ldyjocelyn

Oh man....I didn't have a good night. I was a bit sleepless, trying to decide how to get to Texas (because I'M GOING TO TEXAS!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! :Tour3: ), so I was tossing and turning most of the night. 3:30 a.m. I awake to the sound of a boom. Sure enough, our power is out, and is out all along the block. Therefore, from that point on, I pretty much just dozed. Not good for working. Heh. But my priorities are definitely straight...I'm going to continue to look for flights right now and see what my best deal would be! And I'll get to meet up with the eHP, muski, Claygasm and HeidiHo! Anyone else??????

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Texas! This is what I was waiting for! As much as I'd love to do the California thing (and get to meet Ansa, *sob*), I'd really love to visit Texas in July. Truly. So....what are the plans? Off to reread the thread here....can I share a room with someone? A car? Something?

I'm not even sure if that would be enough. I think he'll have to hire Jaime to stand behind him during the entire show with a sign that says "Buy "A Thousand Different Ways" today!" Oh, and he can insert that phrase at least 50 times during each song that he sings during the show -- you know, kind of like "Mr. Subliminal." Maybe I've convinced myself, Buy ATDW I've really been in love... Buy two copies Oceans apart Buy this album now Day after day... Give it to all your friends

Heh.

One is from cha cha trusty: muski also suggested a good one, coming from the blurb for the San Diego show: Claygasm suggested this one from muskifest, but I think it would have to be shortened *g*: So far, that's what I can find to take from this thread....

Are you trying to twist my arm or something here? Actually, I was just chatting with Ansa a few minutes ago....and I'm now suddenly leaning heavily toward doing the California three-fer. I may also be talking with HeidiHo about this too. Hmmm.... EEEEEEKKKKKKKK! The thought of committing to this right now scares me to death. But I really really want to hang with people I know and love, like y'all. (Not to say I wouldn't be hanging with people I know and love in the Midwest too, though....) Please tell me you're joking! Someone wrote a letter about Clay being mandated? See this is where I think his fans are actually capable of hurting his career. First off, he only used that term once, but it makes him sound disgruntled when he very well may not be. It could cause problems with RCA especially if he ever WANTS to negotiate with them on a new contract. It can also make him seem like a complainer and other labels may be more hesitant to want to deal with him. I wish these fans would stay out of his career and let Clay handle that! Grrrrrrr. Thank you Claygasm for saying this -- again. :bigemo_harabe_net-24: is how I feel after reading things like what is being said elsewhere. And then I feel like doing this: :109: Yeah, but how much ya' wanna' bet that whatever skater is featured for Clay's singing at whatever place at whatever time---the attendance is gonna be record breaking... AND our trusty Clackgatherers will, as usual, find a way to bring us back the REAL show----constant video of Clay's hawt gorgeousness as the VOX fills the ice rink. Skater? What skater? What would be cool if a pair of clack gatherers could pair up for this. If one could be persuaded to stick with filming the skater, the other with Clay, it would be neat to a side-by-side presentation. I know, hard to convince someone to stick with the skater when Clay is there. Hee. But one of my many favorite pieces of clack really doesn't have Clay in it all that much -- someone filmed Kelly during the last IT show, when he presented her with the flowers. It's so cute to watch her turn around and almost melt when she sees the flowers. Nope, not shipping. *g* ETA: *prepares for the catfight between Ansa and luckiest1*

Holy crap - swoon! Ice, melted; bottlecap, kilt dead. I had no idea about the Hurricanes thing, and when I saw the footage of Clay singing and skating, I almost passed out. :urhot: ETA: Ansa, I know Clay will just sing, but it's nice to fantisize about the skating just a bit... :F_05BL17blowkiss: I almost choked on my Coke when I found out that he sang and skated AT THE SAME TIME that night. To me, this was "Mr. I Can't Dance Worth a Lick," so I was pleasantly surprised when he pulled the skate/sing trick that evening. This is coming from someone who has terribly weak ankles and the thought of ice skating just terrifies me. Clay, I'm still waiting patiently for those dates.....don't make me go all Clay Aiken on your ass. *g*

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE for the Skating TV thing. Someone emailed it to me this morning, and suggested that Clay might be part of the Kristi Yamaguchi special, because she lives in Raleigh (if I remember correctly, she's married to one of the Raleigh hockey players). Like couchie, I usually only make a concerted effort to watch during the Olympics...but if there is nothing else on TV and I'm channel scanning and find a skating show, I'll watch. That should be fun. For some reason, I'm still not all that stressed about tickets, although I did have a bit of angst last night regarding Pala and "will call only." The California 3-fer is one I was thinking of going to -- still am, actually. But, at this point, I'm not going to make ANY decisions until I know a bit more. OK, so that might make me not decide until June. *g* But you know what? The kindness of the ClayNation will probably come through for me. If not....I'll deal. I'll still get to SOME show, I just know it. I'm glad to hear that the AI sign last night is pretty much being ignored by the fandom, or at least less angst.

I didn't see the show, or the sign -- but can it be taken this way: The guy holding sign (Brad) was still hurt after all this time, because Clay LOST?!!?!?! That's how I'm gonna choose to take it. If it IS the other meaning though -- I'm positive that RCA had something to do with. My fortune cookie at dinner this evening told me so. Well, damn -- I was gonna try to buy seats for the Pala show, on the chance that this would be my "trip." Now I find out that I can't resell them. Damn it. And frankly, I'm still floored at the people who think that Clay can't/won't acknowledge this album because he doesn't like it. Geez. REMINDER: Donate to the BAF through the 6 Degrees Badge (located here), and then forward your emailed receipt to Aron at the BAF with "FCA-Making a Difference" in the subject line. You'll help keep the BAF as the number one badge, and also help the FCA team! Go us! More information is here!

Well then -- he must be in Illinois today, because it's nice and green and warm here! Bwah! Heh. The detective skills of a few of the poddies seems to be slipping a bit. I think this concert series will be beautiful, gorgeous, and breathtaking. He'll sing, the strings in the background complimenting his voice perfectly. I cannot wait. cha cha trusty, I think Angela will take the female part on IWKWLI. How he'll do broken wings is another matter -- but I can't wait to find out. muski, that book does sound fascinating. I love true life stories, especially ones like that. Oh man, this is one of my pet peeves within the fandom. There are so many that hate Clive and/or RCA for "putting Clay into a box" -- when I see some fans doing the exact same thing, it's just a different kind of box. And left out of the equation is Clay -- what does he want? Do we really know? I've always said "I want for him what HE wants for himself -- no matter what that could be." cha cha trusty, I'm working on the Harry Potter series too, before the final book comes out!

bottlecap, you are making me this morning! But...pearls? Only the best diamonds for moi, thank you. Pearls are so Barbara Bush. I'm loving each and every suggestion y'all are coming up with, both for the Christmas songs and for the reasons why he was seen heading into a recording studio. The possibility that makes me the most excited is the soundtrack work -- I'm with Ansa in that I think that would get him a great deal of publicity. But I'd certainly be happy with a new Christmas CD as well. Joins the "I :::heart::: ATDW" club. But I think y'all knew that.

I vote for either "Gabriel's Message" (which Sting did a wonderful cover of on "A Very Special Christmas") or "The Coventry Carol." I'd also love to hear him do "Go Tell it on the Mountain" -- swooning over a gospel song isn't right, though, is it? However, I think he might stick with things, as luckiest1 suggests, by SCC or other CCM artists. I read the blurb for the Christmas show last night, and I just had to laugh. If nothing else, I think it fantastic that venues are so excited that he's coming back that they are spilling the beans this early. I get the feeling this place is over-the-moon that he may be doing a show there. (I thought I'd better add that "may" there -- things can change an awful lot in a few months, especially when planning a tour.) I know the frustration people are feeling, hearing announcements for a Christmas tour when the final dates of the summer tour aren't even out yet. I guess I just hope negotiations for the summer tour are going well, for both Clay, the venues, and the fans. I'm still pretty zen at this point.

BAF Champions for Change Benefit, March 31, 2007 Mar 31: The Bubel/Aiken Foundation Hosts Champion for Change Gala at Raleigh’s Cardinal Club (Raleigh)

This was in my Google News Alerts for Clay this evening....more about the BAF Gala in less than two weeks. Champions for Change Benefit The honoree that makes me smile is Coach Jim Johnson.... I remember that story being on the news, seeing it several times...and each time, it made me cry. ____ EEEEEEEEEEE for Christmas! An ancient and honorable tradition. Hee.

Fine, fine...I knew this was coming. I'll try to get to it by the end of the week. Can you tell I have a habit of volunteering to do things, only to not finish them? I'm REALLY bad that way. But love you all. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

As soon as the name "clack" was born, I understood it. After a few months in the fandom, I REALLY understood it. In early 2005 I REALLY understood it. In early 2006 I REALLY understood it. The fandom became starved, and instead of enjoying what tidbits did come through, those tidbits were basically chewed up and spit out. Also, as couchie alluded, it seemed that the negative aspects of any appearance overrode the positive. A performance or appearance that was 99% great instead had a focus on that 1% that wasn't, whatever it might have been. My theory is that the negative bloggers "won" in that instance, getting some of the fandom to zero in on the "bad" rather than the "good." (Of course, all those terms -- bad, good, negative, positive -- are totally subjective.) I woke up to my clock radio this morning, with the GooGoo Dolls singing "Iris." Guess what? Heavy orchestration! Maybe Clay will sing a full version of that song. But wait...it's a cover. Hmmm. That won't fit into the "rockin' originals with strings" that will be on tour this summer. Darn it, it's hard to keep the theories straight. Heh. Very cool playbiller. It sounds like you're doing some great work over at Idol Forums. As Robert Fulghum said, "Play nice with others." *g* I'll have to check, but I think siggies are set up to be text only. Graphics won't work, I believe. ETA: Yeah, just checked -- no HTML allowed in signatures. But text is fine.... Another haven of sanity in the Clay Aiken fan world. I really do love what you do there. I had to draw the line at Clay pictures in my bedroom. Hubby would kill me. *g* But I have no problem wearing my Clay Aiken t-shirts in public. djs, have fun with your grandson today! Thank you Ansa. Well said.

Just popping in quickly before dinner to say a few things: 1) You ladies all rock. My head is tired from all the nodding I've done today while reading the boards. I'd quote you all as well, but that would take forever! 2) djs, sounds like my cats too. My favorite quirk though -- they come running when the bags of shredded cheese are opened. 3) KAndre, you do realize that you don't have an avatar here at FCA, and that one can be made for you from that? *g* 4) EEEEEEEEEEEEEE on the Kevin Bacon thing!!!! That reminds me, I need to make my donation to the 6 Degrees thing to get a credit for FCA too....

You've touched on two issues here, and ITA on both of them. Point number 1, "Clay knows what is happening": well, of course he does. It's his life, and he's living it. Pure and simple, we're NOT. As much as I read practically everything on the man (except for certain blogs and such *g*), I do not KNOW him, nor will I ever. It's not in my job description of "fan." Anything past that oversteps a few boundaries for me personally. This is not to say that speculating isn't a good time, it can be -- but when it becomes fact (such as that rumor jmh mentioned about the recording studio this past weekend), I just tend to shake my head in frustration. Point number 2, "Clay is the bestest idol ever": everything is relative, and also subjective. I love Clay dearly, but I cannot force feed him to other people. But yet, there a segment of the fanbase that, IMO, truly believes that there is no other for everyone in the entire world. Sorry, it just doesn't happen that way. Again, frustration. I've felt like this for a few months now....it's just that the intensity has ratcheted up a bit these past few weeks. Maybe that's why my blood pressure was high at the Doctor's office today. Love this. Word to your whole post, especially this part. This is the one great advantage of the Pod theories--it has kept the heat off Clay. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! [tm Sally] In a way, I see the pod theories as really, truly putting Clay on one of those damn pedestals. He surely cannot do anything wrong, and there must be someone around him to blame when things don't go quite right (and the definition of "quite right" isn't really set in stone either). I personally think that Clay is human -- he'll make mistakes as much as he'll do things right. And what I like about Clay, from what little I've seen, is that he takes responsibility for his actions. He's a straight shooter. Down, smutters... Oh yeah, she fits in around here REAL good. *g* I think this needs to be mentioned at least once per page.

