saltwaterdog

We stayed at The Paramount last time, which was close and fairly nice. It's only a couple blocks from the theatre and I had gotten a great internet deal. The prices aren't so good this time and I'm thinking of The Hotel at Times Square. Has anyone stayed there?

1/3 and 1/4 for me.

Fact is that unless Clay and Jaymes decide to give us a lot of details, we may never know. Even if they do, all we'll know is what they want us to know. Speculating about this is no more effective a way of determining the truth than speculating about his orientation is. Likewise their living arrangments on a day-to-day business are not something Clay is obligated to share with us. It's silly to make assumptions about their relationship or their daily lives based on what we know, because we know so little. It's even sillier to argue with each other about what they are. All we know about this latest period is that Clay, Jerome, and Faye picked up Jaymes and Parker from the hospital in Durham. Plus the statement from Clay in his blog. The end.

I think one of the reasons that it's hard not to speculate is because we make assumptions about other people all the time, based on what we "know" about them - which may be nothing more than how they look. Neighbors, coworkers, family, even casual friends, can be known only by what they allow us to see and what can be observed. For me with Clay, I am far more interested than if I didn't follow his career so closely. From a close friend I might hear about an upcoming marriage or domestic problems or whatever, but from the guy working down the hall, probably not.

My biggest frustration is that all the talk and speculation seems to leave little room for pretty pictures!

saltwaterdog, from what I was reading on other boards, Parker will have dual citizenship. Can't help you with the bedbug question though.

Thanks, justclay.

Whatever the relationship I love the body language in the banner picture. Genuine affection. My DH is convinced they have more than a friendship. I could go either way, or never know. I'm snoopy - it would be interesting to know - but I certainly respect their right to privacy. For me, it's sorta like my neighbors. We live in an area with quite a few seasonal residence (lots of outdoor recreation here). It would be interesting to know their "other lives", but I enjoy them while they're here.

I think Spamalot is a brilliant career move. Let's Clay work in one place with very reasonable hours. The media is friendly, for the most part, so it should help promote the CD and hopefully an eventual tour. It's something he knows so he doesn't have to take time away from Parker to rehearse. He seems to have worked out a wonderful balance between his professional and private life this entire year - well, at least what we can know of his private life. We should all be so lucky!

Anybody know anything about The Hotel at Times Square? Reading here about bedbugs makes me nervous!

I was surprised, too, that Parker was born in NC. Will he have dual citizenship?

Someone needs to take my credit card away from me. Right now. Eeeeep.

Yeah, mine, too.

My DH sure wishes Hannah was going to be there! Five lovely months of anticipation for me, since I'm going closing weekend. I love the anticipation!

Awwwwwwwwwwwww. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Here's my question to those of you who have been to a bunch of Broadway shows before, and also know what NYC is like around the holidays...

The best time for hubby and I to go would be between Christmas and New Year's. Both our colleges are closed, so we wouldn't lose any work time. How are the hotels during that time frame, though? That worries me. Also, of course, travel at that time has to be zooey. One more question -- do the actors tend to schedule "time off" during that week? Would there be a good chance that Clay might "opt out" and let the understudy do at least a few of those shows during that frame?

Any help would be appreciated.

If you could manage to go the first week in January, after New Year's, you can get the cheapest hotel deals of that season. Whoops, except that the Clay Nation will be invading then. Next best bet, IMO, would be immediately after Christmas Day.

Thank you for the info! I was wondering about that. I have tickets to 1/3 and 1/4. While DH and I would like to be in Times Square on NYE, the cheaper hotel might make it worth going later - and help my willpower not to go to more shows.

More of this:

Regular guy is good. Very good, actually. But I do agree that Clay is unusual in many ways. For one, many people who have tough childhoods grow up living the negative behavior patterns they grew up with. Clay seems to have consciously chosen the positive, or the opposite patterns. He's said so, and it shows. And, yes, his filters seem to be different than that of popular culture. But beyond that he does both fit and "regular guy" and the "unusual" descriptions equally well. Plus "regular guy" and "hott guy" - they both work for me!

Often times fan pictures are so much better of Clay than some of the professional ones. I do wonder at times why certain pictures are used. This one, though, I love how Clay's hand is shielding Parker from the sun.

The people who talk about how ugly clay is say it about the most beautiful of pictures. I like the picture..although sun in the eye could be the explanation..I was thinking he spotted the paparazzi. Sun is the simplest and probably accurate explanation. Clay's pretty photogenic so fortunately I can't think of many unattractive photos out there that are constantly used. It's amazing how the most beautiful of people/stars can look downright unattractive at times in a picture. I actually hide when the cameras come out so don't know how they stand it or deal with it.

ETA cuz SON in the eye is not the same as SUN in the eye LOL.

this is my monday ugh!

I see both - sun in his eyes and son in his eyes.

Who says you don't learn something new on a message board!?! I didn't know about the football hold either, and I thought Parker looked like he could slide right through!

Anyone else imagining little baby feet in little mismatched stripey socks?

Mismatched striped booties. I love it.

And a teeny tiny bucket hat. Burberry, of course. :sm227:

And lots and lots of hoodies!

No pictures for pages and pages!!!!!

Here's one of my favorites that my DH has taken. Greenville JBT.

I just wish all of them health, happiness and hope, and long for the day that Clay will be back entertaining me again.

I'm with ya there! Yesterday, DH and I were chatting about how long Clay's "paternity leave" will be. Quite selfishly I hope that it will end about Gala time and include at least some Christmas dates. I think it's more likely, though, that Clay won't let that precious little guy out of his sight for many months to come! :F_05BL17blowkiss: As for a picture or pictures being released I sure hope it's Clay that does the releasing and not some sleaze stealing a candid outside somebody's car. I would love to see something similar to the pictures where Clay is holding Chamberlain - those pictures on Quiana's website just melt my heart.

playbiller good work on the Leno clip! I had forgot all about that.

I remember feeling hurt when a dear friend didn't reveal her pregnancy until she was starting to show. I had thought she would want to share the good news, but she had suffered a miscarriage the year before - and I mean really suffered emotionally with it. She didn't want to tell people she was expecting and then possibly have to tell them she had lost it. Not saying that this is the case with Jaymes and Clay, just giving an example of why someone might want to wait and share the information.

There's a very exclusive golf course development near us - so exclusive that many people who live in the small town nearby don't even know it exists. DH and I have worked in there, so we've seen what kind of steps they've taken as a community to protect the privacy of the owners. Most people would recognize the names of at least some of the people that live there. I have to admit that a few years ago I would have thought the place extravagant and snobbish, but after watching what has happened to Clay in the media and with some of his fans, I applaud the developers of this community. In the depressed building market around here it's the only place where new construction is continuing at a rapid pace. With so much information available on celebrities (or really anyone, for that matter), privacy is almost priceless.

Having said that, I'd still love to see a picture of Baby and Daddy. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Someone asked about naming boys after their grandmothers. Clay said in LTS it is a Southern tradition to give a boy his grandmother's maiden name. Clayton is his matenal grandmother's maiden name and Holmes is his paternal grandmother's maiden name.

So the baby has the grandmothers' married names, then. Parker being his paternal grandmother and Foster the maternal grandmother's. I suppose they couldn't use maiden names because then the baby would be Aiken Aiken.

Am I figuring that out right?

ETA: cagney, my guess is the NJU follows a story line and sees that Clay has released a CD that they didn't know about. I'm tha-rilled to hear about the spike in sales.

annabear I was thinking of those pictures, too - thanks for posting them. And all the pictures from the UNICEF trips. That man must be in seventh heaven.

WELCOME, PARKER!!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss: And congrats to Clay and Jaymes.

