…with Gary Moss

Archive for September, 2011

Confession. I want to be bigger than that. But sometimes I realize that I’m only human.

Some people seem to be UP and Happy most of the time. Then there are those of us who seem to wear our fears and worries on our faces. I am no longer startled when people come up to me and tell me, “Smile. It can’t be all that bad.” Usually I am not dwelling on negativity; but it has happened too many times for me to simply ignore it.

I guess that I have to turn off the negativity on ‘talk radio’ and listen to more music and inspirational tapes.

I think of myself as a fairly cheerful guy. Over the years, I have learned to roll with the punches. I am not at all confrontational and would rather walk away from a potential fight than dig my heels in and take a stand. But there must be some life lesson that I have to learn; lately I keep finding myself drawn into confrontations.

You may have read about my Bed Bug issue and fighting with the condo association for aid and relief. The fight goes on. The exterminator is spraying. The Bed Bugs are eating the poison and growing even bolder.

You may have read my rants about the ongoing riff between WGPO members and NASPA. The basis for the disagreements are philosophical, it is as discouraging as asking Speaker Boehner to become a Democrat. Some of my best friends are in the other camp and the enrollment at my tournaments are suffering as well.

Family members are having health and life issues and I feel helpless in that I have no power to make any real difference. I find myself not knowing what to do, what to say, where to be.

I’m sure that you have been in my shoes too. It all a part of what we humans do on our journey through this life.

Scrabble is my safe haven; it is often my escape. When I am playing scrabble it is just me and the words and my memory. When I am playing scrabble I become focused upon the game itself and block out all other worldly matters. For an hour or two or three I am freed from worry. I have control of my game (with some interference from the tile gods). My actions in the game have some consequences in regard to winning or losing, but there are no life and death decisions that occur at the scrabble table. I won’t make or lose a fortune at the scrabble board.

When my game is over, if I am still not ready to jump back into real life, I can always create a word list to study, preparing myself for my next scrabble session.

Since I’m still not ready to return to reality just yet, I’ll create the ‘NUT’ List and share it with you, look just below.

Every word in this list includes ‘NUT’ in it. These are all LEGAL words found in the OWL2
BEECHNUT, BEECHNUTS, BETELNUT, BETELNUTS, BITTERNUT, BITTERNUTS, BLADDERNUT, BLADDERNUTS, BREADNUT, BREADNUTS, BUTTERNUT, BUTTERNUTS, CANDLENUT, CANDLENUTS, CHESTNUT, CHESTNUTS, COBNUT, COBNUTS, COCOANUT, COCOANUTS, COCONUT, COCONUTS, COMMINUTE, COMMINUTED, COMMINUTES, COMMINUTING, COMMINUTION, COMMINUTIONS, CORNUTE, CORNUTED, CORNUTO, CORNUTOS, DIMINUTION, DIMINUTIONS, DIMINUTIVE, DIMINUTIVELY, DIMINUTIVENESS, DIMINUTIVES, DONUT, DONUTS, DOUGHNUT, DOUGHNUTLIKE, DOUGHNUTS, EARTHNUT, EARTHNUTS, GALLNUT, GALLNUTS, GROUNDNUT, GROUNDNUTS, HAZELNUT, HAZELNUTS, HOGNUT, HOGNUTS, INUTILE, INUTILELY, INUTILITIES, INUTILITY, LOCKNUT, LOCKNUTS, MACRONUTRIENT, MACRONUTRIENTS, MALNUTRITION, MALNUTRITIONS, MICRONUTRIENT, MICRONUTRIENTS, MINUTE, MINUTED, MINUTELY, MINUTEMAN, MINUTEMEN, MINUTENESS, MINUTENESSES, MINUTER, MINUTES, MINUTEST, MINUTIA, MINUTIAE, MINUTIAL, MINUTING, NONNUTRITIOUS, NONNUTRITIVE, NONUTILITARIAN, NONUTILITIES, NONUTILITY, NONUTOPIAN
NUT
NUTANT, NUTATE, NUTATED, NUTATES, NUTATING, NUTATION, NUTATIONAL, NUTATIONS, NUTBROWN, NUTCASE, NUTCASES, NUTCRACKER, NUTCRACKERS, NUTGALL, NUTGALLS, NUTGRASS, NUTGRASSES, NUTHATCH, NUTHATCHES, NUTHOUSE, NUTHOUSES, NUTLET, NUTLETS, NUTLIKE, NUTMEAT, NUTMEATS, NUTMEG, NUTMEGS, NUTPICK, NUTPICKS, NUTRACEUTICAL, NUTRACEUTICALS, NUTRIA, NUTRIAS, NUTRIENT, NUTRIENTS, NUTRIMENT, NUTRIMENTS, NUTRITION, NUTRITIONAL, NUTRITIONALLY, NUTRITIONIST, NUTRITIONISTS, NUTRITIONS, NUTRITIOUS, NUTRITIOUSLY, NUTRITIOUSNESS, NUTRITIVE, NUTRITIVELY, NUTRITIVES, NUTS, NUTSEDGE, NUTSEDGES, NUTSHELL, NUTSHELLS, NUTSIER, NUTSIEST, NUTSY, NUTTED, NUTTER, NUTTERS, NUTTIER, NUTTIEST, NUTTILY, NUTTINESS, NUTTINESSES, NUTTING, NUTTINGS, NUTTY, NUTWOOD, NUTWOODS, OVERNUTRITION, OVERNUTRITIONS, PEANUT, PEANUTS, PIGNUT, PIGNUTS, SOSTENUTI, SOSTENUTO, SOSTENUTOS, STERNUTATION, STERNUTATIONS, STERNUTATOR, STERNUTATORS, SUPERNUTRITION, SUPERNUTRITIONS, TENUTI, TENUTO, TENUTOS, THUMBNUT, THUMBNUTS, UNDERNUTRITION, UNDERNUTRITIONS, UNUTILIZED, UNUTTERABLE, UNUTTERABLY, UNUTTERED, WALNUT, WALNUTS

I don’t know if it is true for you? But, for me, Scrabble is the perfect game for every season.

When I turned the page on my calendar today I stopped and starred for a second. When did the first 8 months of this year fly by? It seems like just yesterday that I was writing my list of New Year Resolutions for 2011. I blame the speed of time on all the retailers. They no sooner make this sale and they have to be pushing for the next sale in the coming season. Do they have Halloween displays up in your local stores too? I wish that they’d stop it already.

All this ‘time fleeting’ stuff creates a sense of urgency in me. I feel like I haven’t accomplished enough yet this year and there are only 115 shopping days left until Christmas.

More importantly, I still have a lot of words to learn; I still have a long list of ‘stems’ to review; I have an army of bedbugs to kill; I have so much more East to go before 2012.

Most of you reading this know that I’ve been living in Orange County, California since November 1995. Not being a lover of ‘snow’ and ‘cold’ that I endured in Michigan for 50 years, the good news is that I am living in a tropical paradise. However, without a visual change of seasons, my sense of time has slowed to a snail’s pace. I now have a deeper sense of appreciation for things like ‘siesta’ and ‘nature’s rhythm’, even though I am packaged in the mindset of an overachieving-multitasker.

One of my biggest conflicts in the coming weeks will be the ‘Thursday Night Football Games’ and the other sports that overlap my 1st Sunday Scrabble Tournaments. In my perfect world, all media events would take CLUB #350 Scrabble into account before laying out their schedules.

My September Goals
• Directing ‘The September Swarm’, a JFTSOI 1st Sunday Tournament (September 4)
• Directing 9 club sessions of CLUB #350
• Planning a Scrabble Marathon (coming soon )
• Teaching a Scrabble Workshop, Saturday, September 24
• Writing my blogs and keeping in touch

What will you be doing this month?
When and where will you be playing scrabble?
Which set of words will you be reviewing?

Life will go on and continue passing whether or not you make a plan and an effort to engage. Don’t wake up on October 1st and wonder when September slipped by. Do part of September on purpose, doing the things that are important to you. Make scrabble a big part of your month.