Thursday, October 26, 2023

Brief Topics, Cruising the Midi Canal and Finally Getting Warmed Up - an anecdotal/antidotal morning at Early Birds!



Dear Members, Friends and Guests,

In honor of our late DTM Kip, TM Pam did a Universalist Unitarian Halloweenish invocation that got us right in the mood.

DTM Mary Helen is preparing us for upcoming contests by providing us with 2-word topics.  We found out that..

* TM Marie loves so-called holiday savings, recently on Prime Day her husband stocked up on grass-fed, prime t-bones to be cooked with some obscure kitchen utensils I have not heard of before.
* I, Ana, have experienced a few second chances and have more than likely missed quite a few, but I'm on alert for future ones to come.
* TM Emmanuel is keenly aware that time starts ticking the minute we exit Mom's womb and is determined not to miss a minute of it!  He Won Best Table Topics Award.
* TM Jose consults Saint Google (officially canonized in Spain) to make a tortilla, to walk The Camino, and he originally thought the name was dumb.  Who would have thunk??  Spanish citizens are ready to revolt at the prospect of a St. Google taxation without representation.
* TM Randolph is trying to teach his daughter to press the dishwasher button after loading.  (Note: daughter is pushing 30, but she's making progress).
* TM BeckyJo gets helpful tips from crime movies, and exerts gentle pressure on a victim's elbow or hand fingers to make them compliant.  She's losing patience so straight marching orders are best.
* TM Paolo recalls his first time as a Table Topic speaker, an unforgettable disaster that motivated him to become an accomplished adrenalin-filled impromptu speaker.
* TM The Tom asks "What? What?" when asked to remind someone of something.  Who can remember anything anymore??
* DTM Jim D.'s most frequent plea is "Forgive me! Forgive me!" - it's much easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission - motion is usually NOT granted.
* TM Pam and her husband mark their glass door to the garage with dry erase markers and then cannot even figure out who, out of the two, wrote it or what for.  One example is "ANTS".  Huh????

We were in for two outstanding prepared speeches.

* TM Ricardo delighted us with an educational speech about his trip with his sisters down the MIdi Canal, built by Louis XIV, who took 2 baths in his life and was surprisingly NOT decapitated - no one could get close enough to him with the smell.  He used great visuals of the canal views.  More to come!
* TM Aleta recited the Cremation of Sam McGee, who from Tennessee had the not-so-great idea to go gold prospecting in the Yukon, where he happily welcomed being cremated in a warm furnace instead of spending one more second in the freezing cold.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Paolo thoroughly enjoyed TM Ricardo's educational speech and is currently booking a canal cruise by gondola in Italy. He's already got the Captain's hat as a prop.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.
* TM Randolph marvels at TM Aleta's capacity to make such great eye contact by looking straight at the camera.

The Words of the Day were

ANECDOTE, noun
A short or amusing story about a real person or incident.

ANTIDOTE, noun
A medicine taken or given to counteract a poison

Example:   A good anecdote about a headless mouse is the best antidote against  early morning somnolence.   It awakens your senses IPSO FACTO (look it up in Saint Google)

Our dates for Evaluations/Table Topics and THE OTHER contest (following today's theme, I can't remember contest of what) have been set for November 30 and December 14.

Stay tuned and get more dry erase markers for murky Notes To Self.

Here's the link to the recording.

See you next week!

Ana I.
Recap Writer

Friday, October 20, 2023

Fwd: Meeting link


Logical Fallacies, Centering Prayer and Watercolors - a morning of alacrity at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Friends and Guests:

Recap done a posteriori - based on experience gleamed from the impeccable recording.

TM Aleta started us off with an invocation that irrefutably demonstrated that kids are as bratty today as they were in the times of Socrates (470-399 BC (before computers). Ahhhh.  some things just never change!

TM The Tom did a Sequel of a Logical Fallacies deck of cards.  We found out that...

* TM Ricardo's favorite movie is Bambi, which to him symbolizes Ad Hominem, pure and simple.
* DTM Mary Helen abhors to quoque - attacking opponents by criticizing them.  What cheap shots.  That's because she's not a politician...
* TM Aleta's profession makes her adroit with persuasive influence and leads her to presentation mastery with unequivocal engaging humor and there you go! She's completed all 11 Pathways, pretty much.  She Won Best Evaluator Award. 
* TM Chris is convinced that social media appeals to our emotions (it's all about the likes) and 200 hours of video are uploaded every minute to YouTruuuube. Get a handle, people!
* DTM Jim D. has good anecdotal practices and disarms opponents with storytelling rather than confusing them with boring statistics.  It really works!
* TM Jim very smartly accepts that begging the question is futile in spousal circular arguments.   One person is invariable right, and the other is the husband.  

Along came prepared speeches....

* TM Marie suggested we use silence to find out what God is doing within us, make a steady commitment to stillness and keep returning to your sacred word...   "A Man's Reach is Further Than His Grasp - Or What's a Heaven For?"
* TM Pam was able to share the screen with us of the results of her watercolor hobby, and we were keenly aware that in her watercolor world, pelicans eat dandelions in a field of magnolias all because of the extra salt of the earth.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

As far as evaluations go...

* Returning TM Paolo was impressed with TM Marie's message of seeking the presence of God but her speech would have more spiritual breath and depth if given in Italian... or at least in Latin.  Per secula seculorum!  Ite, missa est.
* TM Terri praised TM Pam for her audience awareness, her comfort level, and inspiring us to persist with alacrity in sharing screens while the pelicans eat Florida Pink Shrimp.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

ALACRITY, noun
Brisk and cheerful readiness

Example:  Let's all brush up on our Latin with alacrity, people!  Get your Trosetta Strome out of that closet, NOW!

Here is the link for the recording: 

See you next week!

Ana
Creativitas Scriptor


Thursday, October 12, 2023

Link to the recording


https://youtu.be/NTngZ_W2L0k


Cognitive bias, A Killer Project and On The Road for Turkey Time - it's all in the giving at EarlyBirds



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

After a thoughtful invocation and a humorous pre- Halloween trifecta of jokes, TM The Tom launched us in Table Topics about Cognitive Bias, bequeathed to him by our late DTM Kip.

We were to discover that...

* TM Terri has an ingroup bias to one of her groups, where members understand parenting crazy offspring and even find humor in it.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.
* TM Pam bought a typewriter B.S. (Before Selectrix) and was suffering from sunk cost bias, or giving up the $5 it cost you because today its cost is negative $100.
* TM Randolph experiences bystander effect out of not knowing, not from indifference, and thinks it's best left that way.
* TM Marie believes in the placebo effect because after all, it's all about attitude and centering prayer.
* DTM Mary Helen's mind is made up so please don't confuse her with the facts.  She suffers from acute confirmation bias.

We then moved on to (2) outstanding prepared speeches...

* Soon-to-be-officially crowned DTM Aleta definitely went through the wringer succumbing to her weakness for volunteering.  Her murder mystery party with casino involved resulted in a near-real-life murder, three downed dealers and croupiers and a hefty fund collection for a worthy cause.  She Won Best Speaker Award.
* DTM Jim D. and his HOG did 50,000 motorcycle miles to alphabetical Florida city (except X which is vacant) and presented photographic evidence to quality.  The HOG raised over $4000 for underprivileged families.  

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Marie commended DTM Aleta for turning into Kenny Rogers' The Gambler and knowing when to fold 'em, and when to hold 'em   She Won Best Evaluator Award.
* TM Chris praised DTM Jim for showing us a little bit of crazy indeed and his good use of slides.  A formal petition is under way in Tallahassee  to rename Yeehaw Junction,  Zeehaw Junction East.

As TM Pam pointed out, today's prepared speeches showed that the public speaking and leadership skills we acquire in Toastmasters are applied to worthy causes in our communities.

The Word of the Day was

LIE, verb or noun

Be or assume a horizontal resting position

As a noun: the way, direction or position in which something lies.

Example:  He was getting familiar with the lie of the streets.  

This word caused a chronic state of confusion in the group, between lay, lie, lied, laid.  TM Chris is working on a syllabus for a 40 minute workshop.  More will be revealed, and that is not a lie.

The link to the recording will be forthcoming.

See you next week!

Ana I.
Recap Writer

Thursday, October 5, 2023

Pondering, What Does That Button Do and Communication Styles - aficionado morning at EarlyBirds!



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

We were led in a thought-provoking invocation by TM The Tom about listening rather than talking.

First-time Table Topics Master Jose had us thinking even deeper... We soon found out that...

* TM Jim G., like his fellow adult males around the planet, trembles in fear at the sound of 4 words from his wife "We need to talk".  It led to 25 years of married bliss.
* TM The Tom thinks what he believes is right but recognizes that others may not be in agreement.
* TM Marie chops onions vigorously and continuously to keep her tear ducts duly irrigated.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.
* TM BeckyJo differentiates living - grabbing life - versus existing - no joie de vivre, no raison d'etre, and other Frenchisms - while bending down to tie your shoes.
* TM Pam gets lost in reading books but lives versus exists by devouring boxes upon boxes of chocolates.  La visible difference!!
* I, Ana, believe that it's best to try and fail than never to try at all - one of the many childhood myths I had to unlearn.
* TM Aleta's best years were her mid thirties, when she stayed out of trouble but managed to have fun, fun, fun!!

Along came the prepared speeches...

* TM Chris reminded us that life began in 2007, with the advent of the first I-Phone.  You can talk on it, play solitaire, share location, track your wandering husband, and fulfill a stalker's delight.  The trick is to STAY CURIOUS, friends!  She Won Best Speaker Award.
* A posthumous video of DTM Kip's speech was shown where he evolved from a dictatorial communication style in 2018 to a mellow, supportive, non-analytical style in 2021.  It worked much better to inspire EArlyBirds to do Pathways!  He Won Best Posthumous Speaker Award.

Regarding evaluations...

* TM Pam reminisced about the scary early days of computers and praised TM Chris for modeling excellent TM behavior.  Pam is poised to become DTM -Don't Time Me - in the blink of an eye.
* First time Evaluator TM Terri admired DTM Kip's exercise in introspection and it was a great learning experience for her.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.  Good job, Terri!

The Word of the Day was

AFICIONADO, noun

A devotee who likes or knows a lot about a subject.

Example:  Bulls are definitely not bullfight aficionados.

The link to the recording will be provided later on.

PS In this glitchy technological day, my GMail's underlining capability has disappeared into the void.  

See you next week,

Ana I.
Recap Aficionado