Idioms, Missing Coats, The 4th Level and Shotgun Conflict Resolution - bedlam at the Early Bird Corral

 

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

TM Carmine led us on more Idioms based on the word GET.   Get it? Got it! Good!

 

• TM Aleta gets a kick by making lemonade out of lemons – her new neighbors crashed their car against her property fence but oh well, now they’ve become BFF.
• TM Jose has learned as a tall man he can’t sit in the back row of the classroom any more, and he gets off the hook by keeping the fish by hook or by crook.
• I, Ana, have done most things in my life by getting into the swing of it and found an area of compatibility with my swing dance partner, aka my husband.  I Won Best Table Topics Award.
• TM Mary  is building back the bedlam of the last few weeks by getting on the ground floor and trying to steer her virtual students into a bedlamless life.
• TM BeckyJo just realized that her Dad pretended to like her friends but in reality was engaging in water sports child slave labor.
• TM Randolph’s motto is get up and go – for starters (pun intended) he’s the family’s alarm clock and gets the whole day going.
• Reporting from a lasagna aroma-filled room back home, TM Paolo cleans the body pipes regularly by confronting others and getting things off his chest.

 

Along came the prepared speeches…

 

• TM Lois delighted us with a story of her lost & found David leather coat purchased in Florence, Italy, returned to her by Michelangelo Buonarotti himself.   She Won Best Speaker Award.
• TM Jim G. developed his Level 4 plan and built an ipso-facto team made up of ‘all y’all’ unsuspecting EarlyBirds.   More to follow!
• TM Tom regaled us with a tale of his great-grandpa who lived in Coffeyville, Kansas, where they had bank vaults on timers and resolved conflict with The Daltons via shotgun and had them sign up for a tv series.

 

As far as evaluations….

 

• TM Jeff admired TM Lois’s storytelling capabilities and good vocal variety and suggested cliffhangers are not the best way to end a speech.   He Won Best Evaluator Award.
• TM Aleta praised TM Jim G. for his impeccable virtual manners and his uncanny ability to rope us into his team without all y’all even noticing.
• DTM Kip lauded TM Tom for his tale of a gunfight on Main Street which has provided Tom with invaluable skills to deal with HOA bedlam conflict resolution.

 

In case you didn’t GET it yet, the Word of the Day was

 

BEDLAM, noun

 

Pandemonium, chaos

 

Example:   Peaceful evenings preceded bedlam at the OK Corral, now known as a national chain called Snarky Tones BBQ and Grill.

 

Meeting Recording is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JjWdXoDBkA

 

See you next week!

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Profound Observations, Gestures, U-Boats and Communication Styles - a varied assortment at EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

TM Aleta led us with an inspirational invocation followed by thought-provoking topics.  We noticed that….

 

• TM Jose, who used to think a good life consisted of fast motorcycles, cars and loud music now searches for happiness inside, paired with fast cars, loud music and solid family relationships.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.
• TM Lois Lane confirmed that names are important to her, so much so that she sometimes sings people’s names while searching for those now non-existent telephone booths.
• If TM Jeff could teach one concept to humanity it would be that every opinion is worthwhile, starting with his own.  He’s the sworn enemy of smugness and groupthink.
• I, Ana, believe that pain is part of life, but suffering is optional.  I make a story about everything because I drag around old suitcases without wheels.
• To find out who people really are and why they behave the way they do, DTM Mary Helen asks them if they got enough sleep the night before.  Invariably, the answer is NO.
• DTM Jim believes animals have the same feelings as humans but, unlike humans, they know the true meaning of respect.  It’s all because they sleep 20 hours a day.

 

We were inspired by some of the over-loquacious speakers, which inspired the (stoic) Timer to use the blinking screen lights feature….

 

• Eternal Pathways traveller TM Carmine gave us an interactive course of commonly used facial, upper torso, arms and shoulder gesticulations.   It turns out he and our today-absent Gondoliere President majored in Pronounced Gestures for Very Italian People at the University of Civitavecchia.
• TM Chris recounted the under-publicized story of German U-Boats which mercilessly sank US Merchant Marine ships off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina.  Ship explosions provided weekend entertainment for local families in those slow post-war years.   For more details, watch the excellent movie Das Boot.
• At meteoric speed, DTM Kip showed us slides of communication styles and his scores – then and now.  Once he realized TM is not the military, his communication style changed from Direct to Mellow.   He Won Best Speaker Award.

