FromClaygary

Hee....it makes me laugh and kind of schmoopie at the same time how many common names there are along the East coast. At home in Ontario, the next county to where I live is Durham county...which is more than a little ways from North Carolina! It's fun to see, though, and definitely always makes me think of our sweet singer-daddy.

Just got back from a very fun afternoon at the American Folk Festival in Bangor. It's a beautiful day here, a perfect day for music and fun in the sun. Ate the red, white and blue shortcake, listened to the music, and of course bought the T-shirt! Anyone familiar with the Junkyard Band out of DC area? What fun they were! Their PA gave me a website address to get their CD (which they were sold out of at the show)...but there's nothing on it! ...so I won't bother to post it. I did get some (I think) fun video, audio and pictures which I'll bore y'all with later when I get home and can "render" them. Luckiest1, as soon as the shuttle got into the downtown area I realized what your interest was~Stephen King, right? Wow, those are some of the Stephen King-iest houses I've ever seen! :lmaosmiley-1: Unfortunately, could NOT get pictures out of the shuttle windows as they have one of those advertising masks over top of them, which you can see through but which definitely does NOT facilitate pictures through it. Someone in NB mentioned to me that I should just "ask anyone" here, and they would give you directions to his house, which is here and which apparently you can drive right by. I'd forgotten about it until I saw the houses but I may do that tomorrow (and will try and get some pictures).

Oooh, another place I've always wanted to visit, but never been to (although, apparently I've been pronouncing it right in my head all this time!) Take some pictures for me if you are so inclined! Oh, you know me better than that! The more appropriate question might be, would you be able to STOP me from taking pictures and showing them to everyone? Anything in particular? There is no question in my mind that Clay is a very positive person, the glass-half-FULL type of person. Too many people think of children with special needs as "oh dear, they won't be able to do this and that... etc". Rather, Clay said he was excited about what possibilities there were for them, i.e. he didn't dwell about what they couldn't do but what they COULD do. Clay's words had a massive impact on me, not just because he said them but because he LIVED them. He was still a very young man when he worked with special children, including Mike Bubel, and when he founded the BAF. It was Clay's musical talent that first drew me to him, but it was his character and integrity that has made me want to know more about what is inside his head. This is why I wanted so much for Clay to write songs, not for "voyeuristic" reasons but rather to hear more of his gentle wisdom that can live forever in a song. To me, Imagine is the most powerful song ever written because of the lyrics, as idealistic as they are, they hit the core about what's truly important.. It's a timeless song, as are all songs that strike a chord with people who are deep thinkers and who say "why not?", rather than just "why?". Claytonic, I absolutely agree with you, and beautifully put!! I'm off to try again for the Folk Festival shuttle in 15 minutes or so....wish me luck!

:F_05BL17blowkiss: Waving today from Bangor, ME...not pronounced Banger, as I've been saying it, but Bang-OR, with the emphasis on the OR. Who knew? The American Folk Festival is on here until tomorrow, and I made plans to go down tonight (the hotel has a shuttle) but apparently someone else had other plans for me, as the shuttle left me behind. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow, I'd love to hear some of the acts and eat some of the food, and see some of the crafts. A demain!! :013085001176249046:

thank you myclaygary! what is My myb? I'm new at this. How do you post? Have a good day! Preden, me myb is the lady you met as a face on the computer at the party on Saturday Posting is what you're doing now~ie, replying on a message board. Waving hello tonight from the world's slowest wired internet connection on earth, in Fredericton NB (New Brunswick, for Cotton). At least it's only for one night. Cotton, I'm so sorry to hear about your sister's franchise! That sucks bigtime for both of you!! Was there no contract?? Cindilu2, I'm bringing up a motion and asking for votes....could we keep this banner forever?? Pretty please?? Although......I may never read a post again, I'm just mesmerized.....

Weary wave! Ca-RAP, I'm tired, it's been a very, very long week at work and this hotel is without a doubt the noisiest I've ever been in in my life. Never again. Finished work at 11:30 last night. My vacation is disappearing as I speak (keep your fingers crossed for me) as I had to initiate an LP investigation at the store I was in yesterday, and the investigator called me already at 5 AM this morning. Ack!! Preden, welcome to the board! We're so happy to see you in our UNreal lives as well! Me myb, if you're lurking, now we just have to get you to post more and I think our little group will be complete, right? Scarlett1 and alter ego Scarlett2....hope you get/got off the ground! I've had that happen on a long-weekend vacation, and it just sucks bigtime. Forgot to add, cindilu2 the banner is bee-YOOtiful and so are the pins! Put me down for 2.

Not sure if you're referencing the Charlottetown part or the PEI part...but here's the answer to both: Charlottetown tourism Charlottetown city site WOW! You must be ancient. Anne was published in 1908. :F_05BL17blowkiss: And I thought I was old. I first read it in an old beat-up copy that had been my Mother's. Well, I'm old but not THAT old! Never even heard of them (and I'm a voracious reader) until there was some kind of a series on TV I'm not sure how many years ago~maybe 20-30? And at that stage, as an adult, it wasn't something that appealed to me so I never watched it. I do know who she is, and the general storyline, but that's about it. As I said, the furor is lost on me. I even worked in our local library as a volunteer from the time I was about 10 until I was 17; but the book(s?) weren't in it.

Oh, lucky you! (hee....) If you have to....Country Inn & Suites on Mountain Road. The sweet suite makes it all bearable.

That's Anne of Green Gables country! Another place on my 'must visit someday' list! Oh, it sure is! Anne of Green Gables EVERY-thing! It's kind of lost on me, as the books were after my time...but I did visit the house briefly last year. I didn't go IN the house, just kind of looked around. It's in a quite lovely park area...and you'd love the island, I'm sure. You definitely should get there! ETA: Luckiest1....oh, you've been here then?? No disrespect to Moncton....but NOT one of my favorite places. Saint John and Fred are OK though....Saint John tomorrow, Fred on Friday.

OMG djs, I know you and your sister! :lmaosmiley-1: Here's the only fairly recent picture of me I have in my PB, taken at the Toronto CDR party in May. I keep thinking about the timing of the Canandaigua show where he revealed that Jaymes could call him Clayton. Knowing how long the in vitro process can take, they must have been planning/trying/hoping by then. I bet you're right! Well, Charlottetown PEI and the bridge were lovely today....but cold! 15 above in the middle of August, yikes! For you Americaners that's about 60 degrees. What a busy place Charlottetown is in the summer! I usually try to stay overnight there, but this time could not get a hotel room to do that, so I drove back to Moncton....and it was so windy, I was afraid they might close the bridge, and that would be just.not.good. for me. But, all is well. Kandre, Scarlett and the rest of the eHP going, have fun in Asia! Remember, LOTS of pictures!

Good morning from wet and chilly Moncton, NB! I think the area is suffering from the effects of Fay. HURRICANE Fay, that is. I'm off to Charlottetown PEI shortly. Bought my first Spam tickets last night, about ten seconds before the power went out! :lmaosmiley-1: Hope that isn't a sign! Loving all of the baby pictures~as I'm not at home, I have no access to any of mine. After 30+ years the new-infant-at-home memories have faded~pretty much all I remember is always being tired At that point there was no such thing as mat leave and I had to work; so, you took whatever vacation time you had to have your baby, and went back to work. I know with the younger two boys I was back to work (fulltime) in about 3 weeks. Fortunately, I had a very good babysitter, but none of my kids was ever breast fed for obvious reasons. Doesn't seem to have hurt them a bit! I often think about Clay, Jaymes and Parker and how they are managing. I know they will have lots of help if it is wanted, but I strongly suspect Clay will want to be and IS fully involved. Thinking about those gi-normous hands changing a 6-lb baby butt makes me all schmoopie. I hope he is enjoying this time to the fullest and spoiling Jaymes and Parker to bits. ETA: The past few days, I've also been remembering some of his comments over the time Jaymes was pregnant, and I think he must have been bursting at the seams. Remember when someone in an interview asked him what he was reading? And he said he'd just purchased a favorite childhood book? (Mortimer Wintergreen) I wonder if he was stocking up....or reading to Parker in utero?

Yes, exactly. I think one advantage will be that Parker may have a builtin playmate in Chamberlin, which would be fun. They're only 2 yrs and a bit apart, and as they grow up I'm sure they'll be more like brothers than "just friends". Or maybe they'll hate one another! :lmaosmiley-1: One never knows!! I'm sure Chamberlin is already very curious and excited about the baby. Aaaack!! I KNEW it! I should NEVER try and make lists!! SORRYYYYY!!! :thbighug-1: VERY best wishes to clayzedover for a complete recovery! Thanks so much to whoever brought over the information so that we know.

As usual, so far behind I think I'm ahead! Haven't been here since early Friday morning....so.... Belatedly, THANKS everyone for the birthday wishes! It is greatly appreciated! :F_05BL17blowkiss: Thanks for that! HAH!! I can take you any day! WOW, this was the best weekend birthday I've had in many years! Thanks to luckiest1, cindilu2, claymatron, heinz, alspaz....preden from Montreal....me myb by webcam all the way from Red Deer, AB...and especially goldarngirl and Clay's friend goldarnMr, the hosts with the mostest! I'm not sure how I got so lucky as to be adopted by these special people, but I sure am thankful!! You know, I've looked at that list several times and I have a feeling I'm missing someone....please forgive me if so, y'know I'm old! We had a great time talking Spamalot, Sweet P...and everything else under the sun! Friday night dinner at Michael's (?) was just yummy, and so was the birthday chocolate-dipped strawberry and the serenade...nothing much better than chocolate and music and the company of good friends. Saturday's cluncheon was lots of fun~this time we had TWO special guests~preden from Montreal, who sat beside goldarngirl and I at Spamalot in March, and has never been the same. and me myb from Red Deer, who was with us via webcam. How totally cool!! We ate and gabbed and ate and I got to blow out my birthday candles AND make a wish! Heee..... :lmaosmiley-1: Those of us staying with goldarngirl of course did the Clayfan thing~ie, stayed up until 3 AM both nights talking about.....guess who??.....and got up the next morning and started out all over again. Lots of good philosophical discussion though! Sunday started off with a coffee on the terrace in the fresh air (it was absolutely beautiful out!) and....you guessed it....we chatted a bit! Then off to brunch...yumm...and of course to top it all off...we agreed (mostly) on a Spamalot date, and booked our hotel. Anyone been at the Wellington? It looks fine. Thanks again, everyone! I had such a good birthday! Preden will need another vacation when she gets back home!

Very cool!....and wow you must have been fast!! ETA: Gibby, love yours too! Being a Northerner from the Igloo section originally, I never thought to hang a hummingbird feeder, but I bet I would see some too if I did. It always used to make me laugh when I saw them selling....well, ie, having in the stores....hummingbird feeders in Calgary. As if!! Oh crap! Glad luckiestdotter made it OK! That must have been panicsville! I always tell the shuttle when I book it that they will find me there until 30 minutes past the time they are expected~and then I'm outta there. Wandacleo, sounds like something I would have done as well! Hope you can find a solution. Had you planned on attending the Gala as well? Some info on the LOTL for Clay's next run in Spamalot, for those interested: Merle Dandridge Awww, thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone! Claymatron I believe we'll be sleeping together sometime soon so revenge IS possible! It's gonna be a girlfriend weekend....what better way to spend a birthday??

Good Lord! I'm finally caught up! WHY!!!!???? do I have to work for a living? Oh yeah.....to go to NYC to see Spamalot. :lmaosmiley-1: Thanks so much to whomever brought over the pictures. I love them but he looks sooooooo tired in some of them! I suspect there were maybe a few nights/long days spent at the hospital. And the bringing of the plate of food HOME? I doubt it...looks like it was going IN to Jaymes, not in the other direction. Sweet. I wonder what she was craving? Many, many plans to be made at our get-together this weekend! :04: But now....yup! Off to work!! :F_05BL17blowkiss: ETA: Y'know, I have no idea of course whether the return of Spam was planned earlier~but I think he must have been truly worried about the baby. It just seems like a "new energy" is flowing now....and I'm even more glad for him that it "all worked out in the end".

Just sayin' a quick Hi! from schmoopie heaven! Cindilu2, both of those are absolutely adorable!....and thanks SO much to the person who made, and the people who posted, the video without the TMZ logo and sound: I too really thought it sounded like a machine gun and it creeped me right out. Thanks as well for the very clear pics! Altogether.....just happy as a clam over here!

I believe it was played on Korean TV that way, not the Olympics themselves as I don't THINK they would do the "commercial" thing. I believe also that the clip has been enhanced (by the poster) to feature OMWH a bit more than it likely was originally. But I think it's still very cool! For the record - that clip wasn't enhanced by me! And as far as I know, the person who capped it ripped it right from the Korean TV webpage. No enhancement (that I know of) that wasn't done by the TV station. :F_05BL17blowkiss: Whoops, sorry, didn't mean you at all cha cha! I meant the ORIGINAL poster of the information and the yousendit. Snowluv at CV I think, but I could be wrong. The reason I think it's been enhanced is the swell of the music at the end from the very, very faint background it was at the beginning~and the fact that at that point, the broadcasters are clearly speaking, as you can see their lips moving....but you can't hear them. Just looks like a fan amendment to me, and that's fine...as I said, it's cool, whatever....

I believe it was played on Korean TV that way, not the Olympics themselves as I don't THINK they would do the "commercial" thing. I believe also that the clip has been enhanced (by the poster) to feature OMWH a bit more than it likely was originally. But I think it's still very cool! I don't think so! I think that's exactly what WILL happen, and IMO SHOULD happen....ie, normal stuff anyone would say in conversation! I'm looking forward to it.

Gosh, so many posts from last night and this morning to agree with!! ...and to the second point about turd-stirrers....yes, exactly. Makes me wonder sometimes if some of those are the paparazzi who are there picking up the comments from "fans". Me too!....and I really think we will, even if it's a while....I don't think, having announced the birth, that he'll be ABLE to keep it to himself! ....or become the administrator of his Daddy's (by that time) far-flung entertainment conglomerate. Me too....(re the pissed off)....and the reason I posted it is NOT to piss people off, but to point out that as much as we may think the board we are on at that moment is private~it's NOT!! I think that may indeed have been one of the famous Aiken "slips of the lip" I bet at that point it was HELL for him to contain himself. Jimmy MAY have known as well. ETA: oops! just realized it was not Kimmel, but Leno~scratch that! Aikim, I'm completely with you as well! I've been very fortunate to have met two men in my life who were deeply religious, and who I believe truly understand and buy into their faith for a way to live. Clay is one of them. The leaders of the churches I've attended, not so much, unfortunately. KAndre, I bow to you today as well.

Completely off-topic, but I've been meaning to post this for weeks and kept forgetting to get the link..... For Scarlett and anyone else who is into quilting and doesn't already know about this site.... Quilter's Cache Scarlett, a while back you were talking about quilt patterns; the above site has been in existence for years...and years....and is a HUGE resource for free patterns for quilt blocks of many different types. Simple, complex and everything in between, there are zillions there, and more added every month. Click on the picture to get a pattern and usually some examples done in different fabrics, and a picture of what a whole quilt done in the block might look like. Here's another decent one.....Jinny Beyer's site. These tend to be more complex, but again there are tons of them, and they're free. My favorite online fabric site....EQuilter.com...if there is a fabric they don't have for quilting, you don't need it. They're very good to deal with. ....and my favorite quilting software....EQ. I've used this for about 10 yrs and never had a problem, and of course they upgrade it regularly. The current version is EQ6, and they have great support and lots of fun stuff, as you can see by this website. Clay content? Hope Sweet P is home, laying about on the quilt on his bed, with his Daddy! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Playbiller, just got back. Thanks for the explanation, I appreciate it. Luckiest, kind of glad you decided to give it up, although I'm glad the time you had was good. It's not pretty out there! What a crazy "summer" we've had. My heat came on tonight for cryin' out loud!

If all of this is directed at me, playbiller, I have no idea what you're talking about. The story I linked doesn't have anything to do with Clay himself (except peripherally, IMO), it's about watching what you post on a message board. Re your second paragraph....I have absolutely no idea where you got the impression I was rude. I've complimented two people on their posts and referenced a post from someone else about rude posts on another board. As I said, I don't feel that's being rude and I don't appreciate yours or Iseeme's posts naming me, and treating me like a 4 year old that needs to be put in a corner. THAT is rude. THIS is direct....just so it's clear.

It's a dreary day in central ON, but in my world there's a LOT of sunshine....I can't imagine it being any other way after the healthy birth of a most-anticipated and already well-loved baby, to two of my favorite people. Today is my first weekend off in many....and I intend to just roll around in the joy like a pig in the muck. :F_05BL17blowkiss: Here's a bit of a lesson in "private message boards", not that it will stop the trolls. In fact, I'm sure it's their intention. MY intention is to stay as clear of them as possible. News and Observer luckiest1, hope you're camping somewhere it ISN'T raining! My hat's off to wandacleo, as it often is, and claytonic.

Sorry, Iseeme, I had gone to bed before you posted (not that it would have helped to spoiler at that point). I thought these finale things were played at the same time across the country!

Yup! I was watching SYTYCD...enjoyed it, but my favorite (Twitch) lost out...I wanted to tell him, sometimes second is best. Scarlett, I actually have three Janomes . One which is fairly basic, one which has all the embroidery features which were available at that time (it's about 10 yrs old) and a Jem for classes etc. I love them all. They're durable, lightweight, have inexpensive accessory parts (DON'T go with a Bernina!) and I have never, ever repaired any of them. I do do regular maintenance myself. As Iseeme said, if you're going to be quilting, the Janome has a great 1/4" foot and mine will machine quilt very, very nicely as well with no added futzin' around. I don't even drop the feed, even though it is possible to do so on my bigger two. Failing that, I would recommend investigating Husqvarna. Although I've never had one, everyone I know who has, loves it also. PS.....I warned you about going to that quilt show!