On the Impact of Storms

(A Toastmaster Basic Speech)

Ladies and Gentlemen:

        Have you ever wondered what a storm is?  …. Or whatever it is that it could do to you?  I ask you because I did once wonder.   And I got answers.    So tonight,   I’d like to share these answers with you. . .   – if only for a little bit of inspiration.

        But first the question: what really is a storm?    Well, a  storm,  by definition,  would be an atmospheric disturbance.  This is  manifested in strong winds accompanied by rain or other precipitation- and often by thunder and lightning.   This was the kind of storm I used to know when then I lived in the Philippines,  a country situated in the Pacific.   I remember how only two weather conditions alternated: the so-called hot and rainy seasons.   And it was  during the rainy season when we would be visited by some  six to eight storms on the average  -one after the other. 

        But it was interesting  how  I enjoyed these storms as I sat by the window.   I watched the rain furiously  race down to meet the ground.   And as it did,  I took pleasure in the way  the  howling,  violent winds  would   take the rains for a ride !  So it was a beautiful sight to watch how synchronized  the tree branches swayed in the same direction as the winds and the  rains went.   Temperatures necessarily went down too but leave it to more of atmospheric phenomena to complement it with thunder and lightning.    Indeed,    I also loved to watch the powerful burst of fire among the dark,  thick clouds as I anticipated the explosive rumble of thunder that followed.   Yes,  it was all there.   The works,   as they say.

        Now the other  storm experience I had  was  in  Germany,  specifically in Cologne,  –  and it was something different to  remember.   As you know,  the  European countries  have the same 4 seasons that the United States have -  spring, summer, autumn and winter.  But well, this was a storm, alright,  but quite peculiarly  bizarre to me.    Because that one  summer morning I woke up and looked up to a dark  sky, I was simply captivated by all that raging whirling and swirling of the heavy and massive clouds above.  What caught my wonder was why there was no rain at all... not one drop.   Really,  I was  amazed by  how the  winds simply raked the skies into the likes of a misguided maelstrom .... with streaks of lightning, with  occasional thunder  blasts, yes, - but there was no rain!   There was just the gloom and the darkness and just  the clouds in  directionless  but frenzied movement.   And it  certainly was  a storm!   But a frighteningly beautiful strange one!

        My dear friends,   I  now  find  myself in the east coast of the United States,   and from my window, I have  watched soft  snow gently fall in  seemingly musical cadence.   But I have also watched  a blizzard manifest itself  in such a way as to have dumped  something like a good 18 to 24 inches of snow in our area.    A third type of storm.  This particular snow storm came  with  powerful gusts of freezing wind  that created snowdrifts seemingly high  as mountains and which lasted for weeks and weeks.    Of those mountains of snow,  - I could run  into them ,  fall,    get buried and get lost to humanity.   And yes, from my window as I watched   this total whiteness envelope my part of the  world,  I also simultaneously sensed the  aftermath of a quiet but sinister violence…. lovely in its cold and disquieting malevolence … enchanting as the snow wickedly,  if you’ll pardon the expression,  wickedly turn to ice.   And you know the implications of this.

        Thus,   I’d had rain storms,  cloud storms,  snow storms…  but whichever way it can be,   my dear friends,  I  liken a storm to whatever it is that blocks the goals that  I set for myself.   As you know, obstacles could be people……. they could be situations, they could be choices to make.    So come in whatever form they may,   I have learned to allow myself to  identity them  as   sinister and quietly violent stuff like snow,  why not.    Problems are like that.   Sometimes they could also come as physically   strange and threatening like dark clouds -   but I don’t die if I  go scared a little bit.    But   in order to make a better job of solving my  problems,  I  make myself enjoy them  like I do rain.  Problems won’t go away if I’m annoyed by them,   so  I sway with the winds,  so to speak.     And  if I feel and think positive,  problem-solving becomes easy.

       So now,  fellow Toastmasters,   are you beset with storms in your speech-making goals?  Well then,   I   suggest you choose one or all of these:   Rain storms?  Cloud storms?  Snow storms?

Mister Toastmaster……

When On The Road

(Thought-Random)

        Nothing like some moments for your thoughts to yourself.    Moments when  just about all your senses are filled with the physical world around you.   You soak in the sights of nature:  - the blue skies,  the green grass.   You listen to the ripple of streams that freely flow across your way..... or to the call of birds as they take flight in the air above you.    Possibly,  also,  you get a momentary  taste of the cool flurry of snow or of   refreshing drops of rain.    And one of the times it is best - this pleasant communion with yourself  -  is when you are on the road.

