…with Gary Moss

Archive for April, 2011

Sometimes we brag about the play that we made, like when Pat Yarnell played ‘usufruct’.

Sometimes we brag about the score that we achieved, like when Mark Landsberg scored ’770′.

Sometimes we brag about the STREAK or wins that we amassed, like when David Pearl had ’31′.

Sometimes we brag about more personal things. Like right here and now where I’m bragging about my daughter Stacy Schwartz, an artist who uses her talents to brighten the world and does so many good works along life’s path.

The puppet seen here is on of four that she created to help a school fundraising event. Several of her recent project have included painting wall murals on the walls in libraries in the Children’s sections. (But she has also done many a room in homes just like yours.)

Check out her web site, CLICK HERE.

Read about and see the puppets she has created for her most recent project: CLICK HERE.

TOOTING MY OWN HORN
This coming Sunday, when I direct the 1st Sunday Scrabble Tournament, in Laguna Woods, California I will have directed more than 250 sanctioned scrabble tournaments.

There is always a chair for you to play too. Call me: (949) 510-1673 Maybe by Sunday evening we’ll be bragging about YOU.

It begins with a decision.

Did you know that people who think and believe that they CAN’T almost always CAN’T ?

It begins with an attitude.

Did you know that people who think and believe that they CAN almost always find a way to achieve their goals ?

It is one of the rules of the universe.

Did you know that falling and failure are only a part of the process called LEARNING?

Did you every consider that some of the ideas that you have given up on may have been eventual successes, if only you had stuck to it a while longer?

We might still be in the dark is Edison had given up when his first versions of the light bulb failed.

We might still be using smoke signals had Bell given up on the first telephone experiments.

We may have never visited the Moon had President Kennedy not set the goal and pushed us.

All the examples above reflect the I CAN spirit that mirrors achievers in all fields.

Prior to March 2010 I had been trying to lose weight for 15 years. I had been TRYING. I wasn’t DOING. (I’d lose 3 pounds and put on 5 pounds.) Some friends told me to lose weight; I sulked. My doctor told me to lose weight; I turned a deaf ear. My mother told me to lose weight; I told her that she was an awful role-model. THEN, for some unknown reason, I decided to lose weight. I found a support system and a coach.

I did it for my own reasons, no one else’s.

It is one year later and I am 30+ pounds lighter. It is about making a decision. It is all about attitude. I stopped TRYING to lose weight; I just did it.

YOU CAN YOUR THING TOO.

The same principle can be applied to:
Learning more words
Learning strategies
Learning to play an instrument
Learning how to use a computer
Learning how to invest money
Learning how to take great photos
etc.
etc.
etc.

Scrabble Tournaments
These tournaments are not the only scrabble tournaments on the horizon, but they are the tournaments which I will be directing. If you live in another part of the US and want a more complete list, send an email and request one from Letter Man.

CLUB SESSIONS (every Wednesday and Thursday evenings) CLICK

Think. Think what you’re trying to accomplish in your game of scrabble.

I’m sorry to report this, but in my experience, most people just don’t THINK before they leap. Many don’t even THINK after they leap. BOTTOM LINE, ‘Thinking’ (capital T) is rarely in the equation of the average man. Most people have accepted that ‘thinking’ (small T) is all there is. They go where the wind blows them, because it is easier.

What if I told you that there is a system for learning words, a system that has proven to be successful for many scrabble students, using CONSOGRAMS?

Did you already know that? Am I opening a new door for you that you didn’t even know existed? If so, that’s what I mean. Most people don’t know what they don’t know and are okay with things just the way they are.

You are not WRONG. I am not RIGHT. That is just the way things are.

But the people who really give a damn about any subject become relentless about everything that there is to know about the subject of their passion. Those are the eventual champions and leaders of industry.

We each have the freedom and the opportunity to choose. Some of us will, some of us won’t.

So, have I peaked your interest about CONSOGRAMS? Will understanding about the use of the consogram system of learning words be helpful to you in building your personal word power?

Contact me and take my mini online class: CONSOGRAMS 101. A small investment of money and time can take you to the next level of playing the game of scrabble.

letter.man.moss@gmail.com (Subject: ENROLL / CONSOGRAMS)

Because I just have too much time on my hands, I’ve taken a very part-time job for the management team at Laguna Woods Village, where I live. My official title is Clubhouse Host. When I’m on duty . . . . I’m THE MAN. I use the computer to adjust the heat and/or the air conditioning (I’ve learned that it is impossible to make the temperature ‘just right’ for any group of people); I replenish ice in large punch bowl which is used by hundreds of thirsty Bridge players; I can adjust the lighting and the sound systems; But mostly, I just sit there at the reception desk, looking pretty, awaiting an important question like, “Where is the restroom?”

In order to convey to you the true measure of the significant importance of my position, all I have to do is show you my keyring, and its twenty keys. They are quite impressive.

Each key holds its own special importance to the smooth operation of Clubhouse #7, my castle. Just like each scrabble skill holds its own special importance to building a players game.

Just as each key on my keyring has it’s own specific function, each scrabble skill has its own uniqueness.

