…with Gary Moss

Archive for February, 2011

Some say that I’m a dreamer
Pursuing things out of reach
I’m simply a complex word lover
Looking for students whom to teach

I love the game of scrabble
Its challenges and design
When I’m teaching and directing
Day-to-day life works just fine

At times I feel unneeded
When others think they know it all
They come to club and stumble
Too proud to give me a call

I watch the newbies show up with smiles
I watch most squirm and grimace
If only they would ask for help
They all show so much promise

They ask me how I learned to win
Half listening as I tell
They continue doing the same things they do
Half discouraged and feeling ill
Hoping there’s a ‘MAGIC PILL’

The ‘MAGIC PILL’ is in all our hands
Most don’t know they own it
When you nourish it, it will grow
Into a series of productive habits

Some will never see their ‘magic pill’
Blinded by their greed
Only wanting an immediate fix
To satisfy their scrabble need

Sometimes I sit back amused
Watching them drop and spill
Self-righteousness can deceive us all
and obscure our ‘MAGIC PILL’

What is the equation for SUCCESS?

SUCCESS = ? ? ?

Consider this: S = x (P + T) / C + D

S = SUCCESS
x = the activity
P = Passion
T = Time
C = Circumstance
D = Distractions

Remember the last time when you were in ‘the zone’? Everything was smooth sailing, going along perfectly. You couldn’t lose for trying. It didn’t matter what.

For me, it may have been the first time that I decided to take my education seriously. Up until that moment, education for me was about my parents and others telling me what I needed. Sure, they were all looking out for my best interests. But, I wasn’t onboard with the idea that they promoted and encouraged. In fact, I was so obstinent that I barely graduated from high school, had to settle for going to a Junior College, and then really showed THEM by flunking out at the end of my first year.

It was the early 1960s. I wasn’t a ‘hood’, I wasn’t experimenting with drugs. I was straight as an arrow, well liked, and found success in the small leadership jobs with youth groups. I certainly wasn’t a shining example for my charges when it came to my grades. I kept those facts hidden and got by on my work ethic.

We make the important changes in our lives when we experience significant emotional events. ~ Gary Moss

The emotional event that turned my life was falling in love and wanting to win the love of my affection. I finally realized that I needed an education to obtain a degree to get a job to provide a lifestyle that would be acceptable for my partner.

Within a year, I reenter school and became an ALL ‘A’ student. Now that was special. I graduated with a B.S. and an M.A in education and went forward to found a private school.

I am not unique. Some of my most successful friends have similar, but different, stories. The common thread that weaves its way through all of our stories is a critical point when a light turned on for each of us. A turning point when a new direction was taken along with an ACTION.

Our scrabble friend, Scott Sellman, will hold the ‘Grande Opening’ of Milo’s Cafe on March 12 in Lake Forest, California. Scott has had success in his other ventures, and now is moving to combine work with his PASSION for ‘man’s best friends’. There’s no doubt in my mind that Milo’s Cafe will an instant success. Join me there on opening day.

Scrabble players who are passionate about the game, do not need any coaxing or reminders to learn 10 more words every week, they do it automatically. They are usually the ones who show up early to club and play an extra ‘warm-up’ game, before the regulars arrive.

What do you love? Are you permitting your passion to take you to higher hights?

Learn to play a better game of SCRABBLE. Take the online class, SCRABBLE 101

I guess that I’m at the age of vulnerability. The truth is . . . no matter what your age is, you are vulnerable.

Last week there were 200 or more souls living in New Zealand who woke up in the morning with their biggest concern being: ‘what am I going to wear today’. Now they are gone forever.

Last month there were many, many souls living in Egypt and Lybia who woke up to another day of labor and living. Now they are martyrs and collateral damage.

Or you could have been a sightseer passenger on that boat on the lake in Greenland where that hugest of icebergs split. Just lucky for all on the boat, they were in the middle of the lake. The size of the waves created when the split occurred and the massive ice tumbled into the water were more than 10 feet high near the shoeline. These people get to live a little longer.

Becoming an older scrabble player brings a variety of challenges that may have not been as much of an issue during younger years: Sitting for long periods of time and now having the joints setting as if in cement . . . ouch; Eyes becoming dimmer and wearier soon that later . . . pass the Visine; The urge of nature calling more frequently . . . wash those hands! Where are my keys? my glasses? my pills? where has my memory gone?

When we become older we know that we are wiser . . . and we often think that because we are wiser we are also still sharper and smarter than those younger ‘whipper-snappers’, WRONG! When we become older we often have to work twice as hard to avoid from falling behind. Oooh for the memory that I had when I was 28 years old.

Dorothy’s kids just helped her move into assisted living. Did you hear thar our dear friend Emilie passed away last fall at the tender age of 68. Bob is suffering with Alsheimers as is David’s mother. Ed was let go at work and thinks that it was age discrimination . . . tough to prove. They say that nearly 75% of all people age 65 and older are living of only their social security and medicare, with little to no savings.

And yet, there are only two choices about how we shall live out the rest of our lives . . . focus on the glass half-empty, put our heads down and cry . . . or . . . see the glass as half-full and plan for the good in tomorrow.

When you least expect it you will draw a blank and as ess out of the bag. Be prepared to look for and find a bingo. Even an ‘alta-cocker’ deserves a little joy and happiness.

I plan to go out of this life bingoing.

I’ve seen it happen more times in the world of scrabble friends, more than in other places. Someone needs a hand up, and makes it known, and right away others step up and take ACTION.

I have been fortunate to find the support from others who attend my clubs, my tournaments, and make purchases at www.wordgifts.net. Today there is an opportunity to pass it forward. I invite you to join me by taking action right now.

If you are part of the scrabble world and have followed my advice to improve your game, then you have most likely heard me tout the virtues of ZYZZYVA. The program was created by Michael Thelen. Michael is about to embark on the next leg in his journey with ZYZZYVA that will benefit scrabble players immensely. In order to do this project, Michael is requesting a ‘hand-up’.

Here’s a projection of what it may look like.

Very cool.

If you don’t know about ZYZZYVA, and you play scrabble, you are missing the boat. It is an amazing study tool and word judge. . . . and Michael provides it to us for FREE!

I just sent my few dollars Michael’s way and invite you to read Michael’s request and then become a part of the solution too. Become a part of something great today by helping launch a new scrabble tool.

CLICK HERE

A lot of people I know miss out on a lot fun, joy, happiness, learning, and more for the simple fact that they don’t take ACTION until they believe that the action will make a MAJOR difference in their life or the lives of others.

Guess what?

Those people rarely take any ACTION at all. Those people are always waiting in judgement of the circumstances.

When I founded a school, years ago, countless numbers of people seemed shocked. “You did what?”, they said. Many of the other people who had been my co-teachers at Francis Scott Key Elementary School in Oak Park, Michigan were both envious and bewildered that I had escaped the entrapments of public education. As fas as I know, none of my teacher friends followed my example by taking an action of their own.

In 1988, after running scrabble events in my elementary school, I made a proposal to the NSA that would create a scrabble program in schools across the country. In 1988 the NSA did not have a school program. The NSA dismissed my proposal (maybe the just didn’t want to work with me)? And then a few years later they initiated a school program.

About that same time the NSA did not have a marketing department; there was no animal called ‘SCRABBLE GEAR’. I was one of a handful of entrepreneurs who designed, created, funded, and sold scrabble-theme T-shirts. I remember the tournament in New York when Joe Edley (NSA staff) came to my sales table and purchased one of each of my T-shirts. I was flattered. Upon returning home I was greeted by the mailman with a registered letter from the NSA’s attorney. It read, “Cease and desist production of all scrabble items and forfeit your inventory . . . or else”.

P.S. shortly after that the NSA created a marketing department and sold T-shirts among there other trademarked items.

Even though I didn’t profit personally from those two of my great ideas, I did move things forward and I enjoyed a lot of personal satisfaction.

Many great things begin with a simple idea. Too many of those ideas fade away and die because: you are too busy with other things right now; you don’t have the resources to pull it off; you’ve never done anything like that before and feel intimidated; you are afraid that if you share your idea in the wrong place that someone else will steal it.

Actually, all of the above reasons are not really true at all, they are simply excuses.

