Cinco de Mayo, Last Icebreaker, Leadership and Motorcycles - a varied morning at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

I started us off with Cinco de Mayo topics.  We found out that....

* TM BeckyJo has every type of hat except a red hat and a purple dress.  She's out buying herself a sombrero right now.

* DTM Mary Helen has multifaceted capes - blankets, pillows, layers- and will acquire a soft Mexican poncho to double up as a bedspread.

* TM Aleta displayed her donkey pinata but will now buy a companion parrot pinata to pay homage to the day.

* DTM Jim D. likes the Arizona cactus flower, a flora variety we now learned thrives in Windermere.

* TM Marie has frequent standoffs with her cat, who has learned to act Mexican and she likes red hot chili peppers to sweat the toxins off.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* DTM Kip eats chili pepper necklace beads that his wife surreptitiously shoves on his chimichanga entree.

In the area of prepared speeches...

* TM Carmine gave a sentimental icebreaker about the various stages of his life's journey - from the asphalt jungle to a soon-to-be Wandering Monk in a travelling van.  He Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Tom described several leadership types - pragmafist, Stuart Loyalist and diplomatic corps, and only made a brief reference to his cat.  He ceded time to DTM Kip to rally the troops for Tall Tales next week.

* TM Scott is descended from a long line of biker dudes and practices self-filming on a motorcycle while swaying in the wind of his Grandfather's Mountain.

As far as evaluations go...

* DTM Kip officially nominated TM Carmine as our Resident Holy Person and made a call to action to zoom in to EarlyBirds to deliver more swan songs.

* TM Carmine encouraged TM Tom to continue honing his skills as a personal, interesting, effective storyteller.  

* TM Marie praised the humor in TM Scott's speech about the Gang of Three Biker  Brothers and wonders how TM Scott's wife finds time to do anything else besides scanning his life insurance policy.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

APHASIA, noun

Loss or impairment, inability to recall words resulting from a brain injury.

Example:  Bruce Willis is suffering from aphasia and may eventually  DIE HARD.

Next week is our Tall Tales meeting!

See you then,

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

Spring, Mentoring and New Tricks - a fun morning at EarlyBirds!

 

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

Spring has sprung!  I, Ana, led us in Springish topics.  We soon discovered that…

 

• TM Tom knows that the best formula is to bloom where you are planted.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.
• TM Jose has finally realized that the rain in Spain stays mainly in his flooded backyard.
• TM Lois affirms that spring adds new life and new beauty to all that is and stays away from gloom and doom.
• TM Randolph eliminates his morning yawn by jumping in the shower to prepare for the coming day…
• TM BeckyJo honestly does not like change but honestly does her level best to see change as a good reminder of change.
• DTM Kip grows thought-provoking weeds but mostly focuses on watering the flowers his wife plants.
• TM Aleta agrees that old fashioned fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat, especially after a Southwestern Pennsylvania winter…
• TM Paolo is doubly grateful for his health and his beautiful six Italian flowers that are waiting eagerly for him!

 

Along came our prepared speeches…

 

• TM Chris reinforced the idea that mentoring – and being mentored- is the name of life’s game.  Her project showed us how to take some control of the surrounding gallery when screen sharing.  She Won Best Speaker Award.
• TM Carmine nonchalantly displayed weeds, cosmos, ethereal, bridge-crossing and blurred virtual backgrounds.  Moral of the story:  old dogs CAN learn new tricks!

 

As far as evaluations go….

 

• TM Aleta commended TM Chris for her technical prowess, expertise, clear and deliberate tech wizard finger pointing – and that’s before TM Chris went wild and started impersonating animal cartoons in front of our very eyes!  She Won Best Evaluator Award.
• DTM Kip implored TM Carmine to dive into Pathways or meet him at Benny’s to be dragged kicking and screaming into the Pathways he’s always wanted to be.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

DOOMSCROLLING, verb

The practice of obsessively checking online news in search of negativity.  This creates a compulsive craving for more hard core.  The antidote is goodscrolling, dumbscrolling or glowscrolling – checking out little critters from God’s animal kingdom frolicking in green pastures (before you know it, it will be nighttime and another day wasted away).