 

And lastly, we heard some excellent evaluations….

 

• TM Tom loved TM Carmine’s speech, the enthusiasm, the facial gestures, the zest, the shoulder shrugs, and the spontaneous audience interpretation.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.
• DTM Kip admired TM Chris’s storytelling talent and encouraged her to make the slides of ships blowing up her virtual background, for added effect.
• TM Jeff praised DTM Kip’s next evolution of our zooming capabilities by the way the speaker used the slides.  In a frequent occurrence -and due to suffering from a Zoom curse- Jeff’s audio went KAPUT as he was finishing his evaluation.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

INSPIRE, verb

fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

"his passion for romantic literature inspired him to begin writing"

 

The link for the meeting recording:

 

https://youtu.be/d5_TlcKR9mc

 

See you next week!

 

Ana

Recap Writer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best and worst, Joys of Parenting, Moments of Grace and Body Language - all in a day's meeting at Early Birds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

DTM Jim D. gave us thought-provoking ‘best and worst’ topics.  We thus learned that….

 

• TM Aleta’s latest best decision was to singlehandedly fix her lawnmower’s beastly broken belt.   Proof positive that alliterations allow us to do anything!
• TM Carmine described exotic foods – sheep’s brains, snails, prickly pear (martinis) and alerted us to the fact that spaghetti was the origin of the swimming pool game called “Marco Polo”.
• I, Ana, had an influential friend and mentor who taught me how to be an attorney impostor while conducting legal research in computer demos.
• TM Chris’s latest worst decision was to bike to what she thought was a nearby restaurant which turned out to be 18 miles away.  Ever the positive person that she is, she realized that her 3-month exercise quota was met!
• TM Tom makes it all about today’s mindfulness in checking the bucket’s water level periodically to see what he can learn, or unlearn, on any given day.
• TM Pam has found a memory-jogging word – bucket- which reminds her to ride the scooter to buy a stroller.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

 

Along came prepared speeches…

 

• TM Bastien described some of the tragi-comedic joys of parenting, which give God space to have a few hearty laughs and gifts parents with access to Sponge Rants Bobby and his cohorts.
• TM Marie urged us to shed our personas – those false bravado masks we wear- and reconsider giving moments of grace to others.  In other words, let them fulfill your To Do lists!    She Won Best Speaker Award.
• DTM Kip gave us solid body language coaching: renounce shared screen foolishness, avoid virtual background flaming, accept being seduced by moving objects, use the mirror function to trim your beard,  and for a dramatic speech finale, lock knees and fall over.

 

As far as evaluations are concerned….

 

• TM Pam praised TM Randolph for his vivid descriptions, encouraged him to pursue the Humor Pathways – it’s the only way to survive parenting multiple children.  She speaks from experience.   She Won Best Evaluator Award.
• TM Jim G. commended TM Marie for her camera awareness which equals eye contact in Zroom world and for implementing his suggestions from the first evaluation.
• TM Tom was inspired by DTM Kip’s ever-improving level of performance, ease of delivery and for giving us a new meaning of the concept of flaming.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

VIBRATO, noun

 

Rapid, slight vibration in pitch while singing or playing a musical instrument, producing a stronger or richer tone.

 

Example:  I excel at vibrato when someone – literally and figuratively-  steps on my toes.

 

See you next week!

 

Irreverently submitted,

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer

 

Link to the recording - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouaYhMN-TXg

Humor x 5 and Rain - The Humorous Speech Contest at EarlyBirds

 

Dear Members, Friends and Guests:

 

Aptly led by Contest Master Pam and persnickety Chief Judge Kip, we enjoyed our Humorous Speech Contest:

 

