Dual choices, Humorous Paths and Tell-As-You-Go Humor, a flibbergibbit morning at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Friends and Guests,

EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT:  EarlyBirds is President's Distinguished Club!  Thanks to everyone for your participation in achieving this goal and to soon-to-be-inducted TM Ricardo for becoming our 20th member.

Remember to auto pay before July 31 for $45, instead of $60 after August 1. Instructions will follow.

TM BeckyJo propelled us into a world of vehement dualities.  We discovered that...

* TM Emmanuel, my kindred soul regarding animals, respectfully acknowledges other people's therapeutic need for pets, but he keeps his distance, thank you very much.

* TM Chris prefers live theater but needs close captioning to even understand the title of the play.

* DTM Jim D. asserts that salad indicates that food is coming, so definitely steak for him and let kale go to hale.

* I, Ana, impersonated Nancy Tunatra Boots in a moment of flibbergibbetry.  I Won Best TAble Topics Award.

* TM Jim G. uses planes, trains, automobiles, camels, RVs, elephants as his common means of transportation... to go grocery shopping.

* TM Aleta uses gonna instead of going to because she's close to the border of West Virginia, so she's legally exempt from correct grammar.

* TM Randolph is stage managing a comedic murder mystery with his kids, unbeknownst to them.  Insanity is hereditary - we get it from our kids.

As far as prepared speeches...

* TM Pam used tried and tested parenting skills - which we all share- of doing as I say, not as I do, and emphasized that listening to your evaluators will teach you how to get the chicken to reach Level 5 of Pathways.

* TM Chris impromptued a couple of mini speeches about men and women tackling raging forest fires.  Vive la Difference!  Alexa is now formally the family's adopted French daughter.  Vive l' Intelligence Artificiele!  She Won Best Speaker Award.

Regarding evaluations...

* TM Jose praised TM Pam for her hand gestures and suggested that she find another humorous chicken to be framed within the square.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Tom lauded TM Chris's continued home runs and quarterback short pass, long pass, through pass and back to hitting it out of the park.

The Word of the Day was

FLIBBERGIBBIT, noun

A frivolous, flighty or excessively talkative (onomatopoeic) person.

There were lots of flibbergibbits in The Throes of the Volcano.  

There is no link to the meeting recording.  Today, let's practice self-service by logging in to the blog.

See you next week!

Ana 

Recap Writer

Blarney Stone Kiss, Quagmire Ascension and Strange World Poobahs - advocating at EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests, Friends,

TM Chris had us symbolically kiss the Blarney Stone and we developed the Gift of Gab - ironic, since the Stone is near Cork, Ireland - which should instead put a cork on our verbosity.  Oh well, I digress.    We uncovered and discovered that...

* TM Pam is rubbing her hands anticipating her grown children to reciprocate for all the pristine diaper-changing that she lovingly bestowed upon them. 

* TM BeckyJo vividly recalls discovering color TV in Hawaii amidst PuPu Platters and after Rin Tin Tin, color TV has never been the same. She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Randolph advocates for a light football Hurricane season in the midst of a light natural disaster season without toppling his childhood treehouse.

* TM Paolo is still circling Miami in his flight from the heel of the boot in Puglia and needs an alarm clock to set his circadian rythms straight.. sometime next week.

* DTM Mary Helen found a thoroughly trained DTM Jim D, thanks to the advocacy of his late first wife and now Mary Helen's best friend forever.

* TM Jim G. gets chills down his spine when he visits and revisits the bridge of his childhood near the Jersey coastline.

We heard two prepared speeches...

* TM Marie was finally able to untangle herself from Mom's flowing skirts at the tender age of 30 and joined a group of contemplative scholars to break through the Pathways barrier.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

* DTM Jim D. has indeed met  oddball friends in unlikely aviation circles - Terminator Cop,  Erectyle Dole Pineapple, Transformer Bruce, Barry O. and presumably the only alleged pervert worth negatively singling out, The Donald McRonald.  