 

A few photos from yesterday https://photos.app.goo.gl/BMKK6TzuXnfHiJtB8

 

Here’s the link to the recording:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XT0x0D0vfA

 

 

See you next week!

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Unusual Table Topics, Virtual Friends, Who Are You? and Tech Tips - absence of tribulation at EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

TM Scott started us with an Invocation in the Tahino, Tequesta and Seminole tradition, during which we learned that they were all ancient Snow Birds, leaving the Everglades for the Keys – not to avoid the heat as they wore skimpy tangas – but to escape the swarms of mosquitoes and enjoy a few Margaritas during the hot summer months.

 

TM Randolph surprised us with unusual topics.  We heard that….

 

• TM Tom wants to star in Howdy Doody Wrestler to the entrance theme song of Rocky played with tubas.
• TM Chris solemnly affirms she saw telltale bubbles from an amphibian gassy sea robin in the otherwise silent world of diving.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.
• TM Pam couldn’t choose to be the smartest or the funniest person in the room because she actually knows she’s both.  She avoids tripping on banana peels, though.
• TM BeckyJo makes silly faces to her 5 yr old grand nephew while he reads Winnie the Pooh to her.
• TM Jim G. was hard pressed (pun intended) to think of a prank he’s committed against his wife other than having her come home to a clean house, bypassing the cleaning lady option.
• TM Aleta reveres Cher’s risqué outfits and will have her as first guest in the upcoming late night talk show.  Oh, if she could turn back time…. (sung to the tune of “If I Could Turn Back Time” by Cher).
• TM Scott lives in Groundhog Bay where he has seen the movie 20 times in one Day – and counting…..

 

Along came the prepared, pre-planned speeches (and one improvised)…

 

• TM Carmine’s virtual friend has showed up in person and is exuberant, exciting, non-mood altering, a millionaire and leads Carmine to close encounters of the fun kind with sinfully unmarried octagenarians.   A blind date is being set up between Missouri and Southwestern Pennsylvania as we speak.  Stay tuned.
• TM Marie spoke of the joy of connectedness and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who said the world is round so friendships can encircle it and Jesuit priests may propagate the earth.   Ah mes amis!
• TM Chris showed us how to look up our old speeches and push them to our suffering friends during our frequent episodes of acute self-indulgence.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

 

As far as evaluations go…

 

• First-time evaluator TM Lois commended TM Carmine for presenting stimulating real topics with good diction and avoiding his natural tendency to ignore the Timer.  Good job Lois!4
• TM Scott quoted Rene Descartes “Je Pense Donc Je Suis” which crushed our loyalty to Willy’s quote “To Be Or Not To Be – That Is The Question”.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.
• Amid rustling papers, DTM Kip gave a superb critique of TM Chris’s speech spontaneity and had the profound revelation that this group needs all the Tech Tips we can get.

 

Several of us tried our level best to promote TM Jim G. to DTM Jim G. but it did not fly.

General Evaluator DTM Mary Helen suffered tribulation with her Mute Button and has signed up for a Mute/Unmute Crash Course at Mute/Unmute School of Technology in nearby Commute St.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

TRIBULATION, noun

A cause of great trouble or suffering

 

Example:  A tarnished reputation can produce great tribulation.  Contact Reputation Deep Enders.

 

Here’s the link to the recording:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=larwIJpVFX4

 

See you next week on St Patty’s!

 

Tribulantly submitted,

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Profound Observations, Gestures, U-Boats and Communication Styles - a varied assortment at EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

TM Aleta led us with an inspirational invocation followed by thought-provoking topics.  We noticed that….

 

• TM Jose, who used to think a good life consisted of fast motorcycles, cars and loud music now searches for happiness inside, paired with fast cars, loud music and solid family relationships.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.
• TM Lois Lane confirmed that names are important to her, so much so that she sometimes sings people’s names while searching for those now non-existent telephone booths.
• If TM Jeff could teach one concept to humanity it would be that every opinion is worthwhile, starting with his own.  He’s the sworn enemy of smugness and groupthink.
• I, Ana, believe that pain is part of life, but suffering is optional.  I make a story about everything because I drag around old suitcases without wheels.
• To find out who people really are and why they behave the way they do, DTM Mary Helen asks them if they got enough sleep the night before.  Invariably, the answer is NO.
• DTM Jim believes animals have the same feelings as humans but, unlike humans, they know the true meaning of respect.  It’s all because they sleep 20 hours a day.

