Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Aug. 25th 2015 Theme: Moving Is An Adventure!

“Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away”. ~~ Ben Hecht

Welcome to the fourth meeting in August blog. This also marks our last meeting in the Seattle Times Building. Today, We will convene next week at 19119 North Creek Parkway, Suite 105, Bothell, WA. (3 blocks away) and start September 1st off with Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests.
 

We had 3 guests attend our meeting. 




Jim was our toastmaster and eloquently connected the 1964 Broadway Musical “Hello, Dolly” with the physical dolly that he would, at the end of the meeting, use to vacate the clubs’ belongings from the Seattle Times Building Conference Room and Storage area.
The GAT(e)  team was: Andrew  as Grammarian (Petulant), Dan Dan as the Ah Counter, and Jessica K. as the Timer. 

  Robert was our first speaker today. He gave a talk from the Advanced Manual, Special Occasion Speeches, Project 1 [Mastering The Toast]. It was entitled “A Wedding Toast” and was delivered 6:45 minutes.  


He told about his younger daughter Bonnie’s Wedding Ceremony with her fiance Duncan on January 25, 2013 outside, about 7500 feet up on Mount Rainier. Very few people made the trip but the officiant did. On February 8, 2013, the Reception was held in West Seattle and this wedding toast was offered by a very proud and excited dad.



He first welcomed and thanked all the guests, especially those traveling long distances to be there to celebrate Bonnie and Duncan’s Wedding.



He circulated a framed photo of Bonnie posing with dark glasses and a walking stick in her white veil against a white snow bank.



He described some of the signature events in Bonnie’s life: the televised Mount St. Helens Volcanic eruption in 1980, Her fascination with Mountains, her bicycling at the Tour De France in the Swiss Alps, her ascent on Mount Everest to 16,500 Feet and her annual new years journeys to Mount Rainier since 1990.



Bonnie chose Duncan, a reliable, sensible, and considerate partner that she loves. He is competent and creative at home and at work and welcomed wholeheartedly to the newly grafted family tree.



Acquired life wisdom and advice was offered:
“Marriage will teach many things… loyalty…self-restraint…obedience…I am still in daily training on these matters.”



And



“There is no challenge in a marriage that can’t be overcome by one or more of the following:
I was wrong!
You were right!
Yes, dear
I love you!”



And

“There will be discussions, arguments, and irrational outbursts. This is human nature. Just be aware that the person who is talking the fastest and loudest is usually at the wrong end of the argument.”



Finally, the essential toast:

• May you both be blessed with happiness that grows and with love that lasts and a peaceful life together.


• I wish you enjoyment for today, the fulfillment of all your hopes and dreams for tomorrow and love and happiness always.
 
Robert was declared best speaker.


 Linda was his evaluator. Linda appreciated Robert’s introduction to help the audience understand the background of the wedding toast. She liked the details about Bonnie and Duncan as fleshing out the bride and groom. She was pleased that she felt the full personalization of the toast. She was delighted with the marriage advice. Linda suggested that Robert’s voice could be louder and that eye contact be more evenly spread among the audience than focused on the left. She suggested that a male audience member be picked so enhance the realism when talking about Duncan.


Linda was declared best evaluator. 


Jean was the Table Topics Master for today. Her theme was to ask questions loosely related to moving, which explored whether  continuous or discrete, mobile or anchored, loss and gain, assisted or unaided, and reflecting on current location, either physical or psychological. 

Our guest Brian D’A., a bicycle traveler journeying around the border states of America, talked about keeping in contact with his friends and family via social media as he travels.   


  Jung described her move from South Korea to the United States and the difficulty she had in renting an apartment without a credit history. She remedied this by paying for 6 month’s worth of rent in advance.  



 
Andrew responded to how things would not change as a result of moving by noting the persisting accommodation of club members and the people themselves.



 
Our guest J.P. O’D., said that in his work travels, he is self-sufficient and mobility adept. For him, the only change is the destination.



 
Naser described moving from India to the United States as a change for him from a chaotic daily existence to one that is much more routine and predictable.



 
Linda emphasized that we won’t be giving up being together. The Club represents home and the members are very special to her.


  Dan Dan responded to: “What helped her to move?” by describing her life in China as a waiting time, while she watched Chinese TV shows, which were somewhat entertaining, but didn’t make her happy. When she came to the United States, she worked in a Nursing Home for 3 years. She is enrolled at the University of Washington (Bothell) starting this fall, to study Business Administration.

Dan Dan was voted best table topics speaker.


Devi talked about when she first moved here, she was lonely and dependent. Soon she gained more independence by learning to drive, joining this club and attending college. 





 
Robert was our humorist for today. He offered bumper sticker humor: “Live each day like it's your last. Eventually you'll get it right.”  He also offered a quick story about a psychiatrist experiencing a mental patient’s mindset.



Attendees were:  Andrew, Barb, Chizuko, Dan Dan, Devi, Grace, Jean, Jessica D., Jessica K., Jim, Julie, Jung, Linda, Liz, Naser, and Robert as well as 3 guests: Brian D’A., J.P. O’D., and Woo Yun C.

Our active membership total remains at 36. 


To recognize members who are moving on, Alice (and Ivan) are moving back to Taiwan to rejoin her husband (and dad). Sep is moving to New York City to attend college and major in Journalism. We wish these women a continuing Bon Voyage. We have become richer by knowing them.


~~~~~ Respectfully Submitted by Robert, the Acting Secretary for Amritha, The Real Secretary ~~~~~
 


3 comments:

  1. Robert, thank you for updating the blog, I thoroughly got to know what happened. I was both thrilled and emotional to read about your speech. Thank you Robert 😊

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  2. Robert, I enjoyed your report very much and the kind farewell words to some members.

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  3. Thanks for stepping in to do the blog, Robert. It was masterful. I loved the whole meeting with a special shout out to Jung, Devi, and Dan Dan. Super job!

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