I finally managed to get to a Toastmasters meeting. I got a nice welcome back from the members. The Ah Counter/Grammarian slot was open, so I was volunteered for the spot.
The two speakers were excellent. One used the 25 Random Things that we've seen here, but he saw on some other site. He's a member of Mensa. Wow! He's a mountain climber, but we knew that because it was the subject of prior speech. He's been to India ten times. There were other unusual things about him, but he used his own experience to get us to think about "what's unusual about Me." Maybe we should run that one again.
The other speaker talked about Effective Communication. The most important part of his talk, to me, was "what I'm saying and what you are hearing." Think about it: how many times have you said one thing and the recipient of your comment had a totally different take on what you meant to convey. You may be speaking your opinion very clearly, but your listener isn't really listening. It's helpful, he pointed out, to repeat back what you think you heard. As in, "what I heard you saying...." I'll bet you a nickel that isn't what you meant at all. Sometimes we're not very good listeners. Think about it.
The first speaker I mentioned got Best Speaker Award.
Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, the theme of the day was Romance,
and the word of the day was Lust. So,TableTopics. was on that theme. For those of you who don't know, TableTopics is an experience in extemporaneous speaking. The TT Master picks a person and gives a topic to speak on. I got picked on first off. The subject was "Tell us about a romantic happening in your life." So I told a story. Two other people were picked to speak on similar occasions in their lives.
I was awarded best TableTopics Speaker. On a totally fabricated story. But you didn't read that here.
I had intended to take my recyclables to a bin today, but since I forgot to put the stuff in my car, I decided to do it tomorrow. Besides, I also decided that ONE activity a day was all I was going to plan on, because if I overdo, I pay for it the next day. Maybe I can also take the paper recyclables to the paper dumpster tomorrow. That's two activities, but they're in somewhat the same neighborhood. We'll see how the weather is tomorrow.
And speaking of weather, it rained buckets for a while. Battered my living room windows. Good thing I closed that crack beforehand. !! Folsom Lake is down to 25% of capacity, and we're five inches below normal for season. Adding the previous years' below normal precipitation, and you might figure we're in trouble. So even a little bit of rain is welcome. But I wish the wind weren't blowing so danged hard. Makes it really cold. Okay-okay, you mid-Westerners and East Coaster, just settle down. You know what's really-really cold, but we West Coasters aren't inured to that kind of cold, so forty degrees is bone-chilling for us, especially when the wind blows! And blow it did today!!
Hmmm. I guess that completes my rant for today.
Bless
The two speakers were excellent. One used the 25 Random Things that we've seen here, but he saw on some other site. He's a member of Mensa. Wow! He's a mountain climber, but we knew that because it was the subject of prior speech. He's been to India ten times. There were other unusual things about him, but he used his own experience to get us to think about "what's unusual about Me." Maybe we should run that one again.
The other speaker talked about Effective Communication. The most important part of his talk, to me, was "what I'm saying and what you are hearing." Think about it: how many times have you said one thing and the recipient of your comment had a totally different take on what you meant to convey. You may be speaking your opinion very clearly, but your listener isn't really listening. It's helpful, he pointed out, to repeat back what you think you heard. As in, "what I heard you saying...." I'll bet you a nickel that isn't what you meant at all. Sometimes we're not very good listeners. Think about it.
The first speaker I mentioned got Best Speaker Award.
Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, the theme of the day was Romance,
and the word of the day was Lust. So,TableTopics. was on that theme. For those of you who don't know, TableTopics is an experience in extemporaneous speaking. The TT Master picks a person and gives a topic to speak on. I got picked on first off. The subject was "Tell us about a romantic happening in your life." So I told a story. Two other people were picked to speak on similar occasions in their lives. I was awarded best TableTopics Speaker. On a totally fabricated story. But you didn't read that here.
I had intended to take my recyclables to a bin today, but since I forgot to put the stuff in my car, I decided to do it tomorrow. Besides, I also decided that ONE activity a day was all I was going to plan on, because if I overdo, I pay for it the next day. Maybe I can also take the paper recyclables to the paper dumpster tomorrow. That's two activities, but they're in somewhat the same neighborhood. We'll see how the weather is tomorrow.
And speaking of weather, it rained buckets for a while. Battered my living room windows. Good thing I closed that crack beforehand. !! Folsom Lake is down to 25% of capacity, and we're five inches below normal for season. Adding the previous years' below normal precipitation, and you might figure we're in trouble. So even a little bit of rain is welcome. But I wish the wind weren't blowing so danged hard. Makes it really cold. Okay-okay, you mid-Westerners and East Coaster, just settle down. You know what's really-really cold, but we West Coasters aren't inured to that kind of cold, so forty degrees is bone-chilling for us, especially when the wind blows! And blow it did today!!
Hmmm. I guess that completes my rant for today.
Bless