 

We were inspired by some of the over-loquacious speakers, which inspired the (stoic) Timer to use the blinking screen lights feature….

 

• Eternal Pathways traveller TM Carmine gave us an interactive course of commonly used facial, upper torso, arms and shoulder gesticulations.   It turns out he and our today-absent Gondoliere President majored in Pronounced Gestures for Very Italian People at the University of Civitavecchia.
• TM Chris recounted the under-publicized story of German U-Boats which mercilessly sank US Merchant Marine ships off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina.  Ship explosions provided weekend entertainment for local families in those slow post-war years.   For more details, watch the excellent movie Das Boot.
• At meteoric speed, DTM Kip showed us slides of communication styles and his scores – then and now.  Once he realized TM is not the military, his communication style changed from Direct to Mellow.   He Won Best Speaker Award.

 

And lastly, we heard some excellent evaluations….

 

• TM Tom loved TM Carmine’s speech, the enthusiasm, the facial gestures, the zest, the shoulder shrugs, and the spontaneous audience interpretation.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.
• DTM Kip admired TM Chris’s storytelling talent and encouraged her to make the slides of ships blowing up her virtual background, for added effect.
• TM Jeff praised DTM Kip’s next evolution of our zooming capabilities by the way the speaker used the slides.  In a frequent occurrence -and due to suffering from a Zoom curse- Jeff’s audio went KAPUT as he was finishing his evaluation.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

INSPIRE, verb

fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

"his passion for romantic literature inspired him to begin writing"

 

The link for the meeting recording:

 

https://youtu.be/d5_TlcKR9mc

 

See you next week!

 

Ana

Recap Writer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Too Big To Believe - Or Too Great To Ignore - Tall Tales at Early Birds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

Our Tall Tales started off with…

 

• DTM Kip as The Pied Piper of Las Olas following a beautiful store owner and ending up with a brass rat.
• TM Tom building solid intraspecies relationships in his own private Garden of Eden. Visiting DTM Lois is moving into his back yard!
• I, Ana, recounted the story of Havana’s Gentleman from Paris, who rafted to South Florida and transformed into Barry Gibb.
• TM Aleta theatrically gardened  as Avid Gardner who splashed alcohol down her throat to remove snake toxins in a case of domestic violence while married to Ole Blue Eyes.   She Won Best Speaker Award.
• TM Marie took us in an interplanetary 3D acid trip of dreamers, tossers, turners, skywalkers, moonwalkers and skull collectors – while her hubby and tabby slept peacefully next to her.
• TM Carmine introduced us to all the dead people he knows who have turned him into a voracious reader.  He shoots for the moon and if he misses, he ends up with the stars.

 

And inverting the order of things,  we then had sequential Table Topics, wherein we embarked on a roller coaster ride:

 

• DTM Kip obsessively talked about a ruckus in an Asian Restaurant ….
• TM Chris looked through the window and saw TM Beckyjo in the midst of the ruckus and decided to walk to the (closed for renovation) Floridian, only to notice there were no cars
• TM Paolo wanted to forget about hot air balloons in Arizona and focus get invited to the scrumptious breakfast being prepared for Kip, when he remembered we are on Zoom…
• TM Randolph deep-sixed the hot air balloons going to Spain and instead decided to find out that the Las Olas commotion was because the snakes and the brass rats were eating the cat…
• DTM Lois found a garden snake wrapped around a glistening Brass Rat statue….
• TM Jim G. pondered about finding snakes in gardens, when alligators in The Everglades are overwhelmed by the itty bitty pet snakes turning into swamp reptiles.

 

Evaluations/General Evaluation:  DTM Lois gave incisive individual evaluations with audience participation.  Thank you for visiting us today!

 

Zoom Tech Report:   TM Jim G. is totally captivated by the little square boxes on the screen.  The end.

 

According to Chat Room rumor, TM Pam’s internet was taken hostage by gremlins.  It’s not a Tall Tale!       P.S.  Phone home!!!!

 

The Word of the Day was

 

DEEP SIX, noun

 

To abandon, reject, or otherwise get rid of. This slangy term dates from the mid-1900s and originated in the navy, where it meant throwing something or someone overboard. The “six” refers to the six-foot nautical fathom, the standard unit of measurement for sea depth.

 

Example:  To deep six in the Army is simply unfathomable.

 

Recording can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y94h57HROdc

 

Next week, we’re back to our usual moderate fibbing.

 

Ana

Recap Writer

 

 

Surrender, Perspective, Gourmet Dining and Interplanetary Landings - speech contest at its best in EarlyBirds!

 What a fun morning of interesting, varied speeches!

• TM Tom started us off with a tale of Eli Parker, an Iroquois who crafted the Civil War Surrender Document. Goes to show the importance of ESL (English as a Second Language).
• TM Carmine proved that life’s perspective is all about different sizes of cardboard boxes and a Timex watch. He Won First Place Award.
• TM Jose took us down a mouth-watering culinary trip of Spain’s most revered national dish – the Tortilla de Patatas. The existential question is: With or Without Onions???? He Won Third Place Award.
• DTM Kip confirmed what we suspected all along: he comes from an intergalactic universe and first landed in a farm in Southwestern Kentucky…. He Won Second Place Award.

The Area 21 Speech Contest will be held on Friday, February 4, at 7 pm, at a still undisclosed location. Stay tuned.





Link to the recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bmY3kbhv08





See you next week!



Ana

Recap Writer

Labor Day, Stardust and the Electoral College - EarlyBirds talks well!

 

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

I (Ana) started us off with Labor Day-related Table Topics.  Some of the things we found out….

 

• TM Jose enjoyed many Labor Days running through the sprinklers and ending up with a big splash in the pool.   Ah those endless summer days….
• TM Chris demurely reminisced about her teenage drive-in movie outings and has lately been spotted with hubby Jim at a converted Walmart parking lot enjoying popcorn and a movie – She Won Best Table Topics Award.
• Guest Bruno Borges lives 30 minutes from the beach in Brazil and plans to bike or ride to the beach and drink lots of Caipirinhas, Labor Day weekend or not!
• TM Mildred has always participated in Labor Day parades, and to this day her favorite part is waving, followed closely by throwing candy to the unsuspecting crowd.
• Visiting TM Prasanna reminisced fondly about childhood picnics at her friend’s house and will restart the practice as an adult.
• TM BeckyJo cannot recall her favorite Labor Day back in the 60s, although she is vaguely sure that it involved lots of water and a boat full of rum runners.

 

And then we heard prepared speeches…

 

• TM Carmine came across loud and clear with his brand new equipment and pondered about the fact that all our fruit and clothes are grown and made  outside our borders.    As a tribute to Orangina, the French soda, he was wearing an orange t-shirt made in Haiti.
• TM Tom told us about the Electoral College and in spite of rude hecklers in the audience, got his point across that the E.C. is what makes the United States unique and is a complex mechanism, not to be tampered with, much like his father’s watch. If we switch to popular vote, we could soon be celebrating Labor Day in May….    He Won Best Speaker Award and Most Improved Speaker Award.

 

As far as evaluations…

 

• TM Mildred commended TM Carmine on his vocal variety, his analogy between stardust and international buffets.  She reminded him to wash his hands constantly with liquid soap made in China.  It’s the easiest to find.
• TM Marie praised TM Tom’s professionalism and poise in delivering his speech and suggested he not be so nice to hecklers and just ask the host to mute them outright.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.
•  

Our Tech Watcher, TM Chris, implored  those of us without modern laptops, to refrain from using virtual background because it projects  light out of the sockets of your eyes and frightens the audience.  In other words, it’s the Zoom equivalent of the “red eye” in Instamatic pictures of yore.

  

The Word of the Day was

 

RUDE, noun

 

To speak unkindly, unpleasantly.

 

Below is the link to today’s meeting recording:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJDYc0m4hzQ

 

See you next week!

 

Ana

Recap Writer

Humorous contest - let's have some fun at EarlyBirds Toastmasters!!

 Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

Our humorous speech contest started off with a rap’s inspirational lines (rapped to the tune of ….. rap)

 

• Everybody lookin' at you crazy (crazy!)
  What you gonna do? (what you gonna do?)
  Lift up your head and keep moving (keep moving)
  Or let the paranoia haunt you (haunt you)?…An attempted break-in at a Denny’s in his youth took TM Jeff, instead, to the Boulevard of Broken Rapper Dreams… He made the local paper’s front lines as the fastest runner East of the Metacomet Range.  He Won Second Place.

 

• TM Aleta fondly reminisced about her Relay for Recovery, where she piggy-backed her little friend Courtney across 3 football fields while dragging a Flintstone-style homemade cardboard box on wheels.   Aleta has singlehandedly supported her chiropractor for decades now.  He’s been spotted lighting  candles for Relay for Recovery.

 

• TM Joe hilariously told us about one of his wacky Sicilian family’s vacation to Canada with huge watermelons flying inside the car every time  his aggressive driver father hit the brakes, Uncle Enrico the exhibitionist traumatizing the kids, his father dumping a banana peel and the car keys into the dark woods.  Joe sold the movie rights to National Lampoon Goes On A Gitto Vacation and the rest is ….literally…. history.    He Won First Prize.
•  
• TM Carmine introduced us to Senator Big Jim Foghorn, an independent thinking Californian with a Southern drawl, who taught us valuable lessons about money, greed and taking bribes from every side.   In other words, your average politician.
•  
• TM Pam is a self-described somewhat woke person, who has discovered that Pinot Grigio couples very nicely with Cheetos while lying on the couch.  It’s also known as seal repair (pothead) while eating a kiwi fruit and learning native New Zealand language.   “A person walks into a bar, another person walks into a bar, a third person ducked.” Get with the joke telling, unwoke people!  She won Third Prize.
•  
• We received the visit of several members of a Toastmasters Club in Southern India.  Virtual technology has removed barriers of distance and time.
•  

Below is the recording for the meeting:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luiwdxmCIp0
•  
• See you next week!
•  
• Ana I.
• Recap Writer

A Morning of Exaggeration, Embellishment and Outright Lies: Early Bird Tall Tales At Its Best

 

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,



We dispensed with Table Topics and got right down to Tall Tales. And we learned that….

• DTM Kip is a time-proven meanderer of rural prairies with lonely bulls and no, if you’re thinking this was Spain, you guessed wrong. The setting was none other than manicured landscaped Boca Raton, Florida near an ALF.
• TM Joe had us in stitches with his family summer trip to Canada when he was 14 years old when Sicilian tempers, dropped down pants, mosquitoes feasting on old Uncles’ butts and seeing things that could never be unseen. It’s certainly “a mad, mad, mad world!”
• At the not-so-gentle insistence of his wife, TM Carmine has drank Lysol repeatedly during the pandemic but so far it hasn’t killed him, although he’s squeeky clean inside. His wife has not given up. Stay tuned.
• I told a story of love and betrayal, starring a Cuban couple with very long names, lots of Cuban food, Santeria, infidelity and a happy ending with impotence caused by a Tofu overdose. More will be revealed.
• DTM Mary Helen told us of the difference between her – good natured, sweet, innocent – and her evil identical twin Maureen – excitable, wicked, twisted – who is actually the one who attends EarlyBirds in her stead.
• DTM Jim D. told us about one of his flights on Aeroflot, a Russian version of a Cartagena de Indias bus with chickens and supplemented by lots of free-floating vodka, consumed mostly by the pilot.
• TM Aleta is a consummate repurposer and recycler, using her lab retriever’s hair to spin a yarn and show off a Lab Retriever coat which she uses to light up her home made lint fire starters in those cold Pennsylvania winters.
• TM Tom told us about the Taming of the Crew – his 4 children- during a vacation by car to visit Grandma up north. They barely survived the anarchic fighting and Tom’s wife started him on a Tofu diet ipso facto.

TM Jim G. kept us on time and gave a great general evaluation of the meeting. We had a number of returning EarlyBirds and guests who said they will come back.



The Word of the Day was EXAGGERATE, which needs no further explanation. Lies, lies and more lies.



Below is the link to the recording of the meeting in YouTube.



https://youtu.be/BmrK4TvU5lg



See you next week!



Virtually yours,



Ana

Sargeant-at-Arms