*hands muski a battery powered heating pad to get through the day* It truly makes me sad that so many in the fandom are wishing ATDW away. Have they stopped to actually LISTEN to the album? IMO it's a gorgeous CD. Granted there are songs there that I would have NEVER chosen for him -- and yet, a few of those are songs that I simply love (BYLM is the major one that fits this scenario). More importantly though -- it's Clay SINGING. His voice is magical to me, no matter what he sings. I really thought more in the fandom felt that way, but it seems to me that this is not the case. It does make me wonder where "let Clay be Clay" went to, however. My husband and I started an exercise routine last year, and it's part of our schedule now. I think the key is that we motivate each other -- some days I don't feel like going, only to have him coerce me. The reverse happens from time to time too. Anyway, he lost 25 pounds, I lost 15, strictly through exercise. However, in the past few months, I've been creeping back up again -- so I need to start the Clay diet too. If I could lose another 10 I'd be a happy camper. Maybe we can all motivate each other with this? That's pretty much my take too, although I watched last night and totally agreed with some of the stuff he said. He can be very cruel, almost too much so IMO...but then I think about RL and how cruel it can be too, especially to those in the music business. That's where I give Simon some slack -- I think he's probably just as cruel as others in the business. And I agreed with Simon that he's not humiliating a lot of these early bad contestants, they do it to themselves. That's why I never watch the early rounds, because I totally hate to see people embarrass themselves.

Could I love Oswald and Danny any more? They are so incredibly funny. Woo hoo, Guido's beat Team Stupido. Eric needs to shut up. Yay, non-elimination leg! Woohoo!

Oh man, I think I can guess who got first now. Yuck. Heh. Wasn't who I thought it would be. That actually makes me laugh -- and they weren't THAT annoying tonight.

Kinda weird in that we didn't start the show until now, and I think Ansa is done! So far, the Cha Cha's are not in a good place. I hope they can pull their heads back together. I've seen the previews, and I don't think I'm gonna like one of the challenges. Rats are OMG ucky to me. I think Eric and Danielle are the weird ones, thank you very much. I loved Danny's comment about setting his rat free in a lab and putting make up on it. Too funny. Looks like the Schmirna team isn't doing real well in the rat thing.

djs, thank you just thank you. Hey jorepak -- whenever someone asks this question (and don't feel bad, you're not the first, but I'm sure you won't be the last), I tend to refer people to couchie's post from the middle of January (located here) couchie's good, y'all. Yay! txflrgrl is our balance point in height! Now technically, we should buy tickets for the FCA in a group, and then those of use tall ones would unfortunately be in the, say, 4th row. Those shorter in FCA get closer to the front. Sound like a good plan?

So.....is anyone going to watch Simon Scowell on 60 Minutes this evening? Claygasm perhaps? :medium-smiley-070: My husband and I watch this show every week, so I'll probably watch it. What will I say afterwards, though? Will it be ? Or will it be :whatutterclaptrap: ? I'm also guessing there might be a little bit of as well. (Bias? Me? No way....*g*) We'll just have to see, won't we? And I'll probably forget everything he said as soon as the interview is finished. Hope the rest of the fandom does the same.... playbiller, I love your new avatar, and got it immediately! And then, it made me think of this...

I've never experienced either first OR last concert adrenaline. I was supposed to, for the JNaCT 2006, but damn that snow storm. That's why I'm really hoping for another date either the night before or the night after Dallas -- because that series of shows would really work out the best for me. Unfortunately, I'm just not rich enough to get to all the shows I'd truly like to. And I understand people like Shady and Claygasm who want their only show experiences to be good ones, with great seats at least one time during the tour. For me, I'm learning that sometimes, just the experience of being in the room with Clay is worthwhile. His last two tours, I only got to see him once -- neither with upcloseandpersonal seats. But it was still thrilling beyond belief for me. As for where the FCA gathering is held, I know full well that we'll just not be able to get EVERYONE together. But, whomever is there -- I'm sure drinks will be raised for those missing. :bier: pkmiller, you certainly didn't offend me. It's just not something I can change, you know? But I do try my best to help others see, if I can. muski -- yes, see if your contact can make more special pastries! The concerts themselves -- I'm actually looking forward to some of these lawn seating shows, if I can get to one. Yes, the wait beforehand could be torture, but I'm honestly not expecting a HUGE bunch of teenies trying to get to the front. (Or, if they do...isn't that the desired demographic for the front rows now? :medium-smiley-070: ) Also, the weather could be terrible -- or it could be totally beautiful. I think back to my Illinois State Fair concert, where I had track tickets (standing, open area, in front of the stage). Waited 3 hours in beautiful weather and had a blast. So, I tend to hope that these shows will be like that. I also think it would be cool to just have a blanket, some wine, and some cheese to make the evening quite lovely. Finally, I think there could be lots of families at several of these shows -- it's that kind of atmosphere. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE for the tour!