Spooky, spookier and spookiest - a ghoulish Early Bird meeting

 Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

I, (TM Ana) launched us off into the supernatural.  We heard that….

 

• TM Pam has been called a witch with another consonant and she takes it as a compliment  – just shows she’s a powerful woman.
• Old wizard DTM Kip fiddles with love potions and his favorite occupation is flirting with damsels in distress.
• TM Joe and wife passed the ultimate test of a marriage – canoeing together in dismal circles.  That’s why they’re still married after 40 years.
• TM Jeff is an unbeliever but his Mother more than makes up for it with plenty of supernatural apparitions of her own on any given day.
• I (TM Ana) was startled at being self-called and hallucinated about a Muscovy duck who invented the preternatural Pumpkin Macchiato of our caloric nightmares.
• TM Carmine knows a few millionaires in Lighthouse Point and was swallowed into the ether before his séance was over.
• TM Marie casts a spell every time she speaks and more than ever today she displayed the dichotomy of a beautiful woman haunted by a canal rat lurking in her midst.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

 

Then came the prepared speeches…

 

• TM Jose talked about healthy conflict resolution where all parties agree to disagree.  Do we want to be right or do we want to be happy?  That is the question…
• TM Jim Ghould gave a beautiful rendition in his baritone voice of The Raven.  Lenore, Lenore, nevermore…. It included a raven in his virtual background.  He Won Best Speaker Award.
• TM Aleta shared about a labor arbitration case where a mean custodian created a hostile work environment through use of a snake … and it wasn’t even Halloween!

 

Regarding the evaluations….

 

• TM Jeff commended TM Jose for his calm, soothing voice and clarity of expression and will use the tenets of the speech to resolve conflict in the weeks to come.
• TM Tom was impressed with TM Jim’s impeccable rendition of The Raven.  It turns out Lenore was the 13-year-old wife (and cousin of E. A. Poe).  “Vice is nice, but incest is best”, the old adage goes.
• DTM Mary Helen nominated TM Aleta for Supreme Court Justice.  I, for one, support the nomination.   She Won Best Evaluator Award.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

PHOBIA, noun

 

An extreme or irrational fear.

 

Example:  Hydrophobia is a fear of water.  Autophobia is a fear of being alone.  Phobias come in multiple flavors and varieties.  Pick your favorite.

 

Several members dressed for Halloween and great fun was had by all!

 

Our perennial guest from South Africa,  Denis M., is joining our club as a member.  Welcome Denis! 

History, Bloggers and Mentoring, fun was palpable at EarlyBirds today!

 

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

TM Tom started us off with quaint expressions.  We learned that…

 

• TM Marie will build dream catchers to catch evil spirits… just for the devil of it!
• DTM Mary Helen likes to take on a dare if given half a chance, or was it her evil twin who didn’t chicken out?  We never know who’s who.
• TM Carmine thinks we are all pretty as a picture on the screen and marvels at the fact that our Timer (TM Jose) transcends space and time.
• TM Denis just threw out a bunch of old buckets this very week because they simply don’t hold water anymore.
• TM BeckyJo, like her mother did with her, asks her 150 foreign children “What part of No don’t you understand?” and in fact they don’t even understand the question because that’s why they’re foreigners.  “Mirror mirror on the wall, I am my mother, after all”. 
• I (Ana) and all the neighborhood dogs have picked up our ears at the piercing whistling of my husband’s old hearing aids.  Thankfully he got himself a new pair.  I Won Best Table Topics Award.
• TM Aleta pondered whether the inside track refers to planes, trains or automobiles, and after much pondering decided to stay on the inside track of Toastmasters.

 

As for the prepared speeches…

 

• TM Jeff gave us a history of his hometown Portland, CT, once the cradle of brownstone quarries but in more recent times, caved (no pun intended) to the advent of Portland Cement (which originates in the Isle of Portland, UK, not in Portland, Oregon, the latter being nothing more than palpable name plagiarizers of Portland, CT).
• TM Chris has discovered that the secret to success in blogging is not to repeat secrets, so listen carefully, she will only tell you once.
• DTM Kip said mentoring is the palpable dream of Toastmasters’ High Command and differs from New Member Orientation.  The answer is that when the teacher is ready, the student appears.   He Won Best Speaker Award.

 

And then we got to the evaluations….

