National Something Day, There's Always Two Sides to a Story.... an interesting meeting at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Friends and Guests,

First Time TableTopic Master Val gave us plenty of food for thought...  And we discovered that....

* TM Marie's life is a musical and at all times she breaks into song.  There's no intermission!

* TM Aleta would never, ever, ever, leave herself behind.  She is her own best self-entertainer.

* DTM Jim D. relishes that delish caramel macchiato - make it decaf, please, to keep him at a manageable energy level.

* I, Ana, would rather be a rottweiler than a toy poodle, and I need a dog mirror to ascertain my size compared to those yappy little daring rats.

* TM Chris confessed that she married TM Jim G. mostly because of his 4-letter word last name. Her river rafting stage name is Yoyonoise.

* Returning TM Astrid would target the young in a Register to Vote campaign if only politicians weren't such scofflaws.  You're back in the swing of TM, Astrid!

* TM Jose, aka Mad Max, accepts water as rent payment, in his frequent time travels.  Where's Thunderdome?  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* Guest Emanuel loves all kinds of fruit - except pineapple, which makes him dizzy.  Life is good when you are eating fruit.

* Guest Aziz would put a banana on his sooty chimney and get a monkey with a broom to sweep it squeaky clean.

Great job with Table Topics, TM Val!

We heard two versions of the same speech:

* He Said (DTM Jim D.) He belongs to an eating club with a riding disorder known as Harley D, and had to fly to Dubai to visit the local HD dealership.  "A happy wife is a happy life."  He Won Best Speaker Award.

* She Said (DTM Mary Helen D)  Dubai and Abu Dhabi are like Vegas on steroids and discovered that uncovered toes have no sex appeal in the Emirates.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Chris praised DTM Jim D. for his excellent vocal variety, especially when LOOSELY describing the euphemistic Customer Service.  She Won Best Evaluator.

* TM Marie loved hearing both sides of a story, DTM Mary Helen's being the one with the most joie de vivre, DTM Jim D.'s being the one with the most Harley.

The Word of the Day was 

SCOFFLAW, noun

A person who flouts the law

A person who flouts rules, conventions or accepted practices.

Example:

We at Toastmasters learn how to be well-spoken scofflaws.

Below is the link to the recording

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

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Scofflaw

Autumn, Hear Ye! and Karaokeville - an entertaining morning at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Pam made us think about the autumnal equinox, set to happen precisely tonight at 9:22 pm (give or take).... and now we know that...

* TM Marie doesn't want to say goodbye to the summer (sung to the tune of Cliff Richards' 1965 "I Don't Want To Say Goodbye To the Summer").

* TM Val is set to clean up her back yard, restain the deck and prune the lillies... as soon as next summer arrives on June 22, 2023 at precisely 9:22 pm (give or take).

* TM Chris has been waiting 5 years (as Jim is her witness) to eat caprese salad with homegrown basil in direct defiance of local grocery stores.

* TM Jim G. hibernates on lobster, sprinkled with a few bugs and doused with a generous dose of honey and oats.  Yummmm.

* I, Ana, know for sure it's Fall when the inside temperature of my Igloo remains at a steady below freezing temperature and I must wear two scarves instead of one.

* DTM Jim D. innoculates himself with Dr. Jack Daniels and vintage Dr. Francis Ford Coppola while verifying the different colors of snow bird license plates (Je Me Souviens)  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Aleta used to display Halloween decorations to show off to her friends -  who have since moved to Florida with the others (Je Me Souviens)  She's planning a Zoom video tour to impress us.

* Returning TM Astrid, aka Asteroid, plans to hibernate in Miami Beach.  Enough of those winters in NYC.  (Je Me Souviens).

* Guest Emmanuel hopes to overcome public speaking anxiety in Toastmasters.  We're much better than Lexapro!!

And along came the prepared speeches...

* TM Val pondered whether the hearer hears what they hear here or does the hearer say what the sayer hears?  That, my friends, is the ultimate question.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Chris dances salsa while she cooks (.09% of the time) and she and TM Jim sailed all the way to the UK on a flotation amphibious controlled Recreational Vehicle while Karaoking Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Jim G. liked TM Val's parables - a heart murmur is cured with a hot mama.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Aleta admired TM Chris's talent for multimedia and praised her Johnny Depp-inspired role in the home video of Pirates of the Atlantic.

The Word of the Day was

MONIKER, noun

A nickname for a person.

Example:  Benedict, a monk from the 6th Century, became known as Benedictine Liqueur after a few experiments in the monastery cellar.

Here's the link to the recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUNHn1NXlcY

See you next week!

Ana I.

