In the year 2040..., Fate or Random Life Events? and Growth Mindset - an ingratiating meeting of EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Friends, and Guests,

TM David started us off with very intriguing future time travel....

We learned that...

* TM Veronica would use her extra 6 hours a day -thanks to robotic housework- buying fresh groceries, cooking healthy meals, tending her garden (what plants?) and sleeping more, for sure!

* I, Ana, would like ingratiating scientists to prolong life to 150 years in a healthy condition and I would give my kids money periodically to avoid getting arsenic in my coffee...

* TM Marie is concerned that her STDs may be publicized in LinkedIn... who cares about her cholesterol???  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Pam realizes that we can't understand the life before our time - she went from an early calculator to talking to her bathroom fixtures - who cares about passwords?

* TM Aleta stated that her best years were from 45 to 55, old enough to know best, young enough to enjoy things...

* TM Christina would investigate new hobbies, volunteer, train, travel (locally?) if she had 11 extra hours a day due to hologram meetings instead of the current tedious in-person ones.

* TM BeckyJo would sing nursery rhymes if brain to text technology came about, to keep her internal monologue from getting out... because her mind is a dangerous place!

Along came the prepared speeches...

* TM Jose explained that our minds love narrative patterns and we give meaning to chaos.  We at times suffer from apophenia - making connections that don't exist.  Along came Sartre and Camus and complicated things with their existentialism, for Pete's sake!

* TM Marie calmly set forth how we need to have a growth mindset because otherwise we practice self-imposing limitations.  She did a great job in spite of some pesky talkers, interrupters and arguers in the audience.  She Won Most Improved Speaker Award.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Randolph commended TM Jose for his good vocal variety and encouraged him to repeat the speech with his legendary PowerPoint slides and adding specific scenarios.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM BeckyJo praised TM Marie for being calm and steady in the face of disruption, "nothing rocks the Rock" and, in an attempt to incite more chaos in the group, TM BeckyJo suggested that in the future an unscripted member interrupts the speech. 

 

The Word of the Day was

INGRATIATE, verb

To gain favor or approval by being or doing what (we think) others want us to be.

Example:  As I get older, I no longer actively seek to ingratiate myself with others as much.  

Here's the link to the recording...

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

NOTE:  Officer Elections will be held in 2 weeks, June 11.  Please be thinking of this growth opportunity and which role you would like to fill.

Roles to fill:

Sargeant-at-Arms

VP Education

VP Public Relations

VP Membership

Treasurer

Secretary

President

Training will be available from former officers.  Term is one year.

See you next week!

Ana

Recap Writer 

Transitions, A Rose is a Rose and Life Cycles - no confabulations at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Marie led us in practicing Transitions -to avoid non sequiturs- in Table Topics...

* TM BeckyJo grew up in Hawaii amidst the remnants of bunkers from Pearl Harbor days...

* TM Jose will soon inaugurate a Memorial Day Spanish style - lots of jamon and vino vino vino.  Red red wine.... (sung to the tune of Red Red Wine)...

* TM Randolph is (graciously) struggling to let his father-in-law take over the grill and grilling implements during this coming Memorial Day...

* TM Jorge reminisced about visiting the Normandy beaches where it all happened and shudders to think what the alternative would have been....

* TM Veronica always loved summers as a kid growing up in Florida and it brings back those endless summer vacations of yore...

* TM Christina commemorates Memorial Day with a mixture of happiness for the time off and sadness for the somber aspect of those who fell while on duty.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

Along came two magnificent prepared speeches...

* TM Christina regaled us with a tale of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, a lesson on seeing life with our hearts instead of our minds.

* TM Veronica had a transitional moment in Lake Tikal, Guatemala, when a supposedly trivial conversation became a pivotal moment in her next life cycle.  She Won Most Improved Speaker Award.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Jose will buy and re-read The Litte Prince which taught him important life lessons in his youth and suggested TM Christina shut the blinds to avoid stripes of light on her face.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM BeckyJo is perfecting The  Art of Evaluating While Driving and commended TM Veronica for mastering reading notes without even looking at them.

The Word of the Day was

CONFABULATION, noun

An unintentional memory error without intent to deceive.

Example: Confabulation is also known as "honest lying."  Ahem....

