Online Journal of Author Jeffrey Dean Palmatier

Pelican Shakespeare: on page 412 of 1751 pages total.

2009-12-25T02:22:21Z

1339 pages left.

Read Act I.2 of As You Like It.

You know you're finally an adult when . . .

2009-12-24T23:19:09Z

. . . on Christmas morning you want to get a shower before you start opening Christmas presents. I remember (and miss) the enthusiasm I had as a kid for Christmas. When it seemed like it took FOREVER to finally arrive after spending all that time drooling over the wrapped presents lying under the tree, wondering if you really got what you asked for. Nowadays my perception of the time leading up to Christmas is, "Huh?! It's the Holidays already?! Didn't we have Christmas two months ago?" It's disconcerting how time seems to speed up the older you get, huh?

Last night I finally got my gifts wrapped. I didn't do a bad job, but they probably weren't wrapped as well as the gifts my mom wraps, who is very good at it.

Why, yes: I AM a workaholic!

2009-12-24T23:12:49Z

Today I scanned twenty photos from my grandmother's collection. I might scan more later tonight after Christmas Eve celebrations are over at my parents' house. Much to my relief, I think that I'm much further ahead in my scanning and organizing of family photos than I originally thought.

I've come to accept that I have a workaholic personality. I also realize that there are advantages and disadvantages to being one. When I was in my twenties, I had no clue to what the disadvantages were, but I eventually found out! I'm better at balancing my life between work and play, but the tendency towards wanting to be productive as possible will always be there. Hopefully I can direct this urge in a positive direction rather than a destructive one.

Happy Christmas Eve!

2009-12-24T16:04:13Z

I hope this Christmas Eve goes better. For some years now I keep having this dream on Christmas Eve where all these ghosts come and bother me. I hope it doesn't happen again tonight.

Family Photos. Concentrating on grandmother's photo collection.

2009-12-24T00:41:38Z

I've been getting through them fairly quickly, but there are still a fair amount to do.

I'm such a good seller!

2009-12-24T00:33:03Z

Since I've been selling on Amazon, I usually mail orders for my old magazines the very next day. At most, two days. On my customer feedback page, many of them wrote about how happy they were to get their order so quickly. There have been various times when the thought of preparing a magazine for mailing was the last thing I wanted to do that day, but I did it anyway since they paid for it. Sometimes I'm able to be responsible, even if my heart isn't in it. :-D

Pelican Shakespeare: on page 409 of 1751 pages total.

2009-12-24T00:28:28Z

pages left.

On Monday I read Act V.2-4 of Much Ado About Nothing, which completes the play.

One problem I had with this play was how Hero's future husband and her dad was willing to believe the worst of her just because somebody spread a rumor about her. The fact that they were automatically willing to assume the worst of somebody they loved was addressed at all, which I felt was a weakness to this play. They're both lucky Hero didn't disown both of them.

Today I read Act I.1 of As You Like It. I know I read this play, but I don't remember anything about it.

The Chinese dictatorship continues to try to control their subjects' access to the internet.

2009-12-22T23:24:21Z

Note that I wrote subjects and not citizens. You can't be a citizen in a totalitarian dictatorship. I probably should use the term slaves. If the people are so goddamned happy under you dickheads, then why do you assholes have to control their access to the internet?

Pelican Shakespeare: on page 397 of 1751 pages total.

2009-12-20T19:08:00Z

1354 pages left.

Read Act V.1 of Much Ado About Nothing. Only three pages left!

I'm 39 and . . .

2009-12-20T15:25:19Z

. . . my sense of humor apparently still hasn't progressed beyond the Beavis and Butt-head stage.

Young man, there's no need to feel huge boobs.

Which song was this lyric from?

My huge boobs brings all the boys to the yard
and they're like
it's better than yours.

Which song was this lyric from?

Huge Boobs, huge boobs will tear us apart again.

Which song was this lyric from?

Who's been talking about my problem with impotence?!

2009-12-20T03:25:37Z

Lately I've been getting a lot of spam from some Viagra supplier. I'm starting to get really annoyed having to delete them.

It seems like I've been sleeping a lot lately.

2009-12-20T03:19:57Z

If I am, then it makes sense in a way since I've noticed that the colder it is, the easier it is for me to fall asleep. Whereas if it's really hot, I'll just toss and turn. Is anybody else sleeping a lot more lately?

