誕生日〜！

Yes, it is my birthday - I am now allowed to legally do what I have done anyway because that's how college is. I went with some people to The Ram, which is a restaurant across the street from Willamette, if you live somewhere other than damp Salem, Oregon. There was tasty food and some alcohol and then they gave me a mile-high mud pie because it's my birthday, which was shared with everyone because it was appallingly huge.

Annie and I dressed up for fun, which meant we both ended up in black and red because that's what we have that fits the 'sexy' label. But I had red patent leather heels, so mine was just a little sexier. It was a lot of fun, but my legs didn't appreciate the cold.

Speaking of my legs, this skin thing I got on my arms that the clinic said was prickly heat (basically, caused by the weather) spread to my legs and is driving me insane because it itches like hell. I've actually given myself some nasty bruises scratching/rubbing at it. As in, massive patches on my legs are yellowy-brown. It looks awful and somewhat like I'm being abused. I'm going back to the clinic tomorrow to ask them if they're sure it's prickly heat, because it's getting ridiculous.

But, in general, I had a good birthday. I got a lot of money, which was good because I was broke, and except for the fact that I had to write two papers this week, all was well. I actually finished the Shakespeare paper 12 minutes before it was due - the farther along I get in my undergrad experience, the more acutely I suffer from English Major Syndrome. Occasionally, Damned Drunk English Major Syndrome. I will have you know, though, that I am currently sober. A beer sampler thing (only two were actually worth drinking) and a vodka/triple sec martini adds up to very little alcohol. Mostly, I ordered them because I could. Exercising my rights and all that.

And currently, I am putting off reading a Freud essay on infantile sexuality. I felt like updating my blog would be a lot more fun. But, since it's about 9:30 and I actually do want decent sleep, I'll just close this up with another Zuka clip. I'm running out of Elisabeth clips (or, at least, ones that have Mizu Natsuki), so soon I'll be switching over to other Mizu-centric Takarazuka videos. There are other musicals with her, as well as AQUA5 (the 'boyband' five Snow Troupe women formed - with Mizu as the lead) PVs and random videos with her talking and looking hot in dude clothes with her normal short hair.

Anyway, this clip is Watashi ga Odoru Toki (When I Dance) from the very end of the show. Mizu has very beautiful hands and there are sequins. That's... about all I can think of to say about it.



Oh, wait! I also found, for the hell of it, the equivalent of Yami ga Hirogaru (the clip I posted in the last post) from the original Austrian musical. This is a revival cast, from 2005 (I think) with Máté Kamarás as Der Tod. I don't speak German, but I do know that the lyrics don't actually translate the same as the Takarazuka version. The Takarazuka text is similar, but not the same.

The first chorus of Yami ga Hirogaru (if you speak German better than Japanese and want to offer a comparison) translates more or less to:

The darkness is spreading
People can't see anything
Someone is screaming
Their cries fade away
The darkness is spreading
The end of this world is near

Anyway, I like the Zuka version better. Mizu totally owns Máté.