Thursday, March 28, 2024

Fantasies, I'm Not Perfect and a Retrospective - finding our waypoint at EarlyBirds



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Jim G. led us on a path of fantasy.  We discovered that...
* TM Aleta converses fluently with a hiperclean Possum Family in her backyard - and they ended up snatching her into another dimension in front of our very eyes.
* TM Gail wants her superpower to be the capacity to sleep for 72 hours straight instead of doing algebraic calculations all night about her forthcoming icebreaker speech.
* I, Ana, revealed my weirdest dream where my late first husband and my current husband gyrated their single head in a perfect replica of The Exorcist.
* TM Marie wants cherry vanilla gelato for breakfast and was last seen headed for Baskin & Robbins.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.
* TM BeckyJo proclaimed to be Cherry Garcia in the flesh, head of a rockin'roll band of iceacream, backed by a mint chocolate chip bassist and a salted caramel electric guitar.
* TM Terri has an unusual talent for telling others what to do and for fixing them - she thinks.  The only problem is no one listens so she's had to find another waypoint.

We heard  two icebreakers today...

* TM Randolph analyzed who he's been, who he will have been, who he may have been, who he would consider being and concluded that perfect parents are those who do NOT have children... He Won Best Speaker Award.
* TM Jarrett gave us a life retrospective flashback in the best Tim Burton style which took us back through the decades to his days as a toddler alternating meals of black beans and platanitos and corned beef and cabbage.  

As far as evaluations...

* DTM Mary Helen praised TM Randolph's unwavering faith in his own beloved mother, who was seriously understaffed while raising 6 children!!  She Won Best Evaluator Award.
* TM Tom encouraged TM Jarrett to share with us how he met his wife in Rainesville before heading for the Taj Mahal. 

The Word of the Day was

WAYPOINT, noun
A point of reference that can be used for location or navigation.
Example: The hikers finally reached their waypoint on the trail only to find out it was now called Checkpoint Bobby.

Here's the link to the recording...

ZOOM-Youtube Broadcast

DUES ARE DUE !!  Please visit toastmastersinternational.org, log into your account and click on Renew in the right upper corner.  Or, call TM Chris.

See you next week!

Ana I.
Waypoint Seafarer at the Buoy

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Visuals, Humor and Zoom Faux Pas: an accentuated morning at EarlyBirds!



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Jarrett was formally inducted into our Club - and immediately voluntold to evaluate one of our speakers.  Not a moment to waste.  Welcome TM Jarrett!

TM Chris accentuated that a picture is worth a thousand words and we soon learned that...

* TM Tom likes Hawaiian pink frangipani (plumeria to horticulturalists) but his all-time favorite hereditary inclination are orchids, bar none (daytime drinking not accentuated).
* I, Ana, can't for the life of me tell the difference between an unpink flamingo, a gray swan and a anhinga (known to Floridians as a snake bird) waiting to wade in propane gas heated waters.
* TM Jarrett is highly allergic to cats who eat almonds but enjoys seeing funny memes of felines climbing on oak trees.
* TM Paolo lives in the heel of the Italian boot so he's closer to Fort Lauderdale, the Venice of America, than to Venice, the Fort Lauderdale of Italy.  He Won Best Table Topics Award..
* TM Ellie is a devoted fan of  Ken - of Ken and Barbie - after seeing Ryan Gosling at the academy awards.
* TM Gail is advertising TM Chris and TM Jim's photoshopping classes which focus on realistic appendages.  She urges the Princess of Wales to sign up for their course.

Along came prepared speeches...

* TM Ricardo shared the gross medieval origin of humor stemming from black cholera and bubonic plague fluids and then had us in stitches - no medical analogy- with jokes from hither and thither.
* TM Jim G. accentuated jokes and zoom faux pas from the days when the most overused expressions were  "Can you hear me?" and "You're muted!" (even when you weren't and we could hear the unhearable).  He Won Best Speaker Award.

We had two fabulous evaluations...
* TM Jose praised TM Ricardo's international joke repertoire and suggested he lower his eyeglasses to the tip of his nose to avoid camera glare and adopt a more academic jokemaster image.  
* TM Jarrett accentuated TM Jim's gestures and suggested he take off his wedding ring to avoid sending secret signals to his other half, which she ignores anyway.   He Won Best Evaluator Award.

.The Word of the Day was

ACCENTUATE, verb
Make more noticeable or prominent
Focus attention on
Bring, call, draw attention to

Example: Ecologic dishwashing liquids accentuate the need to thoroughly pre-rinse dishware and glassware while you sing
You got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mr. In-Between....

The link to the recording is below


See you next week!

Ana I.
Recap Accentuator






Thursday, March 14, 2024

Prevaricators, Equivocators and Quibblers - nothing but embellished truths at EarlyBird Toastmasters



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

We inducted our newest member, TM Gail.  Welcome aboard!  

Without wasting any time, we showed off our unequivocal truthtelling skills....

* TM Aleta's ex, ironically named "Spike" was a lineman for the county and built her a 3-story treehouse on a Pennsylvania Sequoia, where Aleta currently resides and breeds frequent flyer snakes.
* TM Chris panned for gold in the Yukon, befriended a pet porcupine and bonded with a Sasquatch Bigfoot Yeti with magical powers who returned her to her gold-digging parents.  She Won Best Tall Tales  Award.
* TM Tom owned a bar for immigrants called Ellis Island smack in downtown Casablanca and sold the movie rights to the producer of Grand Hotel.
* DTM Mary Helen is not sure which language she's learning but Babel Live has brought her BFF Ghanan poligamist Prince Money Moody Gumbo while DTM Jim ponders it all...
* DTM Jim D. is a self-proclaimed word -and scotch - massager who wants to fly again on Aeropol Pot #13 with VIP Xerob and Chairman SplashScotchIfThere'sNo Vodka.
* I, Ana, am volting for the Man From Paris, who is currently running for Woke Mayor of Miami Beach for the proliferation of black beans and platanitos.
*  TM Jose traveled to hallowed sites like Benghazi and Tripoli, Libya, where oil sprinklers abound and now that Gaddafi is RIP, are converted into Olive Oil for Caesar Salads.

Because the order .does not alter the product (or so said my Math teacher back in the day), we then had Table Tropics, led by TM Aleta.  We soon learned that....

* TM Pam is having margaritas and singing La Cucaracha in honor of Mexico's Patron Saint, San Patricio.  Viva Chimichanga!
* TM Marie will spend Easter being Holy and gobbling down the perfect marriage - chocolate bunny ears combined with peanut butter.  Or what's a heaven for???
* TM Randolph is spending Spring Break searching for food at a Broward Fairground just a block away from home with his foodie kids.  No Elbo Room for him, no sireeee!
* TM Ricardo is planning a Toastmasters 100-year celebration in a Pacific deserted island.  All we need is a grammarian and Ah Counter.
* TM Gail West is hiring a computer savage maid to do her spring cleaning while she luxuriously sits in a hotel balcony overlooking the ocean.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.
* TM BeckyJo mostly watches her garden keenly and intently and she looooves weeds, which provide food for bees and thus she supports the Nature Channel.

General Evaluator TM BeckyJo read Yoodlie (Artificial Intelligence, better than Natural Stupidity)'s Ah Counter report:  Everyone scored 25 Ahs or more, 35 Errrs or more and 40 You knows in the course of the meeting.  She marveled at our group's capacity to tell the truth, the complete truth and nothing but the truth - so don't help us God!

The Word of the Day was

PREVARICATOR, noun

A person who speaks falsely; a liar
A person who avoids precise truths, a quibbler, an equivocator.

Example:  TM Pam is in direct competition with her prevaricator Rain Bird sprinkler timer for internet stability.  Rain Bird prevails, most of the time.

Here's the link to the recording:


Equivocally submitted,

Ana I.
Recap Fibber


Thursday, March 7, 2024

Manipulating Time, Accentuate the Positive and Publicity Squad - an incipiently fun morning at EarlyBirds!


Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

We received the Club Inspection visit of our Area Director, DTM Tim M.  Our hefty bribes paid off - we passed with flying colors!