 

• TM Carmine suggested more passion and vigor in TM Jeff’s fascinating tale of brownstone quarries and shipbuilding.
• DTM Jim D. was at a loss for words because TM Chris’s speech was a perfect oral blog and hence his evaluation skills were palpably superfluous.
• TM Joe thoroughly enjoys DTM Kip’s casual style delivery and will adopt Kip’s philosophy of total contempt for those who disagree with Kip.   He Won Best Evaluator Award.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

 

PALPABLE, adjective

 

A feeling so intense it seems almost plausible

Able to be touched or felt.

 

The camaraderie among EarlyBirds this morning was palpable.

 

Our Tech Host, TM Jim G., informed us that poll voting is anonymous, so let’s not be bashful - we can unabashedly vote for ourselves!!

 

In honor of Halloween, next week is our SPOOKY meeting.   Bring a spooky Table Topics, a spooky Speech, a spooky Evaluation.  Dress up or be your usual self – anything goes.  Seriously,  let’s have some spooky fun!!!

Omens, Conflict, Avian Lessons and Musical Back to the Future - Be Prepared at EarlyBirds!

 

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

TM Pam launched us off with a series of omens.   We thus learned that….

 

• I, (Ana) no longer believe in salty superstitions and will soon deliver a speech on The Curse of the Broken Salt Shaker.   I Won Best Table Topics Award.
• TM Jeff broke a mirror while remodeling the manatee section of his bathroom and he’s all the better for it.  So much for THAT superstition!
• DTM Jim D. perched in Alaska, not only ponders about Haley’s Comet and the immortality of the crab but actually sees Aurora Borealis from his hotel window.
• TM Jim G. is convinced that the Rainbow’s End is a motel somewhere in Fort Lauderdale, not in Livingston, TX as he previously thought.  He continues to search.
• TM Carmine whistles when he passes the Pompano Cemetery and urges all of us to do the same, especially on Halloween.  It keeps the goblins at bay.  It’s a fact.
• TM Joe has never seen a shooting star, in spite of those crazy family summer vacations of yesteryear when he had to look for his father’s lost car keys instead of looking at the open skies. He’s had a blessed life, though, so this superstition is undoubtedly the exception that confirms the rule….

 

We had excellent prepared speeches…

 

• TM Jose gave us some great pointers regarding conflict – the main one being a that good offense is offensive and  “let’s agree to disagree” works slightly better.
• TM Marie learned some valuable life lessons from none other than her beloved late macaw, Sailor, who could not be fooled by wooden eggs, recovered from her abusive childhood and became happily addicted to fruit cups.  She Won Best Speaker Award.
• DTM Mary Helen regaled us with a musical retrospective starring the twins from Gary, Indiana, originating with Que Sera Sera On A Good Ship Lollipop.

 

As far as evaluations go….

 

• DTM Kip will definitely and unequivocally map TM Jose’s speech to a Pathways Pathway and encouraged TM Jose to deliver the same speech twice which safeguards him (Jose) from finding a new topic.
• TM Aleta praised TM Marie for her heart-rendering tale of her friendship with her beloved pet, Sailor, which contained great life lessons for all of us who don’t have macaws or are mate-confused.
• TM Chris highlighted DTM Mary Helen’s down memory lane musical speech and asked her to incorporate karaoke into it, and more Doo-Wap Doo-Wap.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

 

BE PREPARED

Meaning: Be Prepared

Example:  Be Prepared to take on any role when you arrive at EarlyBird on any given Thursday.  Keep a stack of Crib Sheets handy to face up to any eventuality.

 

Below is the link to today’s recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-WUvjN91ag

 

See you next week!

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Idioms, Pathways, Storytelling and Cross-Cultural Labrynths - a fun day at EarlyBirds!

 

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

Topicmaster Tom started us with American idioms, and we learned that…

 

• TM Pam no longer knows what roughing it means.  Finding a blemish on a lettuce leaf at the grocery store is the closest she comes to roughing it.
• Visiting TM Denis took us on a descriptive sailboat ride on the Atlantic Ocean when cats and dogs started raining during a squall.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.
• DTM Jim D. knows his retirement is over and done with for the 7^th time.  It’s simply an ineffable concept that totally eludes him.
• TM Marie learned to fly to take her mind off her pesky pregnancy.  Her first solo was such an ineffable feeling so her motto became fly by day, fly by night, fly anytime.
• TM Jose is bright eyed and bushy tailed after partying all night because Madrid does not believe in EarlyBird risers.  The sidewalks aren’t even set up until later in the morning.
• TM Joe settles on something because he’s impatient and can’t stand the uncertainty of pondering on issues.  It’s made for some ineffable choices.

 

In prepared speeches….

 

• TM Tom thinks Pathways has an intrinsic design flaw.  They use the term ‘launch’ loosely – and then what?  It’s ineffable but not much more.  Hearty congratulations is what’s missing!
• The undersigned (Ana the Recap Writer) recapped 70 years of life into a 5 minute and 40 second speech.  I’ve had a lot of practice.    I Won Best Speaker Award.
• DTM Kip is an aficionado of Toastmasters, wine, movies and travel.  He’s shed his Southern self-image emerging from a bucket of fried chicken. Instead, he’s become a latte-sipping liberal.

 

As far as evaluations….

 

• TM Aleta praised TM Tom for his motivational determination to decipher Pathways.  She suggested he look more at the camera and use more gestures.
• TM Joe really liked my (Ana)’s speech.  He is now officially a member of my fan club.  Bribery pays.
• TM Pam highlighted DTM Kip’s ability to focus on the internal rather than the external and reminded him it’s not PC to say Injuns anymore.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

INEFFABLE, adj.

 

Incapable of being expressed or described in words.

 

Example:   The word of the day was used very frequently at the ineffable meeting today.

 

We are deeply grateful to our Tech Gurus, TM Jim and Chris G., for battling low bandwiths, internet (and at times mental) instability, dull backgrounds and other minutae and ineffably joining our meeting today all the way from unknown but highly scenic Bushnell, Florida.

 

TM Joe G. will represent us at the Humorous Contest on Saturday October 10 at 9 am EST.   Please show your support and contact our latte-sipping liberal icon in the North Carolina cabin for login info.   Good luck, Joe, and have fun!

 

See you next week!

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Wild Rides, Manholes at the Hotel California - an inordinately fun EarlyBirds meeting

 

Dear Members, Guests and Friends:

 

I, (Ana) started us off with a few of our favorite things.  We learned that….

 

• TM Jose took us on a wild ride in his first car, a tiny SEAT 600 (the Spanish version of the FIAT 500) otherwise known as a can of sardines that packed up to 7 and all passengers had to get off to push the vehicle uphill and had to walk down the other side of the hill before jumping back in.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.
• TM Priya’s all-time favorite vacation is the staycation, where she dreamily gets in touch with nature, snowy sceneries and enjoys the absolute best company – herself.
• Since the age of 10 or 11, TM Joe’s favorite sport is soccer. He coaches a little league in his city, runs around the field with the young ‘uns and then pays for the inordinate joy the next morning tending to sore muscles and crackling joints.
• DTM Jim D.’s favorite childhood tv show was Howdy Doody Time, full of puppets and zany characters which helped him learn how not to deal with reality- an inordinately useful  skill in his currently stressful job.
• TM BeckyJo recognizes that she is sometimes a self-appointed pontificator to family and friends, although she prefers to call herself an encourager.  She does not inordinately ramble on when the  eyes of the encouraged start rolling backward in their sockets.

 

And along came the prepared speeches….

 

• TM Tom was initially frozen solid about virtual toastmastering but thanks to the kindness of tecchie group members has mastered the art of digging himself out of the technology manhole.  He Won Most Improved Speaker Award.
• TM Aleta described her meteoric trajectory in our club, mentored by trailblazer Virginia Hettinger, who taught her that she could lead this club, although like Hotel California, she could never leave it.  Thus, Aleta remained a virtual member for several decades before virtual was invented.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

 

And finally, the evaluations revealed that….

 

• TM Priya gave TM Tom several practical tips to further enhance his virtual speaking skills and acknowledged the great message of optimism that his speech conveyed.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.
• TM Mildred fondly reminisced about TM Virginia and praised Aleta for displaying that most admirable quality in an incipient (or seasoned) Toastmaster:  being coachable.  It is an absolute must.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

INORDINATE, adj.

 

Exceeding reasonable limits

 

Ex.:  We had inordinate amounts of humor and laughter at our EarlyBirds meeting today.

 

Please click on the link below to listen to today’s recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EdsauX6qVQ

 

 

See you next week!

 

Ana I.

Perennial Recap Writer