Military Quotes, Bikers & Beer, Tadpole Ralph - a great morning at EarlyBirds

Dear  Members and Friends,

What an exciting morning!  We inducted our new TM Val into the Club.

We held highly contested Club Elections.  After tough campaigns, the following members got elected into the corridors of power:   New term begins July 1.

President - TM Randolph

VP Ed - DTM Kip

Secretary - TM Tom

Treasurer - DTM Jim D.

VP Membership - DTM Mary Helen

VP Public Relations - TM Ana

Sargeant-at-Arms - TM Marie

Commemorating Memorial Day, I (Ana) led Table Topics with military quotes on leadership, teamwork, courage and humor.  We soon discovered that...

* DTM Jim D. rides the thunder in his bike and is very close friends with FHP.

* TM Val firmly believes that motivation derives strictly from a well-delivered sales pitch.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Paolo reminded us that disturbing an erring enemy is like letting fettucini cook in its own water - you stand back and watch.

* TM Marie compared military preparedness to being an Ah Counter.

* TM Randolph expects challenges in the road less travelled from an easy yesterday.

* DTM Kip invoked ceremonial fires as merely advancing in a different direction.

Along came the prepared speeches...

* TM Scott gave us a rubber sided down Part II of his bike ride through Blue Ridge Breweries and liquid loaves of bread.  He Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Tom (aka Zorba the Greek on La Strada) campaigned for Ralph the Tadpole who led us as a bullfrog and confirmed that all change is followed by chaos.

As far as evaluations....

* TM Marie praised TM Scott for exuding enthusiasm, bikes, beer and fun and no cracked ribcages.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

* DTM Kip marveled at how the Tadpole to BullFrog analogy fits into so many organizations.  

The Word of the Day was

APEX, noun

Peak of something, highest point of something.

Plural:  apexes or apeces

Example:  The Apex of an octopus is to join other octopi and avoid becoming fried calamari.

Here's the link to the recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jmm7yAz4Mo

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Writer

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

Opposites Attract, Icelandicspeak and A Gondola Ride - all in a morning's meeting at Early Birds!!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends:

 

For starters, TM Paolo officially named us The Meeting of Meetings and The Peak Of The Week.  Your choice.

 

TM Carmine led us to explore opposite table topics.  We learned that….

 

• TM Scott censored his first thoughts about shrinking and enlarging items at this early hour and instead referred to shrinking brains and enlarging joie de vivre….
• TM Paolo froze as he had his foot already on the gondola but he cannot turn down a table topic request about being frozen and thawed.
• I, Ana, talked about the true vs the false self, which consists of dying my hair this color and that color – now I save lots of money by being authentically gray.
• DTM Kip said that being a double dipper is like being a gunfighter at the EarlyBird Corral and avoiding ricochets at all costs.
• TM Tom has come from Alabama with a banjo on his knee and focuses on the joy while fretting the banjo.  We are looking forward to a live Zoom performance!
• TM Randolph reflected that stagnation is the beginning of decomposition – and that’s a dangerous non-movement thing!
• Guest Val said giving and receiving are spiritually the same – the intent to give joy creates joy within you in a wonderful synergy.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

 

We enjoyed two excellent speeches today…

 

• TM Scott inspired us to book our flights to Reykyavik to see the fiords, lava boulders, stark and stunning fog and guardrail-less driving straight to the Language School to learn to say eyjafjallajokull (E 15 for short) in our quest for Iceland’s 269 yuhkitls.  Easy as Eskimo Pie! 
• TM Paolo regaled us with the full scope of Italian gestures as he rowed the Grand Canal in Venice looking for an espresso bar – ma che cosa????   He Won Best Speaker Award.

 

As far as evaluations go…

 

• DTM Mary Helen thoroughly enjoys TM Scott’s intelligent witticisms and will now convert the Broward Bilingual Club into English-Icelandic.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.
• TM Tom praised TM Paolo for his virtual setting, his singing voice and above all his striped t-shirt.   Paolo will go all the way to the Gondolieri Hall of Fame for sure!

 

The Word of the Day was

 

QUINTESSENTIAL, adj.

Representing the most typical example of a quality or class.

 

Example:  Apple Pie A La Mode is the quintessential American dessert.  Yummm….

 

Here’s the link to the recording:

 

 

https://youtu.be/UfLHAZmPaJE

 

Dates to Remember:

April 29 – at 8:00 am – TM Paolo will represent our Club in the District 47 Contest.

May 12 – Tall Tales Early Bird Meeting – Bring Everything But The Truth!

 

See you next week!

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Impromptu Impromptu Cues, The Purpose of Life, It's All Small Stuff and Cats - iterations at Early Birds

Dear Members, Friends and Guests,

 

TM Carmine impromptuly led us in impromptu speaking.  These are some of the gems we heard…

 

• TM Chris fantasizes about being a Queen in procession and her valet swarms about her deploying a royal umbrella to protect her from purple rain.  Her husband is a real-life close second in the umbrella deployment department.
• TM Jose discourages golfers from using their golf umbrella – it’s better to experience purple rain than to be hit by lightning, but hey golfers,  it’s your choice!
• TM Scott’s father-in-law offered to help redecorate Scott’s fixer-upper house by lighting a match and since then, Scott has had a strong affinity for orange sunsets.
• TM Aleta does not have a back porch per se but she is not lacking, oh no, as she has a sun porch facing East,  a front porch facing West, a screened porch facing North and a deck facing Southwest.  Amazingly, she has a house too!
• TM Randolph likes to spend private time in his bathroom, where he can reflect, collect his thoughts and reconnect with himself – away from the kids for 5 glorious minutes per week!  He Won Best Table Topics Award.
• TM Pam is a card-carrying beachcomber who collects seashells and reflects about them in her spare time caused by the fact that, yes,  there is hardly any trash on the beach anymore!!

 

 

We heard interesting prepared speeches today…

 

• TM Lois (who has been demoted from being the newest EarlyBird member since the return of TM Scott) told us about how to find purpose and meaning in life at 88 – being available to herself, enriching her journey, helping others and consistently checking out books from her mental library.
• TM Scott did an iteration of his icebreaker.  He has suffered trauma with a lower-case t and reminded us not to sweat the small stuff – and it truly is all small stuff anyway.
• TM Tom shared his unexpected feline ownership enthusiasm and how it’s best to embrace change.  Now he keenly witnesses his shit-su’s and his cat’s bloodless staredowns.  He Won Best Speaker Award.

 

Along came evaluations….

 

• TM Randolph suggested to TM Lois that she is a born salesperson, and he’s ready to buy her product, sight unseen.
• TM Aleta commended TM Scott for his speech clarity, organization, structure and composition.  We like happy endings!  Great addition to our club!   
• DTM Jim D. praised TM Tom for his multiple directional feelings and the iteration of the self-evident truth that felines are the ruling class.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

 

Our Timer, TM Jim G., experienced iterations of being ignored throughout the meeting and had to iterate and reiterate his incarnation time and time again.  Pun intended.

Our Grammarian, TM Marie, pointed out that for such an illustriously intellectual group, we iterate lotsa  ‘gonnas, haftas, gottas’.  Get with the program, people!

 

The Word of the Day was

 

ITERATION, noun

1. Version or incarnation of the operating system.
2. The act of iterating or repeating.

 

Example: 

 

Incarnation iteration is the state of a newborn baby who drinks his second bottle of evaporated milk. 

 

The recording of today’s meeting:

                                                                                                                                          

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-n64EcnshEe

 

 

See you next week!

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer

O'Fun, O'Fun, O'Fun - St Patty's Day at EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

Top of the Morning!

 

Why don’t you want to iron a 4-leaf clover???  Because you don’t want to press your luck!

 

The ancestral -or adoptive- Irish in us led us to a plethora of shenanigans.

 

DTM Mary 0’Helen started us off with clever clover 0’Table Topics.   We discovered that, as 0’Kermit The Frog wisely said, “It’s not easy being green”….

 

• TM 0’Carmine loves duality, aphorysms, parables, paradoxes, antonyms and green-eyed monsters.
• TM 0’Marie stated unequivocally that celebrities wait in the green room of late late night shows by snacking, crimping, drinking or shrimping.  As a green room celebrity, she would just be chatting.
• I, TM 0’Ana, love green, ripe, spotted, mashed or diced bananas and their third cousin twice removed – plantains- because my ancestors were Cuban-Irish primates who drank banana daiquiris on St Patty’s Day.
• TM 0’Lois likes the feel of brand new, ironed green bills, and fully believes in a green cheese moon.  Her motto is green-go!
• DTM Jim O’D wore a head-to-toe Irish costume to his first date with DTM 0’Mary Helen…. And miraculously survived.  Ah…. The luck of the Irish for sure!
• TM 0’BeckyJo only gets green around the gills when she wants to take a day – or a few days- off from work.  The old conundrum:  What comes first?...
• TM 0’Chris eats her greens faithfully and they make her mind sharp and skillful to play an impromptu slide show of a memorable St Patty’s Day party at the O’Ds Irish abode.
• TM 0’Aleta revealed that Johnny Appleseed planted his first apple tree in Philly and was the great great grandfather of Aleta’s Granny Smith.
• TM 0’Pam has lately been eating fried green tomatoes and collard greens and joined the Native Plant Society.
• TM 0’Scott faithfully eats his greens but understands that there are no greener pastures than his out there – merely different shades of green.   He Won Best Table Topics Award.

 

We had two great prepared speeches…

 

• TM O’Pam is currently experiencing first-world decision fatigue regarding travel choices across the country – with or without a newly-to-be-adopted cat.   She and her husband have finally found their core muscles by learning to get up gracefully off the floor.
• TM 0’Scott mindfully taught us non-judgemental, less reactive, sympathetic and parasympathetic responses to external stimulation in 5 to 7 minutes.  He Won Best Speaker Award.

 

As for the evaluations…

 

• DTM O’Kip finds TM 0’Pam amusing and entertaining and wants more and more guffaws in her next speech.  He’s voting that she take the new cat on the birding trip to Maine.
• TM 0’Chris praised TM 0’Scott for his capacity to engage the audience and his ability to stop us from mentally reviewing our grocery list during the speech.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

 

The Word of the Day was

 

SHENANIGANS, noun

1. Secret or dishonest activity
2. Silly or high-spirited behavior.

 

Etymology:  from old Irish sionnachighim, which means ‘play the fox’ (while you dance the fox trot and drink green beer)

 

Link to the recording today http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s-JwKRkFuk

 

See you next week!

 

Irishly submitted,

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer

 

 

Impromptu Impromptu, Purposes, Intents, Felines - iterations at EArly Birds

Dear Members, Friends and Guests,

 

TM Carmine impromptuly led us in impromptu speaking.  These are some of the gems we heard…

 

• TM Chris fantasizes about being a Queen in procession and her valet swarms about her deploying a royal umbrella to protect her from purple rain.  Her husband is a real-life close second in the umbrella deployment department.
• TM Jose discourages golfers from using their golf umbrella – it’s better to experience purple rain than to be hit by lightning, but hey golfers,  it’s your choice!
• TM Scott’s father-in-law offered to help redecorate Scott’s fixer-upper house by lighting a match and since then, Scott has had a strong affinity for orange sunsets.
• TM Aleta does not have a back porch per se but she is not lacking, oh no, as she has a sun porch facing East,  a front porch facing West, a screened porch facing North and a deck facing Southwest.  Amazingly, she has a house too!
• TM Randolph likes to spend private time in his bathroom, where he can reflect, collect his thoughts and reconnect with himself – away from the kids for 5 glorious minutes per week!  He Won Best Table Topics Award.
• TM Pam is a card-carrying beachcomber who collects seashells and reflects about them in her spare time caused by the fact that, yes,  there is hardly any trash on the beach anymore!!

 

 

We heard interesting prepared speeches today…

 

• TM Lois (who has been demoted from being the newest EarlyBird member since the return of TM Scott) told us about how to find purpose and meaning in life at 88 – being available to herself, enriching her journey, helping others and consistently checking out books from her mental library.
• TM Scott did an iteration of his icebreaker.  He has suffered trauma with a lower-case t and reminded us not to sweat the small stuff – and it truly is all small stuff anyway.
• TM Tom shared his unexpected feline ownership enthusiasm and how it’s best to embrace change.  Now he keenly witnesses his shit-su’s and his cat’s bloodless staredowns.  He Won Best Speaker Award.

 

Along came evaluations….

 

• TM Randolph suggested to TM Lois that she is a born salesperson, and he’s ready to buy her product, sight unseen.
• TM Aleta commended TM Scott for his speech clarity, organization, structure and composition.  We like happy endings!  Great addition to our club!   

<![if !supportLists]>·       <![endif]>DTM Jim D. praised TM Tom for his multiple directional feelings and the iteration of the self-evident truth that felines are the ruling class.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

 

Our Timer, TM Jim G., experienced iterations of being ignored throughout the meeting and had to iterate and reiterate his incarnation time and time again.  Pun intended.

Our Grammarian, TM Marie, pointed out that for such an illustriously intellectual group, we iterate lotsa  ‘gonnas, haftas, gottas’.  Get with the program, people!

 

The Word of the Day was

 

ITERATION, noun

<![if !supportLists]>1.    <![endif]>Version or incarnation of the operating system.

<![if !supportLists]>2.    <![endif]>The act of iterating or repeating.

 

Example: 

 

Incarnation iteration is the state of a newborn baby who drinks his second bottle of evaporated milk. 

 

The recording of today’s meeting:

                                                                                                                                          

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-n64EcnshEe

 

 

See you next week!

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer