ldyjocelyn

people.com Clay Aiken Reflects on a Year of Coming Out, Being a New Dad

people.com Clay Aiken Reflects on a Year of Coming Out, Being a New Dad

From the CH, various news reports, pictures, and Spam recaps: From OFC via CV (Evening show): WRAL.com: Top entertainment stories of the year The top three are discussed in a video. Clay is selected as #2.

{{{{{{{couchie}}}}}}} Glad you could come to some decision on your trip... So....where the heck are the eHP reports? Aren't they having a party tonight? Have one for me, ladies!

Great banner cindi! I love seeing that smiling face when I log on in the mornings...or in the afternoons...or in the evenings... aikim, good luck with the tooth! That WRAL thing was very cute... I can't believe it...in one week hubby and I will be flying to NYC! EEEEEEEEEEE!

From KAndre: From merrieeee:

From the blogs, someone who had seen Spamalot before, but not on Broadway: Through the Looking Glass: Tea, Spam and Santas

The ice storm hit...work is closed...but we still have power at home. W000t! I can play hooky!!!! couchie, first of all, please give your Mom a big hug from me. Secondly, please give a big hug to yourself, as you need and deserve it as well. I hope you find a way to make it to NYC, 'cause as muski said, you deserve it! I'm with ausdon, my favorite version of Hallelujah is kd lang's. I'm damn curious to know why that was a voting choice for Clay to sing a few months ago...and wonder what happened to that whole poll. Ah well. Someday. (I think Clay could even make KAndre like that song...) annabear, sorry to hear about your Mom's fall. And I hope both muski and aikim have better feeling mouths today!

justclay, it's not THAT bad...I'm in central Illinois, and we're expecting an ice storm tonight, one that could knock out power for several days. If you don't see me around, you'll know why. I think I'd rather be alone in WV at this point. Hee.

{{{{{muski}}}}}} Good luck with your decision smitten.... Regarding the latest rumors: eh. It could be true; probably not, but almost everything can be true or not. For me, this is just another "file it away" and go on my merry way. So...what would you like to talk about? Suggest something... How about -- your dream collaboration for Clay. Mine is easy -- I'd love for him to record a song with either Don Henley or Sting. Great, distinctive voices -- and also men who believe in this world and making it a better place, like Clay. Those collaborations would make me swoon. I've always believed that Clay has balls of titanium. He's proved it to me more than a few times. However -- I'm now beginning to believe that being a Clay Aiken fan also takes balls of titanium (which is funny, considering that most of us are women...) This fandom has survived a LOT of divisions over the years. There's been a lot of "gates." And many of us have moved on from one board to another because of personality/philosophical differences. Yet -- we're all still part of this fandom. We are strong, you know. We are invincible. We are woman! Whoops. Helen Reddy snuck in here. I think the key for me is learning to not take things so personally, either FOR Clay, or for my own opinions. I can deal with what others say about my fandom. I can also ignore so much -- I don't need ucky blogs, or some of the tabloids. (I said "some" -- sorry, can't help it sometimes). This fandom has lasted, for good or for bad, for almost 6 years. I'm planning on continuing to be part of this for a long time to come. And no rumor mill will drag me away....

The picture of Clay and Jaymes is from the David Foster Honor dinner; Dr. Phil and his wife are edited out of the picture. Link to original picture. There was a rag mag that reported this story several months ago. Who knows? *sigh* Back to IIU, IIT. *g*

Honestly...I think there's a balance that can be struck between a celebrities personal life/privacy and acknowledging things such as homosexuality. I totally get both sides of the issue, and I appreciate justclay for bringing it up. I personally would have hated being Rock Hudson, in the 1950's, having to marry someone when he just wasn't all that interested, just to keep the "image." I find that incredibly sad. I think the key phrase to merrieee's story is this: "where I grew up." I think where I grew up, the rumors would have been flying! That's what happens when you grow up in a small town, fairly conservative area. (I've hopefully shed most of that...) And this whole idea sparked something in me, and so, being the librarian, I had to Google. Gossip magazines aren't a new idea; not by a long shot. You might want to check out a few of the headlines from this page: Hush-Hush magazine. Scandals were being "tittered" about back in the 1950's as well; it's just that today, the "tittering" is much more public, thanks to the World Wide Web. As much as things change, much also stays the same. I wish I knew why we as a society are so interested in celebrities and their "scandals/secret lives"; maybe there's a sociology paper in there somewhere?

I'm going to see Spamalot with Clay in NYC On December 29. Not three weeks later, the touring company is here in my area. And yes, I'm going! Actually, I have friends who want to see it, and I'm certain I'll enjoy it (except for maybe missing Sir Robin). While I'm thrilled that I'll get to see Richard Chamberlin :::dreamy sigh:::, in a way I'm sad that I won't get to see Jonathan Hadary as the King. I really enjoyed his performance in March.

{{{{{{{{{couchie and mom}}}}}}} If you need anything, holler -- OK? Congrats to Fear son on his Master's Degree!

I'm almost late in saying -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY WANDACLEO AND KELDANKER! bottlecap, you are cracking me up tonight. Those knights could sing me a carol any old time, especially the one with the long red hair... BWAH! If he is Clay's boyfriend...sounds like he got a guy who is just as snarky as he is. Good for him.

You know, it's weird...because while I still love reading about Clay, and following the boards, and share the excitement when a new picture is found, or some lost interview -- my feelings of "missing" a JNT aren't really there this year. I really can't explain it, because I was one who truly thought that Clay would have a Christmas tour until the cows came home. I think I'm just happy for the way Clay is at the moment, with his life going the way it is, and his career as well. I also don't normally read a lot into his body language and his "look" in pictures, but for some reason, I get a sense of peace from him, especially from what all has happened in the past 4 months. Parker. Coming out. Returning to Spamalot. I do find it funny that many fans, who last year were saying "ANOTHER CHRISTMAS TOUR?" are now saying "man, I miss the Christmas tour..." (BTW, I don't think that is anyone on this board.) I think I'm just incredibly grateful at all the things Clay Aiken has given me in the past 5 (almost 6) years -- friendship, fun, drooling over him. And I will cherish all this for the rest of my life.

vanislandgirl at the OFC won the "sit with Sean" auction, and her story is really cute. I'll post this in three parts, as it is really long... Dec 13 & 14: Orchestra Pit with Sean Winner Posted with permission Continued...... Continued......

Great news annabear!!! I'll keep thinking of you and your Mom... I just got back from the bank -- they will split the difference on the overdraft charges I accidentally did late in November. Whew. And it's freakin' cold here too. It was 50 degrees yesterday at noon (which is balmy for this time of year) -- today it's 10 degrees, with a massive wind chill. Sometimes it sucks to be a Midwesterner. I just realized...two weeks from tonight, I'll be seeing Sir Robin! WOOHOO!!!!!

Shag me, baby!

Ever have one of those days? The morning started off OK, with breakfast and the paper. The project for the day is making home-made cheese crackers, which is becoming a tradition at our house. Everyone makes cookies at this time of the year -- why not make something a bit different? Anyway, I pulled out the food processor to shred the cheese (yes, it tastes better to shred the cheese fresh, rather than buy pre-shredded stuff)...only to have the processor die on me. So, off to Bed Bath and Beyond for an early Christmas present, a new food processor. Everything now works like a charm. Hubby and I had just started baking crackers when the mail came. Hmmmm, letters from our bank. Overdrawn? WHAT?!?!?!? Sure enough, looking through the check register vs. the online statements -- I spaced out and didn't transfer money from savings to checking. In late November. Yes, almost 2 weeks of paying bills and Christmas shopping will now be overdrawn. I'm going to have to go to the bank on Monday morning and see if I can talk them out of most of the overdrawn fees. This has happened only one other time to us, so I hope they are forgiving. I'm glad luckiest1 had a fantastic time last night, and all the FCA people will enjoy themselves today as well! Anyone got a smiley Clay picture to make me feel better? *g*

Via the CH: Two from gerswhip (tonight's show?): And from Nov. 1, by clayheaven: Have fun, justclay! Thank you CG and Desertrose for the restaurant suggestions! ETA: JEANS!!!

Great recap Thankful! Congratulations on getting so close to the man! *counts the moments until luckiest1 checks in*

Good Lord, I forgot to give jmh a hug! My bad... Anyway... This is kind of how my job feels sometimes. I guess I haven't mastered this skill yet, but I think others may feel the same way around here. From The Onion, one of my most favorite sites ever: Manager Achieves Full Mastery of Pointless Managerial Jargon

Can you tell I'm off work today? And my cookies are out of the oven? Heh. You may be waiting a while. We have no idea. Here's how I see things in this fandom at the moment...I think there's a few extremists that as soon as a picture of Clay within 10 yards of Reed surfaced, they had them married (even though gay marriage is only legal in a handful of states) and in an apartment in NYC with a white picket fence overlooking the alleyway below. I also think there are a few extremists that will see a picture someday of Clay and his boyfriend (whomever it might be), sitting on each other's laps, sucking face like there's no tomorrow...and someone will demand that the picture is photoshopped and still won't believe a thing. Then -- there's the whole wide middle section. Those who think Clay and Reed may or may not be an item, mentally keeping in their heads "IIT, IIU," and having fun with the whole thing. That's certainly where I fall, and I just have to remind myself to ignore the extremists. And to not take everything on a message board so personally. I know I've been guilty of that... For the record, Fear, I am NOT saying you are one of the extremists -- you have every right to want to wait for some more proof. But for some reason, your post sparked my soapbox. ETA: this extremism I see also happened before Clay's coming out. It happened with every woman around him too. Not to mention the extremism over RCA... It just seems to happen as part of this fandom. Maybe it's a message board culture thing? Now this? *sigh* Whatever. BTW, if you want to read what I feel is a great article on gay marriage, read Newsweek's latest cover story. Finally -- EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I heard Clay's version of OHN on the radio! First time to hear Clay this season! What was cool is that this is a station that frequently doesn't say who the singer is...but this time they did, and mentioned that he was finishing up his run in Spamalot. This made me very happy!

Don't look at me, I'm usually the last to know anything. I must be going to the wrong boards, and I apparently have no connections. Hell, I'm one of the admins on this board, and I have zilch connections. Don't tend to stray much away either. And that's fine by me. I like having no connections. Way less pressure. bottle -- BWAH! *adjusts tin foil hat for better reception*