Take the long key (A) as an example. This key has a single purpose; it depresses a button on the entrance doors, unlocking and/or locking them again. Similarly, a tracking sheet in scrabble has a single purpose; it unlocks information that tells the player which tiles are still unseen. Pressing key (A) in the wrong place will not unlock the door; inaccurate tracking on the tracking sheet will provide useless information. I have devoted serious amounts of time to both practicing with Key ‘A’ and to working with my tracking sheets. (Did you know that I sell personalized books of Tracking Sheets? CLICK HERE!)

I have been working at my new job for only about a month. During that time I have had occasion to use only 6 of the 20 keys on my keyring. I am really good at using those 6 keys, without hesitation. I know that someday, someone will need me to open a storage area in the cloak room. I do know that one of the other 14 keys on my keyring will open that storage locker. But, as of right now I haven’t a clue to which key it is. If I don’t get out there are figure it out on my own, ahead of time, I’ll probably be fumbling awkwardly with the keys in front of some impatient resident.

The same is true in scrabble. There are many different skills that can be practiced and mastered. If I spend all of my time just learning the 2 Letter Words and ignore learning the STEM BINGOS, I’ll never really become much better.

Whatever the job, whatever the game, life is like a ring of keys.

I will be happy to show you one ‘KEY’ to learning some of the highest probability bingos with the use of my BOOKMARK SERIES. CLICK HERE.

If you are one of my regular readers, I must sound like a broken record at times: repeat, repeat, repeat.

But I don’t know of any other way to impress upon others that becoming better at anything goes hand in hand with practice, practice, practice.

No matter whether its scrabble skills or something more personal, the process is basically the same. One has to pay the price and/or put in the time to make a difference.

Last year I made what was a bold challenge to myself, it was about weight loss. I had gotten to be comfortable weighing about 220 pounds for the last 15 – 20 years. Others had tried to prod me into losing some weight. I tuned them out. In 2004 my doctor classified me as being diabetic and told me to lose weight. I used the pills and insulin to adjust my sugar and was content with that. The doctor even promised me that I might be able to eliminate my dependence on meds if I lost weight and exercised.

My idea of exercise is lifting 8 tiles instead of 7.

But then one day, for no apparent reason . . . . I just decided to lose some weight (like when Forest Gump decided to run). All I really did was reduce my evening snacks and intake of ‘fast food’. I remarried last August and my wife is a ‘weight watcher’, she works for Weight Watchers. She has been serving me meals that are overload with veggies, cut back on meat and portion sizes, and added a lot more fish to my diet. The meals taste good and I never leave the table hungry. I do miss bread. (I make up for that by having a morning bagel when I write my blogs at Bruegger’s.)

One year later I’m tipping my scale this morning at 189.6 lb. That’s 30 pounds in a year, without any exercise. I’ve had to buy some new clothes. Oh, did I tell you . . . . the amount of insulin that I require for my diabetes has diminished greatly. I didn’t have a weight goal last year when all of this began. Recently I have establish my personal weight goal as 175 lb.. I’ll be happy if I can lose it by next year at this time.

Meanwhile, I can’t explain why I have had such a stubborn streak against exercise. I have acted like an annoying 4 year old at the mere suggestion of going for a walk. But something changed for me on the exercise front, this week.

People do things for their own reasons, not yours.

My health insurance plan provides me with a ‘free’ membership to 24 Hour Fitness. Guess who signed up this week and has already worked out twice? Because I have not exercised at all, since getting off the ark, everything hurts really bad. But, I can do this. The big treat for me is that the gym has a steam room, and I love wet-steam. That will be my immediate payoff for working out.

Maybe I can figure a way to play scrabble while walking on the treadmill.

People are amazing. We can do almost anything we choose to do. Choose to become a better scrabble player today and allow me to guide and coach you to greatness. CLICK HERE.

I love a clean shave. For that, there is a price to pay. If you were around in the late 1940s – early 1950s, you may remember the early Gillette Razor ad campaigns on radio and TV. (Especially, every Friday night at the fights.) Below are the lyrics to their jingle and links to the music and one of their commercials. That inspired me to begin shaving with Gillette products.

To look sharp every time you shave,
To feel sharp and be on the ball,
To be sharp, use Gillette Blue Blades,
It’s the quickest, slickest shave of all!

MUSIC

COMMERCIAL

But it wasn’t always smooth shaving. There were nicks and cuts, accompanied by a wide degree of bleeding. I had to then learn about wading kleenex or toilet paper and placing the wads onto the nicks, like spitballs, in order to stop the bleeding. The problem was that the wads would sometimes heal into the scab. When I tried to remove a wad it would sometimes rip off the scab and the bleeding would resume anew.

Then I moved onto styptic pencils. The astringents caused a burning sensation, but always stopped the bleeding.

Over the years, at regular intervals, Gillette offered ‘new and improved’ products. Every time I would see their ads for their new razor or improved formula shave cream I would rush out to purchase it. The geniuses of Madison Avenue have lead me and millions of others, by the scruff on our chinny-chin-chins, into our wallets. But I must say, the current Gillette Fusion which I use each morning, has come a long way from that ‘safety razor’ which I used for my first shave in 1956.

My best prediction is that Gillette will continue to improve upon and alter their products in order to keep up the demand in the future. I won’t be around in 2060, but I wonder what will be used to remove the whiskers of the future?

What do safety razors have to do with scrabble? The process of becoming a better scrabble player runs a parallel to the improvement and development of every product.

• Research
• Development
• Application
• Review
• Improve
• Spaced Repetition
• New Tools
• New Packaging
• Renewed Motivation

You have the power to stop your bleeding losses at the scrabble table. SCRABBLE 101!

My brother, Joel, is the most honest person I know. He is a deep thinker. He is a great writer. Joel is a dreamer who only want the best for all of us, and for everyone else on the planet. Joel has no problem with telling it like it is. He has not been invited to speak on center stage, in the spotlight, because the truths that he shares with us threaten the way of life, and the wallets, of too many powerful people.

Anyone who reads Joel’s weekly blogs will usually find their head nodding “yes”, “yes”, “yes”. At the same time, the anger that the truth generates feels uncomfortably overwhelming.

Read this and then pass it on. Let’s all expect more from the leaders whom we elect.

http://web.me.com/joelie8/Blog/Joels_Blog/Entries/2011/4/17_The_Pimp_Principle.html

On any typical Thursday at 3:30PM you’re likely to find me in BORDERS at 3333 Bear Street in Costa Mesa, California. At those times I am setting the stage for CLUB #350 which begins play at 5PM. I drag tables, from the storage area on the 2nd Floor to our designated playing area between ‘Finance’ and ‘Reference’. The tables actually belong to me. (Since BORDERS didn’t have tables that were of a size that were friendly to playing scrabble, I offered to purchase tables. In return for storing them between session, BORDERS gets to use the tables at any other time.)
Next I bring out the chairs. The chairs are stacked on a convenient, moveable dolly. On an average evening we use between 12 and 18 chairs. The entire set up process takes me 15-20 minutes. On some days the staff are thoughtful and find time in their busy schedules to have things all set up for me, before I arrive. On other days, there are other, less helpful, staff who notice me schlepping furniture. (Me, a 68 year old man; but I shouldn’t complain.) They simply look the other way and ‘do run run yah they do run run’.

Once all the furniture is in place I set up the CLUB #350 sign. The display board contains general information about scrabble, specific information about CLUB #350 and the 1st SUNDAY TOURNAMENTS, and photos of members at play.

The purpose of the Display Board is to attract flies to honey. I stand off to the side and casually watch the reactions of the passersby. When someone seems to be interested, by the way they are perusing the information, I pounce upon them, I approach them and inquire if they are a scrabble player. In my experience, 99% of all the lookers say something like, “I can’t spell!” Then, ‘They Do Run Run Yah They Do Run Run’.

That other 1% may come to CLUB #350 or agree, at a minimum, to allow me to send them emails about our club and scrabble events.

But unfortunately, if and when they come to club and witness the high level of play and commitment that the regular players invest, most newbies ‘They Do Run Run Yah They Do Run Run’ too.
There’s NO NEED TO RUN!
I won’t bite!
You may even learn something.
You may even like it.
You will become a better scrabble player, I promise.

Learn everything you need to improve your scrabble game. CLICK HERE.

Sometimes, while playing scrabble, I become so angry! ! ! (No, I don’t mean the times when I have a rack with 6 vowels. That’s understandable.) I’m reflecting on so many of the times when I play a compound word and some ‘smartie pants’ challenges, all the while snickering. Then the adjudication is “not acceptable”. “Why?”, I scream!

Take the word ‘sugarbeet’, for example. The OWL2 says that ‘sugarbeet’ is NOT ACCEPTABLE. And yet, the American Sugarbeet Growing Association has an entirely different slant, Click Here.

I guess I should stop protesting so loudly and follow my own advice which I give out so freely in my online class, SCRABBLE 101: Competitive scrabble is a memory game. It is about memorizing the acceptable words listed on the OWL2.

Last evening I missed out on earning an extra 70+ points with my out play. I had enjoyed one of those magical games when everything was wonderful. I had played 3 bingos earlier in the game, without an ess or a blank. My final rack was A-A-E-S-S-S-Blank. I found ‘amasses’, but it did not play on the board. It was then that I noticed an ‘L’ on an open line. In order to play here, my word would have to play through the ‘L’ and end with ‘LTS’. With a bit of hard thinking, I came up with ‘seasalts’.

Since it was the last play of the game, my opponent had nothing to lose by challenging, so he did. The adjudication came back as NOT ACCEPTABLE. I was surprised. I have a box of seasalt in my cupboard at home, or so I thought. Are you worth your salt? Take a look and see if you know the words on my ‘salt’ list. CLICK HERE.

Novice players often object to some of the words on the OWL2, pointing out that there are foreign words on the list, but not all foreign words. That is part of this memory game. Scrabble is simply about remembering what is on the OWL2.

Here is a list of compound words for you to ponder. **I did not verify that they are all on the OWL2. That can be your study assignment for today. CLICK HERE.