C.J. Sullivan's Blog, page 12
March 20, 2014
March 7, 2014
March 3, 2014
Me at Oscars 2014!
Okay, so I wasn't *really* there... But back in high school, my old theatre friend, Misty, and I had hopes we would one day be movie stars. Although it didn't happen, we relive that nostalgia every year by dressing up for the Oscars and watching them on TV. I believe this year marked our 15th year to do this. Long time!
Do you have any unique traditions that you do with old friends/family? How long have you been doing it? Share in the comments!
Do you have any unique traditions that you do with old friends/family? How long have you been doing it? Share in the comments!
February 17, 2014
February 6, 2014
Books with Virgin Heroes!
Okay, this is entertaining. Someone has added Wings of the Divided to a Goodreads list called "Books with Virgin Heroes."
I think we can all safely assume it's Gidyon who is our virgin in question.
But it could also be Noam...
It's definitely not Malynko.
I'd personally vote for Gidyon as the virgin hero. You can't really get any more virginal than Gidyon. Now, the romantic part, I'm not sure about... You see, there's a quote on top of the list that reads:
"As yet too hungry and too clumsy for tenderness, still he made love with a sort of unflagging joy that made me think that male virginity might be a highly underrated commodity." - Claire Fraser 'Outlander'
I don't know about Gidyon making love to anybody. If you've read the books, you might be thinking, Yeah, that doesn't happen. But maybe someone out there wants it to happen, and if that's so, more power to you, sweetheart. Bless your sweet imagination. Gidyon's a good angel. I'm sure he wouldn't mind you dreaming about him. (Might make him blush, though!)
February 5, 2014
Cuddle Up: What I've been Reading and Watching while Keeping Warm
Hope everyone's staying warm this week. I am ready for some nicer weather, if anything, so I can get out and start walking off some of this comfort food I've been consuming lately. Kaiser misses his walks, too.
I've been doing a lot of movie watching and book reading. I finally finished A Dance with Dragons, Book 5 in Geroge R. R. Martin's fantasy series. I'll admit it openly: the book was a letdown for me. It's like Martin's editors simply scanned the Jupiter-sized manuscript for typos, and then slid it on to the printing press without any sort of content edits. It was boring. It's slipping in the ranks for me, lowering in quality from the first three. I feel like this happens to a lot of series-writing authors who get "big." After their awesome first few installments, they start to crank out books that are so bad they never would have seen the light of day if the author hadn't been famous. I felt that way with Harry Potter around the 4th book. I've heard that the Wheel of Time series does the same thing around book 5. Oh, well. The publishing houses probably know we're all going to buy the next books anyway because we've already invested so much of our lives into the series, and we're terribly stupid, stubborn people. We will finish the series, if it's the last thing we do! Even if it blows!
And as for movies, I've watched a number of films that have been nominated for Best Picture. American Hustle was one of those "Really? This is nominated? Why?" movies, kinda bleh. Dallas Buyers Club and Captain Phillips, on the other hand, were really good. Jared Leto was so much fun to watch as a drag queen, and Tom Hanks gave a moving performance at the finale of his film. But back to crappy movies, I also didn't much care for Her, though it seems like the entire movie-watching world had an orgasm over it. And that was probably because they got to hear Scarlett Johansson having an orgasm in the movie, which was more than a little awkward since she is supposed to be a computer.
OMG, C.J.! STOP BEING SUCH A CRITIC! BAD KARMA!
Sorry, must be the cold weather.
What are you doing to stay warm? Watched any good movies? Watched any that sucked? Read any good or lousy books? Share in the comments!
I've been doing a lot of movie watching and book reading. I finally finished A Dance with Dragons, Book 5 in Geroge R. R. Martin's fantasy series. I'll admit it openly: the book was a letdown for me. It's like Martin's editors simply scanned the Jupiter-sized manuscript for typos, and then slid it on to the printing press without any sort of content edits. It was boring. It's slipping in the ranks for me, lowering in quality from the first three. I feel like this happens to a lot of series-writing authors who get "big." After their awesome first few installments, they start to crank out books that are so bad they never would have seen the light of day if the author hadn't been famous. I felt that way with Harry Potter around the 4th book. I've heard that the Wheel of Time series does the same thing around book 5. Oh, well. The publishing houses probably know we're all going to buy the next books anyway because we've already invested so much of our lives into the series, and we're terribly stupid, stubborn people. We will finish the series, if it's the last thing we do! Even if it blows!
And as for movies, I've watched a number of films that have been nominated for Best Picture. American Hustle was one of those "Really? This is nominated? Why?" movies, kinda bleh. Dallas Buyers Club and Captain Phillips, on the other hand, were really good. Jared Leto was so much fun to watch as a drag queen, and Tom Hanks gave a moving performance at the finale of his film. But back to crappy movies, I also didn't much care for Her, though it seems like the entire movie-watching world had an orgasm over it. And that was probably because they got to hear Scarlett Johansson having an orgasm in the movie, which was more than a little awkward since she is supposed to be a computer.
OMG, C.J.! STOP BEING SUCH A CRITIC! BAD KARMA!
Sorry, must be the cold weather.
What are you doing to stay warm? Watched any good movies? Watched any that sucked? Read any good or lousy books? Share in the comments!
February 2, 2014
Social Media Hiatus Results
So I've officially "returned" to social media now. I've taken my little vacation, observed the results, and here are my new social media thoughts and goals for myself:
1) Very little, if not much at all, of my personal life is going to be posted on Facebook from now on. I'm going back to my original plan, which was to use FB as a platform to promote the angel books. But I'm going to "unplug" from the compulsion to share personal things at every hour of the day on there...because quite frankly, I don't want to live life like that. I need to cut the umbilical cord. Do any of you know what I'm talking about? You know, that weird crack-addict desire to put so much of your life on there? It's an easy, lazy way to connect and keep up with people without actually having to make an individual phone call or email. Maybe it's just me, but I kinda think it's an epidemic... Anyway, I'll still keep my personal account and my friends, whether they be my actual friends and family whom I talk to and keep in touch with or not, just so if something truly magnificent happens in my life, I'll have a way to mass-share. Also if someone wants me to see vacation pictures or a family video or something, I can pop on and check it out. (It's also pretty handy to keep track of people's birthdays.) But that's it!
2) Twitter's cool, but I have to curb a different compulsion on there, which is the "mindless scrolling" compulsion. I have to stop the mindless scrolling! Sometimes, Twitter has some really cool Tweets going on, related to news, humor, videos, art, and so-on. But sometimes there's nothing but "buy my product" links, emo Tweets about never getting over your ex, and stupid, pointless crap like "I'm wearing rainbow socks today." So when Twitter gets like this (why don't we call it "dead"?), I need to recognize that I'm wasting precious time in my life that I can't get back and sign the heck off of there!
I don't mean to sound too harsh or to slam you personally if you love Twitter and Facebook. You might find great satisfaction in posting things throughout your day, getting responses, and interacting with people. Some people are simply at places in their lives when social media can be a great comfort and a cure for loneliness - I've been there before! I'm just trying to get hard on myself so that I find my best personal balance, so I stop wasting time and start living more (and maybe, for heaven's sake, start writing again, go out and take more pictures, sketch, or do anything else that's actually creative) because living a virtual life isn't what I want to do! I want to use it as a channel of who I am, not let it put an invisible ball and chain around my ankle.
That is all. Have a great Sunday, everyone.
1) Very little, if not much at all, of my personal life is going to be posted on Facebook from now on. I'm going back to my original plan, which was to use FB as a platform to promote the angel books. But I'm going to "unplug" from the compulsion to share personal things at every hour of the day on there...because quite frankly, I don't want to live life like that. I need to cut the umbilical cord. Do any of you know what I'm talking about? You know, that weird crack-addict desire to put so much of your life on there? It's an easy, lazy way to connect and keep up with people without actually having to make an individual phone call or email. Maybe it's just me, but I kinda think it's an epidemic... Anyway, I'll still keep my personal account and my friends, whether they be my actual friends and family whom I talk to and keep in touch with or not, just so if something truly magnificent happens in my life, I'll have a way to mass-share. Also if someone wants me to see vacation pictures or a family video or something, I can pop on and check it out. (It's also pretty handy to keep track of people's birthdays.) But that's it!
2) Twitter's cool, but I have to curb a different compulsion on there, which is the "mindless scrolling" compulsion. I have to stop the mindless scrolling! Sometimes, Twitter has some really cool Tweets going on, related to news, humor, videos, art, and so-on. But sometimes there's nothing but "buy my product" links, emo Tweets about never getting over your ex, and stupid, pointless crap like "I'm wearing rainbow socks today." So when Twitter gets like this (why don't we call it "dead"?), I need to recognize that I'm wasting precious time in my life that I can't get back and sign the heck off of there!
I don't mean to sound too harsh or to slam you personally if you love Twitter and Facebook. You might find great satisfaction in posting things throughout your day, getting responses, and interacting with people. Some people are simply at places in their lives when social media can be a great comfort and a cure for loneliness - I've been there before! I'm just trying to get hard on myself so that I find my best personal balance, so I stop wasting time and start living more (and maybe, for heaven's sake, start writing again, go out and take more pictures, sketch, or do anything else that's actually creative) because living a virtual life isn't what I want to do! I want to use it as a channel of who I am, not let it put an invisible ball and chain around my ankle.
That is all. Have a great Sunday, everyone.
January 27, 2014
Social Media Break
You know how you can get those "aha moments" in the shower or when you wake up in the middle of the night? Well, I had one in the wee hours of the morning as the latest cold front began to move in. And that realization was this: I need to take a break from social media.
I've been depressed this weekend, and though part of it was caused by my relentless sinus issues, I've come to realize that another part is my borderline addiction to Tweeting and Facebooking: clicking and scrolling and mindlessly consuming what other people post. And while I do post original thoughts and pictures, my mind's vastly more filled with the hundreds of other people's thoughts and ideas, not my own! I've gotta get back into my own head. So I'm going to step away from Twitter and Facebook for about a week and just see what happens.
It'll be an experiment of sorts...
But before I go, I just want to put my two cents in about Facebook and Twitter. Seems like people are either "Team Twitter" or "Team Facebook." Well, I like Twitter better. It doesn't censor what content is visible to people, it's real time, it's fast, there's all sorts of fun content on there, and I've made some really cool online friends through it. So it'll be a little harder for me not to click on Twitter and hang out with all my people on there...but I need to because I've got a creativity deficit that needs straightened out.
Facebook, on the other hand, I still hate after all these years. I've opened and deleted two different accounts in my adult life. I'm on my third account right now, and honestly, the only reason I got back onto Facebook this time was because I wanted to open up a Page for my books. For a while, I swore I wouldn't take on any Facebook "friends" with a personal account for a number of reasons. Well, I gave in. I wanted to, for instance, see what my mom was posting and be able to check up on my aunt and long-time friends, etc. But then my five friends became ten, and that doubled, and so-on. So instead of Facebook being a place to connect with fans of my writing, like I had originally intended, it's back to sucking me into its Facebooky tendrils. I find myself clicking on it anytime I have a spare second to mindlessly scroll.
Now, instead of being dramatic and deleting my Facebook and Twitter accounts, I'm going to take a break from them. My goal is to take a week off from Twitter and maybe even more from Facebook... I'd like to find that perfect happy medium of Tweeting (not too little, not too much). And as for Facebook...*sigh* I'd like my personal Facebook account eventually to turn into a place I can just log onto once every few weeks when I want to see what a particular friend or relative has been up to and connect with him/her. No more mindless scrolling, no more wasting time, and no more being addicted. I've said it before, and I'll say it again now: if someone is really your friend, you will keep in touch outside of Facebook.
That's all! I'm signing off for now! Have a great week, everyone, and I'll let you know what, if any, positive results come from this little experiment!
I've been depressed this weekend, and though part of it was caused by my relentless sinus issues, I've come to realize that another part is my borderline addiction to Tweeting and Facebooking: clicking and scrolling and mindlessly consuming what other people post. And while I do post original thoughts and pictures, my mind's vastly more filled with the hundreds of other people's thoughts and ideas, not my own! I've gotta get back into my own head. So I'm going to step away from Twitter and Facebook for about a week and just see what happens.
It'll be an experiment of sorts...
But before I go, I just want to put my two cents in about Facebook and Twitter. Seems like people are either "Team Twitter" or "Team Facebook." Well, I like Twitter better. It doesn't censor what content is visible to people, it's real time, it's fast, there's all sorts of fun content on there, and I've made some really cool online friends through it. So it'll be a little harder for me not to click on Twitter and hang out with all my people on there...but I need to because I've got a creativity deficit that needs straightened out.
Facebook, on the other hand, I still hate after all these years. I've opened and deleted two different accounts in my adult life. I'm on my third account right now, and honestly, the only reason I got back onto Facebook this time was because I wanted to open up a Page for my books. For a while, I swore I wouldn't take on any Facebook "friends" with a personal account for a number of reasons. Well, I gave in. I wanted to, for instance, see what my mom was posting and be able to check up on my aunt and long-time friends, etc. But then my five friends became ten, and that doubled, and so-on. So instead of Facebook being a place to connect with fans of my writing, like I had originally intended, it's back to sucking me into its Facebooky tendrils. I find myself clicking on it anytime I have a spare second to mindlessly scroll.
Now, instead of being dramatic and deleting my Facebook and Twitter accounts, I'm going to take a break from them. My goal is to take a week off from Twitter and maybe even more from Facebook... I'd like to find that perfect happy medium of Tweeting (not too little, not too much). And as for Facebook...*sigh* I'd like my personal Facebook account eventually to turn into a place I can just log onto once every few weeks when I want to see what a particular friend or relative has been up to and connect with him/her. No more mindless scrolling, no more wasting time, and no more being addicted. I've said it before, and I'll say it again now: if someone is really your friend, you will keep in touch outside of Facebook.
That's all! I'm signing off for now! Have a great week, everyone, and I'll let you know what, if any, positive results come from this little experiment!
January 17, 2014
New Award Time!
Hi, all! I've just won 7 (yes, you heard that right) SEVEN blog awards from the lovely Jeanette S. Andersen! Do check out her blog.
I'll have to go back and make sure I don't have duplicates of some of the awards she has given me, but in the meantime, I'll accept this particular one today since I know I haven't gotten it before.
So the rules of keeping the award are as follows:
1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. State 7 things about yourself
4. Nominate 15 (or less) other bloggers for this award and link to them.
5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award requirements.
Here are the 7 things about myself:
1. I am now attending grad school with the intent of getting a TESOL master's degree so I can teach ESL to adults.
2. For the first time in my marriage, I think my hair is longer than my husband's.
3. Lately, I have developed a fear of going blind in old age... I don't have any children as of yet, so I don't know who would care for my old blind butt...and I love reading and watching movies so much that I'm not sure what I'd do with myself.
4. I have weird recurring dreams about a spider weaving a web directly over my bed as I sleep. (Creepy, I know.)
5. One of these days I'd like to get back into acting.
6. I'll try pretty much any food once.
7. Sometimes I think aliens and UFOs exist... For real; stop laughing.
All righty, so onto passing on the award. It's going to go to...Neil! Also, he's just published his first novel, a literary fiction book, so definitely check him out and give him some love. :)
http://belfastismymojo.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-first-fully-realised-novel-chapel.html
I'll have to go back and make sure I don't have duplicates of some of the awards she has given me, but in the meantime, I'll accept this particular one today since I know I haven't gotten it before.
So the rules of keeping the award are as follows:
1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. State 7 things about yourself
4. Nominate 15 (or less) other bloggers for this award and link to them.
5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award requirements.
Here are the 7 things about myself:
1. I am now attending grad school with the intent of getting a TESOL master's degree so I can teach ESL to adults.
2. For the first time in my marriage, I think my hair is longer than my husband's.
3. Lately, I have developed a fear of going blind in old age... I don't have any children as of yet, so I don't know who would care for my old blind butt...and I love reading and watching movies so much that I'm not sure what I'd do with myself.
4. I have weird recurring dreams about a spider weaving a web directly over my bed as I sleep. (Creepy, I know.)
5. One of these days I'd like to get back into acting.
6. I'll try pretty much any food once.
7. Sometimes I think aliens and UFOs exist... For real; stop laughing.
All righty, so onto passing on the award. It's going to go to...Neil! Also, he's just published his first novel, a literary fiction book, so definitely check him out and give him some love. :)
http://belfastismymojo.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-first-fully-realised-novel-chapel.html
January 6, 2014
New Vlogpost up on The Page
Hey, all! I've gotten around to doing another video to welcome the year 2014, give a brief update on my life, and say thanks to my friends/fans. --> Here's the link. <--
