I have begun a very busy speaking schedule that I hope I can sustain:
* Yesterday, I spoke to an undergrad class in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College.
* Sunday, I'm speaking to two services (9 and 11) of the West Hartford (Conn.) Unitarian-Universalist Church.
* Monday and Tuesday, I'm participating in several activities at Phillips Exeter in Exeter, N.H. The highlight for me will be addressing the 900-student body Tuesday morning, by far my largest audience.
* A week from Sunday, I'll be visiting the Brookfield (Mass.) Unitarian-Universalist Church.

I sent out yesterday the first edition of "Sustainable You," a newsletter I hope to post about once a month. In addition to keeping readers abreast of my speaking gigs, I'll be using it to lay out the principles of sustainable personal change, as I've defined them via the experience of keeping 155 pounds off my body for more than 20 years. I'm sure I'll find other interesting things to talk about as well.

Early in my days as a reporter, I remember reaching a frustration point in my writing a few times and just typing some trash (not unfactual, just unartful), thinking, "no one will see it." As if, very soon after I filed, they weren't going to print 18,000 copies of it.

I felt a vestige of that a couple of times in the past week — you mean, anyone sees this thing after I hit "save"?— when readers of this blog asked me if there was something wrong with its RSS feed, or me, since I'd sent nothing out in a while. (Until yesterday morning, it had been since Dec. 10.)

I’m sure I’m not the only person who has fantasized about how I would react in a moment of crisis — rush into the burning building, shove the unsuspecting child away from the onrushing car, change the channel before the cliffhanger is spoiled.

I suspect I’m in a smaller cohort who wonders how I’d really react — split-second action or soiled drawers.

I reflect on those this morning because I’ve been wanting to write about dying, and no matter what opinions I espouse, I have no idea how I will react when my time comes. OK, so I’ve acknowledged that.

Welcome to another installment of “10 Words or Less,” in which I ask brief questions of interesting people and request brief answers in return. I became interested in today’s participant via our mutual interest in the National Speakers Association, of which he is not only a former president but a recipient of its highest honor, the Cavett Award. He’s a successful author and Ph.D. psychologist whose clients have included 3M, Daimler/Chrysler, GE, Honda, the FBI, and many more. Please remember: 10 words is an intention, not a limit, so please, no counting. It’s not that easy, and besides, let’s see you do it.
Name Terry Paulson
Born when, where "Panama City, Fla., fall of 1945."
Anything unusual about the circumstances? “The total charge for six days was $97. They didn’t charge enough, so now it’s a nursing home."
Your first paying job "Cutting apricots for $1.20 a flat. and I got to be pretty good at it because I wanted my dollar-twenty. I was also Baskin Robbins scooper of the month, May 1964."
Some wisdom gained through that job "I learned the importance of doing a quality job. At Baskin Robbins, I was appointed assistant manager. I got 15 cents more an hour, and I learned the importance of leadership."

Thanks to Hemi Weingarten at Fooducate for sharing his forum with me for a day. I used it to share 7 bullet points related to my having maintained a 155-pound loss for more than 20 years.

I left the comment below over at weightmaven.org, which is operated by friend Beth Mazur. Beth and I have interacted collegially, including when she published a guest post of mine a few weeks ago.

I won't add a link because he certainly doesn't need my help for traffic, but after balking a couple of times, I'm wading into the aftermath of the scurrilous post by Tuthmosis, who ran a piece about the five reasons to date an eating-disordered woman. He has been pilloried widely for saying awful things such as, "Her obsession over her body will improve her overall looks," and "She's fragile and vulnerable."

The hits keep coming on “10 Words or Less,” the feature in which I ask brief questions of interesting people and request brief answers in return. Today’s participant is one of the foremost living experts on addiction. He is a Distinguished Alumni Professor and the Donald Dizney chair of the Department of Psychiatry in the University of Florida College of Medicine. Before we proceed, here’s the usual “10 Words” disclaimer: "Ten words" is an ethic, not a limit, so please, no counting. Besides, if you think it’s easy, let’s see you do it.
Name Mark Gold, MD
Residence Gainesville, Fla.
Born when, where New York City, May 1949
A formative experience "Listening to my mother, a Julliard-trained pianist, play the piano, and watching her give piano lessons."

A guy cold-called me the other day, essentially asking for a link to a graphic his organization created about diabetes, hoping to "get this conversation outside of just the diabetes blogosphere." I said sure.

Part of his idea was that I would share what I learned from reading the graphic, but there wasn't much. Apparently, stuff I think anyone knows isn't as widely known as I'd have thought. Stuff like: