Christmas movies, Inner Photo Organizer and A Visit From St Nick - a great EarlyBird meeting

 TM Joe started us off with vivacious Christmas-related Table Topics. We

discovered that...

* TM Paolo has disconnected the tv for his progeny and instead, they
do family Table Topics around the tree. The 1-week-old newborn has
vivaciously wailed for the Disney Channel to be reinstated into the home.
* TM BeckyJo was completely taken aback at the notion that there is no
Santa Claus. All these years she has been trying to sell Santa on a board
game she invented and has not heard back. She will definitely approach
Matel.
* TM Marie proposed to her son the idea of giving a gift to his noisy
neighbors and received a grumpy grinchy resounding NO.
* I, TM Ana, recalled a boss who turned down my brilliant negotiation
approach of keeping my salary and benefits while slashing my workhours by
half to fulfill his wistful remark that he would pay me double if only he
could. He wasted a golden opportunity.
* TM Tom looks for a wonderful life ever since watching the movie of
the same name from the basement of his grandpa's home. He Won Best Table
Topics Award.

And along came prepared speeches, and oh, what amazing speeches we had -
it's all in the G family!

* TM Chris vivaciously displayed her multitasking inner child photo
organizer on the IPO Freudian Scale and introduced us to her Magic Attic,
where photos are date sorted by artificial intelligence. Piece of cake!
She Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Jim surpassed his prior renditions of A Visit from St Nicholas,
with back visual images and a description of the origin of this 200-year-old
poem.

As for evaluations....

* DTM Mary Helen admired TM Chris's professional mastery which makes
organizing 25 million photos - in Chris's own words - "as easy as 1-2-3".
She Won Best Evaluator Award.
* TM Carmine thoroughly enjoyed TM Jim's rendition of A Visit From St
Nicholas, which he has heard before and wants to hear again and again.

Overall, aside from having a great time, we reached several profound
conclusions:

1) People just don't use enough adverbs
2) What's a selfie without a bomber?
3) It's imperative that we enunciate the ends of words
4) We all need to find our Magic Attic to store our shoeboxes.

The Word of the Day was

VIVACIOUS, adjective

Lively in tone, conduct or spirit

Below is the link to the recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbjUVUcY1PQ

See you on January 7th!


Ana I.
Recap Writer

Team Turkey Reports Back, of Mice and Mentoring and Virtual Virtuosity - a great meeting at EarlyBirds!

 TM Carmine prepped us for the upcoming Table Topics Contest with 2-word Table Topics.  It became clear that…

 

• TM Jeff is writing a book titled “Life According to Golf Supersedes Pesky Imperfection”.   We EarlyBird members all want a signed copy.
• DTM Mary Helen pondered about hoax versus reality and concluded that she’s living in a universe of parallel reality.  So there.
• TM Denis cheerfully stated that the pollution party is coming to a screeching halt and we will all drown in a cesspool disinfected by ample reserves of Jack Daniels and Johnnie Walker.
• TM Jim prefers to talk about women’s rights versus women’s lefts and is looking forward to a matriarchal parallel universe.  We know he’s sleeping in the big bed tonight, Bada Bing Bada Boom.
• I (TM Ana) try to discard the heavy suitcase of punishment that I sometimes carry along because the subject of my unforgiveness is usually dancing at the Bada Bing Bada Boom nightclub and lounge.
• TM Marie said despair is self-inflicted, the unexpected surpasses all expectations and happily concluded that hope is indeed eternal.
• TM Chris said power is often not accompanied by justice – or else what’s heaven for?  In an unexpected Book Club-inflicted detour, she took us to the Presidential Palace in Santiago de Chile, bombed to smithereens along with Salvador Allende in 1973.  Bada Bing Bada Boom.
• TM Roosevelt chooses wealth over poverty, but is well aware that wealth does not equate happiness – just look at happy shirtless kids under mango trees in Port-au-Prince and those jumping off the towers of high finance in Wall Street when the Dow goes down.   He Won Best Table Topics Award.

 

We heard some excellent speeches….

 

• TM Pam regaled us with the good, the bad and the ugly - her fantasy of a Thanksgiving/Birthday celebration with her scattered progeny.  Lessons learned:   cranberry cement over crackers is now a trendy appetizer, your chronically unpunctual offspring are chronically unpunctual and  the smell of roast turkey overrides Covid hypochondria.  She Won Best Speaker Award.
• DTM Kip’s Harry Potter/Dickensian boarding school and if nothing else, his trusted mentor Professor Hogwart Donnelly fully prepared Kip for his legendary annual Halloween speech with a smoking cauldron of New Ageism.
• TM Aleta survived the obstacles in her otherwise virtuous virtual arbitration hearing while her dog Bogie, like the late actor who bore the same name, was totally strung out on prescription drugs.

 

As for evaluations….

 

• TM Tom marveled at TM Pam’s air of command and organization while herding family turtles and he, for one,  would never dare be late to her birthday party.  He hopes this will get him an invitation to the next one, in spite of the pervasive Covid miasma.
• TM Denis fully enjoyed hearing about DTM Kip’s college advisor who play-acted historic eras and inspired DTM Kip to persevere in his failed experiments with photocells which naturally resulted in Kip’s lifetime animosity toward hapless Puritans.
• TM Roosevelt praised TM Aleta’s endurance to low bandwidth and encouraged her to always have a “Plan B”, whose name is Jim G (it rhymes), for shared screen expediency and timing requirements.  He Won Best Evaluation Award.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

BADA BING BADA BOOM

Exclamation, North American, informal

 

To do something effortlessly and smoothly.

 

Example:  Watch ineffable episodes of Tony Soprano spending time at his club, Bada Bing, and doling out Bada Boom to those who stray.

 

Here is the link to today’s recording:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc-iMXxBqQU

 

See you next week!

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer

My Way, Hand Gestures and The Proposal - a fun morning at EarlyBirds!

 I, (Ana) introduced Profound Revelations as Table Topics.  Hence we learned that…

 

• TM Marie does have a magical bed where To Do lists get promptly completed… and then she wakes up!
• TM BeckyJo wants to buy a home in Miami formerly owned by a Cocaine Cowboy and find a serious stash of bills buried under a tropical palm tree.   She Won Best Table Topics Award.
• TM Aleta thoroughly enjoys being in the best company – herself, and doing something productive -  I can think of knitting a coat out of dog hair?
• TM Paolo confessed that his favorite activity is sitting on a park bench laughing at joggers – as we all know, laugher is healthier than jogging.
• TM Denis suffered a panic attack at the thought of skydiving and instead got stuck in traffic on the way to Toast of Las Olas.
• Guest Lorena compared her life to falling into the same pothole repeatedly and euphemistically called it experience.
• TM Jim G. blames the pandemic for his morning drinking but still manages to keep accurate time at the group.  Hey, it’s five o’clock somewhere, especially with Zoom!

 

We heard some outstanding speeches from the renowned “Jingston Trio”…

 

• TM Jose took us on an amazing visual travelog to The Way (Pilgrimage Route for foodies to the burial site of St. James- aka Santiago).  Sign up for a tour at Jose’s virtual travel agency!  He Won Best Speaker Award.
• TM Joe made a clear distinction of what can be a friendly gesture anywhere and the same, not-so-friendly gesture in NYC.  It’s just a geopolitical zoning thing.
• TM Jeff succumbed to parental and societal pressure and proposed marriage (he calls it pulling the trigger) to his beloved at Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth.  So far it’s working – we all know it’s all about the design of the ring!

 

As far as evaluations go….

 

• TM Carmine was so impressed with TM Jose’s speech that uncharacteristically, he actually ended up his evaluation on time.  The room was speechless!
• TM Tom praised TM Joe for his wit, his eloquence and his screen share of the unforgettable Gina Lollobrigida. 
• TM Chris lauded TM Jeff for making the decision to propose and in so doing, has lightened the load for some of us – who at times do want to pull the trigger… on The Knot!  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

PANDEMIC, adjective

Epidemic over a large area

 

Ex.  The pandemic has created pandemonium and the idle overuse of Immodium has caused an excess of acrimonium.

 

Here’s the link to the recording:

 

https://www.facebook.com/EarlyBirdToastmaster/videos/3357436951052480

 

See you next week!

 

Ana

Recap Writer