What drives me nuts is when I'll get really tired and I have to lie down during the middle of the day. I wish my body would wait until nightfall so that I could get more stuff done during the day.

Pelican Shakespeare: on page 393 of 1751 pages total.

2009-12-19T04:31:21Z

1358 pages left.

Yesterday I read through Act IV.1 and 2 of Much Ado About Nothing.

Now that's cute!

2009-12-18T16:52:13Z

From vee_ecks . I've heard that octopuses are as intelligent as cats. If this octopus is anywhere as intelligent my beautiful little girl Smokey was, this this news story makes total sense: The octopus who loves his Mr Potato Head

Wow!

2009-12-18T10:02:51Z

Auschwitz 'Arbeit Macht Frei' sign stolen.

Do these idiots think they're going to be able to put this up on Ebay? Or across the entrance to their property?

I thought I recognized her name.

2009-12-18T09:41:10Z

LONDON — A British medical journal has published findings saying a mistress of 16th-century French King Henry II may have died from consuming too much drinkable gold.

As I read this article, it dawned on me that I had read about her in La Princesse de Clèves, a historical novel which featured Diane de Poitiers as a character.

Attention Christian women!

2009-12-16T04:40:15Z

An excerpt from an article about Oral Roberts dying:

Another vision in 1987 raised eyebrows and controversy, when Roberts said God would "call him home" unless he raised $8-million in two months. The worldwide outpouring help raised even more than that.

On a related note, God talked to me today and told me that He'd call me home unless I had sex with 80 women over the next two months. So ladies, demonstrate your piety ASAP!

I'm just a poor boy . . .

2009-12-16T02:37:03Z

Judging from the commercials I keep seeing on TV, I guess there is a class of people where receiving a brand new car on Christmas is a normal occurrence. However, that's not the class I belong to, unfortunately. Damned bourgeoisie!

RIP, my tea maker.

2009-12-15T03:13:04Z

*sob* It was only so many months old!

It started clogging up about a couple of weeks ago. As far as I could figure out, the problem was that the brewed tree would get backed up in the basket area. However, no matter how many times I cleaned the basket, it still would get clogged up and wouldn't flow down into the pitcher.

So, I bought a new one. This time I'm not going to put any tea bags in the basket area, so that the tea will clog it up. I'll let the hot water flow into the pitcher, and it will be in the pitcher where I place the tea bags.

Family Photos.

2009-12-15T03:05:53Z

I scanned 19 photos of my maternal uncle when he was a child from my grandmother's collection.

Pelican Shakespeare: on page 389 of 1751 pages total.

2009-12-15T03:03:19Z

1362 pages left.

On Saturday I read Act III.3 and 4; on Sunday III.5.

I'm really impressed by The National Geographic Channel.

2009-12-14T03:37:10Z

They do a lot of really good documentaries. I'm currently watching Inside the Iraq War. Next is Lisa Ling investigating the drug-fueled wars at the border with Mexico.

Family Photos.

2009-12-14T02:31:49Z

I just sent 36 photos to my brother, many of them were my mom's school photos.

I'm thinking about scanning all of my photos that my mom has from her mom's collection before I resume scanning our family photos. There aren't as many as I originally thought, but it's still pretty intimidating when I think about scanning all of them.

Enjoying early episodes of Law and Order.

2009-12-13T10:15:15Z

The last so many days I've been waking up during the night and staying awake for some hours during the early morning hours before I'm able to get asleep again. Usually at this time, you're subjected to infocommercials. Thank God that TNT is replaying early episodes of L&O from the first season. It's been long enough since I saw them last that I find myself able to enjoy watching them again.

Yesterday I received my copy of Mao: The Unknown Story.

2009-12-12T07:29:29Z

I found a relatively inexpensive copy on Amazon. I've been wanting to buy a copy for the past three to four years. Sometimes if you wait long enough you can get a nice copy for not too much moolah.

I mainly encountered Mao through the prism of Soviet history. For a long time Mao was a huge thorn in the side of the Soviet regime.

I've read various parts so far. The biography seems to be good in terms of its quality. However, in terms of its content? It's pretty horrific. Mao was a sonofabitch and millions of people were tortured, starved, and murdered because of him. The narrative of his life makes for fascinating (but not very pleasant) reading.

My only gripe is this biography ends pretty abruptly with his death. I would have preferred at least a chapter detailing how Mao's legacy has played out since his death, as is usually done in biographies of Lenin and Stalin.