassle of applying for workshops and retreats? Join The Ruby’s Writing Accountability Group!

​All Rubies are welcome, whether you are journaling, just beginning to explore your writing, working on a poetry collection or zine, or grinding on the umpteenth revision of your manuscript – no matter where you are in your practice, you’ll find a friendly community here.

​The Writing Accountability Group is an accessible complement to the writing workshops, residencies, fellowships, and conferences that writers have traditionally relied upon to improve their craft and build community. Often these opportunities are pricey and time-consuming, and many have limited availability. For writers with limited time, applying for and attending these opportunities can even take time away from the writing itself! This group is our solution to these challenges.

​During the first 30-45 minutes, a Ruby member will lead a short craft or generative exercise, after which we will break and spend the remaining time working independently on our own writing (though you are always welcome to skip the exercise in favor of focusing on your writing the whole time). You can attend these sessions as often or as infrequently as you’d like; there’s no commitment to join every time.

​Our craft talks and generative exercises are wholly led by group members! In the past, we’ve had exercises around closely reading a short story, prompts to help us think about our writing from a different perspective, generative exercises using memes, and even discussions around writing goals and struggles. Leading a session is a great way to enrich our community with different craft approaches and activities that improve all of our writing – and you’ll have our support along the way! We’ll also be on hand to help you introduce the exercise once everyone gets settled in.

​Can’t join us in-person? There will be a virtual session the Last Monday of each month!

​Whenever you’re feeling discouraged with the writing or publishing process, we’re here to give you a boost!

​This is an intimate group of Ruby members**

Come join the Ruby Writing Accountability Group! A warm and welcoming community to support each other on our projects!

​Looking for a supportive writing community without the hassle of applying for workshops and retreats? Join The Ruby’s Writing Accountability Group!

​All Rubies are welcome, whether you are journaling, just beginning to explore your writing, working on a poetry collection or zine, or grinding on the umpteenth revision of your manuscript – no matter where you are in your practice, you’ll find a friendly community here.

​The Writing Accountability Group is an accessible complement to the writing workshops, residencies, fellowships, and conferences that writers have traditionally relied upon to improve their craft and build community. Often these opportunities are pricey and time-consuming, and many have limited availability. For writers with limited time, applying for and attending these opportunities can even take time away from the writing itself! This group is our solution to these challenges.

​During the first 30-45 minutes, a Ruby member will lead a short craft or generative exercise, after which we will break and spend the remaining time working independently on our own writing (though you are always welcome to skip the exercise in favor of focusing on your writing the whole time). You can attend these sessions as often or as infrequently as you’d like; there’s no commitment to join every time.

​Our craft talks and generative exercises are wholly led by group members! In the past, we’ve had exercises around closely reading a short story, prompts to help us think about our writing from a different perspective, generative exercises using memes, and even discussions around writing goals and struggles. Leading a session is a great way to enrich our community with different craft approaches and activities that improve all of our writing – and you’ll have our support along the way! We’ll also be on hand to help you introduce the exercise once everyone gets settled in. If you have an idea for a future session (even if you don’t want to lead it yourself).

​Whenever you’re feeling discouraged with the writing or publishing process, we’re here to give you a boost!

​This is an intimate group of Ruby members**

​**Please note that these sessions are currently for Ruby members only**

​As everything speeds up and roars through 2025, it can be more challenging than usual to find moments of quiet and stillness. As a much needed antidote to busyness, it’s my pleasure to offer 12:30 pm yoga classes at The Ruby on Wednesdays.

​Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or a brand new beginner, these classes will offer a space to combine breath, movement, stillness, and surrender. The classes will be an accessible, heartful flow with some music and some silence. There will be plenty of room to dial it up or dial it down, depending on what you need from the class. I find that writing as a practice and yoga as a practice have many synergies, and I hope these classes will mark the beginning of accessible and affordable community yoga at The Ruby!