        But cutting through distances on the highway,  or through towns and cities,   you  really ordinarily take for granted sights you speed by  - of road signs,  for instance.......

....and gas stations...

of  trees.....

and cows.....

 and houses.....

and buildings.....

 of  water tanks....

..... and electrical contraptions.

You don't hear  the roar of other vehicles that pass you by.

          You even take for granted  the lush green of the wayside alongside the majesty of the mountain ranges guided by the peaceful blue of the hovering skies....

.....as well as,  the lovely yellow flowers.....

and ponds.....

as you do beautiful sunsets...

...and snow-lined pathways...

        And why is this?   Well, the viable answer could be because when on the road,  your sensibilities and your perceptiveness are made latent by your mind as it  takes full advantage of possessing you.    So you think of everything then.   You think of your family and your loved ones.   With them, you are showered with comfort and happiness.   Gratification comes with your job....relaxation and warmth with your friends.  As for the future,   it beckons to you with challenges you feel ready to meet.    Just fine!

        Somehow,  though,  this is not all there is to it.    Somewhere deeper into your consciousness appear to be some kind of  a thought strand that refuses to conform to all these niceties!     But you can't point a finger to it.   You just feel that you could change direction in life..... just to something different.   Thus you realize what you have is a feeling of a profound sense of restlessness.   You don't seem to understand what it is except that it professes to be some yearning for an alternative kind of experience... something more inspiring....more fulfilling - something more intense!   And you wonder if being on the road with your thoughts all to yourself does this to you.

        You try to shrug off this awareness of a reachable goal that kind of promises to be just a breath away but the more you try to, - try to detach  from you this awareness - the more it threatens to enclose you in unyielding and suffocating captivity!   So what can you do?   Probably best , you think,  is to bide your time.  Take it easy as much as you can as you near your destination.    Meet all those situations and choices that present themselves and spread them out in front of you as you try  looking   into their  depths.... into perceptible patterns.   This might just help you come up with something.    Like - but hey, .... there's this road fork now up and coming!

            Quickly, - which of these roads did you want to take?

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Time To Say Goodbye -Andrea Bocelli, Sarah Brightman

Dear Linda....

(A Short Story)

        It is dusk,   my favorite part of the day.   I am in that mesmerizing moment where it isn't quite day anymore but neither is it already night......an unspeakably fascinating  reality where I seem to be caught in a time dimension that ironically detaches me from actual reality.  Strange?   But that is exactly how strange I am feeling at the moment.

        As I go on writing this letter,  I also see images superimposed on my stationery.   Right, - I am not typing this away on my computer for now as I had been wont to.   Specifically when it was one meant for you.   And right now, I see you as that next-door-14-year-old kid in pig-tails whom I'd watch from my window  getting down from the school bus....running towards her doorsteps to fling her school bag and go run to join the neighborhood school friends that usually got together for a while at the corner candy store.  This place was where you all would spend a little time together talking and  laughing all at the same time over some cocoa or some soda before you dispersed and did then go home..... as if school time was not enough for you at all!

        Those times when I'd watch you from my window, I was finishing college then and you were finishing middle school.  That meant  I would leave town in time to join a company in the city for that job that was waiting for me.  And I did leave town to spend the rest of my life going places as my job demanded,  getting married in between time and having a  lovely family of my own.   Remember I had lost mine when my parents figured in that cruise disaster that happened on the Atlantic?   Happening just barely a month before my graduation from college?  And your family lovingly took me in as their own.... your Uncle Ramon,  in particular.  So I had been a brother to you all the while.

        But deep in my heart, I had something special for you.... something I couldn't quite fight considering I had become family to you.  I'd raise hell in the confines of my  solitude crying out,   so what!   So what if I was supposed to be your brother?  So what if this was as good as cradle-snatching!  So, let it stay nurtured, I decided.

        I'd have chances to come home during holidays and I loved how you'd meet me by the door to collect your favorite orchids and then give me a tight hug.  Which is why I never missed to bring you a branch of those pretty purple ones.   Or at least one single flower.... just one orchid was always good enough for you.  Which is why, further and much later,  I'd always see  your half-smiling face in every orchid I gaze at.   Those so short hours, however,  that simply turned nights into the following days that would carry me away again to my work killed me each time as much as they would give me renewed life because I was seeing you again.  Seeing you smile and laugh and sulk and pout....seeing you in the many ways that made every moment in life a touch of heaven on earth.  But just seeing you so close and yet so distant.  Seeing you slowly blossom into the person I would have wanted to spend the rest of my life with. That was all there was to it.

        So I met my wife whom I had learned to love and care for but you never knew that.   I love my family, no question to that;  they have my total loyalty.  But please explain to me why notwithstanding this, I couldn't let  go this profound warmth I had for you that I maintained correspondence with you even if only on the platonic level.  Despite my happy family,  there were times I would miss you like my heart would skip a beat. There were times even when just to think of you gave me a feeling so like elation over a forbidden pleasure.  And yet,  I'd contend the sanctitude of my intentions.  Even when one time I had invited you to join me at one of my business trips at an exotic island.

        I had lost touch with you for some time and the idea simply came floating to my mind as I sat there enjoying a glass of red wine....wine that reminded me all the time - of that particular smile of yours..... while I waited  for my associate at a lunch meeting.  At the spur of the moment,  I decided to send you  round-trip plane tickets so I could somehow quench this undefinable longing I had for you.  Just to see you.  Just to have dinner with you.  I was so sure you'd have wanted to come.  You could have come, that's for certain.  But for whatever reason, you didn't.   And yet, I didn't understand  myself  because somehow,  I thanked heaven you didn't make it then.  In the recesses of my mind, I still wonder even now what might have been had you made it.  But now, I'm not sure if it is right for me to wish events actually did a turn-about.  Just why?  Because, God,  it can never happen again!  No, never again!

           Most definitely,  a part of my existence closed a door when your mom left me a message about your being at the hospital ICU.  You did have this heart condition as a kid but you were one who was always so full of life not even the nine hundred devils in Dante's inferno could have snatched you.  But well, life itself just had to let you go.  Just like that!  And twilight now has gotten the better of dusk.  I have to fold my letter, dear Linda, - slip it into this envelope which,  in turn.  I now slip into your coffin..... this envelope which forever leaves with me fond memories of

My special love,
Fred

    

        

Language in Speech Making

(A Toastmaster Basic Speech)

 Ladies and Gentlemen:  

        Have you ever thought you could interchange using the words information and communication?  Because if you have, sorry. but  no sir, you can’t.  The journalist Sydney Harris distinguished the terms as:  information is giving out while communication is getting through.  But I would say you could use both as substantives and have them then synonymous.  For instance, you can say “The information he gave was incorrect”, or you can say, “My communication to them was intercepted".  These utterances are both correct.  But try switching them and say: “The communication he gave was incorrect.”  What do you think? Not erroneous, right?  And then say,  “My information was intercepted”.  Not wrong either.  Both are grammatical.  But Ladies ad Gentlemen, you will have to admit with me that your inherent knowledge of appropriate combinations in language makes you hesitate about the acceptability of these last 2 sentences.  They’re okay grammatically but they violate certain semantic constraints.  The structures are good but the meanings go ~ !!  Take this sentence again.  Green ideas sleep furiously.  Good syntax!  But you can’t use green with ideas and you can’t use furiously with sleep.  So what am I trying to say here?  I’m saying that language is a most important aspect to consider in speech making.

       So fellow toastmasters, let me do my task by mentioning just a few of so many ways by which we can achieve effective speeches through language use.

1.  Be Simple.  Use short easily understandable words that convey concrete specific meanings.  Say  ‘learn’ rather than ‘ascertain;.  Say ‘large’ rather than ‘elephantine’.  Say ‘after-dinner speech’  rather than ‘post-prandial discourse’.

2.  Be Accurate.  Your goal as a speaker is precision.  Don’t make it possible that your listeners put another meaning different from the one you want to convey.   ‘Democracy’, for instance, does not mean the same to a citizen of the United States as it is to one from the Soviet Union.  The English Language is rich in subtle variation like for the word ‘shine’, it will give choices from ‘glow’, ‘glimmer’, ‘glitter’, ‘flare’, ‘blaze, ‘glare, ‘shimmer, ‘sparkle’, ‘flash’, ‘beam’.  You would have to choose the exact shade of meaning you wish to communicate.

3.  Use Repetition.  Oral speech is ephemeral – language disappears into the atmosphere as soon as you speak your words, therefore, as a speaker, you need to repeat.  This does not mean saying the same word twice or thrice…. it also means you may rephrase, meaning – you may repeat the idea in phrases or sentences.  ‘Democracy’, for example, can also be ‘government derived from the people’, ‘rule of the majority’, ‘human rights are a central component’, ‘consensus by referendum’.

4.  Use Action Words.  To have your sentences come alive, so to speak, use action words to put across movement.  Use them in such a way as to make your listeners feel like they’re stretching….or feel like they’re tightening their muscles.  An example:  Instead of just saying “We were happy”!, why don’t you say, “We jumped joyously when congress passed the bill”!  Instead of saying, “We watched the water flow”. …. Why not say, “We watched the water rush downstream”!  - to impact imagination.

                                                                                                                             

5.  Use Picture Words.  Adjectives function to give color to words and create pictures in the minds of listeners.  Better still is not only to use adjectives but also words and phrases that appeal to the senses.   For example, instead of just saying, the child was happy, describe the child as having a smile on his face.  Instead of saying the lady was sad, why not describe her as having tears rolling down her cheeks.  Otherwise for the sense of hearing, you might say of her voice,  “Her voice was  the whisper of a child in pain”!  That was a direct comparison. – a figure of speech known as a metaphor. You could also go indirect like saying, “His words cut the air until it bled.”!  This is imagery that has the power to transmit not only images into the mind but feelings as well which heighten the impact of your message.

6.  Use Transitional Devices.  Unlike written material where punctuation marks are used, oral communication needs signposts to enable listeners to follow the movement of ideas.  Transitional devices improve coherence by indicating relationships…. like addition;…. where you can use  ‘besides’, ‘in addition’, ‘one more thing’; contrast; - ‘on the other hand’, ‘in contrast’, ‘however’: cause and effect, - ‘as a consequence’, ‘in effect’, ‘as a result’, … and so on and so forth.

        So dear  Ladies and Gentlemen:   if you can manage to remember all these into your speech making, the non-language thing to describe it will be a ‘thumbs-up’!  But one word I am ready to use for now would be ‘Awesome’!  Your speech will be nothing but ‘Awesome’!  For now then,  why don’t you start examining your language as you communicate to the toastmaster right beside you!  But wait! That’s for after the meeting, of course!

Mister Toastmaster!

        

One Magic Airport Hour

(A Short Story)

        Fred cut his way through the crowd toward a vacant seat just a few steps now away from him .  Boy,  is this a teeming airport  today,  he muttered under his breath.   He just flew in from Frankfurt and was on his way to Manila -  only a couple of hours away after this layover in Bangkok!    Just a couple of hours more,  - or so he thought.   But that was before he checked on the airport monitors that altered his expectations.

        Apparently,  his connecting flight was going to be delayed and passengers were asked to stand by for further announcements.   He wanted to swear vehemently because he knew this wasn't usual.   But he was already in front of the seat he wanted for himself as he noticed a young woman seated to the left of it.  She obviously was one of those passengers made to wait but at least, she seemed lost to her laptop.   He glanced at his watch with some irritation - and then curiously,  he just couldn't help enjoying a second glance at the lady in front of him.  Hmmm,  not bad to look at,  he said in his mind while pleasant feelings started to creep into his being.

        As  Language Department Head  at the German Cultural Center in Frankfurt,  Fred was asked to fly to Manila.  He was  to coordinate with his counterpart regarding the planned changes in  their language program.      As it was,  there were certain items that turned out to be sensitive and immediately had to be discussed face to face with him... or was it a her?    He couldn't wait to know more of the other details of the matter as he had to catch his  flight.   But he also had to get back to Frankfurt as soon as he could.   So now,   he had to hope to heaven that this layover wasn't going to last forever.

       He tried to settle down on his seat as quietly as he could.  Good thing the seats were comfortably wide enough for him to place his own computer bag on the right side of him.  He was going to take in as much as he could of his environment but first, he reached for that bar of Snickers inside the left pocket of his jacket.  He felt famished.  And as he looked up front to make sure that  he was indeed at Gate 26,  he discovered he had a couple of those bars!   Kind of automatically,  he turned to the lady on his left  who at the precise moment turned to him and met his eyes.   Care for some Snickers?,  he offered.

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        Linda was on her way to Frankfurt.  The German Cultural Center there had requested her to please fly over to meet up with her counterpart to discuss certain sensitive items regarding certain proposed changes to their Language Program.   She was told that it was he who was supposed to be in Manila to see her but he had to attend an emergency Board Meeting;  thus, with much regret, she was asked to go out of her way and take the flight  instead.   Well,  she didn't mind this at all.    For personal reasons,  she had  already flown to Frankfurt once or twice before  and she enjoyed herself a lot.    She thought it was time she went there again  even if only  for work purposes  -for a change of experience, why not!

       Now,  she was at this Bangkok airport,  ready to enjoy an hour's layover before she boarded her connecting flight to Frankfurt.  Curiously, she enjoyed airports for whatever reason.   She enjoyed layovers!   Well,  -for as long as they didn't take hours and hours.   She was to board at Gate 25 but seeing how crowded it was at the moment, she had decided to simply sit it out at  Gate 26 where there were less people .  She was kind of hungry, wanting to enjoy a cup of coffee, at least, but she put it off.    I'll get me one later, she thought.   She just wanted to take a seat and relax a while.   And she opened up her computer.