I, Ana, started us off by confronting the starkly incipient advent of Daylight Savings Time.  At the end, the process became clear as mud...

* DTM Mary Helen doesn't even need kids and pets who can't tell time because she's got a permanent menagerie in her mind.
* DTM Tim is precise like a Swiss watch to set his clocks on military time.
* Incipient TM Gail is not a morning person, so being at EarlyBirds is as productive as her Daylight Savings Time will ever get.
* TM BeckyJo has learned to change all her clocks, use AI, install software, traverse computer systems and is joining The Geeks Squadron.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.
* Incipient TM Barry has offered to give DTM Tim a crash course on understanding military time.
* TM Randolph is leading  an activist movement to start Daylight Savings Time  on Friday at 4 pm.

Along came the prepared speeches...

* TM Pam has guts, grits and werewithal to acctivate her confidence gene, which is sometimes on a dimmer switch.  She Won Best Speaker Award.
* TM Aleta claims doing Evaluations has enabled her to hear a pin drop in a thunderstorm.  For real.

As far as evaluations.go...

* TM The Tom praised TM Pam for not succumbing to her recalcitrant water pump which  almost modified her planned tombstone epitaph.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.
* TM Terri applauded TM Aleta's use of pompons as realia (objects and materials from everyday life, used as teaching aids) and was last seen headed to a sports outlet to buy some.

The Word of the Day was

INCIPIENT, adj.
Beginning to come into existence or to become apparent.

Example:  The funnel clouds signaled the arrival of a nasty tornado.  Run for it!

Next week the theme is TALL TALES - where everything goes.... except the truth!

Here's the link to the recording:

See you next week!

Ana I.
Incipient recalcitrant indomitable Recap Writer


Thursday, February 29, 2024

Weather music, Sparkles, Righting Writing and Yuletide Hero - a sanguine morning at EarlyBirds!



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Marie did a thoughtful invocation based on yogi tea bags. 

DTM Mary Helen - before ziplining across the Honduran Mexican border-  led us in weather-related musical topics.  We soon discovered that...

* TM Marie can no longer howl at the full moon from her back yard because it's blocked by all the newly-erected tall buildings.  She now howls from her front sidewalk.
* TM Pam's back yard is suffering from a sprinkler crisis, hoses, tubes and craziness - and it's being paved with $5 bills.
* Guest Barry avoids the perfect storm by staying in the sun which puts a smile on his face while he oversees 15 miles of Prague from his very own balcony.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.
* TM Chris has seen fire and has seen rain, and the sunny days that she though would never end, and she firmly believes that rain is the stuff of life.
* TM Jose lives in Javea, Spain - aka Drought City - and prays nightly for rainfall between 11 pm and 6 am so he can go boating with straight sunshine from 11 am to 5 pm every day.  Listen up, God of Rain!

Along came three prepared speeches...

* TM Terri took us on an enchanted outing in the Enchanted Island where she became a bioluminescent fairy who struggled to get back on the kayak - all in the name of son-bonding.
* TM Tom shared that he transfers his myopic mind's sorrows onto a piece of paper with Palmer-style cursive.  He Won Best Speaker Award.
* Guest Speaker TM Dana taught us how to diffuse a Yuletide Family Feud by becoming a Yuletide Superhero, while competing with National Lampoon's Christmas decorations.

As far as evaluations....

* TM Pam asked TM Terri to consider dumping the powerpoint and concentrating on avoiding aquatic creatures in dark waters, no matter how much they sparkle.
* TM Chris applauded TM Tom for being proof positive that cursive handwriting once existed and oxblood red ink is cathartic to get rid of emotional baggage.
* TM BeckyJo praised TM Dana's capacity to navigate that most difficult family conflict which centers around creating a Winter Wonderland in the middle of the Oklahoma desert.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

SANGUINE, adj.
Optimistic or positive in an apparently bad situation.

Example:

True Confessions:  TM BeckyJo did declare that she is sanguine AND choleric, meaning she doesn't know where she's going but she's definitely inflexible about it.

Here's the link to the recording:


See you next week!

Sanguinely submitted,

Ana I.
Recap Writer. .