​PLEASE NOTE: The classes are donation-based on a sliding scale from $10-$30 (Marissa's Venmo: @Marissa-Mika). No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

​Class will be held on the 2nd floor, classic Ruby space.

​About the Instructor

​Marissa Mika has been on the yoga mat since 2010 and teaching since 2019. She’s studied and practiced with Yoga Like Water in London, Point Reyes Yoga in the Bay Area, and Yin Yoga with Corina Benner in Philadelphia. You can read more about Marissa and her approach to practicing and facilitating yoga here.

​Class Notes:

• ​Doors close for each class 10 minutes after the start of the course to prevent disruptions to the class.

• ​The Ruby has yoga mats for you to borrow (held in our storage room next to the kitchen) though you are welcome to bring your own!

​Hey Rubies! This is a virtual session of the Non-Narrative Writing Group!

​We will use the pomodoro method to write for two 50-minute long sessions, with a 10 minute break in between. You are welcome to join to work on any writing project whatsoever, and we encourage anyone who needs it to come in with a specific goal and needs to be held accountable to that goal.

​**Please note that these sessions are currently for Ruby members only**

​As everything speeds up and roars through 2025, it can be more challenging than usual to find moments of quiet and stillness. As a much needed antidote to busyness, it’s my pleasure to offer 12:30 pm yoga classes at The Ruby on Wednesdays.

​Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or a brand new beginner, these classes will offer a space to combine breath, movement, stillness, and surrender. The classes will be an accessible, heartful flow with some music and some silence. There will be plenty of room to dial it up or dial it down, depending on what you need from the class. I find that writing as a practice and yoga as a practice have many synergies, and I hope these classes will mark the beginning of accessible and affordable community yoga at The Ruby!

​PLEASE NOTE: The classes are donation-based on a sliding scale from $10-$30 (Marissa's Venmo: @Marissa-Mika). No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

​Class will be held on the 2nd floor, classic Ruby space.

​About the Instructor

​Marissa Mika has been on the yoga mat since 2010 and teaching since 2019. She’s studied and practiced with Yoga Like Water in London, Point Reyes Yoga in the Bay Area, and Yin Yoga with Corina Benner in Philadelphia. You can read more about Marissa and her approach to practicing and facilitating yoga here.

​Class Notes:

• ​Doors close for each class 10 minutes after the start of the course to prevent disruptions to the class.

• ​The Ruby has yoga mats for you to borrow (held in our storage room next to the kitchen) though you are welcome to bring your own!

Join authors Kate Folk and Brittany Newell in conversation on their recent novels, Sky Daddy and Soft Core. Hosted by Mechanics’ Institute and co-sponsored by The Ruby!

A special tour will be held for the Rubies at 5:00 pm prior to the talk!

About Sky Daddy

Linda is doing her best to lead a life that would appear normal to the casual observer. But on the last Friday of each month, she indulges her true passion, taking BART to SFO for a round-trip flight to a regional hub. Linda knows that she can’t tell anyone she’s sexually obsessed with planes. Nor can she reveal her belief that it’s her destiny to “marry” one of her suitors, uniting with her soulmate plane for eternity. But when an opportunity arises to hasten her dream of eternal partnership, and the carefully balanced elements of her life begin to spin out of control, she must choose between maintaining the trappings of normalcy and launching herself headlong toward the love she’s always dreamed of.Both subversive and unexpectedly heartwarming, Sky Daddy hijacks the classic love story, exploring desire, fate, and the longing to be accepted for who we truly are.

“Sleek and darkly comical . . . with the melancholic wit and whimsy of Miranda July.”—The Boston Globe

About Soft Core

Ruth is lost. She’s living in a drafty Victorian with her ex-boyfriend Dino, a ketamine dealer with a lingerie habit, overdosing on television and regretting her master’s degree. When she starts dancing at a strip club, she becomes Baby Blue, seductress of crypto bros, outcasts, and old lovers alike. Plunged into this swirling underworld of beautiful women, fast cash, ungodly hours, and strangers’ secrets, Baby’s grip on reality begins to loosen. She is sure she can handle it—until one autumn morning when Dino disappears without a trace.

Thus begins a nocturnal quest for the one she still loves; a brutally funny, propulsive story of power, fantasy, love, and loss, Brittany Newell’s Soft Core is an ode to the heartbroken and unhinged, to those whose appetites lead them astray.

“Vivid . . . Exhilarating . . . Soft Core is pacey and rich, full of verve, drama and detail.” —The New York Times Book Review

About the Speakers

Kate Folk is the author of the novel Sky Daddy and the short story collection Out There. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, n+1, The New York Times, Granta, and The Baffler, among other venues. A former Stegner Fellow, she’s also received fellowships and residencies from MacDowell, the Headlands Center for the Arts, and Willapa Bay AiR. She lives in San Francisco.

Brittany Newell is a writer and performer living in San Francisco. Her debut novel Oola was published in 2017, and her second novel Soft Core was published in February 2025 to much acclaim. From 2017-18 she wrote a regular column on gender and sexuality for Dazed Digital. You can find her written work in Granta, n+1, The New York Times, Joyland and Playgirl. She was a recipient of the San Francisco Arts Commission's Individual Artist grant for artists serving under-represented communities and runs a monthly drag and dance party called Angels at Aunt Charlie's Lounge with her wife Maria Silk and Myles Cooper.

RSVP

Come join the Ruby Writing Accountability Group! A warm and welcoming community to support each other on our projects!

​Looking for a supportive writing community without the hassle of applying for workshops and retreats? Join The Ruby’s Writing Accountability Group!

​All Rubies are welcome, whether you are journaling, just beginning to explore your writing, working on a poetry collection or zine, or grinding on the umpteenth revision of your manuscript – no matter where you are in your practice, you’ll find a friendly community here.

​The Writing Accountability Group is an accessible complement to the writing workshops, residencies, fellowships, and conferences that writers have traditionally relied upon to improve their craft and build community. Often these opportunities are pricey and time-consuming, and many have limited availability. For writers with limited time, applying for and attending these opportunities can even take time away from the writing itself! This group is our solution to these challenges.

​During the first 30-45 minutes, a Ruby member will lead a short craft or generative exercise, after which we will break and spend the remaining time working independently on our own writing (though you are always welcome to skip the exercise in favor of focusing on your writing the whole time). You can attend these sessions as often or as infrequently as you’d like; there’s no commitment to join every time.

​Our craft talks and generative exercises are wholly led by group members! In the past, we’ve had exercises around closely reading a short story, prompts to help us think about our writing from a different perspective, generative exercises using memes, and even discussions around writing goals and struggles. Leading a session is a great way to enrich our community with different craft approaches and activities that improve all of our writing – and you’ll have our support along the way! We’ll also be on hand to help you introduce the exercise once everyone gets settled in.

​Can’t join us in-person? There will be a virtual session the Last Monday of each month!

​Whenever you’re feeling discouraged with the writing or publishing process, we’re here to give you a boost!

​This is an intimate group of Ruby members**

Are you interested in writing your or your family’s migration story? 

In this workshop you will: 

• Explore personal and family archiving practices 

• Create an individual vision board from copies of personal and family documents, imaginative sketches and fragments of writing 

• Begin a longer-form writing project from the vision board, helped by prompts and fun communal activities 

• Leave with a sense of how you might expand your work 

We welcome beginner and experienced writers alike. You do not already need to have a project in mind to join. 

The workshops will take place at The Ruby, a gathering space and collective of Bay Area nonbinary, transfeminine, and woman-identified creatives. 

The workshop will be co-run by local artists and Ruby members Rebeca Abidaíl Flores and Alexia Nader. This event is supported in part by Poets & Writers. Founded in 1970, Poets & Writers is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization serving creative writers.  

