ldyjocelyn

Can't help with the Chicago questions, but I am already looking forward to the trip recap.  Which reminds me, when are we going to hear the details about the Ireland trip?

I need some help too.  Somebody needs to explain to me why I'm actually going to tune into a hockey game on the miniscule chance there might possibly be a Clay sighting.  Good thing I can surf and monitor the TV at the same time. 

I'm eye-deep in pictures at the moment. Once those are ready, I'll get my recap of Ireland up and running. Patience, right?

And while I'm processing pictures, I've got a hockey game on. I'm so pathetic.

The way Taste of Chicago works is that you buy tickets -- I think a ticket is $1.00. Then, the food and drinks are "sold" to you via the tickets (most in the $5.00 range). Sizes of portions vary wildly, from barely a nibble to full entre size. When do you leave? Because the Chicago Tribune website usually has a good guide in what is a good value for your ticket, but it's not up on their site yet.

Unfortunately, since I have friends in the suburbs, I've never had to rely on public transportation in Chicago. I think for getting to Greek Town, though, you almost need to take a taxi if you are staying downtown. I THINK people would be helpful in getting you on the correct El train though.

Speaking of staying...The Hotel Burnham is where my husband and I stayed when we saw Clay at the JNT 2005. It's just down the street from the Chicago Theater -- my husband and I had a great view of the marquis! It's a great old hotel with a lot of nice new features -- and a complimentary wine tasting at 4:00 every evening. Another possible place is The Palmer House, which I've stayed at for conventions. Another grand old hotel. However, neither are cheap -- stay in the suburbs if you want cheap.

Topic? Um, I think Clay likes Chicago. I think. I hope.

Happy Birthday to Couchie and Ansa...as always, I'm a day late and a dollar short.  But the pin is pretty...

OK, I'm gonna be in Chicago 6/30 through 7/3 (my child is finishing naval basic training) and it was CHEAPER to stay the whole weekend in Chicago than to do the one day thing.  Since I've never been to Chicago before, what shall I do?  Where shall I go?  What the heck is the Taste of Chicago and does it contain lake water?

Helpful hints are appreciated but in general I shall wander around aimlessly.

Easy question first: Taste of Chicago is their street food fair. It is HUGE, so if you don't like crowds, avoid the area. If you don't mind crowds, but can't afford to spend at least $25 for samples of Chicago area food, avoid the area. If you don't mind crowds and don't mind the cost, go for it. I did it one year with my best friend (who is from Chicago), and I had a blast.

I personally like the The Art Institute of Chicago, The Adler Planitarium (got to see a really cool Star Trek exhibit there many years ago), The Shedd Aquarium, and The Field Museum for activities. For food, definitely have Chicago style deep dish pizza, IMO. I personally like Giordano's myself. If you can afford a taxi, go to Greek Town for food. I can't think of the restaurant I'd recommend there though. Finally, Ed Debevic's is a lot of fun, especially if you love giving the wait staff a hard time in a restaurant. They'll dish it right back to you. Food isn't too bad either.

Geez, you'd think I live in Illinois or sumthin'.

Happy birthday Ansa! May you have a wonderful, wonderful day. Are the girls taking you out to dinner? And then you can go out and...

:me0:

To my dearest couchie --

:00003653:

Here's a gift for you:

And here's dessert (chocolate, of course):

:fest33:

Here's praying that Clay will announce something this week, for both you and Ansa!

ldyjocelyn, you now must add to the travelogue! Were there live mysterious animals running your plate like Clay claims?  Was it really green?  Did you find any Pierce Brosnan lookalikes and bring one home for me as a travel present?

To answer your questions in order:

1) Sadly, most of our food was prearranged by the touring company, so we didn't have a LOT of choice. The thing my husband and I fell in love with for food was lunch -- cream of vegetable soup and brown bread. Now, since the word "vegetable" was there, I'm sure Clay didn't eat a lot of it. *g* I personally didn't see any food moving on my plate. The best dinner we had was one we had on our own -- Guinness casserole (basically a glorified beef stew, but it was SOOOOO good). Again, my guess is that with the "g" word there, Clay probably avoided it. Finally, we did not eat at that wonderful Scottish restaurant called McDonald's, but some of the students we were with did. No one complained.

2) Yes, it was incredibly green, and oh so very pretty. Loved that country side.

Oh wait, were you talking about the food?

3) Pierce...yum. But no, no good looking men that were flexible enough to fit in my suitcase. Sowwy.

