Spring, Buoyant Life and Mile High Makeover - an astute meeting of EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

We had a number of FIRSTS today....

We inducted our new Member, TM David, and he also was an excellent First Time Timer - great job David!

We had a First Time Grammarian, TM Jorge, who astutely provided our WOD and kept track of our grammatical assets and faux pas...

TM Pam inspired us with Spring topics.  We discovered that...

* TM Chris grew up in Alaska, where spring means the rivers crack, the ice melts and the temperature rises to a smoldering 10 degrees Fahrenheit... No tabebuia trees in the vicinity, for sure!

* TM The Tom, originally a land-bearing Yankee (Colonel Tom, says TM Jim G) transformed into a southern drawler at a moment's notice.

* TM Aleta avoids Artesian Wells, where no pump is needed as the sulphuric water gushes out all by itself and has built a non-Artesian well in her back yard.

* TM Gail astutely summarized members' introductions and topic answers to talk about her own March Madness divorce earthquake which made her a proud lone ranger.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Jim ignored Blue Devil low spirits and focused on New Jersey, the flying biped who takes blue capsules with barbiturates and scares the living daylights out of unsuspecting New Joisy children.

* TM Cory likes the rebound effect of bouncing back through the air after hitting a hard surface or object and prefers to recover from a setback or frustration.

* TM Jorge knows little about Cinderella except she was ignored by her family until Cinderfella came along and rescued her.

We had (2) outstanding speeches...

* TM Marie asked us to consider seriously how to avoid the vitriol of current events and focus on living a buoyant life by paying attention to the marine buoys that line up the Intracoastal Waterway.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

* Returning TM Christine so inspired a former Sephora employee presently flight attendant that Christine got a total makeover while the ignored 120  other female passengers stood hopelessly in line to get an eyelash curler.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Cory did a second evaluation of TM Marie and praised her for looking straight at the camera and only reading the grasshopper poem.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Chris praised TM Christine for coming back to the Club and encouraged her to try other glittering eyeshadows in the flight attendant's  eyeshadow pallette.

The Word of the Day was 

ASTUTE, adjective

Clever, perceptive, quick to understand situations.

Example:   We EarlyBird Toastmasters exemplify astute, buoyant, clever, perceptive, witty humanoids.

Here's the link to the recording

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYMMGCKrQf0

See you next week!

Ana

Recap Writer

Iffy Situations, Sensical Numbers and Seeking Help - an opulent morning at Early Birds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

DTM Mary Helen started us off with iffy situations we encountered in life.  We found out that...

* TM Jose tried to steal a vinyl (formerly known as LP) as a budding teen, got caught and learned his lesson - wait 6 months for the coveted LPs to reach the Spanish market.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* I, Ana, was usually the one to get others in trouble to cover up for lying to my unsuspecting parents.

* TM Gail the pilot learned to make flight plans and adhere to the ETA, except this morning when she broke her lifetime rule - but made it anyway!

* TM Christine prayed over a newly-minted police officer and ended up being hauled away in handcuffs.  The twists and turns of life...

* Guest David's first car was a Honda Civic and remains forever in his heart, especially the coveted sunroof.

* TM Jorge took a wrong direction by stealing school supplies as a youngster but quickly corrected course at the sight of his father's timely appearance.

* TM BeckyJo saw her ex-partner's theft in the books and sadly what was seen cannot be unseen so her goal for 2025 is to pursue legal action and get her money back!

We had an outstanding ICEBREAKER today...

* TM Cory engaged the audience with TM questions and as a data analyst encouraged us all to join one of 182 lifetime La Vie cruises that will accommodate 56% of female Toastmasters and 44% of male Toastmasters.  The data analysis conclusion is 0% privacy for the Gulds.  He Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Pam backed with data the fact that she's smart, educated, charming, creative and she comes from a long line of educated, charming, creative and smart family members.  From doing it her way she transformed into leaning onto others to make life easier.  

Then came evaluations...

* TM Chris praised TM Cory for his creative Icebreaker which, truthfully impressed everyone with his personalized statistics.  She Won Best Evauator Award.

* TM The Tom related to TM Pam's opulent arrogance as a boss but age has a way of humbling us.

The Word of the Day was

OPULENT, adj.

Rich, luxurious, lavish

We at EarlyBirds like opulent - and succulent - lunches and dinners! 

First-time Grammarian TM Jorge brought us a fantastic Word of the Day and captured the rich language used by our members.  Way to go, TM Jorge!

For tips on Poll-Making and other important tidbits, please visit  earlybirdtm.blogspot.com

The link to today's recording is 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFjciETtJ2Q

See you next week!

Ana 

Recap Writer

March topics, Thailand-Part II and a Loving Tribute - a mesmeric EarlyBirds meeting

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM The Tom moved us with a very loving invocation inspired on our late DTM Jim D.

I, Ana, presented assorted topics pertinent to the month of March.  We discovered that....

* TM Jorge is not quite sure whether he likes Daylight Saving Time or not - sometimes he does, other times he doesn't.  Overall, he'd probably rather live without changing the time.  Or perhaps he would like to get darker later, but then you have to wake up when it's dark.  What a dilemma....You're with 50% of the world's population, Jorge!

* TM Paolo has nominated his wife as Good Samaritan of the Day and Year, because it takes a Good Samaritan to deal with a rowdy bunch of young kids, especially bright and early in the morning.  He can't wait to have some peace and quiet, even in the midst of rush hour traffic.

* TM The Tom reminded us that nothing, nada, niente, compares to the joyful boisterousness and mesmeric routines of St Patty's Day for a Fightin Irish like himself.  The Equinox can go find a four-leaf clover for all he cares....

* TM Marie shared EarlyBird shenanigans - she blatantly misled and mesmerized her innocent husband by bringing him a cookbook authored and personally autographed for him by none other than Sofia Loren at the Toastmasters Contest - in authentic Italian provided by our very own TM Paolo.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM BeckyJo disputed the discovery date of Pluto - Pluto was discovered after Mickey and before Uranus - although Pluto is not a planet anymore, Pluto will always be a standup dog.  That's all folks!

We had one mesmeric speech....

* TM Jose dazzled us with his Thailand - Part II, mainly about the Thai archipelago - Koh Tao - Nguyen Islands and coral reefs Twin Peaks and Japanese Gardens, Krabi - Railay Beach - get there by boat only and rent a chaise/umbrella combo for $2/day, visit Chinatown in Bangkok to see a REAL Chinatown and learn to cook Thai food in the city within the city.  November 23  2026 - we're all coming to visit the Gulds on their cruise stopover in Thailand!!  He Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM The Tom evaluated this second part of TM Jose's Thailand adventure and... The Tom wants MORE, MORE, MORE.  He suggested TM Jose expand his speech into a 12-15 minute more detailed description of island-hopping, scuba dives and dining experiences.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Chris put together a moving, mesmeric tribute of our late DTM Jim D.  Categorized by various aspects of his personality, we were reminded of our loss of a friend and valuable member of our Club.  Thank you TM Chris for this extraordinary remembrance.

Our newest Toastmaster and first-time Ah Counter TM Jorge, did an outstanding job of listening for Ahs, Ehrs, You Knows, Ummms and other fillers.  Way to go, TM Jorge!

The Word of the Day was

MESMERIC, adj

Hypnotic induction held to involve animal magnetism

Hypnotic appeal

Our EarlyBird meetings have a mesmeric quality to them.

Here's the link to the recording

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfAb_aU4N18

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Writer

* 

Life is Good Sunday Business Meeting March 9, 2025

To members present at Life is Good Sunday AFG Business Meeting plus Mira and Marla:

Attached are the minutes from yesterday's meeting.

Yours in service,

Ana

Group Member

Moving, Thai Paradise and What Now? A scintilla of a meeting at EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Chris, shaker and mover, got us moving in various directions.  We found out that...

* TM Terri does not have moving in her genes but treasures her childhood pictures which miraculously made it out of Hersheytown, Cuba.

* TM Aleta's longest moves were back and forth between Pennsylvania and Florida, with lots of uncluttering along the way.

* TM Cory's shortest move was at age 20 when he moved 2 blocks from his Mom who visited every day, till he springboarded to Portland, Oregon.

* TM Paolo just went through a harrowing transatlantic flight with 6 bambini in tow so he wants to stay put for a while.

* Guest Jean's easiest move was from Europe to Florida.  His father helped and besides, he had beaucoup des francs a depenser (translation: quite a bunch of French francs to convert to dollars).

* I, Ana, do NOT like to move - miscellaneous objects live in perpetuity in my home so the Gulds are bringing their rnadoms and extras over.  I Won Best Table Topics Award.

Then came the outstanding prepared speeches...

* TM Jose took us on a scintillating trip aided by seamless visual/audio aids  to Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (coloquially known as Thailand) and a few of the islands they visited - they had 1400 to choose from, as well as near-passing trains.  TM Jose and the entire Club is planning to visit the Gulds' Cruise in Phuket in November 2026.  Jose won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Marie expertly showed us ways to turn our energy from negative to positive, ignore the external narcissism and find the silver lining in every storm cloud.

Regarding the evaluations...

* The Tom Quinn praised TM Jose's presentation skills as simply magic.  He wants MORE, MORE, MORE!  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* First-time Evaluator TM Cory admired TM Marie's self-confidence, great energy, audience engagement and the ability to pose serious questions in a very gentle tone.  Great job, Cory!

ALERT FOR TM BECKYJO:  The Oxford Dictionary has officially recognized -and listed- the formerly slangy GONNA. 

The Word of the Day was

SCINTILLA, noun

Very small amount of something

Spark, flash

Example: EarlyBirds has way more than a scintilla of humor and joy to start us right on any given Thursday morning.

Here's the link to the recording:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MinMpMBXXlc

See you next week!

Ana

VP Education