Hell-o-stone

So, here's the thing about living in Yellowstone:

THIS PLACE IS NOT REALLY REAL. IT DOESN'T REALLY EXIST IN REALITY.

There's a lot to explain about this concept, but honestly, I don't believe I have the time to do so. So, I'll try to sum up...

First of all, the location. A giant volcano, don'cha know? Could explode at any time, but probably won't for another 15,000 years or so. Wilderness, with lots of dangerous animals that are as big as your car with lots of sharp, pointy things sticking off of their heads and feet. And they just walk around like they own the place. Wanna see a bear? Drive around for long enough, and you'll see 15 of them. I have. Wanna see a wolf? Saw two in one night at different places. Wanna see an elk with huge antlers? He's eating grass right outside the restaurant.

Surely, a place where the animals aren't afraid of us humans can't possibly be real. Those animals are obviously robots. The geysers are obviously just fancy fountains, too.

Secondly, the people. I wish that I could say that my dealings with people have been complicated, but honestly, they haven't. You see, the vast majority of people who work here are at least 75% crazy. Honestly. Most of them ended up here for one of two reasons. #1; They ain't from this country. #2; They are so fucked up, they had nowhere else to go. Strange thing is that even the internationals are nutty. That, combined conspicuously with the fact that most people are here for two months total makes for some very intense but completely temporary friendships.

I have to say that temporary friendships are kinda nice, if a bit disconcerting in their lack of stability. I can honestly say that I can fall in love with whoever is in front of me, and then forget about them as soon as they leave the room. It's a sort of attached/detached/re-attached emotional bond thingy. It's kinda like being in high school again, actually. Only this time, my hormones aren't raging nearly as much, and I can actually understand the dynamics of what's going on.

The company that we work for is terrible, and that really doesn't help things. Knowing that someone could get a wild hair up his ass and have you fired on a whim at any time for any little thing sure does keep a person from attaching any personal feeling to this place. After all, what's the point of falling in love with this place if you're constantly in danger of being told to pack your bags and get the fuck outta Dodge?

So, the temporaryness of being here, coupled with the strangeness of the surroundings and the crappiness of the employer makes for a real, live feeling of unreality. And boy-o-boy do I have some stories. Don't worry, I'll be putting it all in graphic form for all to enjoy.

I haven't been doing much drawing at all since coming here, which disturbs me. My time here has been strange, indeed. It feels like I've had very very little time to give to myself. It's all been given to other people. When I'm not working, I'm quite often driving people around, since I'm one of the few people working here who actually has a car. That's fine, really. I've seen as much of the park as one can from a car, and I've seen far too much of all of the outlying areas. So, when I do get time to myself, I'm often too exhausted to actually draw. I just read comics, or play video games or watch movies. It's good to have enough money to clutter my life up with useless crap again.

That's okay. I'm retaining my experiences. I'll be putting it all down on paper soon enough. Like I said, it's unreal. I'll be portraying this unreality as metaphorically as I can, too. I'm thinking of setting it in space. Believe me, space is not that far off from the truth.

So, that's it for me for now. Hope all are well.