Comments on: Thomas Sullivan: SWALLOWING CHOCOLATE-CHIP FRISBEES, CHARLIE BROWN, & THE ONLY BUS OUT OF TOWN

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:47:10 +0000

Somebody got a thread going about that envy/comparison thing not long ago. Has to be the most debilitating and useless emotion to fall prey to out there. Cookies gone? Alas, the curse of March 17th is still alive, but then, so is hope. I’m hoping the girl scouts deliver cookies early.

– Sully

By: Gerard Houarner

Gerard Houarner — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:35:11 +0000

thanks for the inspirational piece — focusing on the hope of the next “thing” rather than the failure of the last “thing” is crucial in keeping the creative spirit alive. Expectations fed by comparisons to other, “more successful” people is poison, as well. And as for cookies, sorry, he said, waving his cookie boxes and spitting out crumbs, but somebody beat you to my last buck.

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:25:39 +0000

Done deal, Brian. And I’ll trade you even up that “sure-fire victim” line for your “…creates the broken mold into which a crappy tomorrow gets poured.” That’s a howl with a aftertaste of truth.

– Sully

By: Brian Hodge

Brian Hodge — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:23:02 +0000

I’ll take Janet’s cookies, then, if that’s OK.
Another one for extended pondering, Sully. Thanks.
“…thinking you’re a perpetual victim is a sure-fire way to become one.” Oh man, do I know someone whose picture could use that as a caption. Bitter, judgmental, continually expecting help from people as if it’s a birthright, usually getting it, then resenting them for having more than she feels she should have.
She’s a perfect case study in how pessimism creates the broken mold into which a crappy tomorrow gets poured.
I’ll take the alternative, thanks.
And how about this ratio? 97% hope, with a 3% dash of cynicism just for the sobering look around that we all need at times. That seems reasonable.

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:06:52 +0000

Yes. Dunno if she reads it every day, but she does read it. For those who do not know Dearreader.com, it’s a free online book club which has at least 350,000 daily readers and many libraries which subscribe. Suzanne offers up a daily column of her own which has become the main draw. There are distinguishing and distinctive things that she does, but it nevertheless is an object lesson in how valuable this site we are involved in can be in terms of reaching many people on a global basis. Our audience is no doubt more targeted, owing to the focus of the writing. But every day I see random hits that blur and broaden the border of where we go. You and Joe had it right when you pointed this site toward as general an audience as we can connect with. The columns have to do the rest…

– Sully

By: Dave Wilson

Dave Wilson — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:58:36 +0000

Hey Sully, have you told Suzanne about this site?

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:21:20 +0000

Suzanne Beecher of Dearreader.com — the cookie lady of Wall Street fame — might change your tastes. She sent me a baker’s dozen one time, and like the crocodile from Peter Pan, I’ve been searching for a reprise ever since. I like them half-baked, same as the columns I write.

– Sully

By: Janet Berliner

Janet Berliner — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:14:32 +0000

Good thing I don’t like chocolate chip cookies, Mr. Sullivan.

–J.

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:31:29 +0000

Well, we are more than ink bros on that account, Davey. The amount of depression around suggests that few people get past self-pity and negativity or take the risks necessary to fulfill their potential for happiness. Not that I’m there. All the same, like the song says, “…one thing I can tell you is you got to be free.” And that means free of the fear factors that are imposed by stress from outside. One life, one shot. The only mistake you can make isn’t trying and failing; it’s not trying at all.

– Sully

By: Dave Wilson

Dave Wilson — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:20:34 +0000

I’ve encountered some of the same, cyclical patterns in my own life, and in those of people dear to me. I’ve known people so caught up in it that they refused ahead of time to go out on certain dates, to schedule events at certain times of year…just because they knew. And self-fulfilling or not, they were seldom disappointed..

Still, I like your attitude and your credo. Forth into the storm with positive thoughts and hope, or what is the point? After all, you can’t tell the story of surviving the storm unless you actually weather it…

-DNW
Macabre Ink