…with Gary Moss

Archive for August, 2009

For as long as I can remember, when people have asked me, “What is your favorite movie?” I’ve had to think long and hard before answering before coming up with Harold and Maude or Being There or My Big Fat Greek Wedding. As of yesterday, I have added another film to my list of favorites: Julie & Julia.

What a delight!

Maybe I loved this movie so much because it was in part about someone writing a blog; maybe I loved this movie so much because it was in part about food ( I salivated for the better part of the movie); but I mostly loved the movie because it was about two people who made something out of nothing (not that a dream is nothing); you know what I mean.

These women reinvented themselves. To me, these women represent the kind of bravery that is available to be faced in every one of our lives, but is left unchallenged by the multitudes, who remain trapped in their cubicles, by imaginary fears and self-doubt.

Watching Julie & Julia made me proud of the dreams I have had and followed: founding a private school; building a scrabble fiefdom; writing this daily blog. I identified personally with their times of doubt and frustration, times when things didn’t go just right. I identified facing the fear and doing it anyway. I identified with their joy and celebrity, even though mine is on a much smaller scale.

When I teach SCRABBLE 101 and I refer to an I CAN ATTITUDE, I can now point to Julie and Julia as the personification of the concept.

If you have been dancing with an idea and a dream, but have lacked the gumption to make it happen, seeing Julie & Julia is a MUST for you.

Then Just Do It!

Bonjour

Most of us scrabble players have our feet planted firmly on the ground and find ourselves whining from time to time about TOO MANY VOWELS or NOWHERE TO PLAY OUR BINGO ON THE BOARD.

The first time that I was exposed to the ‘UPPER CRUST’ was when I was a raw novice. I had signed up to play in one of my first tournaments in Cleves, Ohio, between Cincinnati and Indianapolis. I was coming from Detroit and sought out others to share the ride. I found myself in a car with four of the elite players. The conversation during the five hour ride was bewildering for a novice. It was primarily about 7 and 8 letter words that ended with the letter ‘U’.

When you listen to the EXPERT SCRABBLE PLAYERS complain, it is almost like listening to people speaking in tongues, minimally, like people speaking an entire other language.

I was privy to receiving the post below, on a scrabble chat network. Zev Kaufman is a 1752 rated player, from Montreal, Canada. Robin Pollack Daniel hales from Toronto, Canada and is one of the highest ranked women players in the world, at 1885.

Zev writes:

“For some reason, which I can’t explain, I was not feeling well Monday morning. I was queasy and had trouble concentrating. I was playing Robin in round 10 at Dayton . She had bingoed with DEGREED for 82 to go up 223 – 128. The last D landed in the triple- triple lane at L15. I had a blank and spend some time looking for a nine-timer but didn’t 
find any, so I made another play. Later I ended up bingoing with both blanks for a pedestrian 70 pts. . Even after another 74 pt baby bingo which emptied the bag , I lost the endgame when I picked AADGGRV versus her CEIRTTU with her to play. She went out in two to win 438 – 409.
Immediately after the game I wondered if I had missed a triple – triple. She had pulled out her laptop to quackle herplays – so I asked her to check my rack to see if I had missed anything. A second after I told her my tiles – AEILOX? -I say , ” EXOr(D)IAL ! – how the hell did I miss that ?! I even have an anamonic for DARIOLE + ? = TAXI GLOVES .” Instead of the 31 pts I got for OX , I could have had 185 for EXOrDIAL, which would have put me up by 90 – and the heavy favourite to win. I was very upset with myself for missing a relatively easy find . It was bugging me the entire tourney ( apologies to my roommate Tony Leah who had to put up with my moaning ) so when I got home last night , the first game I quackled was this one to see if I could have squeaked out a win . That is when I discovered that I had given Robin the wrong rack! When she played DEGREED , my rack was actually AIMTXY? , and that was the rack I had spend a while looking for a triple-triple ! There was none, She then played 15g WOOFE(D) for 39 killing the lane. ( Those who know me on ISC as zevwolf , should find this quite ironic My next rack was the one I had mistakenly asked her to check – AEILOX?.There was no possibility for a ninetimer anymore – in fact – there were no playable bingo at all on that turn.
I had been torturing myself for 5 days for nothing – DUH! I guess you might say the moral of the story is that one should be more careful when choosing a rack to examine 

WARNING: DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU ! 
”

By the way, just in case you can’t sleep tonight and want a word list to study. . . . There are twenty-one 8 Letter Words in the OWL2 that end with the letter ‘U’. They are:
ABOIDEAU; ABOITEAU; BERIMBAU; CARCAJOU; COUMAROU; FLAMBEAU; FROUFROU; HAUSFRAU; JIUJITSU; JIUJUTSU; KABELJOU; KEIRETSU; KINKAJOU; NUNCHAKU; PIRARUCU; PRIEDIEU; ROUSSEAU; TIRAMISU; VERMOULU; WILLIWAU and ZAIBATSU.

Now go study your 2′s.

I know that I’m far from perfect, but I find it pretty amazing that so many people with a gift for playing a mean scrabble game, can’t seem to count accurately.

People cheat themselves by missing points while they’re counting; others over-count on a regular basis. Some people become complete confused if they play a word that is a D/D (covering two double word scores). It is simply (2 x 2) or 4 times the face value; what’s so hard about that? We’re not doing rocket science here.

