preppin' for the outback

one: there was an anniversary last week! happy 50 to my grandparents on august 30. i remember being just a little one (or was i ten? wow.) running around your 40th anniversary party and watching that amazing photoslideshow with many of your friends and our family. hope you found an amazing way to celebrate. here's to many more!

two: we leave for the "outback" bright and early on tomorrow morning. we'll drive about eight hours west to the town of conodobolin. my photo teacher told us on monday that you haven't really reached the outback until you've passed a town called broken hill, which is another eight hours west. however, considering we have class next week and it doesn't make sense to spend the better part of the next three days on a bus.

not sure what to expect--been told to layer, been told to expect hots and colds. been told to purchase a mosquito net to go over my head to keep the flies out of my face.
a word about australian outback flies. they are aggressive. they are stubborn. apparently, they will pick a spot on your anatomy and become single-mindedly interested in it, no matter how much you swat at them. they also know no respect for nostrils, eyes, lips, or ears. this is what we hear.

been told that we'll be hanging out with some cool aboriginal artists and learning about that culture through it, been told to expect not to shower for scarcity of water, been told that it's going to be amazing.

three. here's a few images i took at the national museum in canberra a few weeks ago. this place is totally awesome, but i thought these signs were comical. apparently, the horizon(s?) is just upstairs and eternity is to the right.




and to think all those poor people who have been searching for this kind of stuff since the moment the concepts were conceived--they just needed to go to canberra.