Beth Winter

On top of the exhaustion I've managed to catch a cold, but with the short-handed team at work, I had to muddle through it. Packages to everyone waiting for them will be sent today ♥

I've spent the week glued to Twitter, mainly, catching up on the Japan news. At help_japan there are several thousand wonderful offers you can bid on, all money to go to charity (and donated by you to one of several reputable charities directly, so that you can be sure money isn't mislaid). I still have one free slot on my fanfic offer - your chance to get, for a donation, fanfic written in any obscure fandom we share, to your specification :)

I've seen misinformation that as a rich country, Japan doesn't need donations; I'll let UNICEF explain how for the first time in 46 years, this major charity contributor country needs help on its own.

Flat update: all furniture that needed putting together, is put together. Still not clean, because the cleaning lady was off sick, but that's on Monday. Most importantly - it's hooked up to the internet, and thus classes as livable :D Which is a good thing, because I've been informed someone is going to be sleeping in my room here on Friday. Oops?

Finally, I've had problems with LiveJournal notifications since March 1st. Now that I've switched to Gmail and some delayed ones came through, it may be resolved, but if I missed your response to a comment - or your entry, in my fog of exhaustion and illness - please let me know!

...I've spent the day glued to Twitter and news sites. It looks like things are mostly in hand by now, and my hat is most definitely off to Japanese engineers and emergency responders - it seems incredible that after a disaster like this the death toll isn't in the tens of thousands.

Everyone I know is all right, though shaken. InFocus has pictures. At #18, it really hit me hard: "Dammit, I have photos of this place. I was there." That, and the news that the Tokyo theatre of my favourite revue remains open all night for theatregoers who can't get home when the trains aren't running, a performance of Romeo et Juliette suspended during intermission.

(And Twitter consensus seems to be that the Red Cross may be the optimal donation route for the time being.)

The Koya-san cold managed to put us both under the weather - I'm the one who's actually upright, so I'm taking the opportunity to sort through photos. I can't believe there are less than three days left before I'm back home.

( J-11, days 1 to 5 - Kyoto, Nara 1300th anniversary celebrations, Tokyo )

Safely ensconced in gorgeous little quiet Takayama, after yesterday spent running around in the best crazy style (checking out, luggage lockers, toujitsuken, Gypsy Baron, on shinkansen within 20 minutes of leaving the theatre, 8:30PM in Takayama hostel). Shockingly, no shows to see today or tomorrow ;) Mind you, Tuesday to Friday I'll be seeing one every day. Again.

Crazy, crazy trip ♥

Off to the lakeside for nine days. Back on Monday the 17th, but mail will definitely get checked and answered, and web access may happen if I can get the mobile phones to behave long enough to let me connect. GSM coverage holes are annoying :P

( In the meantime, have a deer )

Only seven weeks delayed, here's the review ^^; The photo gallery may help - it's hard to do justice to the visual richness of Elisabeth.

( An extensive review, with translations of Takarazuka terms for the non-Zuka readers ;) )

Arrived home without falling over, which I think counts as a win. Saying goodbye was hard (to Osaka, ladyoz, and finally to fyrie in Helsinki, wah!), but oh, it's been a good trip.

(Also, my purchases from just two shops - guess which ones - fill a whole box. Oops?)

Cirque for the second time was fantastic, even if the most intense of acrobats switched acts, leaving the Duelling Seesaws of Death a little less tense.

Also, I sincerely want to kick Yuu. I do not need another troupe to follow, nor another DVD to buy, but I think I may break for Me and My Girl. Mainly because I can't get the songs out of my head. Or her drunken squeals, for that matter. She spent half the show in soprano ~_~

I think I would have come away with a different impression of kabuki theatre if I hadn't seen a show with costumes designed by Yoshitaka Amano, starring Bando Tamasaburo and Ichikawa Ebizo (both of whom Google identifies as the definite dream cast). There were sparkles and capes and dragons and Shiny Things (TM). And heels.

So many little things made it from Kabuki into Takarazuka as well. The hand gestures, the steps, even the fawning manner of the female-players. Someone should write a thesis on this.

(For the record, the show was Kaijin Besso, The Sea God's Villa.)

And before, there was Taka-An, and a CD by my girl that was never officially released, recorded in 1991 during her nibante days. I now have a recording of Maki Ichiro singing Memory ♥

In Hiroshima right now, and after ten days of sun (and a major tan) in Kansai, we're finally getting to see the rainy season. Not that it's a bad thing: Miyajima in the rain, with mist covering the mountain tops, was very spectacular.

Tomorrow, we drive through Nagoya to catch Cirque du Soleil, then on to Tokyo. Thursday will be another Takarazuka first - standing in line at silly o' clock for same-day tickets ^^; Keeping my fingers crossed that we do get them.

It's halfway over already, eleven nights down and ten to go. I have a feeling I will be coming back, often.