Along came the evaluations...

* TM Tom praised TM Marie for staying on point and taking risks while ricocheting her shymeter in the midst of a heterogeneous group.

* TM Aleta encouraged DTM Jim D. to use more vocal variety because monotones become homophones and then it's creek vs creak; hole vs whole; incite vs insight and dangerously lead to homonyms - accept vs except, affect vs effect.   You get the drift.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

We arrived at several momentous revelations...

* By popular acclaim, we will start collecting $500 per Ummm and Errrr in order to cross the pond and celebrate our Club's 60th Anniversary in Xavea, Spain.    The date is Saturday, September 16, 2023.

* TM Jim G. has officially joined the Refurbished Hippy Movement as honorary President.

The Word of the Day was

ADVOCATE, noun or verb

To support or argue for

To plead in favor of

It's always better to be the backer, defender, promoter, supporter, lawyer than a plain old arguer.

The link to today's recording:

https://youtu.be/-xSEZCeh5IQ

See you next week!

Ana

Recap Writer

Memorable June Days, the Irish in America and Flag Day - a pliant morning at EarlyBirds!

 

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Aleta had us wondering about special June days.  We discovered that...

* DTM Jim D. favors banana splits with bacon so that he covers all the food groups in one fell swoop.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Jim G.'s aunt was a certain Norma Jean of world notoriety who drew Jim to her bosom and he certainly liked it hot!

* TM BeckyJo played tennis in Stanley Park, Vancouver, with a cuuuuute instructor who almost created a pickle between her parents and that's how pickle ball was born.

* TM Tom wants flags to be disposed of with respect but meanwhile can't get TM Jim G.'s aunt out of his mind.

* TM Marie has filed a petition in Court to have owners of tattered flags be fined and possibly thrown in prison and taught how to preserve flags in good condition.

* DTM Mary Helen is fascinated to this day by the movie career of TM Jim G's aunt, eospecially after her movies were adapted for the small screen.

* TM Randolph thinks there's a lot in a name and all his children have been conscienciously named because names are not to be taken lightly, in case you run into trademark/copyright issues and have to become "the person formerly known as xxx"

In the prepared speeches...

* TM Tom educated us about the daring and brave Irish, Germans, Italians who built the bridges in New York and dug the Erie Canal.  We eat fruit from a tree we did not plant, for sure!  

* TM Jim G. displayed the US's manifest destiny from sea to shining sea in the progression of our flag, especially influenced by the pliancy of a certain mustached Tafty Taft.   He Won Best Speaker Award.

And then came the evaluations...

* TM BeckyJo loved TM Tom's speech and asked him to contextualize it to an often geographically-clueless audience, and to bring sensory images to word pictures, such as the waves crashing against the pilons of the Erie Canal.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

* DTM Mary Helen praised TM Jim G. for his expert display of visual aids on the flag at a time of year when we feel patriotic and for transmitting his warmth to the audience so flawlessly.

The Word of the DAy was

PLIANT, adj.

Able to bend without breaking; flexible

Too easily influenced or controlled by other people

Example: Palm trees are famous for being pliant to hurricane strength winds - except when they land on top of the house roof!

Here's the link to the recording:

https://youtu.be/jqBWZ02zP8c

See you next week!

Ana I.

Temporarily voiceless Recap Writer

--

Of fruits and vegetables, Sharing Your Popcorn and Nothing We Do Is Wasted - a morning of blandishment at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Pam's inquisitiveness explored our fruit and vegetable patches on full moon.  We soon discovered that she threatens her plants to bloom or be composted.  It works! We also learned that...

* TM Chris picked you guessed what at Cranberry Island in Anchorage, Alaska.

* TM Randolph's favorite fruit are nectarines and peaches, although he can't tell which is which, but they must be juicy and have the right texture.

* TM Jim G., our miracle bionic hippy, would not plant rutabagas (aka Swedish turnips) but would overplant radishes, for which he has a tried and tested green thumb.

* I, Ana, long for the days when peeling an onion made me cry because seedless multicolored watermelons and other genetically commingled produce will definitely cause our early demise.

* DTM Jim D. won the NY State Fair handcrafted item category and started a lucrative business at the ripe age of 12 before his parents got arrested for child forced labor.

* TM Tom's transcat (she/her)'s  favorite dessert is banana cream pie with vanilla wafers and cookie crumbles.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* Guest Ricardo described watching a rising full moon over the ocean in Denia, Spain, while avoiding X-rated details.

* TM Paolo declared himself a morning lark while reporting underwater drinking espresso from a  wifiless spot in Italia.

We had some notable prepared speeches...

* TM Marie focused on the positive and explained how to pour the jelly of life into a Pathways mold and sharing your popcorn without even blinking.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

* DTM Mary Helen, hereinafter to be known as Two Dollar Mary, has 50-year-old clippers and a barber's cape full of cigarette burns and offers cheap haircuts.  Offer may end soon! Don't miss out!

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Randolph praised TM Marie for her good flow and urged her to speak with her eyes closed so no one can tell she's reading her notes.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Tom commended DTM Mary Helen for her red hair and her red blouse and we are all still looking up his incomprehensible syncopated verbal barrage.

The Word of the Day was

BLANDISHMENT, noun

Something said or done to coax or persuade an individual or a group to do something.  

Example:  It takes blandishment for a group to vote for someone other than the favorite candidate.   I think.

NOTEWORTHY NOTES:

After a tough campaign and extensive blandishment, we have new officers for the 2023-2024 EarlyBirds year:

President       Jim G

Sargeant-at-Arms   Mary Helen D

VP Education  Chris G

VP Membership Ana I

Secretary         Pam S

Treasurer         Jim D

VP Public Relations   Randolph B

Thanks, TM Marie, for your great job as the Nominating Committee!

Date to Remember:

Saturday June 17

TLI Officer Training from 9 am to 10 am EST

https:// toastmastersd47.org

Followed by HYBRID LUNCH AT THE GULDS.  More details to follow.

The link to the recording:

https://youtu.be/D9WcGx-herM

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Writer 

June, Flying on Asphalt and Barging on a French River - everything but an obscure morning at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Marie led us with Table Topics about Juno, the goddess of marriage and childbirth. Fun Fact: Juno Beach, FL becomes a weekend destination for many couples in distress and at least they get a nice tan.

* TM Paolo's first born bambina has just turned 13 and the fun is just about to start! Ma preparati....

* TM BeckyJo's pearl of wisdom is to keep it simple and not complicate things. You want to live a long life?  Just don't die...As simple as that.

* I, Ana, pray for patience to say something nice to one particular person who shall remain in obscurity for the purposes of this dialogue.

* TM Pam is considering putting a lingerie bag to wash her cat in the washing machine.  She would use the 'gentle' cycle, though, cat lover that she is...

* TM Aleta met her best friend over healthy fried chicken and waffles just prior to a serene and peaceful yoga class.

* DTM Jim D. loooves coffee almond mocha ice cream and limits himself to a conservative 1/2 gallon a day.

* TM Jim D's footloose and fancyfree attitude has propelled him to make most major life decisions by flipping a coin and ending up in Moscow... Idaho.

* DTM Mary Helen stated that effective communication stems from being genuine, such as the orphan kid from America's Got Talent who had the judges in tears. She Won Best Table Topics Award.

Along came the prepared speeches, both of which plunged into timeless disqualified obscurity...

* TM Jose gave us vertigo by taking us on a virtual ride on an Aston Martin Formula 1 KERS with carbon fiber, traction control and great camaraderie with the Red Bull team at 300 miles per hour.

* TM Chris taught us how to roll French "R"s by holding a #2 lead pencil in our mouth and pursing our lips just so while eating lots of mustard on baguette and plenty of vin in Dijon prior to boarding the barge at the ecluse.  Merci.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Paolo praised TM Jose's good pace, excellent pitch and broke his own tradition by lauding his use of headsets.  Formula I virtual background a must for the next speech!  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Mary Helen gave TM Chris an "A" for her ability to sing Sur Le Pont D'Avignon l'on y danse, l'on y danse, sur le pont d'Avignon, l'on y danse tous en rond while eating fromage in front of the Mona Lisa (Gioconda for TM Paolo).

-The KERS Hybrid Brunch at the Gulds' on June 17 has been postponed till further notice. due to a TMI Learning Institute taking place that same day.  Hold the mimosas!

-Next week, June 8, we will hold officer elections at our meeting.  As DTM Kip used to say:  "Vote early and vote often!" (Just like in our political elections).

-TM Aleta justified and attributed her abundant double clutches today to her double vision. Ahem....

The Word of the Day was

OBSCURE, adj.

Not discovered or known about; uncertain

OBSCURE, verb

Keep from being seen, conceal

Example:  The Dark Ages must have certainly been obscure.

Here's the link to the recording:

https://youtu.be/Y2faQ6vyrdk

See you next week!

Ana

Recap Writer Extraobscure

One Liners, Close Encounters and Picky Lepidoptera - a morning of EarlyBird brevado

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Aleta motivated us with motivational one liners....

* TM Emmanuel acts as if he's a calm and confident public speaker.  He claims it's only bravado but we see him exuding calm and confidence.

* TM Tom gave an ambiguous response to avoid the nitty gritty truth because he wanted to exemplify bravado.

* TM Jim G. had a Triumph Spitfire white convertible as a teenager and it was the envy of all his friends until they found out the engine didn't work and it was just for decoration.

* I had a dream of living in the USA and I realized it by moving to Florida after a brutally hard winter in a suburb of Chicago.

* TM Randolph dropped his bravado and confessed that he lives in a toy minefield of graffiti walls, discourtesy of his two younger children.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Jose came to grips with the idea that he's not master of the universe and his daughter is not interested in his opinion most of the time.

We then moved on to prepared speeches...

* TM BeckyJo has joined the World of Pathways and gave us a geographic tour as host of international students who eat at 3 am, do not use refrigeration and give birth unexpectedly while chatting it up in her living room.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Pam greatly expanded our knowledge of everyday English by talking about micro lepidoptera, who can't find host plants - tropical milkweed, quirky stem passion vines, coontie or zamia intergrifolia, among others- to lay their eggs on.  More will be revealed!

As far as evaluations are concerned...

* TM Tom praised TM BeckyJo as a relaxed, competent storyteller who needs to apply for a job in The Moth Radio Hour.

* TM Chris related to the picky eater caterpillars in TM Pam's story because Florida indeed gets 1,000 new residents each day and they're using the leaves of the coonties as a garnish for their mojitos.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

TM Marie has formally achieved her degree, Summa Cum Laude, from Quinnipiac Poll Academy.

TM Jim has formally received his Certificate of Completion from the Zoomery AudioVisual University. 

The Word of the Day was

BRAVADO, noun

A bold manner or a show of boldness intended to impress or intimidate.

"Bravado" by Lorde:

I'm faking glory; lick my lips, toss my hair and turn the smile on, 

And the story's brand new, but I can take it from here

I'll find my own bravado." 

The link to today's recording:

https://youtu.be/yvdCpY8nMfg

See you next week!

Ana

Humorous quotes, How Can I Say This and More than Words - a veridical morning at EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Aleta inspired us with a timely invocation titled "Time Goes" and TM Chris explained the format of the meeting while soundly asleep.  It's veridical!

I, Ana, introduced some extemporaneous quotes for extemporaneous speaking.  We surprisingly learned these veridical facts:

* TM Aleta's funny bone is tickled by the turkey bones she wishes upon while strengthening her backbone with a rigorous exercise routine.

* TM Pam has mastered a nap technique which wins her the accolades of her husband and extended family.

* TM Jose achieves his desired goal of balance by eating pizza and cupcakes while taking a nap at the wheel of his 18-foot vessel.

* TM BeckyJo loooved the term "Plot Twist" and she will apply it all those times during the day when she needs to take a You-Turn.

* TM Randolph stated that he needs to make the best out of adult summer camp by actually going there instead of just thinking about it.

* DTM Mary Helen feels so age-invisible that she's seriously considering riding the Tri-Rail topless.  That makes her happy.

* TM Chris was astonished to learn from her wise late mother that there is actually a destination called Club Med. That made Chris's life worth living. She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* DTM Jim D. had a daredevil roller coaster rider grandmother who forced him to ride one and he's been in therapy ever since.

Regarding prepared speeches....

* TM Tom alerted us to the stark fact that we, Early Bird Toastmasters, do not exist legally or veridically, according to SunBliss and Altruist.  He invited some veridical opinions from the unsuspecting crowd.

* TM Marie unequivocally stated that we are not separate from God and we need to collectively engage in intimate prayer to uncover our veridical status at the bank. More will be revealed in her next speech.   She Won Best Speaker Award.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Pam refuted the veridicality of TM Tom's inquest.  She pulled rank from her days as President of our Club, dba Not Your EarlyBird Toastmasters' Anymore.

* DTM Mary Helen praised TM Marie for touching the audience with the spark of an angel with eloquence, confidence and no stridence.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

Addendum:

* The National Anthem was a welcome addition and veridical enhancement to our patriotic experience during the Pledge.  Thank you Jim!

* The entire Club has signed up for TM Pam's lessons on Napping Tips and Techniques for the Nap-Resistant and Sleepy.

* Ozzie, the Altruist Bank Clerk, has relocated to the Butte, Montana Altruist branch and will not release his extension number to the public.

The Word of the Day was 

VERIDICAL, adj.

Truthful, coinciding with reality 

Example:  The word VERIDICAL has been veridically overused in this recap.  

Here's the link of the recording:

https://youtu.be/7Y1eX7EClKg

See you next week!~

Veridically submitted,

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Idioms, Success or Failure and A Humorous Remembrance - a fun morning at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Randolph inspired us with multifaceted idioms.  We were to find out that...

* TM Emmanuel grew up with a father who exemplified the best of both worlds - a hardworking good father to seven children.

* TM Pam is patiently waiting to see her kids get a taste of their own medicine when their kids become snotty teenagers.   Na-na-na-na-na.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Chris does not bite the bullet.  She has the best of both worlds: she does what she likes and what she doesn't like... well... Jim believes that a happy wife is a happy life.

* DTM Mary Helen experienced a blessing in disguise by mildly spraining her ankle which led her to sleep in Emilio Estevez's quaint inn with a stranger from the Swiss Alps.

* TM Aleta does not mention M-A-C-B-E-T-H because it leads to unbroken legs in theater circles.

* I, Ana, fully believe that pigs can fly just as much as cats and dogs can rain any given day of the week.

* TM Jim G. lets many cats out of the bag and when he realizes it, he wishes the person to break a leg and stuff it in a box.

* TM Tom had the gain of drug-free kids by suffering the pain of being the taxidriver of (4) champion swimmers whose routine began at 4:30 am every morning.

In the prepared speeches...

* DTM Jim D.impressed us with his multilingual talent:  "Bon dia, buenos dias, good morning" which could never be equaled by Columbus, a slightly disoriented giggolo (see below)  who thought he could go East by travelling West in the Pinta, the Nina and the Santa Maria - while being financed by a woman, Queen Isabella.

* We saw a replay, aptly screenshared by our SAA TM Marie, of the late DTM Kip encouraging us to be anarchists, to ignore the Pathways rules and stay in abeyance in Level III forever - the answer is to have FUN - or it's not Toastmasters!

Dates to Remember:   June 17 at 10:30 am HYBRID BRUNCH AT THE GULDS'..  If you're on Zoom, BYOM (Bring Your Own Mimosas).

The Word of the Day was

ABEYANCE, noun

temporary halt; suggests a state of holding or waiting.

Mostly used in unintelligible hearings regarding property rights.

Example: Till matters are resolved, this Word of the Day will be held in abeyance.  (If you don't get my drift, hold it in abeyance)...

Here's the link to the recording:  

https://youtu.be/Qn1CwsR9a1A

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Choices, DeNile and Acronyms - an opportune morning at EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Chris had us make some importune choices.  We found out that..,

* DTM Jim D. prefers planes over trains, especially since Wilbur and Orville are no longer flying them and in spite of no leg room in the middle seat.

* TM Randolph chooses action movies with a touch of comedy because he likes to... escape to the movies!

* TM Marie chooses a one piece bathing suit because she is a very serious swimmer and definitely categorically emphatically robustly persistently NOT an exhibitionist.

* TM Tom prefers phone calls because they are more meaning and most importantly, non-evidentiary.  It's he said/he said or he said/she said.

* TM BeckyJo avoids TikTok because the Chinese are spying on us although she does not really know what they're spying on but it must be how often she eats Peking Duck.

* TM Jim G. definitely prefers glamping, hooking up the camper fridge to get his beer and wine at precisely exactly correctly the right temperature.

* DTM Mary Helen has always been a sandal girl but on her latest trip she went for tennis shoes to climb any mountain, scale every tree, scrape any terrain and bathe in the sea.

* TM Emmanuel plays it safe at restaurants and always orders salmon to avoid any unpleasant surprises.  Predictability  is the name of the culinary game..

* TM Pam reminisced about days of yore when harassment in the workplace included mandatory dress code of skirts and nylons - and now her brown-haired daughter does not even know what nylons are....  She Won Best TAble Topics Award.

Having explored all our choices, we moved on to our prepared speeches...

* Inveterate world traveler TM Jose inspired us to move to Cairo, a city of 23 million with no traffic lights, and start up Bob's Barricades (to be renamed Habibi Barricades in Cairo) as a lucrative, life-preserver venture.

* TM Aleta explained euphemisms and acronyms, otherwise known as unintelligible jargon that no one understands.  Would you rather experience a revenue enhancement or suffer a tax hike???  Ah my friends, that is the question! She Won Best Speaker Award.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM Marie praised TM Jose's inspiring travelogue and encouraged more gusto to describe the powerful Egyptian Queen who built her own Mortuary Temple to spite the male Pharaohs from the other side.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Randolph loved TM Aleta's outfit and begged her to create a Book of Acronyms as a handout because he's still dizzy - and that's only from the ATM variations.

The Word of the Day was

IMPORTUNE, verb

to bother, pester, annoy.  TO press another with troublesome persistence.

(Note: In TM Aleta's unabashed dictionary, it means to approach someone for sexual favors.  Ahem).

Example:  It's importune to be inopportune - and also quite confusing. 

We received an invitation to join Chris and Jim on a Hawaiian cruise in January 2024 and to join Jose (in groups of 3) on his 18-foot dinghy in Javea,  Spain, to sail to a nearby cove - dog permitting.

Here's the link to the recording:
https://www.youtube.com/live/uUx7yYiKKt4?feature=share

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Writer 

Miscellaneous, Where's the Salsa and Have You Met My Family? A humorous morning at EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

DTM Jim D. started us off with a series of randomly selected topics.  Moreover, we found out that...

* TM Marie refers to online shopping as order, disorder and reorder.

* TM Chris pats her back and moreover, she becomes more tecchie every time she teaches someone how to turn off their phone alarms.

* TM Aleta has fully declared herself a perfectionist who likes objectivity versus subjectivity and moreover, she could not care less about doing the right thing, sorry.

* TM BeckyJo's podiatrist lies compulsively with a smile and her screams cleared the waiting room.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Jim said technology makes him lose track of time and moreover, his favorite song is Cher's If I Could Turn Back Time.

* TM Randolph STILL  finds humor in his kids' little game of What Hurts Today So That I Don't Have to Go To School.  The key word is STILL....

 * I, Ana, find that it's best to give it up whenever I get one of my bright ideas that have left me with a bloody forehead in the past.

* DTM Jim D. has been a reactor, rather than an actor, for most of his life, amd moreover,  life has taken him wherever it has taken him.

Along came the prepared speeches...

* I, Ana talked about the culinary delights of growing up Spanglish and moreover, I survived its cardiovascular repercussions.  I Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM BeckyJo introduced us to her freckled Hawaiian family who scuba dived in the murky pond of a local Polinesian restaurant.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

Moreover, we had some great evaluations...

* TM Chris laughed heartily at my speech and moreover, she would have REALLY  enjoyed it if I had only shown my face above my notes.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Aleta commended TM BeckyJo for her hand gestures (to be toned down to prevent Zoom crashes) and her vocal variety.  Moreover, she suggested a better camera angle that points above the speaker's neck.

The Word of the Day was

MOREOVER, adverb

(not to be confused with MOREEVER, or EVERMORE, as in "Lenore, evermore" of poetic fame)

As a further matter; besides

Example:  Glass is electrically insulating;  moreover, very seldom do I often hereinafter refer to the aforementioned;

The link to the recording:

https://youtu.be/4HYs6WIhAGc

See you next week!

Ana I.

Evermore Recap Writer

Earth Day, Sincerely Faithful and More Will Be Revealed - a meeting of visionaries at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Marie launched us with quotes from legendary Sir David Attenborough.  We were soon to discover that....

* TM Jim G.'s underwater videos have revealed all sorts of creatures, large and small, which are immersive and subversive.

* TM Aleta cherishes the natural world and lives off her crops to avoid the many illnesses caused by artificially intelligent store pricey produce.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Randolph wants his grandkids to be able to see elephants in the zoo and hopes the wooly mammoth returns to save the planet.

* TM Paolo brings nature to his children, who now automatically report Italian cigarette-butt litterers to the carabinieri, the Polizia and the Polizia Municipale for their disposal.

* TM BeckyJo is a self-declared minimalist who still uses soap from 1970 and more or less believes that less is more.

* DTM Jim D. has learned discernment about food portions which led to significant weight loss and is currently cheating with chocolate ice cream.

* TM Chris definitely consumes less by living in a 21 inch camper with no electricity but plenty of magnolia trees in bloom all around.  She detests MacMansions.

We had some visionary prepared speeches today. In an unprecedented tie, unbroken by our non-practicing tiebreaker,  both speakers won.

* TM Emmanuel pondered the meaning of fidelity, sincerity, authenticity, objectivity, loyalty and other ity-ending words and concluded that truth simply requires connectivity.  He Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Pamela stated that life keeps moving as we keep moving and she has evolved into a visionary gardener, birder, reader who specializes in microlepidoptera - use of moth balls is strictly verbotren, you Nazi moth killers out there!  She Won Best Speaker Award.

The Word of the Day was

VISIONARY, adjective

Thinking or planning the future with imagination or wisdom.

Example:  Truth though distorted are words I create, today the parting, tonight, tonight, at the peak of your visionary mountains.  (Sung to the tune of Visionary Mountains by Manfred Mann).

Here's the link to the recording:

https://youtu.be/bwHuhrGMSAk

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Visionary 

Potential Choices, Getting Old and The Order, Disorder and Reorder of Today's World

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Jim G. got us pondering about how things might have turned out under other circumstances.  We discovered that...

* TM Tom would be a country & western singer clad in a golf outfit dealing with HOA board meetings with a banjo on his knee.

* TM Marie revealed herself as a daredevil who would whitewater raft, ski and hike any mountain, climb any hill, and return to Cinco Terra in Italy in a heartbeat.

* TM Paolo's best friend was the elementary school bully who became his best friends and they even shared girlfriends (Es Amore!!).  Sadly he died 30 years ago, leaving a huge void in Paolo's life.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Pam realized that she wants to try exotic foods while scuba diving, no more and no less.  No jumping out of airplanes for her, no siree!!

* TM BeckyJo has finally understood that it takes a mallet to soften a dead alligator into the texture of a filet mignon.  She will not try to cook one again, that's for sure!

We had two great prepared speeches...

* DTM Mary Helen pointed out that symptoms of becoming old are the repetitiveness of life, we can no longer remember the name of our teenage idol, nightsleep is shorter and napping is more frequent.  What keeps us young is starting over - at springtime or on our birthday, not when we're tipsy on New Year's Eve, and while we still have something to say.

* DTM David confirmed our suspicions that, like many other organizations, Toastmasters is very disoriented about rules and regulations for Online, In-Person and Hybrid meetings.  Erratically is the name of the game.  If we stay online-only, we will not be orphaned from District 47, though.

And we had some great evaluations...

* TM Jose, just landed from Spain in the midst of a Florida monsoon, praised DTM Mary Helen for her ease and comfort when delivering a speech, her vocal variety, her hand gestures and connecting with her audience with a universal theme.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Aleta profusely thanked our Guest Speaker DTM David for enlightening us to the fact that Toastmasters International's policy on types of meetings is clear as mud.

The Word of the Day was

SERENDIPITY, noun

Events that happen by chance in a happy and beneficial way.

Example:  It was through serendipity that I ran into my French high school friend - we met in The American School of Madrid - at my parish church  in Fort Lauderdale, 20 years after having lost touch with each other.  Neither of us had any previous connection to Fort Lauderdale.

See you next week!

Serendipituosly yours,

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Quotes, Learning To Not Know, Heckle City - a morning with gumption at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Chris enlightened us with quotes from famous and not-so-famous people.  We were soon to discover that,,,,

* DTM Jim D. rises early to get those hot cinnamon buns, forget the worm!

* TM Tom firmly believes that chocolate makes the world go round.

* TM Astrid agrees that life is a daring adventure although at 7 am mentally it's mostly nothing.

* TM Jim G. tries to go with the flow so he doesn't get bent out of shape as easily.

* TM Pam remembers growing up with her squooshy grandmother and her rigid grandmother - and they were only in their 50s back then!! She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Randolph's best learning moments have been after putting his hand on a hot stove as a young child ignoring his mother. Now he watches his kids do the same thing.

* DTM Mary Helen ponders why doing nothing is hard since she always seems to be doing nothing while doing something and going somewhere but ending up anywhere.

Regarding the prepared speeches...

* TM Marie explained that she used to be an expert in everything but she has realized that with not knowing comes learning and keeps you from getting stuck in the muck of your having to unlearn what you had made up anyway.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Aleta showed us what courage is:  grace under pressure.  She managed a difficult audience and did not take it personally.

And then came the evaluations...

* TM Tom sincerely apologized for being such a natural-born heckler and marveled at how the role came so naturally to him.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Randolph was absolutely positively comprehensively inspired by TM Marie's gumption in revealing how she empties out her mind of thoughts and other needless objects.

The Word of the Day was

GUMPTION, noun

enterprise, initiative

common sense, horse sense

Example:  It takes a lot of gumption and lacks a lot of gumption  to ride a saddleless horse.

Here's the link to the recording:

https://youtu.be/EGwP2FgtC0c

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Writer