KAndre...you said it, woman, re: LI DSIAFCD and AIW....I was there, of course (You might recall that I subjected brought my older daughter with me to join the eHP for a pre-show dinner. and I was sniffling through both of those last songs. When he dropped the microphone I remember thinking, "This is one of THOSE moments" and I felt so blessed to be there to experience it.

I was absolutely FLOORED that he came back to sing AIW. I honestly thought he wouldn't/couldn't do it (and actually would have understood if he hadn't). A man was sitting next to me and at one point during the song, I heard him say softly to the woman next to him, "He's gonna hurl"...Clay's face was pale and he was holding on to that stool with all his might and I just didn't know if he was going to make it...I had my hand on my throat and I even remember that I thought "God, I must look like the stereotypical pearl-clutcher female!"...

I was so awed by him that night...so in awe...and gratitude. I tried not to let the judgmental glances of my daughter piss me off while I tried not to totally lose it. And as we left the theater and the sniffles of other people surrounded us, I just gave in to the emotion and without shame wiped my tears.

What an amazing gift he is. That he can touch people's hearts and souls so beautifully.

What a show that was! I was sure he wouldn't come back. Jessie started to grab his music off the piano, if I remember right, and back came Clay. I cried through both songs. Gift is the perfect word - such a gift he gave us with the performance. I felt that so strongly because I had come all the way across the country for that one concert. My DH thought he was going to get sick, too, or fall off the stool. I had almost a physical reaction at times, wanting to hold him up! (With only good intentions in mind, of course.)

Its not that I don't have a life, its just that these Clay things are so much damn fun!

Boy, is that the truth! And half of it is the anticipation - maybe more than half. If I know that a Clay trip is coming up, I start preparing months in advance. Gotta have the right clothes, set meetings with friends, schedule other sights to see along the way. I miss the anticipation as much right now as I miss the real thing!

I also think that NOT touring for a while might have the effect of growing his audience some - how many people just need a break from concerts (me) requiring travel, who are cash poor from Spamalot and the preceding Xmas and summer tours, and maybe absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Supply and demand. My bank account sure needed a break, but I would have found some way to go to a concert anyway this summer or fall. This way I can save for more.

I also agree with those thinking that, first of all, Clay DOES need the rest. Like most jobs you don't do....I think we have NO idea what "being Clay Aiken" entails on a day to day basis.

My husband and I have our own business and many people would be quite jealous that we were swimming in a river with our dogs yesterday afternoon. What they don't see, though, is my DH falling asleep at the computer doing the "behind the scenes" stuff many nights of the week or being away from home for days at a time. Sure, there's TC, but I imagine much more than we see falls on Clay's shoulders.

~

My apologies to those I quoted - I kept screwing up the quote tags and finally just went with generic quotes.

The first one was taken behind the amphitheatre at Cary, before the JBT concert. I don't know who the photographer was, but it wasn't me. I was there and I did see him walking around, from a great distance. It was pretty cool to see him prior to the performance like that. I guess that is what the JBT hair looked like without gel and styling! It's one of my favourite pictures.

ETA a couple more from that day (clickable):

The second one was taken by my daughter at Spamalot in March. I also like it because of the composition - all the cameras pointed at him!

More pretties! Thank you! I thought that his hair was even too short for JBT. I like it. He looks so young there!

....and, BTW, to the know-it-all man who stood behind me as I was taking these pictures telling me it was not possible to take a photograph of a rainbow...?? PHHHHHHHHHTTTTTT!!!!!!

I got really lucky and captured a rainbow behind a neighbor's sailboat years back. 35 mm camera. It's one of the best pictures I've ever taken - just one of those "see what happens" shots. I'm no photographer!

. . .maybe . . .

Yeah, maybe.

I miss Clay, too, but I envy him taking summer off. I love summer and he deserves to enjoy this one after the lovely tour he gave us last summer. If he should want to come back sooner, that would certainly be fine, too!

You know it's slow when I start posting random pretties from photobucket:

What is this one from, anybody know? I don't remember ever seeing his hair like that.

Love!! this one - not only for the great profile of Clay, but also because of all the cameras in the background.

Bigger version of OK mag pic, from morganette at the CH:

Gosh.

It's been pages and pages with no pictures and I'm just here trolling for pretties - too sleepy to read, so I just felt like this needed to on this page, too!

He's ooooooooooooozing awwwwwwwwness again.

What I love about going to a Clay concert is the voice, the funny, the pure entertainment value he brings to every show. The reason I go to multiples is to witness the unexpected. I wasn't there for Listen but I adore the clack. It was one of those special unforgettable moments for me like Clay singing to his grandad and even Clay singing Without You with KLo or him falling and bouncing back up oh you get the drift. For me it wasn't about the song but about the connection between Clay and Quiana and kinda feeling I was watching them "work" and find the magic.

Now Angela's version was just blow me out of the water emotional. I felt every word straight to the heart. And yep, LA was totally special with her family there but she sang it so wonderfully every night. Both versions are special to me. Just like Without You...yeah Clay and Quiana had the benefit of singing it every night for a month but although not polished the Anaheim KLo version was wonderful to me and I still feel the excitement of her walking out on the stage. Both renditions are on the ipod.

Sigh. I smile just thinking about these performances.

I like to go to multiples because Clay makes me happy. The Flat Clay serenade at Pala was one of "those" moments for me. When I watch the video, it brings me back. And that's why I seldom watch videos unless they're highly recommended. I like the thrill of being there. The one big exception was that performance of "Beautiful Star". That's the only live song that DH has on his iPod.

"Listen" is my favorite Angela solo - she was so connected with that song.

The adrenaline rush was unbelievable.

Yep.

The Broad's next second round match-up is up. These are just impossible. Today's is Kyrie from the IT vs Listen: http://lbfca.diaryland.com/round2m5.html. I ended up voting for Kyrie just because that entrance was so amazing, and the way he surveyed the audience before taking the stage was hawt. He was hawt. And I had a serious crush on the hat. That video isn't from Raleigh, though. St. Paul maybe?? Last round was TITN Raleigh vs BOTW AI. ARGH!! Finally voted for BOTW because that was such a killer performance. Man--hard choices. And I still can't believe my beloved BFM Vermont is almost certainly gone. Sigh. It's not too late to vote on the earlier second round matches. The links are in the sidebar.

I've been at the Reference Desk for most of the morning, or else I would have had this up on the board as well. And jmh, love ya babe...but our votes canceled each other out! Hee. Yeah, that Kyrie entrance is amazing (and I questioned the location when I posted about it in the first round), but Listen was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so I personally had to go with that. As for the other round -- to me, the emotion of that TITN was chill-inducing. IMO, it's much more about the fans that night, and the love that was shown to Clay. Of course, it also helps that I love that footstomping he does at a few points in the song. *g*

I voted for TITN for much the same reason - it was such an amazing show of support and love and Clay handled it so gracefully.

Kyrie - one of my absolute, all-time favorites. I half wish he'd record it, but really I just want to see it live again. He came by so close to us in Seattle. DH and I each had a camera. His pictures were okay, but mine were unrecognizable because I was shaking so bad!

From gaymarie at the CH, photo taken before the QVC appearance:

God, I love that smile.

WOW, that's gorgeous!! Thanks so much for bringing it over!

Back to work.....

Gosh. I love/hate this picture! That smile just lights up the place, but I remember during that entire appearance I kept thinking that his eyes were toooo dark - harsh. The context here, with Clay in TV makeup and the others in the picture without, really heightens the dark eyelashes. Clay has so many looks - I first impression at the stage door was how pretty he is, and the dark eyelashes with the blond hair really emphasizes that. I mean that in a positive way, btw, even though men aren't usually described as "pretty".

ETA: Another eyelash "impression": If I remember right, when Clay sang "Star of Bethlehem" his eyelashes must have been natural. Gave him a completely different look, and I loved it. Well, I usually (but not always) love whatever is his current look, anyway.