…with Gary Moss

Archive for April, 2010

Many of the things that we want to change, don’t change easily. That’s because the things that we have been doing over and over and over again, or the way that we have been behaving over and over and over again, have become our habits.

Habits die hard. When we brake a habit, a void is created, and something else needs to fill that void.

When changing our behaviors we MUST consider what we will choose to replace the old behavior.

The person who wants to become a better scrabble play, and makes a commitment to study in order to move up in the ranks, must plan a regimen and follow through in order to achieve success. (But that is also true of becoming a better cook, earning a college degree, sailing solo around the world.) FACT: There are only 24 hours in a day. When we add something into our schedule we are always bumping something out of our schedule, even if it is only ‘free time’.

Studying 15 minutes a day = giving up some: TV or gardening or that long hot shower or robbing a bank.
It is your choice.

People who consider taking my online scrabble class, SCRABBLE 101, often stop cold when they discover that I want them to make a commitment of 15-30 minutes, 7 days each week, for 5 weeks. Then they ask why?
Research tells us that it takes a minimum of 21 days to establish a ‘new habit’. People who do the bare minimum are not making much of a commitment, in my opinion. And I know that the people who are willing to give me their commitment to my requirements are serious and worthy of my time and energy.

Not following through does not mean that you are a bad person. It only means that you were not committed to making that change.

That brings me around to my Biggest Challenge (weight loss). I have had a very successful week. But I know that it doesn’t mean very much yet. Beginnings are a lot like honeymoons. The real work and the necessary commitments will come later, putting me to the test in the days and weeks ahead.

Thank you, to all of you who have sent me suggestions, diet plans, and good wishes.

This week I have virtually eliminated my evening snacking. I have eaten healthy foods at meal time. I have prepared most of my own meals. As a result, in addition to some weight loss, I have spent less on food. My old regimen included eating out 1 – 3 times a day. I haven’t eaten a single fast food meal this week. I have eaten more fruits and vegetables. I like cooking and eating stir fry. My biggest expense this week was my new wok.
I do enjoy cooking. I invented a few combinations. For breakfast this morning I made an egg-white omelet with mushrooms, sweet peppers, and lox. I’ve also cut way back on my portions. My snacks this week have consisted of apples and pears. I cut back from 12 diet sodas last week to only 4 this week.

There have been times when I felt very hungry. Because I am a diabetic, using insulin, I have had to modify those schedules. On two occasions, due to eating less than in the past, I created low-sugar situations for myself that required corrections. (It is my hope that by achieving my goal weight, of 175-185, I will be able to reverse my diabetes.)

There is still time for you to join me. Make a 90 commitment to face your Biggest Challenge head on.

Since last Tuesday, I have received hundreds of emails from family and friends wanting to let me know that the scrabble word list has been changed to include all Proper Nouns.

When the onslaught began, I checked the calendar to see if it was still April Fool’s Day.

When I awoke Tuesday morning there was a voice mail awaiting form a stranger. I returned the call and met Brandon, one of the producers for Katie Couric’s CBS NEWS show. He informed me about the changes that were coming and wanted to shoot an interview with scrabble players to witness their reaction to the infusion of Proper Nouns into the game of scrabble. I love participating in events like this. (The exposure is great for my clubs too.) I said yes and teamed up to help Brandon make his interview happen. I suggested a location and then got onto the phone to solicit players to drop whatever they were doing and congregate, less than 2 hours later, for the impromptu interview.

I had made more than a dozen phone calls, mostly leaving messages on answering machines, but enlisting 3 players to participate, when Brandon called back to cancel. He had learned that the information was a hoax. I then had to call back the 3 players and explain what had occurred.

Someone out there was funning with us.

In the short time that I had been rounding up people for that interview, I had been doing some deep thinking about what I was going to say. As I thought about the change, I was becoming very angry. Something as stupid as ‘adding Proper Nouns’ could only be the work of someone who has never played scrabble. It would ruin the game. Almost anything could be a Proper Noun.

Then, even before Brandon called me back, I took a deep breath and realized that this was a scam. Brandon had told me that ‘MATELL’ had announced the decision. Scrabble in North America is owned by ‘HASBRO’. Changes to the OWL2 (Official Word List, 2nd Edition) are made exclusively by the NASPA word committee.

