A refractory morning at Earlybirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

DTM Kip started us off on the subject of Leadership.   This is what we learned...

* TM Carmine has been dragged into leadership roles, only to find out that he's not a leader but a facilitator and he thinks we're a bovine nation.

* TM BeckyJo is a non-compliant convicted felon since the age of 5.

* Guest Val thinks leadership is overrated.  Try to explain a mission to 100 people, get 100 different versions of the mission.  People are just refractory!

* TM Tom became a club secretary because of his good legs...He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* I, TM Ana, equate leading from the rear to reacting from the behind.

Then came our prepared speeches...

*  TM Tom repeated last week's speech incorporating the evaluation - he limited his tribalism examples to a prominent Indian engineer from upstate NY, an overprotected tribalbiden you may have heard about, and a public school teacher in the 1920s who dared to be Catholic.  

* DTM Kip moderated a panel of 3 with Leadership topics.  The panel shared how they landed in EarlyBirds and what they have learned from it.  Club elections are coming up! Get ready to vote early and vote often....   He Won Best Speaker Award.

As far as evaluations go...

*  TM Jose praised TM Tom for having listened to the prior week's evaluation and sticking to the facts with good enunciation.

*  TM Tom stated that DTM Kip gave a good cogent non-refractory speech and sheperded Carmine's sheep to a good conclusion.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

REFRACTORY, adj.

1. stubborn or unmanageable 

2. resistant to a process or stimulus.

Example:  Being refractory in adolescence often leads a person to the School of Hard Knocks, followed by the University of Adversity.

TM Paolo will represent our Club this Friday April 29 in the Humorous Speech Contest.  Please register to attend and support him!  DTM Kip will send out the registration information subito.

Link to the Gulds' photo album from Maldives: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Cc6azyyaB2CvmF3S9

Link to today's recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nqOSop4kI

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Earth Day, Culinary Delights by Introverts or Extroverts and As Luck Would Have It - a varied day in EarlyBirds!!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

TM Marie launched us off with pertinent topics about Earth Day.  We soon found out that….

 

• TM Aleta’s blossoms include – but are not limited to- azaleas, daffodils, hyacinths (all of which she was wearing on her dress today)…
• TM Paolo makes the most of today by not thinking about the future and that pesky flight to Miami which awaits him on the tarmac.
• TM Scott escapes his tyrannical thoughts by letting them come and letting them glide through…
• I, Ana, am indeed enchanted by the sea and looking forward to a summer as a beach bum…
• TM Tom enjoys walking, especially since walking with a certain someone is what led him to our group.   He Won Best Table Topics Award.
• DTM Kip is on a noble mission to simplify his life by decluttering and letting go of unauspicious accumulation.

 

Along came the prepared speeches…

 

• TM Jose watered our mouths with a visual pictorial of the many facets of paella and other fabulous rices, and paired it off with a delightful taste of good vino!
• TM Carmine kept us on our toes by asking whether several of us were introverts or extroverts – and it turns out most of us are a combination of both!  He Won Best Speaker Award.
• TM Pam put on her Dina Lurner façade and asked us to consider “What’s luck got to do with it?”  Let’s join her Level 5 High Performance Leadership Guidance Committee and find out!

 

As far as evaluations…

 

• TM Randolph already has a paella dish, affirmed that he will no longer (heretically) use it for pizza and is buying calamari, shrimp and short-grain rice as we speak.
• TM Scott commended TM Carmine on his clever strategies to engage the audience and to ask ourselves “Am I extro or intro – or, most likely, bi-extrointro?  He Won Best Evaluator Award.
• TM Tom praised TM Pam for waking him up at the mention of the Mardishianns and their billion-dollar viral derrieres.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

AUSPICIOUS, adjective

 

Showing or suggesting that future success is likely.

 

Example:  Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage was auspicious and morphed into suspicious.

 

Below is the link to this week’s recording.   Attached is the “Grab Your Spanish Passport and Make A Paella” presentation.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B__caA-FabY

 

See you next week!

 

Ana

Recap Writer

Easter, Tribalism and Return to Normal - an interesting EarlyBird meeting, to say the least

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

I started us off on Easter peculiarities in other countries.   We discovered that….