Thursday, February 22, 2024

George's Birthday, Topic Tips and Tunnel Vision - a serendipitous morning at EarlyBirds



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

After a beautiful sea glass invocation by DTM Jim D., and some eerily  familiar marriage jokes by TM Terri, we embarked on intriguing table topics by TM Pam revolving around the Father of our Country.

We soon discovered that...

* TM BeckyJo knew some myths about Washington but knew way more about Martha's housemaid who ran away to die a free woman in Massachussetts without wooden teeth.
* DTM Jim D.'s father was born on Washington's birthday, his mother on Columbus Day and he, Jim, was born on Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  So there.
* TM Jarrett spent last Monday hoping that they invent Banking holidays and include them in Corporate America's calendar, sheesh!
* TM Terri had a daydream of buying a GE or SubZero French double-door refrigerator with a silhouette reminiscent of George Washington's Mount Rushmore effigy.  
* TM Marie confessed that she's a wolverine who howls at the moon and has subsequently become a lunatic of the first caliber.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.  She also debunked the wooden teeth myth and stated George's dentures were made of ivory tusks.
* TM Chris started a club contest where members voted that she and TM Jim must open that dusty $50 bottle of wine regardless of the pesky scale.  A votre sante!

And then we had prepared speeches...

* TM Aleta gave us helpful tips to address dreaded topics with non-glare glasses and a hocus pocus where's my focus attitude.  She Won Best Speaker Award.
* I, Ana, first-time Zoom stander, told about Henry Kinney the visionary journalist who ended up being a tunnel.

As far as evaluations go....

* TM Jose praised TM Aleta for her vast capacity to rein the audience in, give us helpful hints to respond when we have no idea what we have been asked.  It's really an art!
* TM Marie asked me fervorously to find another Zoom location or get rid of my ceiling fan because the blades look like cranial propellers. She Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

SERENDIPITY, noun

Good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries.

Example:  Serendipitous geography joined some of us EarlyBirds together, converged us into a Denny's back room; and the pandemic joined us virtually from different hemispheres and latitudes.  Who would have thunk????

Here's the link to the recording:.

Best wishes to our representatives at the Contest this Saturday!

See you next week,

Ana I.
Recap Writer


Thursday, February 15, 2024

Match Game, Arboretum Botanicus, Sequential Magic Carpet Ride - a non-enervating morning at Toastmasters!



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

What a fantastically fun meeting!  TM Aleta brought us back to the days of Family Feud, with a Table Topics Match Game.  We soon discovered that...

* TM Chris gets all sugary around her sugarbabe while degustating sugar cubes - out with artificial sweeteners!
* TM BeckyJo actually worked for the mouse, although she thought he was a strange dude.  Minnie was ok but oh boy his friend Goofy.... and then they put her to drive a tram so she decided she better get a college degree.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.
* TM Marie stated otherwise, but she knew far too well how to fake sounding sick to make us believe she never called in sick to work.  Cough, cough, sniffle, sniffle.  Hummm.....
* TM Terri keeps everything in her car - and we mean everything- so her home is actually minimalist and she parks in her own living room.
* I, Ana, had plenty of runs in my pantyhouse but shattered the puritan heritage of the descendants of pilgrims who were aghast when I displayed bare legs in summer.
* DTM Mary Helen likes all musical things but her favorite is to dance to shake and rattle with her DTM counterpart, in the midst of a rolling earthquake.

And then we heard a prepared speech....

*TM Pam lives in a 9B/10A Zone and recommends planting Quercus Virginiana, Cupressus (with Rogaine hair growth to overcome baldness), Prunus Caroliniana, Carya Illinoimensis and Bursera Simaruba to support pollinators and rejuvenate Ground Zero in Old Town Hall.  She Won Best Latin Speaker Award.
* We heard a replay of Kip's Sequential Story from May, 2022, in which those present participated to ride a magic carpet while all smoking funny things and getting the munchies at 7 am Eastern Standard Time.  It's truly worth watching the video today because it's like the Sixties.... you know the rest of that saying.

As far as our evaluation...

