zena

my vegas tickets have found a happy home.

I mean, The tickets were a little damp when I finally made myself put them in the envelope. You know; goodbye kisses, tears; the usual stuff.

I won't just be missing Clay in all his Las Vegas glory; I'll be missing face-to-face intros and conversations with new friends and old friends,

and 2 am "you just had to be there" laughter, and post concert huddles over fresh clack...

but there will still be Minneapolis......I booked my flight today :xmas07a:

Come to Minneapolis FCA'ers!!!! I have parkas and warm socks for everyone!!!!!!

Today, one of my closest friends got her post-surgery pathology report from the lumpectomy she had had done three weeks ago to remove what the specialist called a tiny scrap of cancer in her right breast. The news was not good. In the next several weeks she will be undergoing a radical mastectomy along with removal of most of the lymph nodes on the right side. Since there is strong indication of metastisis to the liver as well, aggressive chemo will start almost immediatly after the surgery. She is fifty and one of those very alive people who live every moment.

For me, crisis strips life down to its bare essentials pretty quickly. Love. Laughter. Faith. Family. Friends. And sometimes, no often, music to keep the darkness at bay.

I hope you don't mind me sharing.....

Sometimes, all I need when it's 3 am and I can't get to sleep because of all of the stuff RL throws at me in the daylight is a good stiff drink and some divine inspiration.

.heck this one reminds me of Tequila.

oh.my....God.

Thanks muski and KarenEh.....

Couchie, I am twelve hours ahead of you in California. It's 11:15 AM here.

What's for lunch? :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I picked out a little place from one of your pictures that looked interesting; think we could eat there?

Do they serve bananas?

zena can't seem to find time to walk her fca dogs in the light of day.....

It's awfully lonely here in the middle of the middle of the night, and not nearly as much fun when all the discussions of the day seem to have come and gone....

zena waves hopefully in the general direction of Baku at KarenEh? Hey, Karen, it's me!!!!!!! :23:

Last night, I had a bunch of quotes lined up, and one of my clever brief typical posts all set to go at the timely hour of 2 am when I decided I needed one more little emoticon. That little sucker ran off with the entire post. I figured you all could live without my opinion so I went to bed.

Tonight, I may just be blowing into the night wind, and talking to no-one in particular... but this dog walker needs to make a few marks once in awhile.

I heard about the Blender magazine Worst Lyrics as I listened to an interview a CBC reporter did with their "top" analyst. Hee. There were some Bryan Adams lyrics that made the list too.

And just for the record, I didn't reeeeally start to hate the lyrics to A Thousand Days until I tried to write a poem with them. Banal? I dunno. But imo, certainly trite, and not a helpful adjective among them. Watching Clay sing ATD this summer tour? Loved it!!!

I usually care very much about the lyrics of a song. The words are as important as the melody to me. My oldest son thinks all music should have no words. Bah humbug on him.

But Clay appears to be the defining factor in my becoming enamored with all manner of lyrics and music; including Yeah, Yeah,.....although OPP was a stretch. (not literally; figuratively, of course.)

My last word on the subject. I will state what SHOULD have been obvious, but perhaps is not to everyone.

There are quite a few songs Clay has sung I don't like.

But I LOVE Clay. I LOVE his voice, his sense of humor, his heart, his mind and the way he looks in a tight pair of jeans.

IMO, that should count for a whole lot more than not liking the lyrics to a song he has sung.

In my books, Claygasm, it counts BIG time. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Okay, it's 2:17 am, I guess I can go to bed now.

eta; Cindilu2, I'll really be dreaming of all the lovely Clay's in your scrumptious banner but those *&$X emoticons; cute as they are, never say exactly what one wants them too.

BFM never blew my skirt up.

Why do the same heads explode over and over? Shouldn't they get that fixed?

keepingfaith, these one liners are just cracking me up. I think you'll be keeping us in thread titles for awhile if you keep this up.

I sold the Omaha ticket this afternoon.

{{{{{{{jumpingjacks}}}}}}} I wish someone would just buy my Las Vegas tickets and put me out of my misery. As long as I have them in my possession, there is this niggling little voice telling me that maybe I will still be able to go. And I know it's not the usual suspect KarenEh cause she's kind of busy flying across big ponds right now. Last night I even went to expedia (kicks self) and discovered the prices of the flights and the hotel had gone down.

ETA: Ooooooh, lookie, I'm a body guard!!!!

Wow, keldanker, what is it like? I'm only halfway around the proverbial block with my canine. I really should learn to write shorter posts. Sigh.

Pray for me.

I will, muski, and I'll mention Chicago and couchie too...kay?

The thing of it, IMO, is that some simply cannot blame Clay. I see a pretty high pedestal there, and some refuse to let him fall. But, the man is human, and he's going to make decisions that some aren't going to like -- whether it be the songs he sings or the way he looks. And, as a fan, I can't do anything about that. All I can do is go along for the ride, and get off if something happens to change my mind (very doubtful in my case).

That 'pedestal' you're talking about; I couldn't agree more. And the higher the pedestal, the harder he falls. This has happened to a very good friend of mine, and there are just too many shattered pieces to ever put together again.

I don't know anything about the music business, so I mostly stay quiet when it comes to Clive Davis and his ilk. Never heard of LoverBoy .....

I am much more of a Tears Run Dry girl, than a Back for More fan. There was this one good line in the lyrics in BFM that I liked though....."Somebody's making a fortune selling emotions to fools like me...". It just kinda summed up radio nicely.

I love the mike stands flying; hey, I love the songs that make the boy rock move.....but the songs that go straight to my heart are songs like LAA, and TRD and JY where I can really hear Clay's inside voice.

And I love the All Those Damn Women CD.

Oh my gosh, keepingfaith, that is an absolutely beautiful and incredible post. I'm going to copy and paste it to a word file and keep it. You've blown me away with it. Every word is great, but the bolded part gives me good chills. The first sentence of that I'm nominating for thread title and will copy to the appropriate place. Then your next to the last paragraph, which I purpled, just did my soul good. As one here from the beginning, though not to the boards until the Friday after AI ended, I just loved reading your experience. Thank you for sharing all of this. Great big :F_05BL17blowkiss:

keepingfaith, I tried very hard to decide which part of that "absolutely beautiful and incredible post" as AnAmeraikenInTX put it, to quote, and I couldn't. I have a feeling it will be quoted many times by many people.

So I did the next best thing and quoted AnAmeraikenInTX who applauded you so eloquently.

I love the words "honeymoon immunity". What a great way to remind me that a fresh perspective, wonderfully unencumbered by so much of the baggage I've picked up along the Clay road, can be an epiphany to me as well. Thanks especially for taking your thoughts, (especially in your weakened and medicated condition,) one step further and sharing them here with us.

I'm not a PollyAnna either; i know that cause i've tried to be, and the clothes just didn't fit.

It's a long journey to being and staying authentic; imperfectly or otherwise. I think Clay works pretty hard at that, and I guess if that doesn't fit what people want to see in him, it's their loss.

Clay is special. Enough said.

I love that banner. See, even during the JNT05 when he was skinny as a rail, he was getting that little double chin.

Loverly banner indeed!!!!!

And who really knows when Clay started trying medication to manage his panic attacks; it often takes considerable trial and error regimes before the right medication/treatment is determined. I figure Clay may have kept his own counsel on that issue until he was ready to put it all out there. I mean the thing about social anxiety and all that, not the chin. *g*

... slowly crawling out of my sickbed, unexpectedly amped at the sight of ......

I don't feel like talking except to say that I need to take a mental holiday and revisit Jones Hall, because I'm jonesing for this guy who was hotter than a $2 pistol that night:

He likes big butts ... I like full packages .... schwinggggg

I'm a believer! I believe he is down with OPP!

And loving the whip action ...

But when all is said ... The Thighs Abide ....Duuuude, the things you do with that rivet!!! .....

Talk about RANGE OF MOTION!!!! (see Zena's last post)

Do you think he'd mind if I'd doshow him a few good neck exercises....for his sweet double chin, that is? I know a few good ones; :28: both passive and ummm....aggressive

er active, that is. My professional opinion is........

Ack....I better get back to work..

Hope you feel better soon, keepingfaith !!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to all the CANADIAN FCA'ers!!!!!

Just dropping in, to get my fix this morning.....

but Klik sounds familiar.......

zena shudders as memories of lunchbox Klik concoctions come to mind. My mother was a good cook but the things she did to Klik were just gross....

You guys make me go from ooooooooohhh, (Liney and her pics) to

ick (for the Klik), to

yesss............mmmmmmm..... for this

Me too! I don't know what he does but I just have to see that face or hear that voice and I just grin from ear to ear. He makes the day so much brighter. He really has made a difference in ways he has no idea of!

People in Kroger's and Wal Mart must think I 'm nuts. Staring up at a speaker in the ceiling, grinning like a Cheshire Cat! Of course I cannot possibly move until the song is over*g*

and then, zena reaches for her kleenex box,

Cotton, Playbiller,......packing for Vegas...... sobs....and pets pretty Vegas tickets that don't have an airplane ticket to keep them company.

to this

I wish it was bigger....

So many openings....so little time.....

It's like going through a complete emotional ROM (range of emotion). I think I need a nap after all that exertion.

Invisible926 posted this side by side comparison of current/AI2 Clay at CV. What an amazing contrast!

Great banner! I see the same guy just getting a little more comfortable with being beautiful as he gets more mature.

As for the "poochy" chin; my medical background is speculating, oops, I never do that, nope not me, thinking that the Paxil/meds may be the culprit there. Nuttin he can do bout that; it's just a common side effect.

Kareneh? Shouldn't you be packing???? Gah, she's already gone.

Okay, fingers on the scroll button all set? This is looking to be one long ass and very likely sappy post.

I've only been away for 48 hours and somehow 16 or so pages happened.... Wow!!!

Oh right, there was a blog....

Since coming to FCA has become my bedtime ritual of late, I arrived here tonight around midnight to unwind and a temporary respite from my own rollercoaster ride.

My only disclaimers to what ends up coming from my tired brain onto the page are K'Andre's words here:

I said all of that to say this: We expect you to speak your mind, both about Clay and the board, but would like y'all to post in a way to avoid defensiveness on all parts - yours and anyone else's - it makes real communication difficult. .

And, my signature line at the bottom of this post; hee, if you ever get there, that is. Scroll baby scroll.........

I am fairly slow to voice my personal opinions on all/any things Clay in post form. Anyone who has met me in person though will know that this is not quite as true when I get to yakking face to face. Oh well.

The main reason for my reticence is not all that noble either; it is simply that I am constantly amazed at the unpredictability of my own fan-type behavior. I've never been a fan of anyone to one hundredth of the degree that I am a fan of Clay Aiken. It frightens me sometimes, and I am definitely not an over the top kind of fan. I mean, I totally DID NOT KNOW the fangirly character that sat in second row center at the Toronto JBT. I mean, I would never act like that, but I did. Unfortunately, there were witnesses....

I am surprised at the intensity of the feelings of defensiveness and indignation that arise in me when the muck get stirred around and at how easily I can get swept up into a molehill controversy on a messageboard. I mean, really, zena, get a life.

And the Unicef picture: it really wasn't a big deal to me, until I started reading. I'm such a sponge. Sigh. I realized as I was reading that sometimes I need Clay Aiken to be beautiful, and smart, and accomplished, and hawt, and awesomely talented 24/7 so that I can justify the wonderful insanity of this four year affair hobby of mine to myself and also to others. It's just not as easy to do when he looks and acts like an ordinary guy. I gave myself a good kick in the shin for this kind of thinking. You know why? Cuz he really is beautiful; inside and out. I got my Mikayla book from BAF the other day, and when I opened the pages, and read, and looked at the wonderful illustrations, and the picture of the real Mikayla on the dustcover, I cried a little. There are so many different kinds of beautiful.

I think I will submit my story, come to think of it! Not sentimental, it was just funny - Santa of the Corn! Thanks!

There is never a dull moment around here is there? Okay, I'll concede my Christmas story up there but otherwise.....

awwwwwwwwwwwwww.....great story karen

My daughter loved to sing, has never had a shy bone in her body, and tended to demand attention by being LOUD. Let's just say she's never needed approval in her life --- for anything. So when the songleader said to a group of children sitting in a group, "Who knows the words to Joy To The World?" my daughter jumped up and loudly intoned in the third row at the First Baptist Church:

************

Jeremiah was a bullfrog

Was a good friend of mine

I think this is a fabulous story, keepingfaith! You should submit this one. Who knows, maybe he could use it as a nice introduction to the Christmas version of the song.

BWAH!!!!! I can so relate. Reading and singing was always a big part of bedtime when the boys were small. When it was my husband's turn I have to admit I had to get out of earshot;I couldn't bear to listen. He took some very scary liberties with lyrics to familiar tunes when he couldn't remember exactly "how that one went", and his stories were always uniquebordering on bizarre. Everything ran fairly smoothly until one Sunday morning when Christopher's Sunday school teacher approached me cautiously and asked if we could have a little talk after the service. Apparently my little four year old singer, when asked to volunteer a favorite song, had enthusiastically burst into a chorus of Cigarettes and Whiskey, and Wild Wild Women, They Drive me Crazy, They Drive Me Insane, complete with his father's added intonations of insane-a-ane-a-ane. Unfortunately there were lots of witnesses there too. We could hardly stand it til we got home where we could laugh our heads off without scandalizin anyone else.

Speaking of Minneapolis... I'll have to add a tab for who did I borrow winter wear from? Does anyone else get high just from planning a clay trip?

Christmas stories. It's SOOOO cut throat. Warms my heart just thinking about it.

Couch Tomato, I have five extra parkas. What color/style/size would you prefer?

That Christmas game; hee, we finally stopped doing it last year because my three sister in laws kept fighting over the same bowl and making each other bringing it back the next year. And if someone thought a particular gift was the one I had brought for the game, they were dead sure it would have something Clay Aiken in it, and avoid it like the plague. Gah!!!

Do you know what I like best about this contest? It will allow people a chance who have never had a chance to have some Clay time. ...where unexpected people, new people will get a chance to have a special moment. Everybody gets an equal chance. I like watching his mind work and I like him just being him. Hell I can't even imagine it not working because, well, it's Clay. He can't grow, with his art, or his imagination, if he isn't allowed the opportunity to try new things -- or even to lay an egg now and then. Go Clay!!

Personally, all that matters to me is that the story is a good one, regardless who tells it or how accurate it may be. And with all the entries that are likely to come in, my guess is that he'll be able to find ones that really bring something to the concert experience, whether it's a funny little anecdote or a quick, but touching tale. I do think Clay can make this concept work.

. I was reading an article recently about how important it has become for artists to have audience participation--people no longer want to just sit and listen. Anyhow, my point is that I think Clay understands that instinctually. At any rate, it's Clay's concert and he can damn well do as he pleases. (Thank God--his instincts have been pretty good so far.)

All I know is that Clay makes great lemonade. How he pulls things off, that wiser folks (you know the ones) have written off before the fruit is even off the tree is beyond me. But Christmas is all about miracles, and I can't wait to watch Clay do his magic, with Us ( as his raw material.

FCA, thank you all again for the birthday wishes. It means more than you know.

I'm not usually the first one to send congratulations or wishes in posts, because I can be quite unsentimental about things that everybody on earth experiences -- like birthdays. ... all the sweet words sent my way have totally brightened my day and forever changed my experience. It has really mattered a lot to me today. Yes, I've learned a lesson. Thoughtfulness always matters. It's something I've known but needed to have dusted off. For all the different opinions and perspectives in this fandom, there's one common denominator that I've found ... lovely people.

In May of this year I met my first Clay Aiken fans ... And I've seen Clay six times. It has been a VERY good year. Not only did Clay knock my socks off, but my first Clay Aiken concert was followed by the best fireworks I've ever seen. Or were those stars in my eyes? Oh yeah, I guess it was the 4th of July! . OMG I never could have imagined coming into this fandom that the previous three years had been so rich, exuberant, and controversial! My kind of place.

Yes, this was a summer I'll never ever forget. I'm awed by this fandom. I came here to find out all I could about Clay Aiken and to support him, and I never expected to find people I love like family. It's awesome. For all of you who seem to suspect that the fandom isn't what it used to be ... although I wasn't here for used to be, I believe I can assure you with fresh eyes that it still is.

-- thanks for making this an incredible place. Now I'm feeling so schmoopie when you guys KNOW I don't do schmoopie. I give up.

*rising to give you all a standing ovation and then back to bed*

Happy birthday from me too, keeping faith, and thank you for the lovely schmoopieness. I'm particularly fond of schmoopiness. I must have been standing in your aura at some point in time in Frisco or Houston.....I just didn't know it.

and to all the rest of you who keep faith, and laughter in perspective for me here, and letting me use my voice in this small place,

He sounds exactly the same (to me) as he does on LTS audio book, and Ugly Duckling, to me. Professional Clay, for sure - but there's enough of 'him' in there to make me grin. He's playing the role of narrator perfectly - it's not really supposed to be about them, after all. Bravo, Clay!

You said this so well, cindilu2; I bet he was grinning when he was doing it too. Can't you just hear that AI2 grin in his voice?

And cindilu2, one more thing, those wallpapers; just awesome!! Thanks!!!!

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I bought my plane ticket to Minneapolis. It's official. I'm going broke for Clay Aiken once again eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

This is reeeeally cool!!! It means I get to meet you because I'm celebrating my birthday in Minneapolis this year with Clay. And of course I don't want gifts.... , unless of course someone is giving away a meet and greet.

The Unicef picture; :kra: that's sweet lovable Clay....

Stargazer's picture............

I like love the whole man, dorky, delightful, delicious...........

Well, I'm off to unpack my Bubel Aiken package;I've been saving it. I ordered a few things at the auction but the box apparently wouldn't fit into my 2 ft by 4 ft by 4ft. mailbox. Hmmmm. I think I must of run them out of CD holders.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet dreams fca'er's.

I was wondering if anyone here has any experience with those little DVD players that have the 7 -10 inch screens on them. I was thinking of getting one and was curious about battery life and things like that.

:PickMe-1:

Oh, oh, oh, I'm so excited. This is a piece of technology I actually know something about.

I bought and returned two of these mini screen dvd players, and actually got ds#1 to look at the specs and all that. The quality just wasn't good enough for the price I wanted to pay.

I asked my kids for one for Christmas last year. I love the one they got me.

It's a Sony (Model DVP-FX810)

It has an 8 in swivel type screen, up to 6 hours of battery life, dual head phone jacks, AV cable, AC adapter and Car adapter. The ONLY drawback is that the audio doesn't play as loudly as most regular audio/visual media. It's fine if you have the head phones on or are using it while sitting at a desk or in bed (hee) but you may have trouble hearing it if you were across the room. 'Course you may have trouble seeing it from across the room too.

In general, I love it lots.

But hey, KarenEh? I hear the Sony Model DVP-FX810 is really good. My sources are excellent.

jamar, you don't want to trade kids do you? I like the presents they give.

to divayenta!!! Betcha didn't know I couldn't spell Greek?

Note: I was getting tired of looking at my sword avatar so thanks to KarenEh? you all have a much nicer back to admire. You have another ten of my posts to find his sword before I wake him up and take him away.

What? I have to do something to keep me sane while I am stuck walking this :23:!!!

Oooooh merrieeee, shall I Fed Ex you mah sword?

Waves to KarenEh?!!!! How did you escape the massacre? Homework, you say? Bwah haa haa haa!!!!!!

Welcome, zena!

Congrats on screwing up the courage to go to that first party! So, did your son end up in a music career?

at your siggy!

Hey, YSRN,, my son got a lot of good payback for taking me to that first CD release party. He's still my best audience when it comes to all things Clay, not to mention a big fan of Clay himself.

DS2 is 22 now and finishing up his Bachelor's Degree in Vocal Performance this year. After that it's a Masters in operatic something or other. He sings a pretty mean tenor, imho, and is debuting in a solo lead role in a small opera in November at our Concert Hall in Winnipeg.

He is the total opposite of a diva type; his other "favorite music" is country.

My oldest son sings a booming bass. Me??? I'm lucky if I hang on to the melody. Guess it must of skipped a generation...

W'all, blow me down... :o

I actually get KTLA or WGN or whatever its called on my satellite, out here in the official middle of nowhere and I, yes me, got to hear Clay talk about the olden days of AI on my very own teevee (tm Raleigh) from 7 to 8 this evening. :ura:

I've been flat out with a yucky cold the past four days and today is the first day I actually felt like I might try being vertical for awhile. We've been having gorgeous fall days up here and it was awful watching them go by while I was feeling too miserable to move. So, anyway I was outside painting the dog house and just came in for a drink of water and dh had the television on.

Now I would know that voice ANYWHERE......I didn't even give up the remote during the commercials much to my dh's disgust. He was trying to watch football....hee...Yeah I know I must have it bad cuz I didn't even mind looking at simon so much.....dh had the nerve to suggest i put it on mute. :thsigns053: The man obviously doesn't recognize fine, fine elocution when he hears it. Fine, captivating, exhileratin' expressive, smoooooooooth, north caralahnin elocution...

He did great, dontcha think?

And then when it was over, right down to the teeny weeny credits....Then I remembered my uncovered paint can standing outside on the deck. YIKES!! My black lab now has a white nose, and there were a few gold and red leaves I fished out of the paint but otherwise all is well.

Ummmm..... can someone, if they're allowed to that is, explain why so many of you seem to be afraid of K'Andre, like you are her minions or something? I get that it is something about songs....I think, do you have to sing for her?

and... and.... will there be clack?

by now, off to walk mah white muzzled black doggy.....

Has anyone ever heard of a show called the 4400? My son tapes it for me but I have no idea where he gets it. They just finished their third season.

I'm not usually into science fiction, OR tv for that matter, but I loved the premise of this show. Forty four hundred different people from all walks of life, ages and time of the century just dissapear out of their live, and then reappear on one day all at once. This is where the story begins. One of the twists is that they all have returned to the present day with a special ability.

I loved the Riches as well. Clay is going to turn me into a TV junkie as well as all the other little hobbies I've picked up since he came along. *g*

Does anyone know when the new season starts?

Yesterday, I got gnat-smacked unawares by a "friend". I have never even heard of Chexxy or whatever..... Just don't go there.

Sometimes it is really good to be out of the loop and clueless...reading the last few pages was a real eye-opener.

I actually tried to find out. Stoooopid me.

Twin here!

In other "news", I wrote this totally bitchy diatribe about Chexxxy/TAiken/Titian and her moronic mission and how it's now a Googleable event complete with JP references for public consumption. And how somehow in her fucked up brain that all translates to "respecting" Clay. And how anyone who plays in her sandbox is enabling her and just as guilty of the insanity, IMO. And then, I decided that rather than even put one tiny toe into her vat of venom, I'll just leave her and her cronies to stew in it without me. Good luck with that, losers!

/short version

Thanks for this inspirational diatribe, YSRN.

I just spent the last hour reading all twenty nine pages of the Meet and Greet thread of this forum.

It purged my mind nicely. And I know one only gets one chance to make a first impression but I finally did introduce myself properly there tonight.

It's sorta like the chat thing, CouchTomato, I catch on real slow..... but I do know i'm finally in the right place.

thanks fca.

In my typical backward fashion, I didn't follow protocol by doing a little intro here first, but instead jumped right in onto the main forum. I think it was xxx4clay's avi change that prompted that first post and launched my career as a dog walker. KarenEh? had told me numerous times how much she was enjoying this board, and I had been lurking on and off all summer.

I had known of FCA as a jumping off point to find things for ages; never ever realized that it could become the delightful respite as it has for me lately.

My youngest son, 17 at the time and considering music as a career, dragged me reluctantly in front of the television to hear what he called "this amazing tenor". The two of us bonded over our Clay love throughout the whole of season 2. I spent part of that time in the hospital, and Clay was the only thing I would come out of my hospital room for.

Since I live in the official middle of nowhere, close to Winnipeg Canada, I was pretty much on my own the following summer with my minimal computer skills. I don't know how many middle of the nights I spent googling my heart out for Clay. I found a few messageboards which I was way too scared to participate in, and then somehow on ATCA, where they were posting locations of CD release parties for MOAM, there was one for Winnipeg. I musta stared at that disbelievingly for ages. My after midnight Clay computer vigils were my little secret but finally I talked my AI/Clayfan son into driving me to this party. ( and hanging around in case these people turned out to be really wierd). hee.

I went to my very first official pop concert ever in St. Paul Minnesota;Independent Tour. I had an 11th row aisle ticket I had somehow conjured up from TM via dialup. I've been 22 concerts now; five this summer; Dallas, Houston,(where i fell in love with the eHP) Tulsa, Asheville, and Knoxville (where he knoxed mah socks off so thoroughly i went home and bought more concert tickets).

I've mercifully missed much of the board politics by accident and by choice. It's fairly hilarious to me that I became a member of the LBFCA early on. I met a contingent of them at St. Paul, they made me laugh til my sides split, and I really needed to laugh. Friendships grew. I don't post much anywhere but i am meeman at CV. I am a nightowl, and if anything I posted was ever of any significance, only the Australians ever read about it. It's a friendly board, but way too much work to keep up with.

This place is a breath of fresh air.

So, as far as the Claynation goes, I'm not famous for anything. Maybe that's a good thing.

As I've said on main, I love Clay Aiken; I love his voice when he's singing and talking and doing his thing; I respect his integrity and his humanity. We're strangers, he and I, and I have no desire to tell him how to live his life; I'm just glad he has brought so much joy, such amazing people and experiences into mine.

In my real life, I live in rural Manitoba about twenty miles north of the Minnesota border. My husband and I are self employed in agriculture. I'm an RN (registered nurse) by profession but haven't be able to work at that for the past 15 years because I have the delightfully unpredictable

condition called lupus. I envy all librarians because I looooooooove books very very much. And sylvie, I'm another huge Kav stories fan.

I also never go to bed soon enough, and it is completely impossible for me to say anything in fifty words or less. If that's a problem here then someone better let me know.

If anyone wants to know why I'm called zena here, it's all out there on main. This post was long enough three paragraphs ago.

ooh...are these new?:thdom2:

C'mon now musikfest, didn't you recognize this one? :thdom2: It's me, er....princess zena, frontal view.

If you want to see my best side, complete with sword, however, you hafta check out my avatar!!!!!!!!!11

i have this fascination with emoticons....my current favorite.... :RandomSmiley:

Great new paint, couchtomato, same comfortable house!

love, love that picture, Gibby. i'd like to be this man's guru. :thsign27:

Hey, I know I should be in bed. I tucked my European company into bed hours ago. I just wanted to say that I mucho enjoyed reading all your comments on Clay's voice.

I had all your lovely quotes lined up, and then some synapse misfired and I lost them all.

I think that the term "warming up" is a bit of a catchall phrase and means different things to different people, and perhaps a more accurate term to use is "technique" which by definition is a much more complex and individual thing.

I do agree though that Clay seems to come by his natural gift very easily, and hope fervently that he takes good care of his voice. But I don't worry about it, in the negative sense. And it's just cool to have a discussion here without it getting all angsty.

I've given up angst for yoga. I like the multiple perspectives better. *g*

I've added an avatar so you will all know who I am at the next Clay gathering, (sobs quietly for Vegas) and then you can decide whether or not you want to come over to me and introduce yourselves to an innocent prairie girl who spends a lot of time walkin' the dog. ( no reference to yoga intended here ).

And I thought, just to help the posts time go a little faster, I'd change my signature about every ten posts or so..........

I won't even pretend to "know" what is right or wrong for the professional development and preservation of the kind of gift Clay has in his amazing tenor voice.

I have just been learning by osmosis, and observing, as my own DS; my other favorite tenor, has been working at what he hopes to become his career. At an eight week intensive opera workshop he attended this summer, they did yoga for an hour and a half before they were allowed to sing.

zena imagines Clay in downward facing dog posture...

okay, there goes any constructive thought pattern i might have had.

see ya tomorrow.....good nite!

When I started lurking here fairly regularly, ( my that sounds a little subversive.....) and wasn't quite brave enough to post out loud, I compensated by copying and pasting a tidy little pile of megabytes from the main thread into a Word Folder I called "The Definitive Answers to Clayfan Angst".

You know, something I could just whip out the next time I landed face down in a puddle of angst......

In so far as screennames go, I've always just been mee. I was m.e.e. (my real initials), at the purple pages of the LBFCA; yep, i did my internship there. At CV, I branched out, (twigged out?) and became meeman. I'm soooooooo creative; my initials and man for the province I live in. One of the FAQ for me is, are you a man? heee....

Zena was my attempt at a split personality, but if you read my last post, you'll see how well that turned out.

I wish that when/if I have the chance to meet any of you in an elevator, a pre or post party, a busline, or a concert etc....that it will be memorable enough to make the cyberconnection of the boards a little more personal, and a little more real. Hey, my imagination has had some reality shockers on some of my first time encounters with bigger than life Screen people.

I wished I hadn't missed chat yesterday. I was getting ready for company who are staying the weekend with us. While it's nice to get so many things done that I've been puttting off for next to forever, it does make for long days and short nights. I was nearly blinded this morning by all the light coming through my clean windows.

Anyway, if I had been part of it, I would have expressed some serious concern about Clay's voice and where it is going. I may be treading on thin ice here. I'm not saying he hasn't improved, or that I don't absolutely love his voice. It just doesn't appear to me that Clay takes as good care of his voice as maybe he could. I went to five amazing concerts this summer, but especially when I was near the front it seemed as though it took him two or three songs to really warm up. The quality and the strength of his voice, depending on how much preachin' and getting down with Weezie he did, seemed to improve as the concert progressed. It makes me shudder though when he starts yelling those big decibels.

He "says" he doesn't warm up; who knows if that is true or not. If he really doesn't, it isn't nice of him to expect those yummy vocal cords to start thrumming at full tilt right off the bat. I don't understand why he wouldn't.

I'm not angsting here, honest. Just bein' selfish, I guess. I want Clay singing to us for a long time, and he needs to take care of his instrument, not just be proud of it. Okay I'm done.

My disclaimer is that I have an opera singer in da house, and I want Clay to be professional about protectin' his assets.

Ah zena.....now I know who you are!

You know I made at least 100 posters and didn't even make myself one!

You should make one for yourself. They keep you very warm when you sleep with them.

{{{Clay and family}}}

This has been my very first chat.

you done good!!

Hee, next time, I'll know not to try to answer all the questions at the same time.

I'd get my post number up faster too.

Well, first of all, I'm so sloooooooooooooow, that this is the principle reason this fandom takes more of my time than it should. When I finally get around to articulating some of my random thoughts, I spend ages trying to communicate what I am trying to say as well as I can. This is more of a curse than a blessing since I end up putting way too much stock in how/if others understand what I am trying to say, whether lightheartedly or seriously.

Case in point, I just finished a post on the main thread, finally hit send, and there was only one other person left on the thread with me. Sigh.

Your part in the fandom: how has it evolved? Do you consider it a hobby or an addicition? How much time do you spend on your fandom?

My fandom started out as being an alternate identity. I could either be "sick" or "Clay-type crazy". I much preferred the latter, and my family was in a state of pure bewilderment at what I would do next for about two or three years. Hee. It was fun to watch them, and even more fun to escape a role I wanted to shed for a bigger world along with some very special new friendships.

In the last year or so, with much improved health I have discovered I have nothing left to prove. I don't need a lot of Clay paraphenalia sitting around to remind my family that this fandom is a valued part of my life. I actually tried to "break up" with Clay this spring; we agreed we'd still be friends and I'd go to the occasional concert to hear him sing, and you know, just see him. Um, yeah. Somehow I ended up in Houston, thanks to Kareneh, and Dallas, and Tulsa. And then Asheville, and Knoxville cuz Airmiles screwed up my reservations to Texas so badly they gave all 5000 back.

It's really a toss up who I go to see now, my friends or Clay. It is really an unbeatable combination, but when it comes down to it, my friends do call back, and answer my emails etc etc. Their return investment in me has been a wonderful gift in my life and brought me welcome perspective and joy.

And yes, I do spend way too much time on this fandom. But it does depend on what kind of measuring stick I use.

What would you considered a "blowtorched puppy" -- in other words, what could Clay do that would make you stop being a fan?

My experience of Clay thus far has been a great one. I don't think the future could change or muddy that very pleasant past, or erase the wonderful times I have had because of them. I do the one day at a time thing. I believe Clay to be a fine human being. Still he doesn't owe me one thing. I hope that I will be able to have the pleasure of hearing him sing for a long long time, but that's not for me to dictate.

I don't know beans about the professional music business, but even if I did, Clay's life is his life. And like Gandhi said, roughly paraphrased, what kind of freedom is it, if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes? Undoubtedly Clay has/will made/make mistakes. It's the way we all learn where our direction lies. Doing it in the public spectrum takes enormous courage; I'll be cheering him on with an open mind.

How do you feel about "shipping Clay?" Why do you feel that way?

Clay and I are strangers, and serious speculation/extrapolation is always a slippery slope to me, and not really what I consider entertaining in the sense that the media does.

If shipping means all in good fun, I think Clay has a pretty good sense of humor......... it's always more fun to laugh with people than at them.

If it implies judgement and meddling in more direct "Clay should or shouldn't do this or that" then just no.

It is simply none of my business.

This has been my very first chat.

princess zena responds...... you are all........hilarious to a fault.

ETA: I just love this board for its intelligent discourse and exchange of brilliant ideas.

!oot em

She's here...she's here!!! Yipeeee!!

Just for clarity, I'd like to point out that the sword we gave her.....in the back of her dress.....ran parallel to her spine, not perpendicular, as some might expect.......coming from the eHP and all that.

Welcome .....and all aboard is right, Princess Zena.

zena bows nervously, and clears her throat. "first, and foremost, I like to thank my principle enabler, KarenEh?. I followed her in here, you know sorta like someone who sneaks into the apartment when who is legitimately living there unlocks the door and doesn't close it behind them quite fast enough. This was after houston, where someone at the preparty christened me xzena, after the presentation of my random gift, and before my sons, bless their hearts, told me how to correctly spell xena, also that she had a flying disc, not a sword and that i, their demure mother, really didn't quite fit the title. Maybe I should google her?, they said. :thdom2: I did. It was very enlightening.

And, and, um, i'd like to also express my undying devotion to the eHP, with special mention to K'Andre who not only rattled me so charmingly into grabbing the largest gift on the pile of doorprizes; lovingly swaddled in Claywrapping paper, but also cheerfully bequeathed me one of the posters on the wall. And merrieee,who makes the bestest, beautifulest, biggest, Clay posters that i have had the pleasure to sleep under.

But KarenEh?; she's on the very top in my books, no matter where she lives. She's opened so many doors for me, you'd think I was important or something. Well, if i'm a princess, she's a .............. help me fca? What's the highest title round here?

Wait, how does zena know about my totally randomly awarded prize at the Houston DCAT preparty? Did I meet zena there?

By the way, eHP, my older daughter confiscated the saber....she asked why I had it and I gave her a totally random and innocent, very plausibe reason.... which I, unfortunately, cannot recall at the moment...

muskifest, i do remember you saying, in reply to someone who asked you what you were going to do with that random glowing thing, as you walked back to your table brandishing it, that you knew what to do with it. You may remember, but hopefully not, this odd person travelling in the back seat with you on the way back from Tulsa. She may have impulsively undone her seatbelt to dig frantically through the mountain of luggage in the back of Karin's car in order to find her camera so that she could take a picture of the upended cows on the trailer that pulled up alongside us on the interstate. Now, that was the best run-on sentence i've produced in ages.

No? well, okay then, I got nothing else. *g*

Oh, how to celebrate a gift

That gives such pleasure with each lift.

I would bell the precious thing

so that I could hear it ring

and tie it with a big red bow

Just so I could watch it grow!

And as for others on the scene

You are all just plain obscene.

I bow. I bow. Wandocleo you are classic. There is no emoticon sufficient to emote you.

eta: do ya think i get extra points for long posts?.