Here's the link to the recording...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Xkbkf0uUM

Thank you to everyone who stepped up at the last minute to multitask.

See you next week,

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Being famous, Parenting and Self-Talk - no imbroglios in EarlyBirds today!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM BeckyJo, aka La Presidenta, improvised a childhood poem as an Invocation.

TM David improvised Table Topics, courtesy of AI...

* I, Ana, am already a legend in my own mind... among my family members, and would probably be a world=famous writer if it were in the cards.

* TM Veronica's imaginary paparazzi would only see her wearing yoga pants going to the UPS return store if they were to stalk her...

* TM BeckyJo's tabloid scandal headline would be "Starlet Kills Business Partner" - this dastardly thought has crossed her mind many a time.

* TM Gail would blow fragranced airplane passengers on an 11-hour flight out of their fragrance... and out of the plane, too!

* TM Marie's tv reality show would proclaim that AI is here to stay and we need to use it, much as TM David did today!

* TM Randolph's AI assistant, Athena, secretly complains that Randolph does not speak to her quite enough.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Jorge surmised that the biggest possible imbroglio between a human baby and an infant AI baby is that the AI baby knows everything...

* TM Jose's Chat GPT would roast him for being a perfectionist but a cheap one at that that - he digs deeper into it until it's time to pay up!

And along came prepared speeches...

* TM Randolph described how different of a Dad he was to his firstborn - a quasi avatar - and to his lastborn - the family talker- since the adults create the narrative.

* TM Marie encouraged us to stop our limiting self-talk, since we are capable of anything and failure is only a huge part of learning.  She Won Most Improved Speaker Award.

Regarding the evaluations...

* TM Jorge loved TM Randolph's humor sprinkled throughout his speech and encouraged him to give it more structure, a strong start and end.

* TM Gail praised TM Marie's uplifting and inspiring speech, great eye contact, positive hand gestures and good command of notes.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

IMBROGLIO, noun

A complex dispute or argument

Entanglement, confusion

Example:  Dangerous liaisons usually involve some convoluted imbroglios.

The link to the recording...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGLs2bdxX_c

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Writer

MOMisms, Passion Pits and Speech Intros - a scrupulous morning at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Aleta started us off with a heart-rending poem, "Time Goes By" by Crystal Lewis. 

TM BeckyJo inspired us with MOMisms....

* TM Pam and her peers were not allowed in the house between June 1 and September 1, as pacted by Moms in Kafeeklatsches.

* TM Marie's Mom encouraged her to try things because "if others can do it, so can you."

* TM Tom still remembers his Mom's "early morning German" banging on the radiator to get Tom and his brother to come down for breakfast!

* TM Jorge hid shrimp in his pockets and dumped them outside and was caught by Grandma and his ploy was revealed - lots of pinches followed.

* TM Aleta had a saintly Mom who tried to teach her to be ladylike, but she was her Dad's daughter, learning to build, construct, fix engines, build tractors and the like.

* I, Ana, told my kids to go entertain themselves.  My Mom asked me if I would jump off the bridge if my friends did and the answer was a rotund YES.

* TM Veronica had a great childhood outdoors and entertained herself, and is now instructing me to stop bingeing TV series and go play outdoors! She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM David's mother had a dream - husband and family- and did everything to protect and uphold that dream.

As far as prepared speeches go...

* I, Ana, recounted the origin and demise of Drive-In Movies, from inception to peak as Passion Pits to demise with the advent of color TV, DVDs, livestreaming and the rest.

* TM Pam emphasized the importance of speech introductions - control, credentials, attributes.  Brag, boast, show off, make your Mother proud.  She Won Most Improved Speaker Award.

Regarding evaluations...

* TM David liked my speech and suggested I upload the speech on my screen in Word so I can maintain good eye contact - or any eye contact with the audience, for that matter.  I will definitely try it!  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM The Tom praised TM Pam for her carefully crafted speech on introductions and is taking her to another club where they are clueless about introductions.

The Word of the Day was

SCRUPULOUS, adj.

Careful to do what's honest and right

Careful to do something correctly

Example  Our EarlyBird Club is scrupulous about our commitment to improve our speaking and leadership skills.

The link to the recording is...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoMFPq8FLlU

See you next week!

Ana I.

Not-Always Scrupulous Recap Writer