Moniker Writer

A charismatic meeting

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

DTM Mary Helen inspired us with old sayings from our charismatic younger days.    We found out that...

* TM Pam has till end of September to unpack a mystery out of mind box from 3 moves ago which is no longer out of sight in the southwest corner of her office.  She'll tell us what she finds, possibly a Key Biscayne dissecated half-Cuban iguana.

* TM BeckyJo says all we need is a boys' band in lieu of a pool table to keep the devil away from having a workshop in our idle brain.

* TM Marie plans to be sorry rather than safe by flying to Turkey to have a United Arab Emirates (UAE) triple-decker sandwich.

* DTM Jim D. asserts that money does grow on trees in Oregon, Washington State and Alaska, where sales to lumber companies make lotsa, lotsa money.

* TM Aleta gifted Habanero peppers - and a stomach pump - to her priest prior to Bible study as a demonstration of 'practice what you preach".

* TM Chris modestly stated that she and TM Jim G. think alike with their great minds - for example, they both want seltzer simultaneously - a clear mark of genius.

* I, Ana, related that a picture is indeed worth a thousand words - my indelible picture is multiple plastic bags chock-full of US dollars hanging in Argentinians' backyard trees as a strategy to sidestep out-of-control inflation and banking corruption.

* TM Tom's curious cat has trained him to watch the cat's favorite tv miniseries at night.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Jim G. is an early bird every Thursday when he's in town and has yet to find a single worm for appropriation.  Instead, he is now Club President by acclamation....

Along came prepared speeches...

* TM Aleta gave a very touching icebreaker about her late Pops, who taught her many things, for instance, beef and poultry do not originate in  plastic packages at the supermarket but instead, start off as real farm animals.   Who knew???  She Won Best Speaker Award.

* I, Ana, talked about dual realities: every story has many sides and my reality may be real or perceived, but one thing is true, I'm always at different levels of right.

Regarding the evaluations...

* DTM Jim D. encouraged TM Aleta to spread some of her frozen energy to the rest of us while looking straight at the camera and to please wear red for her next speech. He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Tom loved my pronunciation of the Spanish poet RRRAAMMOONN DE CAMPOAMORRR and asked me to kindly get rid of my cheat sheet for next speech, it shows in the camera for goodness sakes!

The Word of the Day was

CHARISMA, noun

Compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.

Example:  The opposite of emotion, devotion and charisma is.... MARISMA!!  (Spanish for swampy areas of the Guadalquivir River)

Recording link for today's meeting - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW7GbJpWBZo

Here's the link to the Gulds'  photo album https://photos.app.goo.gl/zfNy2LyNrErmtRnLA

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Assorted Table Topics, Fun and Done and Strange Bedfellows - another "peak of the week" at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

Polifacetic TM Randolph set the tone with impromptu impromptus.  We found out that...

* TM Tom's cat obeys his cat's coup d'oeils and follows instructions from The World According to Cat.

* TM BeckyJo signed a pre-nuptial with her broke soon-to-be-husband so he could collect $50 more as a married man.  Oh to be young and wild and free again!

* TM Aleta misses the afternoon humidity in Fort Lauderdale when she did not have to use facial humidifier lotions.

* TM Val would love to watch her prudish aunts squirm while talking about sex in Family Feud.  

* TM Marie would take a sunscreen spraying booth and her magic Kindle on a deserted island and call it paradise found!

* I, Ana, ask God to guide me during the day when I wake up and then all bets are off as soon as my feet touch the floor.

* DTM Mary Helen sleeps soundly on the back of DTM Jim's Harley, preferably with her own pillow in tow.

* TM Pam's youngest child impersonated cranes, snakes, lobsters and other creatures as a tiny toddler.  Insanity is hereditary - we get it from our kids!!  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

Along came the prepared speeches....

* TM Aleta remarked that timing is of the essence - the speaker must allow for pauses, applauses and guffaws so as not to blow past the alloted time.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Marie reminisced about some of the strange bedfellows we've had in EarlyBirds - including but not limited to "The Massacre at the Gateway Theater in Fort Lauderdale" while wearing marbelized tie-dyed shirts by one of our former members.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM BeckyJo praised TM Aleta for being so engagingly funny and for taking funny on the road in whatever adventure she's sharing.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

* First time evaluator TM Val praised TM Marie for helping her, Val, immerse herself in the speech and experience the joy of blowing popcorn with a leaf blower during a cinematic massacre.  Great job, Val!

The Word of the Day was

ANOMALY, noun

Something that deviates from the normal, from what is standard or expected.

Example:  A boring EarlyBirds meeting would certainly be an anomaly.

Here's the link to the recording:

link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc6MQ4_SC1w

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Writer