Joshua Trees, so I hear, grow in only two places on Earth: Jeruslaem, and here in the Yucca Valley, by sunny Twentynine Palms. I also hear that Joshua Trees are twice mentioned in the Bible, once at the gates of Heaven, and once at the gates of Hell. I'll let you guess where I'm going from here.

Twentynine Palms isn't so bad, I guess. Lame and boring, but I gather there are bleaker places on the Earth that I could be right now. I get paid, get three square meals a day, and now I have my laptop computer system and a DSL internet connection to hold me over until transfer to Other Ports 'o Call.

And I have to stay positive. Looks like I'll be staying here for Christmas: My mother's taking the family to the Phillipines for the holidays, leaving me in the desert to figure out what to do for this most depressing of seasons.

I'm trying to get back into drawing again, and there are one or two artists in my class that make my artistry look like chickenscratching. Maybe I should start writing again. I had a great idea for a story, set in Dream Pod 9's Jovian Chronicles universe, and since I'm not able to hop on for a roleplaying session like I was before I "signed my name in blood," I might vent my creativity that way.

Maybe. We'll see.

Not too fast at making friends, either. Really? The other guys annoy me to no end. Sure, we're all Marines, semper-fi and all that, but it doesn't quickly change that they're mostly testosterone charged jocks who let thier dicks lead them around. Even here, I don't seem to fit in. Ah well, I'm just passing through anyway. This is just another stop on my way. Just need to figure out where I'm going.

Until then, I'll be on hot standby.