Series: 33 - March 2024

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

It’s March!!! Time for the big boomies to start!!! And Beth’s birthday is this month!!! She’ll be seventeen!!! She’s getting so old!!!

Just like me…

Anyway, i asked the conductor today about what I talked about last night…  and he was… not very receptive.  I think it’s pretty clear she will not be dancing along with the concerto.  I didn’t really expect any less.

But he was curious as to why I’d ask.  So I told him all about Yuki and how she showed me that adding dance to things can make them a lot better, and about how many Japanese fans Yuki has, and, well, that I had too, and that I thought if we added some Japanese music to the roster we’d get a lot of people travelling in, and it would probably be a full house.

He said there were a couple of gaps in the program they still hadn’t figured out how to fill, so he’d like to hear a little more about it.  He doesn’t really get it so I don’t hold out high hopes, but maybe Yuki can do a little mini-concert anyway.  I bet there’d still be people that come from Japan to see her – they did for her concert at the shop.

We need to set up another one, by the way.  She seems to love doing that.

Anyway… seems like that’s all I’ve been talking about lately.  But it’s been on my mind.  Partly because of getting to know Miki, partly because of Crystal getting more into musical stuff (and finding out she’s pretty darn good at it), partly because of Yuki, and partly because I’ve been practicing so hard I’m starting to practice in my sleep. Aww.

Sabby made me promise not to practice this weekend.  She says forty hours or so of practicing is enough.  She’s probably right.  But I still feel like I have a lot to catch up on.  I at least got her to let me do an hour on my scales and exercises so I don’t lose my edge.

I mean… I’m part Japanese.  I am.  It’s literally in my blood.  I know I’m not a Japanese citizen and my adopted parents are as American as apple pie and dirty elections, but I am part Japanese.  I’m learning the language, I’m learning about the culture, I have some Japanese friends and family… it’s really not surprising that it would be a part of my life, right?  And it turns out that I… somehow…  have managed to get to know some idols.  Who knows how, it just seems like the luck of the draw.  I mean, really.  My little sisters play a prank on me and that somehow turns into making a music video on a Japanese train.  I just happen to go to school with a disillusioned idol.  It’s…  I dunno.  Life is weird somehow, isn’t it?

Oh!  That single is getting released soon.  Miki has promised to send me a blu-ray when it’s out.  I guess they turned the behind-the-scenes stuff we did into a whole documentary-like thing.  She hasn’t really seen it yet, but she knows we had a good time that day, so it’ll turn out fine.

This weekend a couple of other idols in Miki’s group want to get on a video chat with me, Miki, and Yuki.  I wonder what they want to talk about.

Anyway.

Otherwise… Crystal is still cranking out lyrics, and she’s getting better at it, too.  It’s like whatever’s on her mind she turns into a song, but she’s starting to be mindful of form and all that.  Girl needs to take some music classes.  She even wants to start studying Japanese so she can understand some of the idol music.

Well, more power to her, I suppose.

Japanese is not easy.  I told her that.  But, it seems, that girl does not shy away from a challenge if it’s something she wants to do.  Beth’s been studying diction and has picked up a bit, too, so maybe they’ll study together.

Anyway, the girls are over tonight (as usual for a Friday night).  Anathema is working, but Yuki is here.  Sometimes it’s really fun and noisy, but tonight, it’s kinda chill.  Everyone’s just doing their own thing.  Crystal’s on the floor with her legs against the wall reading a book (how??).  Beth’s sprawled over on the bed and Marie’s plopped on her chest, and she’s listening to music.  Liz and Yuki are chatting quietly about something.  Diana’s watching a telenovela on her phone.  And me, well, I’m typing.  Maybe I should go join the chill.

Love you all!!! ❤️

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

I went out with Jack last night and, umm… stayed out a bit late.  So I didn’t post much.  It’s alright, yesterday was kinda boring anyway.  I made up my mind not to do anything particularly productive, and the girls seemed to be very much on board with that idea.  So we went to the park and chased each other and the dog around, and then went to the convenience store and got slushies… you know…  all the stuff that we all keep forgetting to do because we’re so busy.

I… miss being younger sometimes.

You remember when I first started this diary?  One of the first things Liz and I did was go to a museum.  We haven’t gone somewhere like that in a long time.  Now she’s busy with lessons and prep tests and trying to get into her preferred college, and I’m kinda busy with the same, but tack on to that practicing and other stuff.  I kinda miss those days.  I didn’t have to worry about anything, it was just me and my friends, and now…  now there’s more friends and more sisters but more to do, too…  I miss those days.

And I’m only eighteen.  How will I feel when I’m fifty?  Will I look back on these days and think about how great they are?  Maybe I will.  Sometimes I catch Sabby looking wistful when she looks at us.

Maybe we should take her on a girls’ day our before we all go our separate ways.  Make her feel young again…

Today Crystal showed us some more of what she’s doing… and… wow.  She’s starting to figure out how to use some of that sequencer software…   I’m still the better musician and probably will be for a long time, but she… she can run rings around me when composing.  She whipped up a backing track for one of the songs she wrote, and it’s really, really good.  I mean, I could easily see Miki’s group singing to it.  In fact,  I called Yuki over and had her listen too.  Yuki…  well, she wants to perform it.  Not sure exactly where or how, but it’s that good.

Composing and performing are two entirely different things, y’know?

And she just started too…

Oh…  I went to church today, and did my thing up at the pulpit, and this time I had a message.  I can’t remember everything I said, but it was something about forgiveness being about understanding that you can’t change the past.  That guy’s (soon to be ex) wife was there… and she was sniffling through it.  I guess someone needed to hear it.

And then I told a bad joke to lighten the mood.

Yuki is starting to talk about going back to Japan for the summer.  I think she’s starting to come to terms with her time as an idol, and I think she misses home.  I guess I understand that.  I’ll miss her, but I’m sure we’ll meet again.  I mean, I’m going to Japan, too.  Hopefully.  Minami is staying with her parents right now, so maybe they’ll spend a little time bonding.

They’re starting to hype up Miki’s group’s new single now.  They’re performing it on morning programs (with someone else standing in for my role, aww) and it’s going over really well.  I caught a couple of the interviews, and they asked who I was.  They said I’m a friend of the group who came to Japan to help them film a video because it was based off my experiences, and now I’m everyone’s big (or little) sister too.

Awww.  I just seem to collect sisters.

Anyway…  another week and more practicing.  I hope I hear from the conductor so Yuki has some direction.

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

It’s already warm outside!!!  This summer might be bad again!  Awww!!!

So today was like usual – practice, practice, practice.  Aww.  And Beth wanted to practice her song too.  And…  I have to study for SATs too.  They’re this Saturday!!! So much to do…  I took one of those practice tests online though and did pretty well, so it should be alright.

Not a whole lot going on right now.  The conductor wants me to do have a meeting with the board of directors to pitch my idea, and he wants me to bring Yuki along too.  I guess we’ll do that this week.  I asked Yuki and she said it’s fine.  She’ll take any chance she can get to, well, shine as she puts it.  And the audiences here are much less… obsessive.

So, I guess we’ll see how that turns out.

I wish there were famous Japanese composers, I could learn a Japanese piano concerto and we could have a Japanese night, but I don’t think that will work out.  Honestly, I think the board will be a very tough sell.  And I don’t really blame them.  I’m suggesting something that’s a little, ummm… unusual.

But unusual isn’t always bad.  I think, anyway.  Boards of directors for symphony orchestras might think differently.

So, other news…  not much other news.  Everything’s just…  everything.  Jack’s doing alright, he’s still working pretty hard, and he’s kind of dedicated himself to his studies.  I’ve never seen him quite that dedicated, but it’s a good thing.  I’ll apply to Meiji when I get the SAT scores (assuming they’re good enough, I hope they are).  Anathema is settling into her new apartment, and Joe is treating her pretty well – in spite of her best efforts, if we’re being honest.  She kinda just wants him to jump her, and he’s absolutely and categorically refusing.

Good for him, really.  I can’t say I’d feel much different in his shoes.  Anathema is cool, but…  needs to learn some self control.

The shop is still doing pretty well, we’re having concerts pretty frequently… but I’m so busy I’m letting everyone else handle it.  Don’t tell Diana but I think we’ll have a job for her soon, if she wants it.  Not every band did well – a couple really tanked hard, but a couple are standouts and we’re inviting them back for as many gigs as they want.  We’ve even got an open mic the nights we don’t have anyone booked and that’s actually kinda popular now.  Yuki hasn’t been taking much advantage of that, but we’re scheduling another concert for her soon.

I just don’t talk about it much because there’s so much going on and I just don’t have time.

Awww.

We actually had a girl group that dressed up like the “Bocchi the Rock” characters… and were actually pretty good.  The “Bocchi” character actually hid under a ripe mango box for the first set, which was actually pretty funny.

But they’re not doing that too often.  I guess cosplaying gets hot.  And not in the sexy way.

I haven’t been down to Houston to see Emiko in a while.  Really should fix that.  Maybe after the SATs.

Ummm…  what else.  Not a whole lot.  Marie’s having a blast because people throw the ball for her…  Cat doesn’t really care about anything but she and Marie get along pretty well now, and… well..   I guess that’s all for now.

Love you all!!!  ❤️

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

Yuki and I went to see the board of directors today.  As we expected, they weren’t exactly, well, receptive.  But they were fair.

The conductor introduced me as their upcoming soloist, and I introduced Yuki as a former Japanese performer who was very famous in Japan.

The conductor said he’d heard I was pretty famous too, while smirking.

I blushed.

Anyway, I explained my idea for introducing a couple of idol songs with real idols dancing, and played a YouTube of one of Yuki’s performances.

They watched politely, and then asked why I thought they, a classical music organization, would ask them to make time for something that was so, well, not classical music?

I told them that Yuki was really famous in Japan, I was a little famous, that when we put on a performance in our little live house that we had a full house made of mostly of people who flew from Japan just to see her, and that it was a pretty good bet that if they did something like that, that they’d have, if not a full house, than a pretty full house.  And also a very engaged and passionate audience, who would sit politely through the classical parts of the program and probably even enjoy them.

And that it would do a lot for international recognition of their organization.

They weren’t exactly persuaded, but they seemed more persuaded than when we started, so I guess that’s a good thing.  They said that idol performances seem to have a few dancers and singers, and that Yuki was only one – where was she going to get other dancers if they decided to do that?

She said she had that under control.  And winked at me.  She said she had to ask a few people for some favors, but that she’d have a lineup worthy of Tokyo Dome.

I hope she’s not thinking what I think she’s thinking.

I really hope she’s not thinking what I think she’s thinking.

They thanked us for our time, and said they’d tell us their decision shortly.

I guess that’s all we can expect.

Yuki’s not telling me what she’s planning.  I really, really, really hope she’s not thinking what I think she’s thinking.

Lots of stuff happening this weekend.  The new single, “densha ni oneechan wo komarasanaide” (don’t embarrass your older sister on the train) is out tomorrow.  I guess otaku are already lining up to buy a blu-ray.  Yuki and I both had one show up unexpectedly at our door via FedEx this morning.  I haven’t got a chance to watch it yet, maybe I’ll watch it after the SATs on Saturday.  Yuki did watch it, and said it’s remarkably well made, if a little cheesy.  Which is about par for idol stuff, so no biggie.

Miki and group have a handshake event tomorrow with all the otaku who buy a copy, so…  hope they have fun.  And don’t catch anything…

Alright.  Gotta go.  I’m practiced out and studied out and tired.

Oh, hmm.  An email from the producer.  Wonder what that’s about…

Love you all!!! ❤️

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

First of all, I forgot to tell you what the producer emailed me about!!! He wanted me to record a small greeting and send it to him.  Just something like “Hi! I’m Lily, the train big sister!  Nice to meet you all!  Don’t embarrass your big sisters!!!” in Japanese.  So I did that.

Apparently during the premiere he played it on the big screen.  The REALLY BIG SCREEN.  And apparently twenty thousand people waved their glow-sticks and roared, and started to chant “onee-chan! onee-chan!”.  They promised to put it on YouTube…

Can my life get weirder?

Okay, well… I’m sure you want to know how the SAT went.  Well, I took it.  It was a test – I went to the local high school and they shepherded us into a room and we all took the test.  So, shouganai, nothing to be done now.  So I’ll wait two weeks or so for the results.  I don’t think I scored like the highest ever, but I think I scored highly enough that I should be able to do what I want.  I wish and hope.  But again, it’s all over now, so I just wait for the results.

I watched the Blu-Ray they sent me.  It was…  fun, but kind of embarrassing.  The single was on there, and…  it’s amazing that they took that filming session and turned it into that!!!  You could tell they dubbed it in, but it was still really well done.  And I did a pretty good job sitting there and looking annoyed.  Yuki did a pretty good job screwing up her face and telling everyone to shut up, too!  It’s pretty catchy.  I guess they’ll sell a few albums.

Remember how I said I’d get a very small cut?  Well, it is very small.  If they sell a hundred thousand albums, I’ll be lucky to get a few dollars.  But I’m not worried.  They paid me for going there, I got to meet Miki and friends, and it all worked out.  And if I get more than I thought, well, I’ll treat my little sisters again.

Beth kinda-sorta figured out their surprise, btw.  I told her to keep quiet about it, it’s a surprise for a reason.  But she’s a little excited… and a little nervous too.  Hah!!!  There’s a hint.  She didn’t get all the details right but enough to ruin it if she spills.  She’d better not.

Anyway.  Everyone’s over tonight and we’re playing games and eating junk.  Sabby told us we can stay up late tonight as a reward for doing the SATs.  Daylight savings starts tonight too… so there might be a bit of sleeping in tomorrow.  But not a lot… I have “duties” at church.  Aww.

Love you all!!! ❤️

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

I didn’t post last night.  We all went out Sunday afternoon and played games in the park!  And we were so tired when we got back that I just went to bed.  Marie too, she came with us, and got the ball thrown for hours.

She loves it when we throw the ball…

Anyway, it’s been a mostly boring couple of days.  Mostly, because a few interesting things happened.

So Miki’s group’s single was a success.  Not a huge smashing success, but a success.  It sold a few thousand copies.  Miki’s pretty happy, and the group found some time to video chat me and thank me, Japanese style.  That was nice of them.  I guess they’re expecting to sell a few thousand more.  By the standards of an idol group, that’s not bad, I guess.

It’s been all over Japanese media too, so “train onee-chan” is a bit famous.  Aww.

But this’ll blow over.  Might as well enjoy it while it lasts, though, right?

Anyway.. what wasn’t expected is that a few otaku figured out where I live (or at least what city) – but not Japanese otaku, western otaku – and they came to the shop looking for me.  I guess they wanted my autograph or something.  So I went down and did the whole fanservice (no, not that kind, silly-billies) thing and chatted with them for a while.  The stars in their eyes.. I see what Yuki means.  They seem like perfectly nice people, but I’m not sure they knew my name when they left the shop.  But they got my autograph, so they were happy.

And I don’t know their names either.  That’s the sad part.

I also heard back from the symphony board of directors.  They have misgivings, but they think it might be fun and worth a try, so they’re going to have Yuki do three idol songs at the end of the concert.  Contingent on her getting the music to the orchestra in a timely manner (they insisted on an orchestral arrangement, and I completely understand that) and suitable dancers and costumes, etc.  Yuki seems to be relishing the challenge – thankfully, she was not thinking what I was thinking, but knows a few idol dancers from her old group who have graduated and would like to visit the US.  So we’ll see how that turns out, but Yuki’s having a blast, so there’s that.

And rumors are already spreading on Japanese social media.  How did they find out?  They seem to have found out before I did!

Anyway, today was loads of practicing.  Truth is, this is all Yuki’s deal.  I still have a performance to do, and it has nothing to do with Yuki’s at all except for the fact that it’s on the stage at roughly the same time.

Crystal wants me to help her set up a website.  God help us all.

Love you all!!! ❤️

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

Well…  practice practice practice.  I think I’m almost ready to start rehearsing with the orchestra.  In a couple of weeks, I guess.

Also, Yuki’s been a flurry of activity.  Right now the biggest challenge is finding an orchestral arrangement of her songs.  She’s getting Crystal to teach her how to use engraving software.  I wonder if she’ll be able to do it in time, she only has a month or two.  I guess she’ll have some long nights if she does it herself… or maybe she’ll get someone from tenerr (or whatever that site’s called) to do it.

They have to rehearse it too.  But these are professional musicians, shouldn’t be too hard for them to pick it up.

She’d better figure it out.  I wish I could help, but I don’t know anything about all that.

Other news.. Anathema’s settled into her new place, and she feels somewhat safe.  The really unhinged ones are either in prison or laying low right now, so…  I guess it works out.  Joe’s still coming over to do sweeps when he can, but he’s been recalled, so it’s proving to be a little difficult.  She does have that security system, though, so there are motion detectors and door ajar detectors and panic buttons…  the cops will know something’s wrong before she does.

They’re still an item, though.  He takes her out whenever he has a little time, and she doesn’t seem to mind.  I think he might pop the question soon.  He kinda has only a limited time, if he wants to give the baby a father.

Well, a real father, I guess.

I’ve got the application to Meiji all filled out and ready to go, I’m just waiting on the SAT scores…

So, anyway… just the usual right now.

Beth has a recital coming up too, as well as Liz.  She’s actually not doing too bad.  She and I have been rehearsing too, and she’s doing good.  I asked Anathema if she can make up a costume to look like Ai Hoshino.  She took it as a challenge, we’ll see what she comes up with.  Cosplay costumes are really easy to get wrong, and really hard to get right.  But if anyone can do it, Anathema can.  She was over taking Beth’s measurements.  All of her measurements.

But she was professional.  Good Anathema.

Anyway…  I guess it’s time to get some sleep.  Liz wants to rehearse with me too.  Busy busy!!!

Love you all!!! ❤️

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

I’ve never seen Yuki so excited!  She’s bouncing around trying to get all her ducks in a row… she hired an arranger to make an orchestral arrangement of a couple of her pop songs,  she’s getting all of the necessary parties together for licensing, she’s working with some idols she knows to come visit the US and do a few dances while they’re at it…  not everyone’s on board but enough are that she thinks she can make it work.

Fortunately, arrangers aren’t really that expensive.  You’d think they were, but..  not really.  And pop songs really aren’t all that hard.

I’m still waiting for the results of my SAT tests. It’ll probably be another week.  Aww.

So, otherwise… kinda boring.  Practice, practice.  Beth’s bday is coming up and I have to think of a good present for her.  Jack’s prom is coming up, too.  I have a nice enough dress, but he needs to go shopping for a tux or something.  He doesn’t want to go overboard with like a limo or anything like that, but I told him if I’m going to wear my nice dress with the leg slit, he’d better clean up nicely too.  He kinda sighed, but agreed.  So we’ll go shopping soon.

Boys, right?

Well, as boys go, he’s pretty good.  I don’t talk about him much lately, but it’s mostly because he’s busy studying.  He’s waiting for his SAT test results too.  He doesn’t know which college he wants to apply to, but the SAT results will help him decide.  Some colleges really don’t care about SAT results.  He kinda wants to go to one that does.  After all, it’s not just about what he does at school, but who he goes to school with too.  And people who got in without being all that smart aren’t the type that make good partners in school projects.

He’s… making a lot of sense, actually.

The thing about Jack is, he’s not dumb.  Really, he isn’t.  He’s just not… all that motivated, sometimes.

I wish I could take him to Japan with me, but…  I don’t think that’s going to happen.  I really don’t.

But oh well.  It just… well… shouganai.  Right?

I trust him, though.  We promised that if we were going to break up, that we were going to break up.  I actually don’t care as much if he ends up with another woman as much as that we break it off the right way.  I don’t think we will, I don’t want to, but I trust him that much, to do the right thing.  We’ve talked about it a lot, anyway.  Not the breaking up part, but the trust part.

Oh well.

It’s been spring break, but the girls have been off doing their own thing with their families.  Crystal’s parents wanted to take her on a road trip, and she’s been telling me about all the sights she’s seen.  Like this big ol’ replica of the Eiffel tower with a cowboy hat on top… huh?   And Diana, well, she went down to Mexico with her family to visit some extended family.  She took a plane, though… I guess driving through the cartel controlled regions is dangerous.  And Liz, well, they’re steering clear of China right now, so they drove up to Dallas to visit all the different chinatowns.  Liz was born here, but she still really likes actual, real Chinese food sometimes, and she gets upset when places like Panda Express try to pass itself off as Chinese.  She says it tastes fine, but it’s not Chinese.  And she also likes being around people who speak Chinese so she can practice.  They asked me to come along but I politely declined, I have far too much practicing to do, and that sudden trip to Japan really set me back.

Liz’s boyfriend invited her to his prom, too.  She’s really happy.  She wants me to go dress shopping with her.

I don’t talk about him much.  They’re still together.  They go on dates every now and then, but they have the same problem Jack and I do – too much studying to do.  But they’re seeing if they can get into the same college.  That’s sweet.

Anyway… guess I should go.  Another day of practicing tomorrow.  Am I going to say I’m ready for the concert right now?  I’m not.  But I’m more ready than I’ve ever been.  So there’s that.  If we were to have the concert tomorrow… I might muddle through.  But I need to be better than just muddling through.  So more practice for me!!!

Love you all!!! ❤️