• I, Ana, related the true sea (mis)adventures of Captain Wacky and The Motley Crew, who were on first-name basis with the Fort Lauderdale Coast Guard.  I placed Third.
• TM BeckyJo reminisced about the panic of Y2K and catering a multitudinous World-Ending Party where To Beet Or Not To Beet became the ultimate question.   She placed Second.
• TM Tom reflected on his coal miner grandpa, who stemmed from Pittsburgh, Kansas (why do multiple cities have the same names?  To confuse foreigners, no doubt) and had to send telegrams to his wife to please hang up the phone and get the $100 chocolate cake recipe going in the oven, once and for all.
• Gondolier TM Paolo regaled us with the song “Volare…. Ooooh… Cantare…. Oh-Oh-Oh-O” while he gesticulated his way through a 5 to 7 minute body language demonstration of a few inimitable Italian gestures.   Ma che cosa???  (learned in utero by Italian babies)….   Nel Blu, Dipinto di Blu…..”   He Won First Place.  Go, Paolo!  You will represent our Club well.
• TM Aleta vividly pictured tough love from one of our Toastmasters pioneers, VH, who passed down invaluable lessons, was at times a mentor, at times a demontor and at times a tormentor.  She is fondly remembered by those who survived and stopped using unnecessary fillers.

 

While ballots were counted, recounted and inspected for hanging chads, TM Carmine introduced rainy Table Topics….

 

• TM Marie turned Italian in front of our very eyes and gesticulated her way through the concept that into each life some rain must fall.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.
• DTM Mary Helen grew up in a farm with a shallow well where she enjoyed outdoor showering with rainwater and invented the trendy GlamCamping.
• TM Jeff thinks moderation is key – his newly planted lawn got too much rain and now he’s had to switch careers to mushroom farmer.
• TM Lois loves the fact that the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plains and feels fragant and loving when she watches spring flowers thriving.
• DTM Jim D. aka Wichita Lineman revealed that Wichita has Dimpled Car Sales and tiny houses have 4-car garages to protect autos from the inevitable pelting hale.

 

Here’s the link to the recording:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NA6ykeBcfo

 

See you next week!

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Play, Mondo Cane and Path Adrift - another impetuous morning at EarlyBirds!

 

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

TM Marie introduced PLAY-related topics.  We soon found out that…

 

• TM Beckyjo taught hundreds of long-haired, impetuous teenagers (erroneously known as humans) the intricacies of child play, aka Roasting S’Mores At The Firepit.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.
• TM Jeff’s attention span has diminished with the advent of cable tv while sadly concluding that baseball is America’s national pastime for not too much longer.
• TM Lois has discovered that as a young older person she can get away with anything and has chosen “Lighten Up” as her motto in life.
• TM Chris recently watched legendary movie Thulma & Eloisa, riddled with innocent women’s play misinterpreted as foul play.  Personally, I just remember yummy Brood Pity.
• In an unprecedented feat, TM Carmine managed to recap  Play It Again, Mam, from the 1972 movie by Broody Alien – a spinoff of the original Casanegra.
• TM Bastien has several playlists for bbqs and workouts, but the soundtrack of Freezing is forever indelibly etched in his mental Spoofy Fi.

 

 

And then came the prepared speeches….

 

• TM Pam, a self-described conservative flaming liberal, is torn between getting a low-class mutt or one of these trendy pedigreed genetically-altered snobs for gullible Gen X-ers…

Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever + Poodle) ...Labradoodle (Labrador Retriever + Poodle) ...Puggle (Pug + Beagle) ...Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel + Poodle)… Schnoodle (Poodle + Schnauzer) ...Goldador (Golden Retriever + Labrador Retriever) ...Yorkipoo (Yorkshire Terrier + Poodle).  Fannie the Cat has the last MEEAAOOW.   She Won Best Speaker Award.

• DTM Kip, soon to join our roster ranks as perennial vacationer, regaled us with a clear-as-mud visual of the contorted paths most of us have impetuously chosen in our (public speaking) lives.  Time to cough up another $20 and make a path detour!

 

As far as evaluations….

 

• DTM Mary Helen lauded TM Pam’s legendary position in the upper intelligence echelons of our Club, exemplified by audible sighs of exasperation, consternation and resignation.
• Impressed by DTM Kip’s speech, TM Tom suggested that EarlyBirds virtually move to Lake Woe Be Gone, whose motto is "Sumus Quot Sumus" ("We are what we are").   He Won Best Evaluator Award.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

IMPETUOUS, adj.

Characterized by undue haste and lack of thought and deliberation

 

Example:  Impetuous spending is a favorite hobby of the multitudes.

 

Next week is our Humorous Speech Contest!  Let’s make it HA-LA-RIOUS.

 

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