 

• Resident Peep Expert TM Pam reminisced about Peeps on the Beach and the Peep Show that runs till the ants come home…
• TM Jose is all set to savor Valencia’s Easter doughnuts which come with a sprinkle of paella.
• TM Paolo is torn between Colomba di Pasqua and Chocolate Dove.   This is known as the Italian Easter Sunday dilemma.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.
• Guest Val would gladly join the Roux, France Easter Monday project – cracking and beating 4,500 eggs to serve an Easter omelette to over 1,000 people.  Who’s going to do the cleanup, though?
• TM Randolph cleverly realized that in Finland, Easter and Halloween had a baby – the witches of Easter-wick.
• TM Carmine declared the Hungarian Easter Sunday tradition of chucking water buckets over folklorically-costumed girls a Boondoggle.
• DTM Kip – currently in a bad marriage with AOL- was intrigued by the Papua, New Guinea Easter Trees decorated with cigarettes.

 

Today we had serious prepared speeches…

 

• TM Tom has a tribal cat who waited 3 years before entering the house.  Is It You, Is It Me, Or Is It Boondoggle?  Tough to condense it in 5 to 7 minutes…
• TM Aleta asked herself – and us- will we EVER return to normal?  We’ve become increasingly disjointed, discombobulated, boondoggled.  Therein lies the question.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

 

As far as evaluations…

 

• Cat-person TM Pam reminded TM Tom that cats are not tribal, they are simply evil.  She encouraged him to give less tribal examples, more comments at the end.
• TM Randolph praised TM Aleta for her fireworks personality and encouraged her to condense the speech in the interest of time.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

 

Multitasker TM Scott was Grammarian, Ah Counter, Joke Master and General Evaluator.  Great job, Scott!

 

The Word of the Day was

 

BOONDOGGLE, noun or verb

n. Work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of importance.

v. Engaging in a pointless activity.

 

Example:  We have lately witnessed lots of boondoggle.

 

See you next week!

 

Ana

Recap Writer

 

 

Opposites Attract, Icelandicspeak and A Gondola Ride - all in a morning's meeting at Early Birds!!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends:

 

For starters, TM Paolo officially named us The Meeting of Meetings and The Peak Of The Week.  Your choice.

 

TM Carmine led us to explore opposite table topics.  We learned that….

 

• TM Scott censored his first thoughts about shrinking and enlarging items at this early hour and instead referred to shrinking brains and enlarging joie de vivre….
• TM Paolo froze as he had his foot already on the gondola but he cannot turn down a table topic request about being frozen and thawed.
• I, Ana, talked about the true vs the false self, which consists of dying my hair this color and that color – now I save lots of money by being authentically gray.
• DTM Kip said that being a double dipper is like being a gunfighter at the EarlyBird Corral and avoiding ricochets at all costs.
• TM Tom has come from Alabama with a banjo on his knee and focuses on the joy while fretting the banjo.  We are looking forward to a live Zoom performance!
• TM Randolph reflected that stagnation is the beginning of decomposition – and that’s a dangerous non-movement thing!
• Guest Val said giving and receiving are spiritually the same – the intent to give joy creates joy within you in a wonderful synergy.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

 

We enjoyed two excellent speeches today…

 

• TM Scott inspired us to book our flights to Reykyavik to see the fiords, lava boulders, stark and stunning fog and guardrail-less driving straight to the Language School to learn to say eyjafjallajokull (E 15 for short) in our quest for Iceland’s 269 yuhkitls.  Easy as Eskimo Pie! 
• TM Paolo regaled us with the full scope of Italian gestures as he rowed the Grand Canal in Venice looking for an espresso bar – ma che cosa????   He Won Best Speaker Award.

 

As far as evaluations go…

 

• DTM Mary Helen thoroughly enjoys TM Scott’s intelligent witticisms and will now convert the Broward Bilingual Club into English-Icelandic.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.
• TM Tom praised TM Paolo for his virtual setting, his singing voice and above all his striped t-shirt.   Paolo will go all the way to the Gondolieri Hall of Fame for sure!

 

The Word of the Day was

 

QUINTESSENTIAL, adj.

Representing the most typical example of a quality or class.

 

Example:  Apple Pie A La Mode is the quintessential American dessert.  Yummm….

 

Here’s the link to the recording:

 

 

https://youtu.be/UfLHAZmPaJE

 

Dates to Remember:

April 29 – at 8:00 am – TM Paolo will represent our Club in the District 47 Contest.

May 12 – Tall Tales Early Bird Meeting – Bring Everything But The Truth!

 

See you next week!

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer