Lexicon, Cryptic Messages and Spanish in 3 easy lessons - an intellectual morning at EarlyBirds

  

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

We mustered our gray cells to come up with new lexicon under the intelligent guidance of TM Aleta:

* TM Marie is very grateful not to live in the Ukraine where they have severe supply chain issues.  The plethora of grocery stores in the US have a plethora of products.

* TM Jim G. is an expert in washing, especially greenwashing the barnacles on the bottoms of boats.

* I, Ana, carefully survey snd measure the meat space at the butcher shop in order to buy the right cut of meat.  

* TM Paolo likes the real universe better than the metaverse, which is used to escape reality.

* TM Chris officially named herself adorkable (dorkgeek + adorable).  We all agreed!

* TM Tom is very aware of virtue signaling as a stiff drink of Johnnie Walker.  The rest are falsified memories - his own words. He Won Best Table Topics Awards.

Along came the fabulous prepared speeches....

* TM Val gave us descriptions of the stories behind poems - cryptic messages presented with great hand gestures and vocal variety..  She Won Best Speaker Award.

* DTM Mary Helen traveled to Spain, Argentina, Peru, Mexico to learn Spanish in 5 easy lessons.  She's still at it but knows all kinds of cultures.

As for evaluations....

* First time evaluator TM Emmanuel condensed TM Val's speech into a metaverse and praised her soft, captivating voice.

* TM Marie praised DTM Mary Helen's tenacity in traveling through the long and winding road to achieve great vocal variety in Spanish.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

MUSTER, verb

To collect or assemble

MUSTER, noun

A group of peacocks

Example;  The muster of peacocks generously doused their Cuban Sandwich with muster.

Here's the link to the recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NCl9kiJO4M

No meeting next week!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Ana

Recap Writer

Autumn, Hear Ye! and Karaokeville - an entertaining morning at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Pam made us think about the autumnal equinox, set to happen precisely tonight at 9:22 pm (give or take).... and now we know that...

* TM Marie doesn't want to say goodbye to the summer (sung to the tune of Cliff Richards' 1965 "I Don't Want To Say Goodbye To the Summer").

* TM Val is set to clean up her back yard, restain the deck and prune the lillies... as soon as next summer arrives on June 22, 2023 at precisely 9:22 pm (give or take).

* TM Chris has been waiting 5 years (as Jim is her witness) to eat caprese salad with homegrown basil in direct defiance of local grocery stores.

* TM Jim G. hibernates on lobster, sprinkled with a few bugs and doused with a generous dose of honey and oats.  Yummmm.

* I, Ana, know for sure it's Fall when the inside temperature of my Igloo remains at a steady below freezing temperature and I must wear two scarves instead of one.

* DTM Jim D. innoculates himself with Dr. Jack Daniels and vintage Dr. Francis Ford Coppola while verifying the different colors of snow bird license plates (Je Me Souviens)  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Aleta used to display Halloween decorations to show off to her friends -  who have since moved to Florida with the others (Je Me Souviens)  She's planning a Zoom video tour to impress us.

* Returning TM Astrid, aka Asteroid, plans to hibernate in Miami Beach.  Enough of those winters in NYC.  (Je Me Souviens).

* Guest Emmanuel hopes to overcome public speaking anxiety in Toastmasters.  We're much better than Lexapro!!

And along came the prepared speeches...

* TM Val pondered whether the hearer hears what they hear here or does the hearer say what the sayer hears?  That, my friends, is the ultimate question.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Chris dances salsa while she cooks (.09% of the time) and she and TM Jim sailed all the way to the UK on a flotation amphibious controlled Recreational Vehicle while Karaoking Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Jim G. liked TM Val's parables - a heart murmur is cured with a hot mama.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Aleta admired TM Chris's talent for multimedia and praised her Johnny Depp-inspired role in the home video of Pirates of the Atlantic.

The Word of the Day was

MONIKER, noun

A nickname for a person.

Example:  Benedict, a monk from the 6th Century, became known as Benedictine Liqueur after a few experiments in the monastery cellar.

Here's the link to the recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUNHn1NXlcY

See you next week!

Ana I.

Moniker Writer

Profound Revelations, A Moment In Time and Using Art In Personal Ways - moments of lucidity at EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

DTM Mary Helen gave a Quechuan invocation (mostly in English).  Note of interest:  Bolivian Quechua speakers range from 2.3 to 2.8 million, making it the most indigenous language in Bolivia, slightly greater than Aymara, with roughly 2 million speakers in Bolivia.  They live in the Andean highlands (Altiplano).

TM Tom led us with profound quotes eliciting profound revelations...

* DTM Jim D. pondered about when the witching hour happens in Alaska when they have 24-hour daylight. Hmmmm. They save it for January, when they have 24-hour darkness.

* I, Ana, have had many 'wobblies' during the witching hour when my children were growing up which led me to lots of wobbly hangovers.  I Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Jose stated that just as all storm clouds have silver linings, all thorns have a rose and his arms bled profusely as he mowed the lawn back in days of yore.

* TM Jim G. avoids counterfeits in distilleries, he lucidly looks for the jug labeled "The Real McCoy".

* TM BeckyJo spent the 50s in a stream of consciousness followed by the 60s being influenced and stays on track to avoid wobblies while changing horses in midstream.

* TM Pam avoids a dying duck in a thunderstorm because she instinctively knows that golfers holding metal clubs are sitting ducks for a bolt out of the blue.

* DTM Mary Helen passed the buck to TM Chris who warned us to avoid dark horses which are very fast and will undoubtedly win the race.

We went on to our prepared speeches....

* TM Val's outstanding icebreaker told us about pivotal moments in her life when she followed a feather trail at the Atlanta Olympics and filled in ancestry gaps a month ago in Ghana.  She Won Best Speaker Award.   Val is the author of Following a Feather Trail, Valeria V. Cordi Cray, https://a.co/d/6RiB2Ds.   

* TM Pam started off with weird art, followed by pulled hamstrings from a stationary kayak and ending up with a claustrophobic magnetic resonance imaging of very weird art.

As far as evaluations go....

* DTM Jim D. praised TM Val for her lucidity, her self-confidence, her poise and her impeccable timing.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.  

* I, Ana, commended TM Pam for speaking comfortably as if she's sitting in her living room, which she is.  She also mastered screensharing images.

TM Aleta lucidly kept us on time while ironically she has a wall clock background which reflects the local time in New Zealand.  Just to keep us on our toes.

Technical Tip:  Look up old speeches in the EarlyBirds blog and send them to TM Jim G. or TM Chris. who will replay them when we end early.

The Word of the Day was

LUCIDITY, noun

1. Clarity of expression, intelligibility

2. Ability to think clearly, especially in intervals between confusion and insanity.

3. Bright, luminous

Example:  TM Jim G. experienced moments of lucidity while dwelling with chaotic Italian cows.

Here is the link to the recording:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gJY5Mmbb8g

See you next week!

Ana

Recap Writer