You have to get past the fear. Don’t live your life like Walter Mitty.

Tell her/him that you love them. Hug your kids. Give a dollar to that charity. Help an elder neighbor. Volunteer for some good cause. Have your annual check-up. Give up one dessert this week. Learn one BOOKMARK STEM this month.

Take it from me . . . it always feels really great when one can excel, no matter what you are good at. Did you see the smile on the face of Scottish Deerhound who won the Westminster Dog Show? And how about Sameer Mishra (CLICK HERE)? A newbie scrabble player at CLUB #350 feels the thrill of victory too when they play their first bingo during club play.

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The same opportunity ‘to excel’ exists for the bad guys. Being accepted and initiated into a gang, when nothing better seems to be available in your circle, builds pride in some. Committing ‘white collar crime’ and steeling fortunes in a world where getting caught and the subsequent penalties are minuscule, leads many a CEO astray.

Our decisions on where we choose to excel are complicated by the fact that we are influenced by others. Fellowship has forged social bonds since way back when.

My memories of playing scrabble, for instance, are with family on holiday gatherings or with neighbor friends on snow days when there wasn’t a whole lot of other indoor choices. The ways in which we played the game back then, influences the way that many people still see the game today: it was a distraction; it was played for fun with common words.

I am a member of a scrabble ‘sub-culture’ who view scrabble in much the same way that Warren Buffet views investing, like Lady Gaga views music, like Sue Grafton views writing mysteries. We are serious about the game of scrabble and treat it with the respect that religious zealots treat The Bible.

Scrabble offers all an opportunity to excel. The components that are necessary to excel at anything are basically the same: Passion, Application, Time, Stick-To-Itiveness.

You can claim your opportunity by beginning with the online class SCRABBLE 101 or showing up at CLUB #350 or some other local club in your community.

Your OPPORTUNITY begins NOW!

BORDERS is closing many of its stores. For now, it is bittersweet for Club #350 because it looks like the BORDERS where we play in Costa Mesa, California will be spared in this round of closures. But I do feel sincere sadness for those of you who have lost your local BORDERS.

My brother Joel wrote about this same subject in his blog today, after receiving the notice that BORDERS in Saratoga Springs, New York is closing. CLICK HERE

Kellog’s Corn Soya, Northwest Airlines, Transistor Radios, 8-Track Tapes, The Edsel, Woolworth Department Stores, and the nickel ice cream cone at Zukin’s on 12th Street are all long gone and sorely missed by their loyal fans. It only helps us understand a little better why men have such a hard time making commitments . . . you never know when things will change or come to a screeching end.

We’ve all heard the explanations that:
1. ‘Change’ is simply a part of the process of ‘evolution’.
2. ‘Change’ happens for a reason.
3. ‘Time’ marches on.
4. ‘No one/nothing’ can last forever.
5. The best is yet to come.
6. After a forest fire, seedlings and wild flowers grow out of the ashes.
7. If you don’t like the weather in Michigan, just wait a day.
8. Don’t become too in love with your 4G iPhone; 5G is almost here.
9. The key to change is to let go.
10. The only thing that is for certain is CHANGE itself.

There are some things that some of us wish would never change. But I guess that we’re just hopeless romantics. If the thrill of a kiss can diminish, if a victory at the scrabble board can change from ecstasy to expected, if the object of my affection can change her complexion from white to rosy-red, then we must prepare ourselves for the other inevitable changes yet to come.

Viva la difference.

Any one can play this game: any age; any nationality; any sex; any height; any weight; any health circumstance. Did you know that there are very good scrabble players who are blind? It’s true! Scrabble makes a braille set. I assisted at a tournament for blind players in East Lansing, Michigan at a school for the blind. The winner in that tournament went on to play against sighted players and found success there too. Amazing!

You’ve most likely heard it told that mothers and fathers have been known to tell children, “When you grow up, you can become anything you desire . . . even president.” In today’s world, I don’t know if I’d even want to set my sights upon becoming president. But, becoming the World Scrabble Champion is something that I could aspire to.

And the truth is . . . anyone who develops a regimen and who has the passion can become one of the elite scrabble players and achieve the rank as Top Mavin.

10 Reasons Why You And I Have Not Been #1 . . . . YET!
10. Too Much TV News (Rioting In Africa)
9. Not really motivated
8. We don’t believe that we are able
7. Too Much Reality TV
6. Worries about our finances (price of gasoline)
5. Global Warming
4. Law & Order
3. Dancing With The Stars
2. Life’s demands
1. Instant Gratification Syndrome

I’m not really sure any more whether SCRABBLE CLUB #350 and others are helpful when it comes to recruiting players for the club and tournament scene.

More often than not, we scare off new players who come in thinking that they are going to rule the roost from the get go, just by showing up with their good looks.

First time attendees and novices are ‘eaten’ regularly by mavins and sometimes others who have the luck of the draw. By ‘eaten’, I mean that they are outscored, left scratching their heads and staring at words like ‘usufruct’ and ‘mbira’, and loosing points for going overtime on the 25 minutes they are permitted on the clock, during sanctioned play.

Like everything else, we become good and skilled at the things we do through learning, repetition, and practice. A mavin scrabble player is a lot like a concert pianist, a long distance runner, or a poker champion. All of the aforementioned did not excel on their initial debut. They each had lessons to learn and skills to master. They all paid their dues long before fame showed up in their lives. Once they achieved mastery they didn’t relax; they continued to practice. No matter how good we become at something, if we dare stand still, the competition will surely pass us by, leaving us in their dust.

Recipe for Eating Scrabble Players
1 refreshened copy of the OWL2
A computer with Zyzzyva 2.1.0 downloaded
2 sets of Protiles (Black on White & White on Red)
1 Custom Scrabble Board
1 Samtimer
Enroll and graduate from SCRABBLE 101
Minimum familiarity with #1 – #10 Bookmark Series

Now you have the basics. Be persistent. When you finally get to eat one, savor the taste.

The first mistake that many tentative people make is they limit the way in which they believe and think.  Their perception of themselves is that they only Know What They Know. But that is not true. When talking with this type of person , I’ll frequently push their envelope of knowledge and ask things like, “Can you name 10 different breeds of dogs?”, “What are some of the colors in the spectrum?”, or “What were the names of your neighbors on the block where you grew up?”  Usually they have the knowledge to answer these questions and pleasantly surprise themselves.

It is my experience that people often discount the amount of knowledge that they have stored in their personal computer-brains.  The truth is that we all have tons of knowledge that we don’t use regularly and may have forgotten that it is there.  (Its like having an old file on you computer that you haven’t looked at for months or years.  The information is still there . . . you may just have forgotten that You Know What You Know.

Last evening, a man walked into Club #350 at BORDERS in Costa Mesa, California.  I had never met the gentleman, but when he told me his name, I knew that I was looking at a California scrabble legend.  He explained that he hadn’t played competitively since 1991, he had recently retired, and he had come to try his hand at competitive scrabble again.

None of the club members recognized our visitor.  I invited the members to gather around our visitor and said, “When I tell you this gentleman’s name, you will know who he is.”  And sure enough, there were many players who knew Gary Brown and had recollections of playing him in years gone by.

It took some courage to reappear.  For many, once at the top of the game, it becomes difficult to impossible to risk any embarrassment of being seen as less than the best.  But I can tell you . . . there was no shame in his game.  His very first play of the evening was a bingo, and he played like a champion.

At age 60 I challenged myself to recall the names of all the families that lived around the block on which I grew up from ages 6-13.  I hadn’t thought about those people in years.  It was easy for me to remember the names of the Allens, Panitchs, and Mendenhalls.  But it was harder to remember the Molbys, the Dugans, and the Papus families.  The exercise was fun for me and I proved to myself that memories are still there even when they are not accessed for a long time.  (As a result, I wrote a number of poems about those days and characters.  Two of my poems we published in PEARL.)

It is no fluke that The EXPERTS are experts.  In most cases they continually review the subject matter.  For scrabble mavins that means ‘word lists’.

You can become more expert-like by building the words that you know and using lists to refresh your memory about the lists that you already know.  A great place to start is with my BOOKMARK SERIES.  Get bookmarks #1 -#10 for $18 + $2 shipping.  Use them and watch yourself rise in the ranks.