* TM Emmanuel praised TM Pam for her agrarian forestry rejuvenation schemes and suggested pausing and varying the Toner to allow the age-defying invigorating humidifiers to penetrate the epidermis.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.
* DTM Jim D. simply said "LET'S DO ONE AGAIN" about the highly sensical sequential Table Topics 

The Word of the Day was

ENERVATE, verb

To sap someone or something of physical or mental vigor, vitality or strength.

Example:  Toastmasters protects us from becoming enervated by helping us release our otherwise pent-up self-expression.  Clear as mud....

The recording for today's meeting is here


See you next week!

Ana I., Recap Writer



Thursday, February 8, 2024

Black History Month Quotes, Corporate Secrecy and AI - an audacious morning at EarlyBirds!



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Marie launched us off with some thought-provoking topics by or about blacks.

We discovered that...

* TM Terri is grateful that as a 6-year-old she was sent alone to the US from her native Cuba because it made her the audacious person that she is today.  She's proud to be an American, where at least she knows she's free (sung to the tune of "God Bless America")
* TM Jose reminded us that character equals to face adversity and overcome fear, a shining example being the US military ground troops. He's proud to be an American, where at least he knows he's free (sung to the tune of "God Bless America").   He Won Best Table Topics Award.
* TM The Tom knew of baseball legend Jackie Robinson who had to face racial discrimination with a great display of character.
* Guest Jarrett wants to live a poetic life and is following the dreams set forth by renowned poet Kahlil Gibran.
* I, Ana, was a chronic complainer but, unlike my late mother-in-law, I was able to find enough music in musicals.
* TM Chris found that humanity is everywhere - the uppity French were kind to her on 9/11 and urged Jim and her to brush up on their French by reading Le Monde, parbleu!
* TM Aleta looks back at her achievements and is able to overcome her fleeting moments of feeling inept and irrelevant.
* TM BeckyJo remarked that words are powerful- they can create or they can destroy.  MLK Jr. chose love and was audaciously inspirational!  And she has officially notified us that she will use AI for her next Table Topic reply.

Along came "The Dueling Jims" with their prepared speeches...

* DTM Jim D. revealed the mystery behind Liggett Corp in NC and Moscow, hidden behind attorney-client privilege, which was broken by Ben, the Marlboro Man, and whereby bodyguards were offered and declined while the ugly truth was revealed.  Now half the planet is strictly on doobies.  He Won Best Speaker Award.
* TM Jim G. prefers Artificial Intelligence over Natural Stupidity to prepare Toastmaster speeches.  By golly, you can write your speech while you idly wait to get your tooth extracted at the dentist.  

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Pam reconfirmed to herself that money buys silence and praised DTM Jim D. for revealing the dirty secrets of corporate America and encouraged him to channel TM Paolo - wild hand gestures, use of graphics, extremely Italian vocal variety.  .
* TM Paolo lauded TM Jim G. for an educational speech and asked him PER FAVORE not to start the speech by announcing the speech since the Toastmaster already did that.  And, conclude the speech with THUNDER.  GRAZIE GENTILMENTE.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

AUDACIOUS, adj.

confident, daring, bold and surprising

Example:  It's pretty audacious for a modern-day politician to pretend they're very honest and transparent.  Puaffff!

Here's the link to the recording:


See you next week!

Ana I.
Audacious Recap Writer



Thursday, February 1, 2024

Choices, Master Chef and Pathways Culmination - an educational program at EarlyBirds



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

Returning TM Emmanuel inspired us with an uplifting invocation. Welcome back, Manny!

I, Ana, led Table Topics about CHOICES.

* TM Emmanuel looooves cold weather, so much so that he moved to Wisconsin for a few years; however, for vacations he prefers the Caribbean.
* TM BeckyJo likes cappuccino and crumpets - or better yet, cappuccino, cappuccino, cappuccino.
* DTM Jim D. is retired and spends his days dreaming of Death by Chocolate desserts oozing fudge and chocolate syrup.
* TM Jose likes the best of both - soccer and football.  It just depends which side of the pond he's on... A man for all continents!.
* DTM Mary Helen is currently a city bumpkin and enjoys watching the reservoir near her home and pretending she is a country girl.
* TM Pam is undecided whether to fly or cruise amid the invasion of iguanas that have proliferated in South Florida.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.
* TM Chris likes blackjack, blackjack, blackjack and reminisces about the days when $20 could last a whole day in a Lake Tahoe casino - today a quotidian recipe for financial disaster.

Regarding the prepared speeches...

* TM Marie donned an apron and exposed us to her failed recipe for SALTIBARSCIAI (Lithuanian Cold Beet Soup) and Mrs. T's pierogis, a booming business started by Marie's  great uncle's neighbor's au pair.   She Won Best Speaker Award.
* TM Aleta traced her adventures in Pathways, including 17 icebreakers, where she finds that self-motivation is more challenging than encouraging others.  She's currently working on her 11th - and last existing - Pathway.  Editors at HQ are busy inventing more Pathways....  We love ALL your speeches, please keep them coming!

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Paolo likes 'barbabietole' (beets in Italian) and praised TM Marie for her vocal variety, tone, projection, pitch.  He gave some flora decorating tips and asked her to wear a colorful chef hat, perhaps to match the beet soup color.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.
* DTM Mary Helen was inspired by TM Aleta's motto 'keep on keepin' on' in spite of her non-quotidian self-doubts and praised TM Aleta's cleverness in titling her speeches to then take us in another direction and averting potential strife.

The Word of the Day was

QUOTIDIAN, adjective

Occurs every day or routinely.

We learned it in 3 languages - cotidiano (Spanish), quotidien (French) quotidiano (Italian).  Step aside, Babbel!!

Example:  E un evento quotidiano;  Es un evento cotidiano;  C'est un evenement quotidien.  TM BeckyJo is a quotidian because she quotes a lot.  So there!.

Here's the link to the recording:


See you next week!

Ana I.
Recap Writer






Thursday, January 25, 2024

What the Dickens, A Purpose-Filled Life - A Vivacious Evaluation Contest at EarlyBirds



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

Our Test Speaker, TM Bianca, delighted us with a purpose-filled speech about a purpose-filled life.  The answer?  Love, joy and be a go-giver.  Go-getters please abstain from signing up to be Test Speakers!

Our participating evaluators exceeded all expectations:

* TM Paolo praised TM Bianca's elegance, eloquence and confidence and asked her to step back and redirect the angle of the camera to inspire us more.  He Won First Place.
* TM The Tom asked TM Bianca to show the HOW to attain those goals and talk more about regrets, if any, while standing back from the camera.  The camera distance seems to be a recurring male thing.
* TM Terri liked the logical progression of achievements and the emphasis on spiritual principles that guide us coupled with TM Bianca's vivacious gestures.  She Won Third Place.
* TM Marie highlighted TM Bianca's enriching questions aimed at the audience, suggested she stand up to enhance vivacious gestures and avoid 'gonnas" and the like. She Won Second Place.

While we waited for the Contest Judge to count and recount the hanging chads and votes,  TM Aleta woke us all up with classical quotes from The Second Bard (aka Charlie Dickens) and we were to discover that...

* TM Chris rightly believes that attitude is what makes us perceive the same event either negatively or positively.
* TM Bianca has been bent, broken, reinvented, reshaped, flexed and remolded and the result was a vivacious person who focuses on what she can do.
* TM Terri believes giving is better than receiving and it is our sacred duty to give to the homeless and the poor, but make sure it's an honest charitable organization!
* TM Tom sees the world through the filter he was taught as a boy and agrees that no one is useless if they can lighten someone's load.
* TM BeckyJo shed some copious tears in her life, on the front pew at church, where no one intruded in her tears, and thus she made space for God's grace.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.
* I, Ana, stated that the trifles of life make the spice of life but the best is not to sweat the small stuff, and it's all small stuff anyway!
* TM Pam confessed that she is at a mashed potatoes level, not at an ethereal level, and that's the best thing she's ever done.
* TM Marie likes mutual respect when dealing with those who share her blood and those who give and receive her blood.
* TM Paolo could not fan the sinking flame of hilarity with the wing of friendship and pass the rosy wine because he's still recovering from transatlantic mid-aiir imbibing of a good rose on an Alitalia flight.

The Contest was conducted rather smoothly in spite of a few pesky technical glitches, handled seamlessly by our Chief Judge TM Pam S. 

The Word of the Day was

VIVACIOUS, adjective
Happy and lively in an appealing way.
Example:  EarlyBirds Toastmaster is certainly a vivacious group of Thursday morning early risers.

Below is the link to the recording


See you next week!

Ana I.
Vivacious Recap Writer

Thursday, January 18, 2024

National Days, Progress Not Perfection, Find Your Voice, Let's March! A libertarian meeting of EarlyBirds



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

Our International Speech Contest took off with a great invocation by TM Terri about 
C L A R I T Y !!!

Voting was a real challenge because all our contestants were fabulous!!

* DTM Mary Helen focused on New Year's Resolutions, after concluding that growing up she was a Rebel Without A Clue.... and she still writes grocery lists while riding Uber to the airport.  She Won Third Place.
* TM Chris became a lawyer in flower power Berkeley, handled divorces in Haight-Ashbury and finally found her passion in computer teaching and soulmate TM Jim G.  She teaches while singing a capella.  She Won Second Place.
* TM Paolo related to Roman Cicero and especially the Greek Demostenes, who overcame stuttering and commanded the masses to march into war while eating moussaka and gyros.  He Won First Place and will represent our Club in the February 24 Area Contest.  Congratulations Paolo!!!

While the votes were being counted and recounted (after all, some of us are in Florida), TM Marie delighted us with some National Day table topics.  We discovered that...

* DTM Jim D. reminisces about Vernors' Ginger Ale, Sanders'  Ice Cream and Hot Fudge, but Detroit is waaay too snowy, icy, frosty and coldy for him.  Hello, Florida!  Bye Bye Michigan!!  
* TM Jose thoroughly practiced Know Your Customer while in Sales, but now he's become a Libertarian who hangs up on telemarketers while feeling lots of compassion for them.  Ahhh the joys of retirement!!  He Won Best Table Topics Award.
* I, Ana, a self-designated wordsmith, have a neurotically keen eye for detecting typos and misspellings (except my own) and will emulate TM Marie in reading segments of Roget's Thesaurus every night before bedtime while using one of Roget's slide rules.
* TM Terri likes Dunkin Donuts coffee, not only on National Gourmet Coffee Day but every day - although she is switching to tea for medicinal... oops. meditative purposes.  Her new motto is "It's tea for me!"
* TM Aleta credits her avoidance of yo-yo weight gain/loss to her intensive woodchopping, brush clearing, timber logging, bonfire building, mulch distributing... while doing jumping jacks and cartwheels on her property.  It works!
* TM Ricardo's motto for 2024 is "Avoid Procrastination" and he plans to get started... some time... later... much later.

Our next TLI (Toastmasters Learning Institute) is scheduled online for:  Saturday February 3 in the morning hours.  Login details to be forthcoming.

The Word of the Day was

LIBERTARIAN, noun

Someone who is more culturally liberal than a Democrat, and more fiscally conservative than a Republican.  Methinks.  They believe in a limited role of government.

Example:  Rand Paul and John Stossel are well-known Libertarians who resist the expanding, all-encompassing role of Big Brother in our lives and other aromatic by-products.

The Contest ran very smoothly, the ballot submissions were flawless and our Club moves forward.... Let's March!!!

Here's the link to the recording:



With a libertarian flavor,

Ana I.
Recap Writer

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Fwd: AARP Topics, The King and I and Mentoring - an assiduous morning at EarlyBirds!





Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

DTM Mary Helen got us thinking about a variety of topics, and we found out that...

* I, Ana, left behind the disease of "more" and as I've aged, I look for satisfaction in things money can't buy....
* TM Terri pursued a banking career and fate had her professional life detour into a rewarding career teaching inner city kids.
* TM Ricardo asked governments to stop printing money to drive down inflation.  Argentina's government is trying to do just that!  We're praying for success.
* TM Marie puts love into every situation.  She tries to love the unloveable - such as the 70 year old celebrating in the Playboy Mansion South vapid theme.  P u h l e e e a s e !
* TM Pam urged us to call now or request calls.  It is a Limited Time Offer for real.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.
* TM Paolo asks the experts (us) every week, and it's what the Topic Master is doing right now.  We have the best communication skills of all the clubs he knows.
* TM Aleta asks herself very often why did that get so expensive?  She tries to deflect that sad truth by looking at the big picture.
* TM BeckyJo proposes investing 1/1000 of nothing into nothing because it is so cheap! Hop on the bandwagon, people, and be done with it.  Make the bitcoin millionaires, billionaires.

Along came the prepared speeches...

* TM BeckyJo had us in for a surprise as she recounted rolling down Suicide Hill with a ball of humidity in her DJ hand, to honor the passing of The King, the most prolific musician of the universe.  She Won Best Speaker Award.
* TM Pam likened inducing childbirth in her pool by feasting on mangoes to mentoring others in Toastmasters by teaching them how to take the Pathway of La Leche Dynamic Presentation.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Terri was totally surprised to learn that Elvis was the real King of Siam.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.
* TM Paolo enjoyed TM Pam's ride to a time when there was no internet, no cells, no texting, no tweeting.  How did we ever manage?

TM Ricardo was first-time Ah Counter and beat humankind's male record of accomplishing 2 things at the same time.  Go Ricardo!!

The Word of the Day was

ASSIDUOUS, adjective

Showing great care and perseverance

Synonyms:  diligent, industrious

Example: Politicians are NOT very assiduous in searching for facts and figures.

Next week is our International Speech Contest.  Come one, come all !!

Below is the link to the recording:


See you next week!

Ana I.
Assiduous Recap Writer




Thursday, January 4, 2024

Ethics, A Beautiful Smile and Resolutions - a vertiginous morning in EarlyBirds!



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Terri led us in a heartfelt, uplifting invocation.

TM Aleta had us wear our thinking caps  with thought-provoking topics on various aspects of ETHICS:

* While flying in a helicopter, DTM Jim D. realized that ethical behavior begins at the top, way above bank and tax fraud, amidst the pristine clouds.
* TM Terri refused to be part of a made-up, inflated teacher roster to fake teacher-student ratios in the public school system.
* TM The Tom was that rare specimen, an ethical lawyer, who taught his clients to explore the benefits/burdens of their choices.
* TM Paolo, speaking from his Italian Man Cave, has enough diversity and inclusion with his 6 children, as diverse as they come and insisting on being included!
* TM Ricardo stated that ethical technology is a tricky thing, due to so many unclear workarounds, as witnessed at his last consulting job.
* TM Jose pondered on the consumer changes our children will face in our vertiginous society in order to create nuclear fission with the approval of OPEC after taking a quantum leap.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

Along came the prepared speeches...

* I, Ana, researched and expounded on the beautiful smiles of gringos, due to outstanding dentistry..  We have come a long way from the ivory and gold teeth of our first President George Washington!  Brush, slush, gargle, floss - to get rid of the moss.   I Won Best Speaker Award.
*, DTM Mary Helen reconfirmed the challenges of following New Year's Resolutions.  She has a list of 72 foods to avoid and I personally think if she alphabetizes her list, she'll be able to adhere to her resolutions.  Therein lies the solution.

As far as evaluations are concerned..

* DTM Jim enjoyed my speech but asked me, for the umpteenth time, to stop flailing my notes in front of the camera! I just don't listen.
* TM Paolo praised DTM Mary Helen for making an art of preparing for the unprepared and asked her to put more drama into the salutation.  He Won Best Evaluator Award..

The Word of the Day was

VERTIGINOUS, adjective

Causing vertigo, especially by being extremely high or stepp
Relating to or affected by vertigo
Rapid ascent or descent

Example:  As we age, life goes by at vertiginous speed.  Like the trite and vulgar saying goes, "like when you're reaching the end of a roll of toilet paper".

Here is the link to the recording:


See you next week!

Ana I.
Vertiginous Recap Writer