This was yet another great lesson about the power of rumors. With today’s communication technology, the lie was spread worldwide with one click of the ‘SEND’ button on someone’s computer.

For the real ‘skinny’ about the scrabble scene, read this blog, check out my website: www.just4thespellofit.com ,or send me an email: jftsoi.moss@gmail.com

One of the worst things that we kids could do at home while growing up was to swear at or talk back to our parents with ‘an attitude’. Those two things would send my mother into a rage; she’d grab the offender by the ear and march them into the bathroom where she’d literally reach for a bar of soap and ‘wash the offending mouth with soap’. The last time I remember that happening to me, I was already taller and bigger than my mom. I was also developing a preference for Dial over Ivory.

I’m wondering.

 IF A DEAF CHILD SIGNS SWEAR WORDS, DOES HIS MOTHER WASH HIS HANDS WITH SOAP?

One thing that I’ve loved about scrabble players is their propensity to play with words. They are very punny. If I were to give a prize to the greatest scrabble punster of all time, the award would definitely go to Alan Stern, director of ‘The Killer Club’ in Los Angeles. I attended Alan’s club regularly from ’95 – ’98 when I first came west. He leave some of us rolling on the floor in laughter. (2nd Place goes to Jeff Clark of Linden, Michigan) I like to think that I possess that same kind of talent. But, I consider myself to be more like ‘Froggy The Gremlin’ on the ancient ‘Buster Brown Show’.

ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.

Other than a scrabble club or a mental hospital, where else would you find grown adults sitting around laughing at 7 letters on a wooden rack? In some countries you’d be certified and shipped off during the night to some looney bin. At times at club session, when questions arise, they require some very deep thinking. Like the time when a Club #350 player asked,

IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?

Some queries raised are much more practical. Like the time when we had a visiting player, who happened to be a farmer, from a town near Bakersfield. He was in southern California for a week or so, getting away from it all, while Health Department officials were investigating his produce, to determine if it was the source of some E. Coli bacteria. Trying to be cute, one of our players inquired:

 IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?

And by the way, yesterday some joker announced to the world, on all wire services, that Proper Nouns were now legal to play in scrabble. The is COMPLETELY FALSE. The OWL2 (Official Word List 2nd Edition) remains the standard of the game. For more information from a reliable source CLICK HERE.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125676618

Ask anyone the question, “Where Is Your Favorite Place To Be?”, and there will be no shortage of answers. Common answers that will come back without hesitation include: with my family; at the beach; traveling; having breakfast at Bruegger’s; scuba diving; at the ball park; winning at a casino; Tom & Jerry’s; the top of The Eiffel Tower.

Ask any scrabble player the same question and the answer will most likely be: playing scrabble; at club; at a tournament; on a scrabble cruise.

Many a romance, when only one of the twosome is a scrabble player, has met its special challenges. If and when the non-scrabble-player asks “Where Is Your Favorite Place To Be?”, and the player has blurted out, without thinking, “Playing scrabble”, there’s a huge price to pay. Other times, merely the length of a pause before answering, “With you dear”, has marked the beginning of the end. Sharing common interests with like minded people is so important.

We all know how frequently other people come and go into our lives. Statistics show us that more than 50% of marriages and relationships end with people going their separate ways. Then there are all of our dear relatives and friends who have the audacity to take ill or die before us.

Scrabble provides us a constant. With a little energy any of us are able to find a player or a club in our community. Absent of that, the internet awaits us 24/7 with a stream of other scrabble addicts, anxiously awaiting for us to logon. Worst scenario is turning to the robotic automatons: Mavin, Quackle, and the like, and they’re great teachers and opponents, if you can withstand the losing.

On of my all time favorite songs is ‘A Better Place To Be’ by Harry Chapin. It has nothing at all to do with playing scrabble. It is a 9+ minute song-saga of a lonely night watchman. It reminds me that there has been more than one night watchman who used boring time on the job to study scrabble lists, catapulting themselves into becoming scrabble legends: Edley, Landsberg, and Armstrong to name a few.
To enjoy Harry’s song, CLICK HERE.

To locate a better place to be . . . on a Scrabble Vacation, Click Here!

Legend:
TWS – Triple Word Score (red on traditional boards)
DWS – Double Word Score (pink on traditional boards)
TLS – Triple Letter Score (dark blue on traditional boards)
DLS – Double Letter Score (light blue on traditional boards)
best of the best – rated over 1700 in NASPA ranking
pick up line – “Come on up and see me sometime.”
iPAD – newest Apple product
bingo – using all 7 tiles from a rack on a single play

From all reports, last week there were long lines of people at the APPLE STORE waiting to purchase their iPAD. President Obama’s solution for all the illegals is to just have them pay fines, pay back taxes, and then go to the end of the line. A group of orthodox Jews at last week’s Passover seder believe that they can trace their line back to some of the first rabbis in Jerusalem’s temple. Dorothy and her friends found their way to OZ by following the ‘yellow brick line’.

There are lines that men are known to have given to women in the hope of stirring some reaction. And there are lines referred to as ‘coffee housing’ while playing scrabble, to purposely distract one’s opponent by providing misleading inferences.

Serious scrabble players understand the importance of lines from their unique perspective. There’s the line over the TWS and the ultimate line from TWS to TWS. Next are the lines over the DWS and the most important one from DWS to DWS. Lastly is any open area that permits a player to place a bingo onto the board.

The ‘best of the best’ can sometimes get their bingos down by playing through tiles already on the board or by creating multiple hooks.

We all have the ability to imitate the best of the best. The place that most of us begin is with the efficient use of ‘hot spots’ for premium points; another place to look for points are the lines from TLS to TLS or DLS to DLS, each requiring 5 Letter Words.

To become a better than average scrabble player one hard to take a hard line in regard to expanding one’s word knowledge. That requires some study. Players who come to play but never study will continually find themselves at the end of the line.

Looking for a Scrabble Gift for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or Graduation ? The Name Plaque is perfect. CHeck it out. CLICK HERE.

Emotions play such a big part in most of our lives. You know what I mean. You’ve probably experienced it more than a time or two. The experiences of every moment in our lives has the potential power to uplift us or drag us down. Some people recognize this and have developed ways to stay in the moment, to be led by reality, and avoid the traps, inherent in following raw emotions.

Emotions invoke our feeling and often blur reality. Emotion encourages some to jump off the deep-end without a safety net, just because they feel that they can fly. Emotion stops others from trying anything by shouting ‘You Can’t’ in their ears and raising destructive fears in their heads.

Last Saturday morning I played scrabble at Club #195 in West Los Angeles. Bruce D’Ambrosio, club director, is blessed to have 40 or more players attend every Saturday. That large number allows Bruce to divide players into ‘A’ and ‘B’ groups, according to their playing levels. Group ‘A’ draws some of the most gifted scrabble aficionados in California. Since I am ranked at the bottom of the ‘expert’ pile, I am grouped in the ‘A’ group with all the mavins. (Like everyone else, I want to win. The odds are against me at Club #195, considering my ranking in the mix.)

If I have learned anything, being a competitive scrabble player, I have to stay positive and ready to pounce if and when the tiles turn in your favor. Newer players frequently ‘give up’ as soon as the opponent takes a lead. My first game was against Judy Levitt, one of the very top players in California. I rarely can keep up with Judy, let alone beat her. But Saturday was different. I remained focused. From my very first play, ‘eyebar,’ I believed that I had a chance to win. Even after Judy made a stunning play, I maintained my composure. I drew some great tiles when there were places to place my bingos and when the smoke had cleared I had ’490 points’ and a victory. I felt pretty giddy and playful. I asked Judy to sign my score sheet. I will frame it and place it on my living room wall next to my ‘Chuck Armstrong’.

Winning a single game is great, but there were still 3 more games to go. One cannot rest on their laurels when competing at scrabble. If you let down you will surely lose your next game. In game #2 I eked out a 5 point victory over ‘methodical’ Roy Kamen. In game #3 the tile gods deserted me and I was squashed by Ira Cohen. The last game was a nail-biter. Pete Skaggs and I played to a thrilling tie.

Leaving Club #195 I felt pretty satisfied. But, I plan to keep it all in perspective this week. If not, I could let up. In a competitive world there is always someone else hoping to knock you off your perch. Enjoy your victories but continue to prepare for ‘BUTLER’.

We all eventually fall. We display the success that we are by getting up and getting back into the game, a little wiser.

I’m giving you a whole week’s notice. Club #350 will be celebrating the life of Alfred Butts during the days surrounding his birthday, April 11 – 15. There will also be tributes to the father of our favorite game, right here on scrabblesense.

How were your teen years? Mine we tumultuous. Maybe they were that way for some greater reason. Looking back on them from ’67′ I have a very different perspective. Back then I was angry and confused most of the time and yet I managed to carve out a small window of opportunity for myself, that gave me a bit of sanity, where I felt that I was okay. (It seems to me that so many of the troubled kids in gangs today must only find that bit of solace from the gang environment, and that determines where they place their loyalty and energy.)

My haven was the synagogue youth group. My parents were proud of my involvement and leadership within the youth group, so they allowed me slide on my grades in public school. I was a bit of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in regard to the two arenas. At the synagogue I was everyone’s darling and excelled at every task. People expected great things from me and I delivered. I was recognized by my peers and went on to be elected the president of a five-State region that serviced hundreds of other teens.

Meanwhile, after being an A, B student through the 9th Grade, I slipped to producing D’s from the 10th Grade forward in public school. I was well like by students and teachers , but I just didn’t produce. I just didn’t get it. My tutors were not able to get through to me. The further I sunk, the more embarrassed I became, the less I applied myself, and the cycle spiralled downward.

An Aside: In spite of all the negativity, I was one of a select few invited to be part of an 11th Grade elective class entitled ‘LEADERSHIP’. All the other students were 4 point. I did earn an ‘A’ in that class.

I barely graduated high school. It was expected of me to go on to college. I didn’t have a plan for my future. The only place where I could continue my education was at a Junior College, so I enrolled, just because. My study ethic wasn’t any better in college. After a year, I flunked out of Junior College. ( Meanwhile, on the side, I continued to work as a Youth Director. I earned a modest salary. did excellent work, and earned a good reputation. )

And then I met a girl. All of a sudden I realized that I had to have something to offer to win the girl and earn her parents’ approval. Things Changed. Life for me became serious and for the first time, in a long time, I saw the seriousness and the depth of the hole into which I had put myself. That day, I found a local private college where I could attend for a hefty tuition fee, and earn a second chance. I enrolled. All of a sudden studying became easy for me. I earned a 3.85 for the year and was accepted as a transfer student to the local State Univeristy. I followed the logical career path of becoming a teacher and I earned my M.S. in Education within two years.

We do the things we do for our own reasons, whenever we choose.
.
~ Gary Moss

Choosing to become a ‘good’ scrabble player is that simple and that hard too. CLICK

If you are one of the people who think that life is all about getting to the TOP . . . life may have a harsh lesson in store for you. (That’s just the beginning.)

We are simply human.

As hard as it may be getting to the top of anything, remaining on top can be an even greater challenge. (The salesman of the year; the winner of the Marathon; the National Scrabble Champion; achieving a 4 point in your Freshman year; inventing the ‘wheel’)

Coming down can be even harder. All one has to do is look at the shattered lives of the many people have been at the top and you will see many who have stumbled and fallen from their perches, without a safety net. (Kid movie stars; high school athletes who didn’t make the pros; pro players who were washed up by age 30; peoples whose unprotected ideas were stolen by corporations; music writers whose tunes were pirated by the Chinese.)

Like so many of the other answers in life, the answer is ‘simple’ but it is not necessarily ‘easy’. The answer begins with awareness and requires careful planning.

As any game of scrabble begins, both players know that there are 100 tiles and they each know the letter distribution. As words are played onto the board, fewer tiles remain available. The sharpest players track the tiles played so they have a knowledge of the tiles yet to come. Some people say, “I CANT TRACK.” (That is not true. They CHOOSE not to track.) They usually lose to a competent tracker. Some people say, “I CAN’T PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE.” (They usually end up at the back of some line.)

Most people take the easy road and go with the flow. 6% of the people take hold of their own lives and steer themselves toward their dreams. These six-percenters have a plan B incase of an unexpected tornado or earthquake. They make plans and investments for the years after their career as a professional wrestler or beauty queen.

Winning scrabble players also have a Plan B for dealing with the opponent who shuts down the board, for opponents who play phoneys, for opponents who try to use head games and intimidation. But most of all, scrabble winners do their homework before coming to the games, bringing superior word knowledge to the table.

Have you done any homework lately? Obtain some of the ‘Stem Bookmarks’, put them int your memory bank, and WOW some of your opponents. CLICK HERE.