About the Facilitators 

Rebeca Abidaíl Flores is a Salvadoreña and Mexican American artist from Fresno, CA. She writes stories and makes large scale sculptures. Her creative fellowships include, the Latinx Teaching Artist Fellow at Root Division as well as the Teaching Artist at the University of San Francisco. She’s been an artist in residence at Story Knife, Laureate Lab Visual Wordist Studio with Juan Felipe Herrera. Literary work can be found in publications like El Tecolote, Your Impossible Voice, and The Acentos Review.

Alexia Nader is a writer from Miami, Florida. She is currently working on her first novel, a multigenerational story about the lives of three women in a Lebanese-Haitian-American family, and received a 2023-2024 Steinbeck Fellowship to support its completion. Her fiction has been published in Your Impossible Voice, her poetry in Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, and her criticism and journalism in Los Angeles Review of Books, The Nation, and The New Yorker, among other outlets. She teaches creative writing at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts and works for Writopia Labs, a nonprofit organization that provides creative writing workshops to children. 

Health & Accessibility 

This event is open only to vaccinated individuals providing proof of vaccination to be inclusive of our immunocompromised and caregiver members. Masking is highly encouraged. Joining this event requires walking up a set of stairs. Please let us know if we can help you up the stairs. Additionally, this event is aligned and dedicated to The Ruby’s mission of building community and safe spaces among people who identify as women, non-binary, and trans. 

Cost 

Feel free to drop in for one session, but we will be developing our works over the course of two sessions (8/17) and (8/24). This workshop will be offered at a sliding scale with a base materials fee of $10 to go toward printing and art supplies for our vision boards. Please give what you can. We work to continue to have workshops be as accessible as possible. All proceeds to support the artists and The Ruby.

Ticket: $20-$40 for one workshop, $30-$70 for both workshops

Ruby member price: $15 for one workshop, $25 for both workshops 

RSVP

Come join the Ruby Writing Accountability Group! A warm and welcoming community to support each other on our projects!

​Looking for a supportive writing community without the hassle of applying for workshops and retreats? Join The Ruby’s Writing Accountability Group!

​All Rubies are welcome, whether you are journaling, just beginning to explore your writing, working on a poetry collection or zine, or grinding on the umpteenth revision of your manuscript – no matter where you are in your practice, you’ll find a friendly community here.

​The Writing Accountability Group is an accessible complement to the writing workshops, residencies, fellowships, and conferences that writers have traditionally relied upon to improve their craft and build community. Often these opportunities are pricey and time-consuming, and many have limited availability. For writers with limited time, applying for and attending these opportunities can even take time away from the writing itself! This group is our solution to these challenges.

​During the first 30-45 minutes, a Ruby member will lead a short craft or generative exercise, after which we will break and spend the remaining time working independently on our own writing (though you are always welcome to skip the exercise in favor of focusing on your writing the whole time). You can attend these sessions as often or as infrequently as you’d like; there’s no commitment to join every time.

​Our craft talks and generative exercises are wholly led by group members! In the past, we’ve had exercises around closely reading a short story, prompts to help us think about our writing from a different perspective, generative exercises using memes, and even discussions around writing goals and struggles. Leading a session is a great way to enrich our community with different craft approaches and activities that improve all of our writing – and you’ll have our support along the way! We’ll also be on hand to help you introduce the exercise once everyone gets settled in. If you have an idea for a future session (even if you don’t want to lead it yourself).

​Whenever you’re feeling discouraged with the writing or publishing process, we’re here to give you a boost!

​This is an intimate group of Ruby members**

​**Please note that these sessions are currently for Ruby members only**

​As everything speeds up and roars through 2025, it can be more challenging than usual to find moments of quiet and stillness. As a much needed antidote to busyness, it’s my pleasure to offer 12:30 pm yoga classes at The Ruby on Wednesdays.

​Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or a brand new beginner, these classes will offer a space to combine breath, movement, stillness, and surrender. The classes will be an accessible, heartful flow with some music and some silence. There will be plenty of room to dial it up or dial it down, depending on what you need from the class. I find that writing as a practice and yoga as a practice have many synergies, and I hope these classes will mark the beginning of accessible and affordable community yoga at The Ruby!