       She was reviewing the documents that she was to go over with this counterpart of hers at the Cultural Center when she noticed a tall man making his way towards where she was seated.   He's coming for this vacant seat beside me, she realized.   She also couldn't help noticing the look of exasperation on his face.   But he is good-looking,  she thought.   She was surprised at herself.   Did I think that?,  she chided herself.    But he was right in front of her already and her eyes promptly  returned to her laptop.   Moments after she deduced the guy had settled down,  she couldn't help turning to look at him  - and found out he was looking at her.   He  then offered her a bar of Snickers.... her favorite!  Oh wow!  For some seconds,  she tried to deliberate on  whether or not it was proper to accept it.    But why not?   So she extended her hand to receive the chocolate bar as she managed,  Why, thanks!

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        The  moments that followed turned out to be most cordial for both Fred and Linda .   It was as if they had long known each other.   In between time,  they got to know that he was on his way to Manila as she was to Frankfurt.   Then after a few minutes into the conversation,  an announcement was finally being displayed on the gate monitor:  Flight LU 386 departing  for Manila at 4:45 pm.    That's an hour  from now!, Fred said, after glancing at his watch....but I really should've been there by now!    Well, my flight departs in a quarter less than an hour,....which is not so bad at all for me!,  Linda countered with a smile.   And as Fred gazed into her eyes,  that smile -  he was declaring in his mind,  - that smile is taking my breath away!  Momentarily, he stood up.  Why don't we go have some coffee before we go on our ways,  he offered his hand to Linda who took it as she got herself up from her seat.   He led her to the nearby Starbucks coffee shop,  each slinging his own computer bag on his shoulder.

        There had been a lot to talk about over the cup of coffee: .... unrest in the Middle East...same sex marriage... social networking....cars!   But to both,  the talk seemed peripheral.   Rather than the content of the interchange, the anticipation for the pleasure of the other's voice was the priority.   The world simply  seemed to have vanished,  -giving in to the existence of just the coffee and the two of them!   So that time simply stood still..... until the announcement from Gate 25 came breaking up the magic of the hour.  Passengers for Flight LU 42 departing for Frankfurt had to board now.   Slowly,  Linda picked up her computer bag,  turned to Fred,  extending her hand for the farewell shake.   It was a pleasure meeting you, she smiled her goodbye.   No, no,  Fred quickly rejoined,  the pleasure was all mine - as he stood to take her hand with a hint of a squeeze.

        As if somehow  a part of his heart was being torn away,  Fred watched Linda make her way towards Gate 25.   Then he noticed that she stopped for a little while  to answer her cell phone .....kinda  looked back to his direction as if to savor a last vision of him ....but later she continued walking toward the line that was forming.   After he finally lost  sight of Linda,  he decided in a matter of fact manner to take a last look at his computer.     He wondered if there might have been any development from his office before he joined his own crowd at Gate 26.

        There was indeed a  message from a frantic-sounding Daniel right there on his screen.  Daniel was the office staff temp  who took care of personnel travel.   It read:  Hey Fred,  sorry for this mix up but bear with me and please take in the present situation.  The CEO had forgotten  about my coming in as  temp.....  and he missed copying me  his postponing  the Board Emergency Meeting till you came back from the Philippines, ....which explains why I went on booking your flight to Manila....and also thus neglecting to inform you.    Problem now is  that  the Manila office had been informed of this Board Meeting that supposedly kept you here in Frankfurt and  consequently have sent your counterpart over here as requested.    Apparently, she has just been informed of the communication error and her office is waiting for word from her.    Meantime,  we need to fix this  real quick so won't you please acknowledge this message asap?

        Fred couldn't immediately make out what was on his hands right then and there but he had a strange and strong speculative feeling about Linda as he stayed glued to his seat.    Then  he decided that Frankfurt and Manila  just had  to wait till there was clarity in these thoughts that now raced through his mind.   Gate 26 was presently giving the announcement that Flight LU 386 departing for Manila was now ready to board its passengers.   That was  his connecting flight.   But Fred remained in his seat.    Frankfurt and Manila will have to wait,  he repeated in his mind,  as  slowly but surely came clearly to his eyes the sight of Linda in her measured steps coming back towards the Starbucks Cafe.  Taking the seat she had left and looking back at   those eyes of Fred that were intently  probing her own,  she took in quite a deep breath.  Then the next moment had  them both urgently and simultaneously asking: -Were you on your way to the German Cultural-?...  only to stop short in pleasant realization ...and break into a soft laughter!

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