lilyshine

Hey, we must hang out with the same addictors. Yes, Maple Cremes from Calgary were part of the mix. Add some good Finger Lakes wine, clack and party time! ETA. That's just the driveway! Yeah, I know who has grass growing in their driveway? I actually have 3 acres, but I only mow once a year on most of it. I keep about an acre in rough lawn. And since you asked, I'll brag. Here's the "back" yard in spring. I had to make it clickable 'cause it's huge. I mow paths through so Lily and I can take walks and you can see the roof of my house with that ugly chimney sticking up.

Yes, that was sinfully good. Cadbury's Roses for them that knows. I tried very hard to ration it, but ended up taking a bite every time I walked by the box. Yum. Maybe it's time for me to take a trip to England - just to stock up on the good stuff! I'm an equal opportunity chocolate lover I like the dark, but usually prefer milk. Can't get too orgasmic all the time. And since jmh and Shady have brought it up, you can decide. Sexy or not? NOT ME, The tractor!

Heh! I just had a call from a Neilsen survey telephone person. I usually just hang up, but I was feeling bored. When she asked if I downloaded music from the Internet, I said, "Just Clack." heeheehee

Think if I pour apple cider vinegar over the poison ivy plants they'll go away? Or maybe I can use Dr. Scholl's ivy remover Have you heard the latest? Iris have beards.

Only cucumbers. I'm not a very ambitious gardener. All I plant are tomatoes & cucumbers, but I'm thinking about some beets for next year. Just stuff that tastes like crap from the store.

Raises head over edge of rabbit hole. Peeks around. Is it safe to come out yet? Decides to be very brave and try. Have you ever seen those ads for the Garden Mantis? It's a light weight tiller ( 20 lbs) that is supposed to be easy to use and on TV it even tills through sod and weeds. I believe everything I see on my TV, of course. Well, I borrowed one from a friend. What they didn't tell you was you have to dislocate your shoulder getting it started. Besides it's better if you are a contortionist because you have to pull out the choke, flip the switch control the throttle and pull the ripcord at roughly the same time, Oh and you'd better have a firm grip on the engine or it goes jumping all over when it finally starts. Once you have it started and those finger-amputating blades are spinning - HOLD ON! The thing bucks like a ( oh, this may be the Clay connection with this post) bronco. It vibrates too - no, not in a good way. Where the soil has already been dug it is almost manageable, but move it over to weeds, grass or anything with roots, ugh. It did get through some of them before getting clogged - then you have to turn it off, clean it out and start over in contortionist position number one. (Whoops, Clay reference) After doing a plot about 5' x 5' I felt as if I'd been mugged by a gang of little old ladies at Bloomingdale's. That was yesterday. But today, all that nice turned soil, ready to rake and plant. I dug up a bunch of irises that had been scattered around where my "lawn" is supposed to be and moved them to my Iris Garden. Actually it's my Iris & Wildflower Garden. OK, it's really my Iris and Weed Garden, but the weeds do have pretty flowers, well some of them do. I don't count the poison ivy or the wild grape vines from Hell. Anyway, I'm very proud of myself. I have a new plot of almost weedless iris that may or may not survive the winter, but hey, I tried. What does this have to do with Clay. Well, I think my tractor's sexy! Oh, all right, so it's not really a tractor, just a huge honking Riding Mower. I bet Clay would have just paid a gardener to do it.

As ldy said, the fandom as a collective entity is exhibiting pretty classic signs of a addiction which is progressing. Fortunately, it is not the Borg so individuals will carry on.

There was also a thing he did on one of the morning shows where they had one "hunk" from every state. Yes, Clay in all his goofiness and tiredness was sexier than any of them. Thanks, Couchie, for making a list of the good times and the fun things. For me, the fun must outweigh the downers or I disappear, but I think it is just human nature to invest oneself more in the angst than in the fun. Tragedy always moves me more than comedy. I love the Clyra and hope it continues. She is a strong smart lady, not to mention beautiful. BTW I have Last King of Scotland sitting by my TV. I'm not sure I really want to watch it. Is it worth getting my courage up one day soon?

I just had a sudden "insight." I put it in quotes because I'm not sure whether it's an insight or just a wacky thought. (Please pardon the use of the collective "WE", I know not everyone partakes, but it scans so much better!) It was about the rampant (hee) hubris that seems to permeate the collective fandom. There is immense pride about the amount we spend on Clay shi stuff, the number of concerts we go to, the amount of clack we collect, the polls we spam and on and on. Some of this may be justified, but there is an underlying neediness to be top, first, best that is disturbing at times. There seems to be a very real inability to let go and not control everything - including other people's feelings, thoughts and musical tastes. (Clayversion, anyone?) Perhaps it is hubris that gives the fandom the sense of entitlement. The right to chastise Clay for putting on weight, for selecting which audience member to talk to, to decide on his own career path. I'm not sure where to go with these thoughts. I'm just throwing some ideas out there. I'm sure jmh can do a much more articulate job of it. But hubris in mere mortals is always punished in very amusing ways like having your liver pecked out every day. And Hi! to XXX. You probably don't know me, but I've laughed myself silly at many of your posts and I love West Virginia, promise!

Very OT post hearkening back to a dilemma faced by YSRN before all the strum & drang. Try this site for grape recipes. http://www.concordgrape.org/ It's too late for this year, but maybe next. This one especially intrigued me. Not that I'll be trying it any time soon. Like someone, maybe Jumpingjacks? above, I'm a non-cook. If it takes more time to prepare than to eat, it's not for me!

Awww, crap! I was so enjoying the show. Now it's going to be beat up on Kim time. Sigh.

I've decided ( and of course, that's all that matters) that Clay actually is an addiction and what we are seeing now is people in the throes of withdrawal. Addicts seek out other sources for their highs when they can't obtain their drug of choice. I wonder if ranting and raving, exploding heads and fan wars provide enough stimulation to mimic the Aiken high? Or are they just poor substitutes? As with most drugs, once the Aiken is again freely available, will the addicts return for their fix? Stay tuned as the drama unfolds. By the way, if anyone sees any primo tickets for LV or the Sedaka Tribute being given up by fans who "just can't support" him anymore, let me know.

Loved the timing of the blog! Even if it was pure serendipity, the man has it nailed. But most of all, I love a sexy man who knows the difference between "affect" and "effect". Did you catch the secret message? Let me tell you, none so far amazing, no way, no doubt, RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Totally OT. One of my local PBS stations is airing documentary footage of the 1967 Monterary Pop Festival -- the first real Janis Joplin, vinatge Jefferson Airplane, Otis Redding and other stuff from the summer of love. Since it's pledge week on PBS, it may or may not be at the same time for everyone.

Clay better not go licking his own freckles then!

I wasn't on the Boards last night, so am coming late to the implosion. This was still one of my favorite medleys on AI. Trio The video quality is lousy, but they sound good (IMHO). That and the love songs trio that they did on a later show. I'm looking for a YouTube of that one. Yeah, I'd go to a triple concert. Don't care much about the inner workings of Clay's career. That's someone else's job. Mine is to enjoy myself and give him my money.

I may have been dreaming or just wishing, but I thought I heard in some of the California banter Clay say something like, "It only takes one song." when referring to radio play. I haven't been able to locate it since and it may have been a crowd comment rather than him saying it, but it's rather interesting. If it happened, it does show he knows what a crap shoot radio play is. Did anyone else hear anything like this?

Hey, and I was next to jmh! and Shady's blinkies.... and almost had a cheeseburger dog! Good times. :club0:

How sad is it that of the 50 or 60 songs mentioned in the last few pages, I recgonize only a handful and know the words to maybe three. I warned you I know nothings about pop music - but yeah, maybe that's not a bad thing! YSRN, we can be heartless bitches together. I almost never cry at anything anymore - let alone sappy lyrics. Music can move me, just not to tears. ETA. Farouche - I right-clicked on that sucker so fast. Now that I can get into.

Hey, it's granan! Hi! Lilyshine...what a cute doggie name! Don't lurk. Play with us!! eta... Son Of A Bitch.... Party Dude... the top!! Ouch! I've been outed! Here's the old girl herself. She' now contentedly snoring at my feet. ETA. I don't know about the wimps, people here but Lily doesn't mind being on top. She's very much an Alpha bitch dog.

Whoops! Sorry. I went back and searched for the convo. Very interesting. Carry on and I'll go back to lurking.

A dear Clayfriend said something to me awhile ago that has taken me some time to process. I think I was too involved in looking for sexy tractors at the time. It relates somewhat to the previous discussion of fan angst and over-interpretation of Clay's blogs and what he says on stage. What she said was that Clay was a storyteller. Not in the sense of being a liar, but in the meaning of being a "raconteur." I'm sure you all know people who can describe the most trivial incident and make it hilarious or tragic or completely insane. If I were to tell about it, it would seem totally mundane and uninteresting. Clay is like that. (not mundane and uninteresting - the other part!) He chooses his facts and details, not with the purpose of clarification but with the idea of making the best story, which details (whether real or fabricated) make the story funnier or have more punch. Stories told from the stage seem to be especially prone to this. If you listen to the "AI in Atlanta" bits from all the concerts, he is continually changing the details. The essence stays the same, but the details change and even contradict each other. For example, in most of the banter he says that he prepared Always & Forever, in one he says that he chose it off a list the producers handed to him. (Sorry JMH, I don't remember which it was, but if you insist, I'll source it for you.) I'm not sure if any huge conclusion can be drawn from this, but I thought it was an interesting insight and one that certainly resonated with me. Any comments?

Hey, that's what Foley food mills are for. Says she who lives in the middle of grape country and has never made a grape pie. Eaten some good ones, though.

I was going to write a long kick-ass introductory post to start life off at a new board, but like most of the posts I write in my head, it's dwindled down to these minimal ramblings. <Cue violins.> I happened on AI one might, hating all reality shows and knowing nothing about current pop music or culture. In 2003 I didn't even own a CD player. I was pulled into the addiction - kicking and screaming all the way - by the allure of the voice. I couldn't understand why I kept stopping and watching that program. It took me several weeks to figure out its name or that it was on two nights a week. I always found it while I was flipping channels! Clueless, I know. Then, one dark & stormy night, I actually Googled those magic words, "Clay Aiken". Couldn't believe what I found. I'd never seen a message board although I was familiar with listservs. The rest is history I have a fairly typical history in Clayland, moving from Board to Board as the winds blew or the mods raged. I still spend way too much time reading online but I've become much more of a lurker than poster. I just get tired of rehashing the same old, same old. Discussions that were new, interesting and enlightening in 2003, are tired in 2007. That said, I still love it when someone comes up with a new perspective or Clay gives the fans new fodder for the mills. I've made many good friends via Clay and I love going to concerts to see them almost as much as to hear Clay. I almost never mention him in RL since very few of my friends or acquaintances have even heard of him! Anyway, this may be the longest post I ever make here, but you'll see me hanging out at the bottom of the screen! to YSRN, Shady, CinPA, Sun and all the other Claywhores I see here. In a former life, I was Granan.