​PLEASE NOTE: The classes are donation-based on a sliding scale from $10-$30 (Marissa's Venmo: @Marissa-Mika). No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

​Class will be held on the 2nd floor, classic Ruby space.

​About the Instructor

​Marissa Mika has been on the yoga mat since 2010 and teaching since 2019. She’s studied and practiced with Yoga Like Water in London, Point Reyes Yoga in the Bay Area, and Yin Yoga with Corina Benner in Philadelphia. You can read more about Marissa and her approach to practicing and facilitating yoga here.

​Class Notes:

• ​Doors close for each class 10 minutes after the start of the course to prevent disruptions to the class.

• ​The Ruby has yoga mats for you to borrow (held in our storage room next to the kitchen) though you are welcome to bring your own!

​Please join us for our May in-person workshop! This group is oriented towards writers, researchers, journalists, bloggers, and anyone working on non-narrative writing.

​For this meeting, we will be workshopping a paper draft written by Eesha Ramanujam. We will send out a copy of the draft to you after your RSVP.

Are you interested in writing your or your family’s migration story? 

In this workshop you will: 

• Explore personal and family archiving practices 

• Create an individual vision board from copies of personal and family documents, imaginative sketches and fragments of writing 

• Begin a longer-form writing project from the vision board, helped by prompts and fun communal activities 

• Leave with a sense of how you might expand your work 

We welcome beginner and experienced writers alike. You do not already need to have a project in mind to join. 

The workshops will take place at The Ruby, a gathering space and collective of Bay Area nonbinary, transfeminine, and woman-identified creatives. 

The workshop will be co-run by local artists and Ruby members Rebeca Abidaíl Flores and Alexia Nader. This event is supported in part by Poets & Writers. Founded in 1970, Poets & Writers is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization serving creative writers.  

About the Facilitators 

Rebeca Abidaíl Flores is a Salvadoreña and Mexican American artist from Fresno, CA. She writes stories and makes large scale sculptures. Her creative fellowships include, the Latinx Teaching Artist Fellow at Root Division as well as the Teaching Artist at the University of San Francisco. She’s been an artist in residence at Story Knife, Laureate Lab Visual Wordist Studio with Juan Felipe Herrera. Literary work can be found in publications like El Tecolote, Your Impossible Voice, and The Acentos Review.

Alexia Nader is a writer from Miami, Florida. She is currently working on her first novel, a multigenerational story about the lives of three women in a Lebanese-Haitian-American family, and received a 2023-2024 Steinbeck Fellowship to support its completion. Her fiction has been published in Your Impossible Voice, her poetry in Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, and her criticism and journalism in Los Angeles Review of Books, The Nation, and The New Yorker, among other outlets. She teaches creative writing at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts and works for Writopia Labs, a nonprofit organization that provides creative writing workshops to children. 

Health & Accessibility 

This event is open only to vaccinated individuals providing proof of vaccination to be inclusive of our immunocompromised and caregiver members. Masking is highly encouraged. Joining this event requires walking up a set of stairs. Please let us know if we can help you up the stairs. Additionally, this event is aligned and dedicated to The Ruby’s mission of building community and safe spaces among people who identify as women, non-binary, and trans. 

Cost 

Feel free to drop in for one session, but we will be developing our works over the course of two sessions (8/17) and (8/24). This workshop will be offered at a sliding scale with a base materials fee of $10 to go toward printing and art supplies for our vision boards. Please give what you can. We work to continue to have workshops be as accessible as possible. All proceeds to support the artists and The Ruby.

Ticket: $20-$40 for one workshop, $30-$70 for both workshops

Ruby member price: $15 for one workshop, $25 for both workshops 

RSVP

This is a relaxed monthly session for anyone who enjoys or wants to start zine-making or journaling, or other forms of diaristic expression! We’ll open up the session with introductions, a conversation about our artistic practices and goals, and an optional creative prompt to get us started. The rest of the time will be spent writing, drawing, planning,  reflecting, and/or creating. The Ruby will provide paper, magazines, art supplies, and some zines and journal spreads for inspiration. We welcome you to bring your own journals, materials, and tools of choice!

*This is an intimate gathering of Ruby members

​**Please note that these sessions are currently for Ruby members only**

​As everything speeds up and roars through 2025, it can be more challenging than usual to find moments of quiet and stillness. As a much needed antidote to busyness, it’s my pleasure to offer 12:30 pm yoga classes at The Ruby on Wednesdays.

​Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or a brand new beginner, these classes will offer a space to combine breath, movement, stillness, and surrender. The classes will be an accessible, heartful flow with some music and some silence. There will be plenty of room to dial it up or dial it down, depending on what you need from the class. I find that writing as a practice and yoga as a practice have many synergies, and I hope these classes will mark the beginning of accessible and affordable community yoga at The Ruby!

​PLEASE NOTE: The classes are donation-based on a sliding scale from $10-$30 (Marissa's Venmo: @Marissa-Mika). No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

​Class will be held on the 2nd floor, classic Ruby space.

​About the Instructor

​Marissa Mika has been on the yoga mat since 2010 and teaching since 2019. She’s studied and practiced with Yoga Like Water in London, Point Reyes Yoga in the Bay Area, and Yin Yoga with Corina Benner in Philadelphia. You can read more about Marissa and her approach to practicing and facilitating yoga here.

​Class Notes:

• ​Doors close for each class 10 minutes after the start of the course to prevent disruptions to the class.

• ​The Ruby has yoga mats for you to borrow (held in our storage room next to the kitchen) though you are welcome to bring your own!

Ruby Fiber Arts returns!

​Join Ruby Erica Kwan for an evening of Fiber Arts!

​For those new to knitting (or who haven't knitted in awhile), we can help teach the basics to get you started. Experienced knitters, bring your WIP. Let's create together! Crocheters, macrame artists, cross-stitchers, and yarn-lovers in general are most welcome as well. (As are spectators who could use a chill time to connect and share!)

​*This event is for Ruby members and their invited guests

RSVP link will be available soon

Come join the Ruby Writing Accountability Group! A warm and welcoming community to support each other on our projects!

​Looking for a supportive writing community without the hassle of applying for workshops and retreats? Join The Ruby’s Writing Accountability Group!

​All Rubies are welcome, whether you are journaling, just beginning to explore your writing, working on a poetry collection or zine, or grinding on the umpteenth revision of your manuscript – no matter where you are in your practice, you’ll find a friendly community here.

​The Writing Accountability Group is an accessible complement to the writing workshops, residencies, fellowships, and conferences that writers have traditionally relied upon to improve their craft and build community. Often these opportunities are pricey and time-consuming, and many have limited availability. For writers with limited time, applying for and attending these opportunities can even take time away from the writing itself! This group is our solution to these challenges.

​During the first 30-45 minutes, a Ruby member will lead a short craft or generative exercise, after which we will break and spend the remaining time working independently on our own writing (though you are always welcome to skip the exercise in favor of focusing on your writing the whole time). You can attend these sessions as often or as infrequently as you’d like; there’s no commitment to join every time.

​Our craft talks and generative exercises are wholly led by group members! In the past, we’ve had exercises around closely reading a short story, prompts to help us think about our writing from a different perspective, generative exercises using memes, and even discussions around writing goals and struggles. Leading a session is a great way to enrich our community with different craft approaches and activities that improve all of our writing – and you’ll have our support along the way! We’ll also be on hand to help you introduce the exercise once everyone gets settled in.

​Can’t join us in-person? There will be a virtual session the Last Monday of each month!

​Whenever you’re feeling discouraged with the writing or publishing process, we’re here to give you a boost!

​This is an intimate group of Ruby members**