SNAPSHOT: 5/24/11 :)

Hey everyone! :) 
So in my journal  I always do these little "Snapshots" of my life. I talk about what is going on at that minute, in that day. It's a snapshot....A picture. A "moment in life" that I will be able to look back on forever. 
   Sometimes I do these snapshots at really random times. Because those random moments are the ones that I know I will forget about someday.  Of course I will remember the big things in my life. I won't need to write it down or anything...Some things will be etched in my mind forever. When I have my first heartbreak, when I drive for the first time, when I go to college, see my sisters get married, buy a house for my parents...All of these things will forever be imprinted in my head.
    But what about the little things? Am I going to remember the conversations I had with my sisters? The fights I had with my parents over little things, the laughs we all shared for no purpose at all?
        Those things may seem like nothing right now, but I know someday my heart will ache to remember those times. To relive them.
       And so I write them down. :)
And I decided to share some of these moments with you. And if anyone should come around to care to read it, I hope you understand that though it may be boring for you to read, these moments mean the world to me. <3
          SNAPSHOT: 5/24/11
Me: Well, I of course am sitting down writing this blog. ;] I am a little teary eyed, to be honest, because it makes me sad and scared to think that someday life is gonna go ahead and change on me. I have always thought of life as such a sure thing. I had a plan set for myself for as long as I can remember. But as I grow older I realize that sometimes life can't be "scheduled". Things come up and you can't do anything about it. Life picks you up and tosses you into the wind, and when the fog clears you don't remember what direction you came from or which way you were headed. Maybe I'm just young, but that scares me. I don't want to have to guess about what roadblocks are going to pop up in my way. I guess sometimes as a teenager you just feel unsure sometimes. I want to reach for my dreams and to share my music, though, that I AM sure of. And I know that if I keep my goals, my family, my friends, and God in my heart I can beat any obstacle that gets in my way. I try to think of life as an adventure. You can't guess what is going to come up next, so you might as well enjoy the ride. Sometimes, I do get a little shakey. And sometimes thinking about the rest of my life makes my brain explode. The future can be scary. But what can I say...I'm 16! :)
   Mimi is playing guitar. It is late, but she has an audition in the morning. She has to learn a Jimi Hendrix lick, and so she has been practicing all night. I just sent her to bed, though. She has to be up at 8 in the morning tomorrow. I love how when she plays guitar she still sticks her tongue out a little, just like when she was 5 and hadjust started to learn. :)
   bo-Pah is asleep. Not much to say about that. :) I want to go kiss her cheek goodnight in a moment, because I think when she came to kiss me good-night earlier I was a little distracted. So that doesn't really count.
     Ella just went to bed. Actually, that's what she SAID she  was gonna do, but she probably went to go read. :) She just checked out a whole bunch of books from the library! She is alwayssss reading. She took her dog Yuki  with her. She just got done cleaning up band-room. 
      Mama and Daddy are in the house. Daddy is watching tv/falling asleep on the couch. Mama is working, sending out late night emails and looking into the auditions for tomorrow morning. I love both of them sooo much. They are so supportive of our dreams. They have given up everything to help us get to the top. I hope someday, somehow, I am able to repay them for everything they have done. <3 <3 <3
  
     I REALLY need to go to bed. It is after 2am now!!!!!!! :) Time to go to sleep, and dream of playing the Madison Square Garden, celebrity crushes((SIGH!)), and probably cheesecake.
         Good Night!
Much love, Keiko Lynn ((xo))

An AMAZING weekend :) :)

HEY EVERYONE!! :)

We had SUCH a great weekend. On Saturday we got to play our first EVER red carpet. It was soooo much fun. It was for an event called "Dinner for Heroes". We were so honored to perform for all of the troops that were invited to the event. While we were there we also made great new friends and amazing connections, ate good food, danced, and of course GOT TO ROCK THE RED CARPET!!! :) :) :) :) It was sooooo much fun to pose and have our pictures taken, and of course we all took advantage of the moment to the fullest! ;] Little bo-Pah was changing her poses between every shot. She looked as if someone was yelling out to her, "Now give me some good....Now give me some diva...Work it girl WORK it!" Haha, we all had so much fun. Mimi took the camera and took pictures with everyone. And I mean EVERYONE. She would walk up to random people, ask them "Can I take a picture with you?" and then tell Ella to take a picture of them together.

    The only downside of the night was this..... I LOST MY PHONE!!!!!!!!!! :( :( :( It was an iPhone, so of course I had way too much information on it. I had to go home right away and change all of my passwords. I lost pictures, song lyrics I had written, video memos. video, etc... I was so sad. I hope no one stole it....Because just saying....That would be really mean. :'(     </3

       Anyways.... haha :)

Then, on Sunday, we played a smaller, more intimate(which here means about 25 people came by) gig at a coffee house. It was VERY fun, because when Mimi and I play those type of shows, we get to play types of music we don't play in a band setting. We played everything from Adele "Rolling in the Deep" to Paramore "Decode" to Selena Gomez "Who Says".  It is kind of humbling for us. We come off of a HUGE show for us in Beverly Hills the day before, to going back home and nobody knowing who we are. It's fun for us though...A challenge, I think. 

                 You see, this is the stage in our career where we are starting to do and see fun and exciting things, but also most people have never heard of us. It is fun to go to a Open Mic Night and watch all of the teenagers ignore us. Watch all the adults go "Aww, look at the widdle kids that are gonna go sing....Aww how cute...." And watch the little kids and the tweens text and talk to their friends. And then when we go on, everything stops. All eyes are on us. People gasp when they hear such a big voice come out of tiny pixie-esque Mimi. Their eyes pop when they see that the drummer is only 9 years old. And when we all jump in and start jamming out our songs, people clap and scream. 

     That is one of the best feelings in the world. Surprising people. Converting those who don't believe in us. Making people who don't know who we are smile. I guess we should enjoy it now, because if we were ever blessed enough to be HUGE in this music business, everyone will expect it. We enjoy the challenge. As Justin Bieber and his manager Scooter Braun say...."We enjoy being the underdog." ;]

    NOW BACK ONTO SUBJECT!!!!!!! :) 

So, after the gig on Sunday, we got to come home and relax. Mimi and bo-Pah watched Disneys' "Sharpey's Fabulous Adventure" and our parents, Ella, and I watched the Billboard Music Awards.

               The Billboard Awards were amazing for me. Watching those awards are inspirational. How cool is it to see the stars you look up to and admire rocking the white carpet, performing on the CRAZILY AMAZING STAGE, and thanking God, fans, family and their team for getting them where they are. I want to be there someday. And I know that we WILL. 

               My 3 favorite highlights of the night. 1.) Beyonce's performance. That. Was. Crazy. I honestly am not a fan of the song "Run The World" that she performed, but the stage show was AMAZING. I think she should have done her music video like that. It was fabulous. 2.) Justin Bieber winning all those awards. I am so proud of that boy. 17, living his dream. There are so many haters against him, but as he says in his song "Bigger"...."All the Haters out there, they look so small from up here." He is living the dream. I pray he has strength and keeps himself together. He is amazingly talented, and I hope he always keeps that pure and sincere love for music. 3.) Another Justin Bieber moment: The kiss that broke millions of hearts around the world. His smooch with Selena Gomez was adorable. That was Justin on live tv saying "In your FACE haters. Selena makes me happy, I make her happy. She is my girlfriend....get over it." Aww, young love. 

                 My Daddy shook his head quite often during the show mumbling fatherly things such as "Are they allowed to say that on tv?" "It's only 8pm! Are they allowed to do THAT on tv?" "I must be getting old...." He did all this while covering his eyes at moments and shooting glances at Ella and I. Hahaha! What do you guys think? Should there be stricter guidelines for what can be said/done on tv that early in the evening?

            All in all...........The weekend was so much fun. Now back to life. And school. And studying for finals. I can't wait for Friday. Gotta get down on Friday. Partying, Partying, YEAH. Partying, Partying, YEAH!! FUN. FUN. FUN. FUN. Looking forward to the weekend......

          Sorry guys..........Just had to do that. LOL

                   Much Love, Keiko <3

Red carpet shot of the Sledge Grits Band (with Sophia Morris - Stevie Wonder's Daughter, and Brandon Howard, a talented singer/producer) This was taken at the Dinner for Heroes event in beverly Hills.