And ldyj, I hope no old men hit you with their canes and that your keys didn't get sent to Dubai or anything.

No keys sent to Dubai, but I kept looking for that old man while we were running through Dublin Airport. I would have beat him up for Clay if I'd seen him. *g*

Hey gang! I'm back after spending nine days in Ireland! Don't worry, I'll be writing my travelog very soon...although I'm not sure if it will compare to KAndre's most worthy entry. Anyway...

couchie, I'm sorry, but Clay's timing had NOTHING to do with your everyday blogging (which I read over night, great job). It had to do with the fact that he (and Quiana) waited for MEEEEEEEEEE to come back to the States. *g*

Congratulations Quiana for her new little man. Such a great name too.

playbiller, you're really on to something, especially with this:

Somehow, I think Clay is ready to step it up in some way (international), we lose part of him, as we should. We will haveto work harder for good tickets, but we wanted more for him. If he gets the "more", we lose some of what we have.

I think the key is what I have bolded. I get the feeling that there's going to be some new growing pains in the fandom, and how some will deal with them is going to be very interesting. Someone mentioned that the fandom is quite spoiled...and ITA with this. Even though it's not "personal" (at least to most of us), most have had a "connection" with Clay (IMO). That's going to change. All I know is that I want him to have the moon and the stars...but thinking he's going to win the World Cup and the Triple Crown, not to mention a Pulitzer Prize is stretching things. A bit. *g*

Can I claim to be among the first fans, even if he didn't have me at "Take?" I was more there by the time he uttered "Why" (as in "do you build me up, buttercup").

I admit I don't understand the discussion about the ClayHair and it's maintenance - frankly, besides the dye job it doesn't look like he does anything at all to it - like he escaped from the salon chair as soon as it was mostly dry and didn't even bother to run his fingers through it. I'm not seeing an extra fancy cut either. And what's wrong with having bangs down to his eyes? It's not quite Veronica Lake (which I'm planning on for my next hair outing), but it's OK.

Amen, sister. I'm once again proclaiming my minionship for this statement from you. I do think the haircut probably cost a pretty penny, but it looks very simple and straightforward. I also very much see it as "no muss, no fuss." And while I personally couldn't stand having my hair in my eyes like that, he looks to me as if he's OWNING that hairstyle. I like it.

He looked incredibly happy at the game. Good for him.

I think his next blog will answer every and all questions mentioned above. Knowing Clay, he could easily combine the answer to his "favorite vegetable" question (and yes playbiller, it would satisfy ME if he blogged simply on that...because I'm easy) and the performance story about his AI experience. I mean, c'mon, remember "let's talk about something that REALLY happened?" He's a smart, snarky man. Plus -- maybe Quiana craved Clay's least favorite vegetable during her pregnancy.

There. Problem solved. Hee.

First of all, I'll say this as a kinda-sorta Taylor fan (I'm enough of a fan to want to check out the CD when it hits, not enough to watch every single interview) -- some people thought Bill Clinton was hawt. OK? I don't find the picture skeevy. *shrug*

playbiller is wise to ask these questions. I've been a fan, or in fandoms, for years...but Clay's is my first true foray into internet fandoms. So, unfortunately, I'm not sure what the answer will be. My guess is that there will a little bit of both -- some will have the fangirl-in-them return, others will find that the magic is gone.

I also think bottlecap is wise with her "former smokers" analogy. Thing is, not all former smokers are like that. This country is built on freedom of choice (as much as some don't agree with that at all...*g*), and the people who think that Clay is now bad for them need to just grow up.

I'm missing Clay a whole bunch right now. I'm hoping he blogs before I leave on my trip next week. Ireland calls!

BTW, I don't care what Clay blogs ABOUT, I just want him to blog at this point.

I don't know why, exactly...but I'm incredibly Zen about this whole thing. I feel a little out of place with everyone on "their roller coasters." I guess I just never even bought the E-ticket.

If he's there...great. If he sings...even better. I know there will be clack around. If he's not there...eh, I'll deal.

It's not like this will make or break his career. I'm at the point with Clay that I feel NOTHING will keep him from singing, or being a singer as a career.

Just call me Pollyanna. (Everyone else has...)

bottlecap, did I miss why exactly you are on this "hunger strike?"

I've listened to all three pieces, and like the first duet best. Great balance between Clayton and the female. She also had a good voice. Second duet...not such a great female voice. The solo? Love deep voice Clay, so that was a plus. The song? Eh. It's OK, and again, Clay does a nice job on it. But it didn't grab me.

Watching that 12 year old sing though was interesting, especially when he really is 19 at the time.

I've got my own little filing system for my Clay magazines. Most were put in alphabetical order, and then by date. However, a few subcategories emerged, and they ended up with their own boxes -- People magazine; Us Magazine and InTouch; and all the assorted teeny bopper magazines that he appeared in early on after AI. I also bought special boxes for the smaller TV Guide size, as well as the Rolling Stone/Billboard sizes.

Yes, I'm obsessive. What of it?

It was fun pulling out all these magazines and looking at them again. Such a huge reminder of where he was. And now, from watching concert clack, how far he has come. It's been such a fun journey, and one that I'm not willing to quit any time soon.

Clay, miss you. Love you. Come back soon.

My big project this week-end was gathering up the Clay-related crap (Clap?) scattered around in my spare room and tucking it away in a big honking three drawer cabinet that I bought especially for that purpose.  I really bit the bullet, and tossed or recycled all the original shipping boxes and envelopes, 'cause honestly, is it really that important to keep all that stuff from Giant and Clique?  (Please tell me I didn't just dramatically reduce the value of my retirement fund...)  Anyway, I can actually see the floor.  Hee.  And since it is May and all, I even tucked away my festive display of Clay Christmas pins....

Heh...I just recently splurged on archival boxes for all my Clay magazines and newspapers. They are all now beautifully organized and sorted, and bought extras for room to grow later. They also sit much better in my closet.

Topic: am I supposed to have a topic? OK, here's this -- Clay's cute. I like him. A lot. The end.

Where the heck is everyone? Isn't everyone EEEEEEEEEEEEing over the Clay sighting? (OK, it was from a few weeks ago, but still...it was new to us!)

I don't have time to bring it over now...maybe later....

...but I thought he looked pretty good. Longish hair -- eh? But the glasses? Swoon. Love that man in glasses.

I'm also very glad he was able to do this for us cousin without the glare of fans. That's way cool in my book.

KAndre -- GASP! I :::heart::: you. That was a beautiful set of replies to the angsters of the OFC.

The thing I keep coming back to is that Clay really will define his own popstar. If that means selling TONS of albums without a radio hit (but lots of TV and print media appearances), so be it. It can be done.

All in all, I believe in Clay's talent. I also do not find it hard to be a Clay fan...because it's not rocket science. It's fun. When it becomes not fun, I take a break...and then I come back, refreshed and alert and ready to be a Clay fan again.

I loved the blog, and I'm happy with the information he gave us. I have no doubts in the man's talent, and am sure that he will get new fans out of this album.

I really don't "covers" as a death knell. As he said, it will be new stuff to people his age and younger, and, if he does them well (which, again, I have no doubt), he can easily make the older fans forget the original version.

I love him. I love him. I love him.

I've never seen Buble in concert, but I've seen his show that he did for PBS, and loved it. Could the context of the "incidents" cause some of the problems? I mean, I think I could understand the MJ put-downs, and if he was talking about MJ...well, that's what MJ was doing. (I seem to remember that from the PBS show, as a matter of fact...and thought it was hilarious.) His comment about Clay, if I remember correctly, was "yeah, I see you ladies screaming for me now. Tomorrow you'll be here screaming for Clay Aiken." I don't see a put down in that at all.

As far as the "comparison" with Clay...again, some people had the dickens of a time with WDC and their children. And crotch grabbing? Wasn't that at the Valdosta JBT? To me, it's apples and oranges. But then, I'm not a parent either.

However, I have to say that I'm rambling, and that everyone is going to react differently to different things.

Hey gang!

It's been a rough week in the ldyjocelyn household...my Mom, who lives 3 hours away from me, feel and broke a bone near her hip over a week ago. My brother and his wife, who live in the same town as her, had tickets to visit their daughter in Florida last week, so I ended up spending the entire week with Mom. (My Easter dinner -- grilled chicken salad and fried ravioli's from Appleby's. It was about the only place open that wasn't packed to the gills. *g*) Mom is still in the hospital at this point, and she will be moving to a nursing home as soon as she is strong enough. I'm finally back at work today, and am in the midst of trying to catch up on all my emails *coughreadingtheboardscough*. My emotional state isn't particularly good though, especially with hearing of the death of laughingoutloud.

