farouche

I love that last picture.

Sorry I haven't been here much lately. Just in case youse guys didn't hear, Clay opened in Spamalot on Friday night. He was really good. Just thought you might want to know.

The eyes in that picture kill me. It's so hard to capture the color when you take pictures.

Not necessarily. I never use flash and I have had occasional venue security issues. Some of it depends on who is around you. In Vegas, someone in my row was using her LCD screen as her viewfinder (which I never do b/c I'd need my reading glasses). That is a real easy target for people looking for cameras, and I think that's how the usher noticed me. Also, if you take video, there is probably a tally light on your camera that blinks red when you are recording. Again, that makes you a target. Although my Canon has a feature for disabling the tally light, it never works. So I try to remember to put some black tape over it. Re disliking concerts and then changing your mind: I don't think it's indicative of much except changing one's mind and having initial worry out of worry for Clay if that makes sense. For example, I remember those shots of him in a leisure suit sitting on a bean bag before the JBT. Well, that gave me pause and not in a good way. However, it was not indicative of the energy, fun, or sexiness of the actual show. With the JNT 5, I actually liked the idea of the vignettes before they happened. I thought the show wasn't as effective as it could have been b/c the acting (I'm looking at you, John D.) wasn't always what it could be, sight lines for a lot of audience members were blocked by parts of the set, etc. I wished that some aspects of the realization of that idea had been better. At the same time, he was in sublime voice for that tour and I loved that he had written something and put himself out there. So I went to five and have many fond memories of it. ETA: Atinal -- are you a member of CV or the CH? There are threads at both of those boards talking about effective camera settings for the cameras most clackgatherers use. The most important ones to be aware of are the light metering settings (so that your light readings are not for the whole frame but for the subject) and the shutter speed.

Two posts by me in one day. I hope that doesn't break the board. Muski -- I hope we see each other in DC, too. I have no set plans yet for before the concert; I'm waiting to hear from janisann. And yes, once it's obvious my story isn't chosen elsewhere, I'll be happy to share it if people are interested. I think the odds of it being selected are fairly low after seeing a show. It's shorter than most of the ones he's selected and it doesn't have quite the same theme/message etc. He's definitely looking for something particular, even if he didn't know what it was well enough to articulate it before the contest. It seems fairly clear that he wants one humorous story to segue into that upbeat medley. Then the other three are more reflective pieces. I don't think mine is quite Christmas-y enough, in all honesty.

Hey guys. Long time no see. I'm sure you've heard by now that I got pressed into being a reader at the last moment for the St. Louis concert. It was a complete surprise, which is probably the only way I was able to get up on a stage. There is a reason (well, several) that I am not a famous thespian. It was easier than I thought it would be, though, b/c Clay and Jamie were so nice and supportive. The pretty is definitely back. I know that for many it had never gone away, but it had for me a bit. He looked gorgeous before, during, and after the show. He also did the most thoughtful thing. After the show, he presents the readers with a signed copy of their story on very nice paper -- suitable for framing. I expected to be given a copy of the story I read and I would have been happy to have it. Instead, even though in our brief pre-show interaction I hadn't said I submitted a story, he or someone else either remembered or looked it up. So, the story they gave me was one I wrote and submitted for some of the later venues. I was shocked. It was such a nice, thoughtful gesture especially for them to have done at the last minute while getting ready for a show. As jemock said, he's a nice man. Here is my favorite of the pics I took that night: ETA: I think the hand/mic thing during the falsetto is definitely to help create an effect. If you watch the video I took in St. Louis, you can see him get his hand in position to do that before he raises the mic up to his mouth.

I saw you were edited the other day for something (I wasn't sure what) and I thought oh, crap. I'm sorry it has gotten to the point where you don't feel comfortable posting your countdown (or anything else for that matter). bottlecap: Nope, no coat piles. It's about the first time I ever "met" my father who died before I was born.

Well, coming out of extreme lurkdom to say I've had mixed feelings about this Christmas idea of his for many reasons, but I really want it to work b/c he wants it to work. (Besides -- my having mixed feelings about it will not stop it from happening. He NEVER listens to me for some reason.) I actually broke down and sent him a story, although it's pretty farouchian. He might be scratching his head over it. lol aikim: Your countdown is being missed at CV; just so you know. muski: Do let me know if you are able to come to DC.

I fixed my original link, but the photo still shows up "wrong" when quoted. I'll put a smaller version of it here as a reminder to anyone who saved it that I'm an idiot. Here's another photo -- this one from Houston (I swear). It's kind of odd, but I like his hands in this one, too.

Eeeks, I hate to question the photographer, but given the shirt and the ring in this picture, is it not perhaps from Cary? You are right. I need to retag it. I did that really late at night. it's a typo. I'll go retag it and fix the link. Thanks for noticing that!

I love sad songs. I have a whole writing playlist for iTunes that's all the dreariest, most depressing music you can imagine. I love it. Okay. Two posts in one day. I better go do something else before I get some sort of reputation. I'll leave you with another hand photo -- this one is from Frisco Cary. (Thanks, Bottlecap.)

*Peeks in. Leaves photograph as a present.* (It's not a great one but it's never been posted anywhere else. It's a FCA exclusive.)