While not in use of a monopod, I noticed you mentioned you almost lost yours a time or two. Something that I do is use the monopod as a walking stick, and most come with a wrist band aka strap. With this strap wrapped around your wrist and need to use the unattached camera, just drop the monopod and grab your camera. The monopod will dangle but is out of the way. No need to lay it down or bend over to pick up. Make sure the strap is loose enough to allow quick removal from your wrist for those time you wish to attach the camera; I had to change out the wrist strap on mine because it was too small for this action. Also make sure you use the strap the correct way, spread the strap loop and place your entire hand through the loop from underneath. Then spread your fingers and lower your hand onto the hand grip thus trapping the strap between your hand and the grip, this snugs the strap onto your wrist. This is the proper way for use of ski poles and walking sticks.

You don't have to be a brain surgeon to use a monopod, it's just there to carry the weight of the camera. My Canon 5Dmk3 with 100/400 lens, x1.4 extender and monopod weigh 7.6 pounds (3.44kgs), a fair bit to hold up while your waiting for a bird to make up it's mind as to when it will fly off.. I connect the monopod direct to the lens bracket as you don't have time to adjust any sort of head when the bird flies, I simply lift the monopod off the ground to pan with the movement and with at least a 1/1000, camera shake is no problem. Most of the comments here are trying to over complicate something that is very simple.. It's a stick to carry the weight.. It's not a tripod to hold the camera still..

The following is not the only way to use a monopod, maybe even not the best, but it works for me and many professionals I know. If you have a camera with only an LCD screen and no viewfinder, this set of instructions will not work for you; you must have a viewfinder. The instructions below are written as though this was THE way to use a monopod. I hope some of you find them useful:

To begin, you must have a head on your monopod that will allow you to tilt your camera forward. The monopod should be long enough so that, when fully extended, the optical or electronic viewfinder of your camera, on the tilt head on your monopod is slightly higher than your eye, that's right higher. Now stand with your feet approximately shoulder with apart with both feet flat. Position the monopod approximately one foot in front of the toes of your shoes and centered on your body. Now, here's where the tilt head comes in. Tilt the monopod backward toward your face and, at the same time, tilt the camera forward so it remains level. Without bending your knees, lean forward so a small portion of your weight is on the monopod. Adjust the distance of the monopod in front of you (and, at the same time, adjust the tilt of the camera) so that when you lock your eye into the viewfinder, you are leaning forward slightly. The monopod and your two legs should form a TRIPOD. The last word in the previous sentence, the one in all caps is the secret to using the monopod. Quite simply, the monopod is not a vertical support of your camera, it is the third leg of a highly effective tripod. Good luck!
------------Originally Posted 05/28/2013

The following is not the only way to use a monopod, maybe even not the best, but it works for me and many professionals I know. If you have a camera with only an LCD screen and no viewfinder, this set of instructions will not work for you; you must have a viewfinder. The instructions below are written as though this was THE way to use a monopod. I hope some of you find them useful:

To begin, you must have a head on your monopod that will allow you to tilt your camera forward. The monopod should be long enough so that, when fully extended, the optical or electronic viewfinder of your camera, on the tilt head on your monopod is slightly higher than your eye, that's right higher. Now stand with your feet approximately shoulder with apart with both feet flat. Position the monopod approximately one foot in front of the toes of your shoes and centered on your body. Now, here's where the tilt head comes in. Tilt the monopod backward toward your face and, at the same time, tilt the camera forward so it remains level. Without bending your knees, lean forward so a small portion of your weight is on the monopod. Adjust the distance of the monopod in front of you (and, at the same time, adjust the tilt of the camera) so that when you lock your eye into the viewfinder, you are leaning forward slightly. The monopod and your two legs should form a TRIPOD. The last word in the previous sentence, the one in all caps is the secret to using the monopod. Quite simply, the monopod is not a vertical support of your camera, it is the third leg of a highly effective tripod. Good luck!
------------Originally Posted 05/28/2013

I do prefer to screw it directly onto the pole without any accompaniment of any type of head. The fact that you are using a monopod as to a tripod one can assume you are not stationary and having an angle to have the camera level for a long period of time is not a concern. You adjust to the situation, there is no hard rules to as to how large of a base to form an imaginary tripod stand should be, nor how you get an angle level by leaning the camera forward or backward while ridgidly attached directly to the monopod, or panning by lifting the monopod off the ground with the camera to catch a BIF.