Category Archives: Behavior Modification

A Season Off

Posted on May 16, 2019 by sputterpub

It’s eerie how contented I feel now, expecting and anticipating stress removing my home comforts, but somehow while sleeping, eating, exercising less I’m feeling satisfied, beyond reproach, relaunched, exploring other neighborhoods, as if I’d found a skeptic-burning coach to challenge … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior Modification, Home, Poetry | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Opportunist

Posted on May 14, 2019 by sputterpub

I know an opportunist thief of pills. She likes the gloss a light narcotic adds to sedentary mornings. Norco kills her appetite; a little oxy pads her nervousness. She won’t shop on the street for drugs — she guards against … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior Modification, Personality, Poetry | Tagged | Leave a comment

Deterrent

Posted on August 9, 2018 by sputterpub

He likes a little Vicodin so much that though he hasn’t sought it on the street, he’s not above some friendly theft. His touch is cautious and his attitude’s discreet; he’s purloined pills from parents, in-laws, friends. He likes the … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior Modification, Health, Poetry | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Sugarless

Posted on June 12, 2018 by sputterpub

I cut out sugar thirty months ago. I didn’t miss the cookies or the pies. But then I felt my love for cheesecake grow. Indulging now and then, it was a prize I shared when dining out that soon became … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior Modification, Food, Health, Poetry | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Anti-Perspirant

Posted on March 8, 2018 by sputterpub

Arriving home last night, I was annoyed to find the shared recycle bin too crammed. As if my time should weekly be employed collapsing neighbors’ refuse! I’ll be damned, I muttered, but converted that within to smiling at the mindlessness … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior Modification, Poetry | Leave a comment

Recordkeeping

Posted on January 15, 2018 by sputterpub

I changed my voicemail greeting every day. It centered me, and let my callers know if I was likely to be reached that way, until last year. I bid the custom go, retiring. Still, I kept a calendar on paper: … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior Modification, Poetry | Leave a comment

The Reason Not

Posted on October 19, 2017 by sputterpub

I could have set the cheesecake to defrost at 8 p.m. and tasted it by 9: 15, but that would mean I would have lost the benefit of buffering its fine- milled carbohydrate with protective fat. A cheesecake’s best preceded … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior Modification, Food, Health, Poetry | Leave a comment

Count Your Calories

Posted on September 25, 2017 by sputterpub

I spent two bits in 1968, to buy a little book put out by Dell. Its title – Count Your Calories – was great: the pamphlet matched my purpose very well. I’d dieted four years and added more than I … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior Modification, Food, Health, Poetry | Leave a comment

Instructions

Posted on September 21, 2017 by sputterpub

The renegade conformist sheepishly insists the application must be typed. He says they won’t accept facsimile because it isn’t doubled, folded, striped the same. “Impeccable,” the man demands, who seldom notes appearances. “It must be typed, in ink, just so.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavior Modification, Poetry | Leave a comment

Room Temperature

Posted on August 21, 2017 by sputterpub

Progressing with deletion for two years, deriving only added good from less, concluding fats are better than my fears, and feeling strong’s addictive, I confess I hadn’t thought of adding stuff instead. I knew I understood the regimen. So I … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Behavior Modification, Health, Poetry | Leave a comment