we be illin'.

Happy birthday to aeiou and slytheran! Yes.

I am sick, such that I have spent the majority of the last 30 hours asleep.
It's an upper-respiratory thing... mostly congestion in my sinuses and ears. An unearthly amount of earpopping. Cold medication (like DayQuil) helps.

Last night I went to T's house for a couple of hours and we watched the second half of The Last Samurai, which was decent. It's nothing you haven't seen before - different titles, different settings - but it's well-made and very pretty. Watanabe Ken really deserved his Oscar nomination (he lost to Return of the King, which played itself in the film of the same title. no, no - actually, it was Tim Robbins in Mystic Scenery-Chewing). We were going to watch Kill Bill, Volume 2 but I wasn't up to it.

While I was at T's house, my mother was at Catholic School For Adults, aka RCIA. That is something I will discuss another time. I haven't the energy for it. I hope she makes friends, and quits watching EWTN all the time. I hope she does not become a nun (something she's considered), because I don't think she'd be able to hack it. Sure she's religious, but she also loves luxury and self-indulgence.

So, when I am awake I am reading, but reading makes me want to go to sleep. I have read part of Gwendoline Riley's Sick Notes and more of The Seven Daughters of Eve by Brian Sykes (a nonfiction science book), and I am also working at A Certain Chemistry by Mil Millington and a bunch of other things. I'm on volume 5 of Bone.

I think I kind of hate Gwendoline Riley for being 3 years younger than me and having several books out, but it's OK.

God being bedridden is boring. I think I'll get up and do some things until dizziness forces me to sleep again.

the post where i am too lazy to put people's names in their proper order. - minx verb

Speaking of The Last Samurai, I really liked the actress who played Taka. Her name is Koyuki. She's extremely pretty, and while she didn't have that much to do, I liked her acting. While watching the movie I thought it would be interesting if she were in Memoirs of a Geisha, which is now in preproduction, as Sayuri or Hatsumomo.

I knew Sayuri had been cast, though. Zhang Ziyi will play the role.
I'm not sure if I can see Zhang Ziyi in the role. Mostly I think she's miscast, but time will tell. The fact that she barely speaks English could be a problem well past the fact that I just can't picture her playing Sayuri.
Gong Li is playing Hatsumomo. Wow, she's even prettier than Koyuki, and has a lot more experience.
Michelle Yeoh is playing Mameha. Possibly completely miscast.
What's with all these Chinese actresses playing Japanese characters? (Malaysian Chinese, Taiwan Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, whatever - they aren't Japanese.) All Asian people do not look alike, and I can usually tell the difference between someone who is Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. Sometimes, in some places, "Chinese Type" is a female beauty standard, but I don't know how true that is today or in which parts of Asia you'd hear about it.
The largest female role featuring a Japanese actress is that of "Pumpkin," who as you may remember from the novel is not meant to be anywhere near as attractive as Sayuri or Hatsumomo. Pumpkin will be portrayed by Youki Kudoh, who I have always liked, and who I think is lovely and talented enough to have played either of the female leads.

Interestingly enough, though, while Koyuki isn't going to be in the film, another standout from The Last Samurai has the romantic male lead here: Ken Watanabe will be playing The Chairman. Ooooh swoony.