One player I know always seems to be complaining about computing her 68 scores. She’ll whine, ” I can’t figure this out. It is too confusing.” And then on her next turn she’ll hook an ‘A’ atop ‘XENIC’ (AXENIC) with a the bingo ‘AUTOMATA’. It is maddening that she would expect any sympathy from her opponent.

I’ve decided that as soon as I finish teaching all the wannabe scrabble players how to master words in my class SCRABBLE 101, my next mission will be to develop a math adjunct called SCRABBLE 1, 2, 3.

Here’s a little self-check test for you. On the board pictured above, see the word ‘ROADSTER’. The letters under it were played later on in that game. The 7 letters: R-O-A-D-S-T-E were played, connecting to the ‘R’ on the word ‘PIKER’

Q. How many points were earned when the player played ‘ROADSTER’?

A. The score is implanted above near the picture of the board.

Did you get the correct point count? If yes, GREAT. If not, we should talk.

Most of us do it all the time, talking to our opponents during the game. Obviously, we are required to call out our scores to one another and say things like “Hold” or “Challenge”. I’m not referring to those exchanges.

Making cute comments and expressing frustrations is called ‘coffee-housing’ and is not permitted, according to the rules.

During club play the rules are relaxed at times. Some players are habitual ‘coffee-housers’ and will even continue in their usual fashion during tournaments. There is no doubt in my mind that a lot of ‘coffee-housing’ occurred during the recent National Scrabble Tournament in Dayton.

The solution, when you are being distracted by some ‘coffee-houser’ is simple.
1) Neutralize the clock.
2) Call, “Director”.
3) Ask the director to tell your opponent about the ‘coffee-housing’ rule.

A player who continues to abuse the rule is subject to penalties.

I’m mostly annoyed with myself for a loss that I suffered yesterday, do to coffee-housing. I was playing with a player who makes a comment after almost every play. She is being playful. I have never made an issue over her distractions. Near the end of the game she made a comment about missing her opportunity to play a bingo. I was paying more attention to her words than tracking the tiles on the board. Her chatter lured into making a simple play to hasten the end of the game. Then she bingoed out and notched up a WIN on her belt.

In close games I always track the tiles on the board. I had 18 minutes left on my clock. I allowed myself to be thrown off course by her coffee-housing.

We each have an obligation to follow the rules and hold our opponents accountable to the same set of rules. If and when we don’t, we have no right to complain about our losses.

I’ll try hard not to make that mistake again.

PUT THINGS OFF !

The problem with putting things off, as you may well know, is that they usually never get done at all. Better than being a terminal procrastinator, is becoming proficient at making a different choice regarding the matters. It removes all the self-talk, self-loathing, and chiding about your flaws. ( I hear you. You opt to change your behavior on the matter. . . LATER. )

Here is a small list of some of the things that people ‘Put Off’ and their ‘Consequences’.

Slowing down when driving > Getting tickets
Cleaning the house > Bugs and clutter
Scheduled auto maintenance > Burning up an engine
Proposing > She married another
Making dinner > Going hungry
Being on time > Missing the boat
Buying A Christmas Tree > A scrawny stem
Go to the doctor > An ugly situation
Never learning the STEMS > More losses and heartache

If time management and procrastination are not you issue, move along and have a great day.

If poor time management and procrastination are your middle names, acknowledge the fact and get some help today. ( NO, not tomorrow. )
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.Send me an email, NOW!…….. jftsoi.moss@gmail.com

Be It Scrabble, Finding A Job, Being In Relationship: Life Tugs

The best thing is that after you battle your way through IT, over IT, or around IT you enjoy a greater satisfaction, for having overcome the challenges.

Life would be so boring if everything came too easy.
Who do you admire most:
the kid who just sailed solo around the world?
-or-
the guy floating in the backyard pool, sipping an adult beverage?

How about those two 13 year old boys from LA who are currently in 1st & 3rd places in Division #5 at the National Scrabble Championships in Dayton, Ohio? What a way to start out one’s life journey.

Everyday we are each served up opportunities and choices. The more we say YES, the more we JUST DO IT, the more we LIVE IT, the more we understand and appreciate life.

You may read a book a day about life adventures and you might watch every movie at the cineplex, but you’ll never understand it in quite the same way, if you never get your feet wet, feel the heat, or experienced the adrenalin rush in your veins.

It’s not too late.

Today can be the first day of the rest of your life.

You can still accomplish things on your ‘bucket list’. Get up out of your easy chair. Don’t put it off until some other day. Get out the door early and come back late. Drive a different route. Smell the roses that you’ve driven past so many times without acknowledging them. Park a little farther away from your destination and walk the extra block or two. Turn off the radio and listen to the sounds of nature. Wish every passerby a good day and compliment the clerk at the store. Leave a bigger tip than usual and compliment the chef. Smile all day long. Feel and enjoy the light and the warmth of the sun by day; glory in wonderment when you gaze at the night sky. Breathe deeply and replenish your spirit. Experience peace.

Then do it again and again and again.

The National Scrabble Tournament began this morning
in Dayton, Ohio.

500 players from the US, Canada and around the globe are throwing down words against each other.

Several players from our CLUB #350 are in the mix, vying for glory and cash prizes.

Who will emerge victorious?

You can follow the action over the next 4 days.

Go to www.scrabbleplayers.org/nsc