Growing Penicillin

Australians do not use preservatives as liberally as we do in the States.  Perhaps they are a little too lax.  This bread was bought Friday, and look at the state it is in by Tuesday morning.  Mom, Gram, or Aunt Sarah, before you email me and tell me to put my bread in the fridge so it will keep longer, don't.  I already figured this out the hard way. 

Thought of the Day

Tonight I spent a very productive night at home in Aussie, working on scholarship applications.  I'm looking up quotes to sprinkle in my application essays and came across this oxymoron in a quote by General George S. Patton:  ELOQUENT PROFANITY.  To follow up, he finishes his statement with: "As for the types of comments I make, sometimes I just, by God, get carried away with my own eloquence."  ---How eloquently put General Patton :)

Indigneous Art at the Art Gallery of Western Australia

I haven't had much time to research Aboriginal art yet, so I am only going to do a quick intro to what I'm working on.  I went to the Art Gallery of Western Australia, and fell in love with some of the Indigenous (Aboriginal and Indigenous are interchangeable) art.  I hope to find some history behind the Aboriginal culture, and how their art ties in.  For now, you'll have to settle with an Aboriginal painting I viewed in the art gallery.  Also, none of the pictures taken of art inside the gallery are mine, since cameras are not allowed.  

Artist CURRENTLY Unknown

Quote of the Day

Okay today we are going full-fledged Thorn Birds, so the quote (or passage) for today come's from the book: 

There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth.  From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale.  One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles.  For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain . . . Or so say the legend.

The Thorn Birds

To anyone dreaming of coming to Australia, and I guess you have to be a female to truly enjoy it, read The  Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough.  McCullough is an Australian author, so you can be sure that her depiction of Australia is quite accurate.   It's one that you'll want to come back to as well, as I hope to be  re-reading it as soon as my care package from home comes in the mail :)

 

Decisions

I went back to Cottesloe Beach today, and I pretty sure it's official--I HAVE to live in a coastal town when I grow up. 

Western Australia Museum, Perth

I visited the Western Australia Museum in Perth, and luckily enough for me it is located right next to the bus station.  Entry is free, however they very fervently advise a $2-$5 donation at the museum information desk.  The museum consists of three levels: ground level (which has a range of collections, from Australian insects to jewelry), level one (which explores the history of humans in Australia as well as the animal life), and level two (which houses the museum's meteorite collection).  My camera died somewhere on level one, so I'm only able to show you what I found interesting in half the museum.  If ever in Perth however, do check it out.  Here's the URL:  http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/museums/perth/#perth/getting-here

There are an estimated 475,000 plant and animal species who call Australia home, 80% of which can be found no where else on earth.

Here's the Spectacled Hare-Wallaby

From left to right: Brush-tailed Phascogale, Greater Glider, and the Common Spotted Cuscus

Of course there had to be a dingo.

The Sloth Bear

The Mouse Deer

How clever these Australians are:

 

This is a skull of a Killer Whale.  Sometimes in life, the size of an object astounds you, and this was one of those moments for me.  The picture does not do it justice.

This is the "Golden Eagle", the largest gold nugget found in Western Australia.  It weighs in at 35.326 kilograms; that's 77.7 pounds.