PermaSwooned

Wow!! Where did all these pages come from?? I've fallen behind because I finally got cleared to go back to work yesterday. AND, yesterday was my anniversary. That wasn't good planning on my part, was it? I should have had the doctor add one more day to my leave. Still, my DH and I got to go out for a super-yummy dinner last night in which I broke almost all of my dietary rules except two. I didn't have red meat and I didn't have caffeine. All the rest went right out the window. If anyone is ever visiting the South Bay Beach Cities and wants a super restaurant recommendation (a little pricey but worth it), let me know. Yumm-o. So I'm back and see that skybar22 has meandered over here. Welcome!! Now there is someone here newer than me!! And such a thoughtful and warm person to boot. Please stay around!! So basically, I surmise that the main topic around the boards is still the skating show. Are there factions stating that it's the death knell of his career yet?? No??? Maybe by next week. For the life of me, I just can't see the appeal in making oneself miserable over every.single.tiny.little thing that Clay does, says, sings, wears or is. Life is tough enough without having your HOBBY put you in despair. Maybe they need to find something less stress-inducing and controllable. Origami can be fun. Plus, you can be 100% correct when deciding "It's a fold". I think I need to go home. I'm getting dingy after only 2 days of work. Thanks to all who noted they enjoyed my rant yesterday. Since it's still a hot topic, I pared my 16 or so paragraphs down to one at CV yesterday so I'm reposting that here since I still feel the same. And on the next topic....I have no idea why the need to make Clay out to be such a victim. Do people think that Clay can just decide on his own what shows he wants to appear on, what concert venues he wants to headline, what songs he can have on a CD, decide exactly when that CD will come out, change record labels at will, star in his own hot rock/LIVE/PBS special then wave his magic wand (heh) and it will all come to pass just like that?? Geez....Constantine would be the biggest star in the world if were that easy!! Sorry to any Constantine fans. Maybe Clay should try to adopt Danni-Lynn (sp). Then he'd be on TV every.single.night. I am sloooooooowwwwlllly editing my CITH pictures. I was hoping to have a wide specturm that included all incarnations of Clay (glasses, no glasses, bangs, no bangs, auburn, red, strawberry blond and blond), but alas since I didn't make it to Minneapolis, my series is woefully incomplete. However, I think he looked wonderful in all those looks. Here's a couple more pictures from the Perma camera.police/cellist.in.the.way tour. He's also very pretty close up: I missed all the favorites, but I can never pick anyway. I do have to say that I will always, always have a very soft spot in my heart for the JNT06. After that really difficult year, he came out there and let us all know that he had not knuckled under. He had not been crushed or defeated or diminished in any way. He came out singing. He came out snarking. He helped us all find our laughter and joy again. And at the Long Island concert he showed more professionalism, grit and determination than I have ever before seen in a performer, and I don't expect to see it's like again. Finally, (hey! I can hear y'all sighing in relief!) I am hopelessly enamoured of UNICEF Clay. He looks happy and relaxed and content and gorgeous with those kids. I think that this feeds his soul, and I'm thrilled he's getting recognition in the media for it this time around. Go UNICEF thermometer!!! OK. That was tiring. I need to go lie down.

Caveat: This is not aimed at anyone here, but at things I am reading in general today around the boards. I'm pretty new here, even though I've met a number of FCAers, so I hope ranting is allowed by a newbie. Scroll at will. OK, I'll freely admit it. I am overly sensitized to criticism of Clay after the horrors of 2006. I figure he is going to get plenty of criticism from critics, moronic DJs and haters without actual fans joining in. It's fine for people to disagree on things. Fans have differences of opinion on their favorite song, outfit, album, tour, snark and the ever-changing hair. That's good. That means there's enough diversity in Clay for a wider spectrum of people to enjoy him. It's even fine in MHO to express disappointment in an album, song, performance, tour, etc. Up to a point. It is definitely true that some people seem to live to be the FIRST bearer of bad news. I know someone very well who is like this. They recap extensively and authoritatively on all the things that were bad about a performance, or first show of a tour. Always. And I am never surprised. That's because BEFORE seeing said performance or show they have already talked extensively about how Clay makes poor choices and doesn't prepare and needs a director to structure his shows and a voice coach to improve his voice. And so, she gets what she expected. And yes, she expects that her opinion will be accepted as truth. But it's really only her truth, so it would be fine if she expressed herself that way. As for me, I expect to hear great singing and be entertained. And I get what I expected each time as well. Usually with bonuses of cute moments, humor or flashes of the gorgeous. Works for me. I am the first to admit that I am extremely fortunate. Because I live in Los Angeles, I have had the great pleasure of seeing many of Clay's TV performances live. And yes, I do believe that Live Clay makes all the difference. Over and over and over I have come back from a taping and all my SoCal pals are raving about how great he was, and then people watch it and pick the performance apart. We all say...."but live in the studio/theater/arena/whatever, he sounded FANTASTIC". Often, I've found, the live sound DOESN'T translate well over TV. I don't think that that was the case in Las Vegas. The sound was GREAT on my TV. All Is Well was just amazing. Unfortunately, the sound was equally clear for DSIAFCD with it's slight cracks and gravelly parts. He scared us to death since that was only the second song. But he was the ultimate Clay Aiken; he came right back from that and nailed AIW perfectly!! Yay Clay!! So, my turn to rant a little.... I'm seeing a lot of comment about how he should have warmed up...that it showed that he didn't. How quickly these people forgot the fangirly reports of Clay rehearsing.....of hearing him practicing DSIAFCD and AIW, etc. He had to sing them. More than once. He didn't have Quiana to fill in for him. He and the skaters had to get coordinated. When Sasha had to come back to reskate parts of her routines, she had to do it without music, since they had no recorded version available. If anything, he may have had to over-rehearse in that cold, dry air, and it may have taken a toll. I wish it could have been totally perfect, but overall, he sounded amazing in that arena AND on my TV. And then there are the puffy/fat comments. You know, they say that the camera adds 10 pounds. Many years ago I worked in the airline industry. We saw celebrities all.the.time. You know that adage about the camera is true. Every.single.one.of.them was thinner, shorter, smaller than they looked on TV or on the big screen. Every.single.one. When I saw Clay at Leno before ATDW came out, all of us commented that he looked unbelievably thin. At home on my TV, he looked slender, but nothing like the skinny guy I had just seen in the studio. If you think back to some of the snapshots we saw of Clay during AI with friends or family, he looked like a RAIL!! On TV he looked thin, but not like a poster child for starvation relief. So that didn't help. Plus, as I said just yesterday, I'd bet my pension that Clay was on Prednisone that day. I've seen the changes in my patients' faces too frequently not to see the tell-tale signs. He couldn't have gained enough weight in the 10 days between Sedaka and LV to make that big of a change. I had to change the aspect ratio on my TV when it aired. It looks like they were showing it in a slightly different mode. I had to take it out of Wide Zoom to keep all of them from looking like they were 4' x 4'. Weird. In the arena, we didn't get the rear view of Clay. The mic pack was not a friend of either suit. From the front, in person, he looked great. I'm posting this picture as a reminder. See????? Clay is a singer. I hope that people who saw that show came away thinking....."Wow!! That guy has a GREAT voice. And he seems like a really nice guy who doesn't blow his own horn and works a lot for charity. Who knew?" That would be a great outcome. The fact that he has great numbers on Amazon the day AFTER Christmas is a hopeful sign. I am going to New York for his debut weekend. I'm seeing the show 3 times. I want to see if there is any tweaking or subtle adjustment in that time, and I want to enjoy Clay and the show. My roomie and I are also seeing another Broadway show while we're there plus other fun stuff. I hope the critics are kind or ignore him, but I'll tell you right now that anything I have to say about the show is going to be fangirly. That's just the kind of fan I am, I guess. /end rant.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FCA!! I give up on doing the pretty colors for my greeting. It's been a long but happy couple of days. Maybe y'all will forgive me if I give you a Christmas card instead. Hope that will do!! I wish I'd had a chance to meet more of you this year....I missed most of you in Vegas, and well, Minneapolis just wasn't in the cards. The doctor was right. I never would have made it through the trip. Hope to have more chances in the coming year. YChrome and I watched the skating show and just loved it. As those of us who were there for the taping attested, there were several do-overs for the skaters, but none for Clay. A few rough spots in DSIAFCD, but who would remember after hearing him sing AIW so beautifully. WOW that was powerful. Several people have wondered where the cheekbones went between the Sedaka tribute and Vegas, which were only a little over a week apart. Whenever I see a change in Clay's face where is suddenly puffier and his eyes "squinchier", I always immediately think....Prednisone!!! He's an allergy prone guy, and it was hot, windy and dry in Vegas at the time of the taping. Your face can puff up in less than 48 hours when on the drug, and will go back to normal when you are off it. "Moon face" is a hallmark we see all the time in our patients. Just MHO. At the end of the show, I had to go back and look at my pictures from that night, because I was waiting for some skating performances that never showed up. Sure enough, there was a second Todd Eldridge performance in a cranberry colored sweater that didn't air. Also Karen Kadavy's (sp) first performance in a purple outfit didn't make the show either. And I THINK that Jenny Meno & Tod Sand's first performance in red satin didn't make it either (they were interviewed in that outfit, but it didn't show their skate)????? Very interesting! All 8 of Clay's songs made it into the final show, but 3 of the skating solos did not. It may have been a contract thing, but I am certainly very grateful!!! I was so thrilled to see Clay's happy face with those children in Mexico....lost luggage and all....sure looks like the anti-diva to me. As I said, this has been a tough year.....the illness and death of my Dad.....long separations including 3 months in Iraq for my DH and I.....hospitalization for me.....not going to go down as one of my favorites. And yet, as I read Clay's blog and think of the causes he has supported and highlighted this year, it makes me very grateful for my blessings. My wish is for a happy, healthy and successful 2008 for Clay and for all of us. Peace.

So here I sit, waiting impatiently to be discharged from the hospital, and finally able to catch up on the boards. I couldn't have a laptop in the Cardiac Care Unit, so my son brought it to me after I got transferred yesterday, and now it's time to go home anyway. So I gather it's been an interesting few days???? Good thing I didn't know about it or my heart problems might have been a lot worse!!! I find Clay Aiken to be a fascinating individual, so every new little piece of the puzzle is like a fun little gift. That being said, I've always been unhappy that his most intimate personal life has been the source of so much speculation. Really, it's SO not my business. My life is too hectic already (hence my stay here in the hospital) without worrying about dreadful "insider" information that all sounds like bad fan-fic. Thankfully, I was not deemed to have good "insider" potential, evidently, so was able to bump along in my happy place meeting wonderful people and making lasting friendships and supporting and enjoying a great guy with a wonderful voice. I'm counting my blessings here! After moaning for weeks that I would not be able to go to Minneapolis because it meant 4 MORE days away from work and the airfares were too high and I was pooped from all my November travel, the fares dropped last Tuesday. Plus, I saw a way to fly out late on Tues. and fly home early on Friday and only miss 2 days of work. So, I bought my plane ticket and reserved my hotel room. Dang. I was looking for a sign as to whether or not I should go. I was not looking to collapse at work with my heart trying to keep in rhythm with the Jazzy Medley. I would have liked to have avoided that altogether, but having it happen BEFORE I bought that plane ticket would have been second best. Oh well. In view of current events, I want to give special smoochie thanks to a very special FCAer, my cyber-friend Solo. I have generally been pretty lucky with taking photos at Clay concerts. Not this tour. As far as I know, there have only been 3 venues that shut down photography....Waukegan, D.C., and Wilkes-Barre. It looks like I'll only make 3 concerts.....Waukegan, D.C. and Kalamazoo. As luck would have it, our ticket group in Kalamazoo got upgraded to 1st row Pit right before the concert. Good news....at least until I saw that my view of Clay was COMPLETELY obstructed by the 1st chair cellist. jojoct was next to me, and she leaned WAAAAAAYYY in to dc4clay and I draped myself over her to be able to get a partial view, but it was just.not.good. I was whining about it at intermission, and Solo, who was sitting 4 seats from me, offered to trade seats with me so I could take photos. She said she had 5 more concerts, including front row center in Minneapolis, so she didn't mind. Can you believe that? I can still hardly believe it now!!! So I shot a billion pictures that second half, that I hope to be able to share soon. I hoped to be able to get more in Minneapolis, but it just isn't meant to be. I was SO looking forward to meeting up with FCAers in the frozen North. I planned to send out lots of PMs this weekend and make plans. I hope y'all have a fabulous time. I know Clay will be at his amazing-est, especially since he said Minnesota was one of his favorite places to tour. Downtown Minneapolis is really gorgeous at Christmas, and they know how to do "flurries" there, so I know you will all be fine. Wish I could be there with you.