*sob*

News like this makes the tabloid crap and whining about no news from Clay pale in comparison.

I do have to EEEEEEEEEE at the GMA thing though. Clay always looks so wonderful when he appears on that show.

Clique? I'll renew. I don't care. It's Clay.

Not just us story: I had my husband bring me a Clay shirt to wear over the weekend. (I was out of clothes!) So, I walk into the hospital, and one of the nurses practically lunged at me. "You've got a great singer there!" The next day, she cornered me again and wanted to know where my Clay shirt was! If I hadn't been so busy, I would have brought this nurse something!

Back to work. Heh.

Yep, it was me who almost made it into a jury. It was my first time in 5 years for being called. Personally, I think it would be cool to be on a coroner's jury -- one day a month for a year, or something like that. It might be a sad jury to be on, but I think it could also be fascinating.

playbiller, is your library THAT strict on computer usage? At my old public library, it was an hour limit, and if no one was waiting, you could continue on.

I'm still loving that Clay recommended a book to us -- did my librarian heart good. I'm not sure if he'll recommend a movie or TV show to us, though...unless it's a rerun of Scrubs. *g*

I miss Clay, I really do...and yet I want him to be happily working on whatever projects he has in the pipeline. If it doesn't involve me, so be it. I'm patient. I think. Maybe. Kinda. Sorta.

Mommie...

After reading this travelog so far...

...I believe that KAndre and Clay would have made a great "Amazing Race" team.

Can't wait for more, and I've been studying for the minion test as well.

I have it on request, and should be getting it soon. I can't wait to start in with this book. I'm afraid I'll cry though...or get really upset...or something.

muski, I'm three hours away from you...but unfortunately, I don't have the ability to take the time off. (Gotta save that vacation time for my Ireland trip this summer.) I'd simply LOVE to meet up with you, but alas, it is not meant to be.

Keep me in mind though if you every manage to make it to Illinois again.

I thought the Ink Spot was pretty funny too, but was glad when it changed back. I do know how couchie felt after that experience though...

And, just because I can...bring on the guitarist banana!

I have to say that I love his little thingie with the multicolored socks and hope he just continues to do it.  Is that his new safety blanket?

I think this is great as well -- love that he's found a way to show his quirky personality without being so forward about it...

OTOH...when you break it down this way, as only muskifest can do...

I have to say that I love his little thingie

...I just have to say that I so do too...and I'm not even a Waldo watcher.

KAndre, I hope you are having a wonderfully blingy time in England and Rome and all those European places. I can see it now...the latest addition to her arsenal will be this.

couchie -- I can be bought out as a minion. Just sayin'.

I so hope the press release comes out today for the new album. But you know...the more I have to wait, the more Zen I've become. Carly Simon said it so well...anticipation.

I so adore this place...where we talk about the IMPORTANT things...such as hair and changing clothes.

Hair: I agree that it's probably at the "I'm in the studios tidying up my album but need to practice for the photo shoots" stage. I like the way it goes over the collar, and I'm one of the few out there (I think) who likes the dark hair. It will be interesting to see what the next transformation of Clay Aiken will be.

Changing clothes: Lord & Taylor, he's probably been changing clothes in front of friends for almost his entire life. What was the story about him and KLo during the AI2 tour? Was it his shirt he stripped off in front of her (someone could see this happening back stage)? I don't remember how that one went. JBT Tour -- Mary's seen him quite a few times. He "hit her in the eye when she was helping him change clothes" at one stop -- Toronto maybe? Oh yeah, and then during the NAT -- didn't someone report that right before YWT, people could see his outline behind a curtain during the Appleton show when he was changing into the white suit?

*swoon*

*dies*

I get to go to jury duty tomorrow. Wish me luck -- I'll be taking my PDA with clack on it to keep me occupied.

bottlecap, bottlecap, bottlecap...I'll join you in the shallow car. Sorry to hear about your Mom.

And at the same time -- I'll shout his name from the rooftops.

CLAY AIKEN! CLAY AIKEN! CLAY AIKEN IS MY BOYFRIEND!!!

I'm still in the "I don't care about the hair" crowd -- for I still love it that he has hair.

June 20th -- 5 days after I return from Ireland. Sheesh. There go my plans for helping with a CD release party, for I will have no vacation time. But....EEEEEEEEEEE! for a date. And couchie and Ansa get a wonderful birthday present. YAY!

Yes, I say it's time for these guys as well muski...

:nana: