Graduate life

Rest assured, dear reader, that my creativity, already somewhat stretched, limits me to two platypus-related blogs. Here is the final instalment...

Somewhere in Eastern Australia, I stand on a darkened riverbank, huddled against the frigid wind. It is 2am, and I’m holding a small animal in my hands. It is covered with furry, loose skin, makes a growl like an angry cat, and tries to chew my hand with its soft, duck-like bill. The cold and the early hour are causing my mind to wander, and as I hold the squirming platypus, I reflect on the millions of years of evolution that have led to the strange creature I see before me.

Sometimes being an Honours student can make one feel like the middle man, wedged somewhere between being a graduate and being a post-graduate, between graduation and the workforce, somewhere in between ... somewhere in the middle.

A recipe for an honours year would be part work and part play. Rest would be optional. But a recipe for sanity stew might go like this...

Habitat for Humanity is set to expand in Australia

When you think of a platypus, what words come to mind? I’m thinking ‘cute’, I’m thinking ‘cuddly’, I’m thinking ‘perfect pet for my toddler/niece/nephew if only they would change those darn protected species laws’. If you thought any of those things, well, think again. It's perhaps a little-known fact that the males of the species are venomous. It's been poorly-studied to date, but lucky you- over the next few months prepare to become intimately acquainted with the venom of this eccentric egg-layer, because it is the basis of my research.

Question | What do you get when you cross swine flu-crazed media, proud-as-Punch parents, aca–fan(atic)s and gallery directors?

Answer | Another week-and-a-big-bit in the life of a Sydney graduate.