Tag Archives: California

Oakland, California

Wednesday was a relaxing day. I didn’t get up until 11am and even then I ended up jumping into Steve’s bed and watching episodes of the West Wing with him because it was so cold in the house. A slow, leisurely start to the day.

Steve had class so I tagged along, mostly to use CCA’s internet access (which I’m doing again right now).

It seems like it should’ve been such a boring day but I spent the afternoon is the animation students’ lounge, listening to my ipod and working on blog entries. I could also hear the people in the room talking. I’m standing by the point of I don’t have an accent, everyone else does! I do wonder what they think of me – this quiet Australian girl who’s suddenly landed in their space. Being on the campus is kinda cool. It feels remarkably familiar and the place looks just like an uni campus you’d visit in Australia (except of course RMIT because it’s in the city). I might not have studied for a while now but it all sounds so familiar and I’d be lying if part of me didn’t miss being in an educational environment where I’m learning rather than doing a job.

Plus these people are doing the coolest possible course (animation) at one of the coolest universities (California College of the Arts) in the world. How could anyone not want to join in? Not that I have anything to contribute…

Anyhoo… seeing yesterday was a chill-out day, I don’t have any touristy photos to put up. However, I did take two photos yesterday…

I showed it to Steve and his response was puzzled. As weird as this’ll sound, that’s actually what I’m going for. Just because you can’t immediately identify something doesn’t mean it’s not a decent photo. I think the way the light was falling on the leaves was amazing and I really wanted the solid black background. I like the idea of the leaves having no context.

Lisa is here now and we’re off to adventure in San Francisco 🙂

The Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo

(I decided this stop on our road trip deserved an entry all of its own.)

Lisa and I had been told that we had to stop at this place called the Madonna Inn. It was on the way and we decided it’d make a good break in the drive.

I haven’t laughed so much in a long time.

It was awe-inspiringly tacky or as I said truly tack-o-rific!. I don’t think there’s anything in Australia that would get close to it in sheer tackiness. The chick in reception must’ve known we were laughing at the place and I couldn’t look at Lisa for longer than about two seconds without wanting to burst out laughing. When we got back into the car we both cracked up.

So, without further ado… The Madonna Inn.


At first you think the sign is that pink to get attention…


…but then you notice the lamp posts are also pink.


We needed to use the bathroom and this was waiting for us. Did you know your beauty is in your smile?


We then went into the main dining room to be greeted by a girl on a swing.


Yup, that’s definitely a pink dining room.


The chandelier defies description.


Isn’t the entrance into the bar just alluring?


I’ve never seen a bar dressed in pink leather before.


Mmmm… pink and blue leather chairs. Check out the carpet!

There was also a female loo downstairs that I just couldn’t take a picture off because I couldn’t stop laughing. It was all pink. The walls were covered in shiny, pink, patterned wallpaper that unfortunately flared big time when I actually tried to take a photo. The doors featured quilted pink leather on them. It was stunning in its tackiness.