I've always wanted to do this........... Clay blogged!!!! I love him. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I've always wanted to do this........... Clay blogged!!!! I love him. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I'm thinking it's getting more and more obvious that Clay dealt with young kids and special needs kids and not grown ups as a teacher. He should have written a few more vignettes and then just had a contest for "readers". Poor guy. I heard a very funny speaker once say that when she was told that you couldn't fit a square peg in a round hole, she responded that you could if you PUSHED!! This situation sorta reminds me of that. Darn. I wasn't paying much attention to the story contest, and then several people commented that the stories showing up on the OFC were mostly tragic. I thought I was doing Clay a favor by sending in a funny one. Oh well. LOVE the banner and the new pics of Clay and Sasha. It was tough for me to get any skating!Clay! pics, because I had the shutter speed so slow, so any I post are gonna be blurry. Still, he's just so darn cute it's hard to resist. I'll bet you will not be completely surprised to know that he was approaching the TV camera when I took this pic.

Actually, if we can span a few seasons, I think they may have gotten a Quiana type with Melinda Doolittle this past season. A professional singer, with a strong background singer resume. IMHO, by far the best voice in the competition. When she did a pre-planned interview, she came off well. Of course, I'm sure there was a lot of tape that never made it to air and they culled the best moments. However, when she stood there in front of the judges......she really didn't have much to say. She expressed stunned disbelief at the judge's praise, but was not one with a quick comeback. Quiana is getting better at bantering back and forth with Clay, but I don't think she would have been confident enough to be sassy on the show at that time. I lurved me some Melinda. Her voice and her interpretations just blew me away.....but as the weeks wore on I became more convinced she wasn't going to make it. People knew she had a killer voice. After several months, they were just looking for something more. I'm going to build up my post count in no time if I keep writing posts around a picture. I'm a big fan of making artsy pics of Clay, as you can see by my avi. I am WAY overdue. So......TA DA!!!

I am loving all these tidbits about possible songs/songwriters/musicians that played on a demo/songs on hold for Clay stuff. It makes a new album seem very real. I see that desertflower already posted this while I was typing, but Clay spoke at the North Carolina Exceptional Children's conference this morning about the BAF. The original poster was there. There is a listing on today's agenda for the conference called "Inclusion: It's the Right Thing to Do", and evidently Jerry Aiken spoke and showed the BAF video (which I just saw for the first time this morning....made me cry!) and then he said he had persuaded Clay to take time from his schedule to talk to the attendees as well. No one knew about it in advance. Have I mentioned I love him???? :F_05BL17blowkiss: Thanks for the nice comments about my pictures. I finished the dread statistical analysis section of my study submission, so I compromised and indulged myself by re-editing the last picture from a bit farther away. So here it is again, version 2: OK. Now I need to do the "Lay Summary" of this application and I can move onto the next.

Gibby, I am finding myself strangely hypnotized by your avi. Can't imagine why. Well, others have said all this already, but when has that ever stopped me? I distinctly remember Clay himself saying that he was in the "maybe" or "on the fence" room in some interview lost in the recesses of my memory. They have structured the show so differently now, we might never have seen him. The judges did seem to indicate that they thought that Corey had the "whole package". It wasn't just Paula. That's a really frightening thought, and every week when they would praise his horrendous falsetto or otherwise gush on him, I tried to figure out what I was doing watching that show, or what Clay was doing ON it. His talent was just too remarkable to be ignored, fortunately, and we are all the richer for it. I'm not sure he deliberately went searching for camera time, but I remember in the EW magazine article that interviewed the top 12 (mainly without Vanessa), they described him as the "class president" and that he was the most outgoing and talkative. That was the first time I ever heard of a "pig pickin'", and would never have imagined that I would be attending one within the next year (more or less). I really never thought that Quiana lost out to Trenyce in the casting. I think her biggest competition was probably Frenchie and Kim L. They were all talented, with somewhat comparable voices, but Frenchie and Kim L. had much bigger personalities, and I think Quiana probably was shyer about showing her personality then. She's really only coming into her own in Clay's shows NOW. If Frenchie had been removed from the show earlier, I think Quiana might have had more of a chance to make the top 32. As it was, I think they had already filled their "Aretha Franklin" quota. I'm off today, but not really. I have to finish one research project submission and try to make good progress on another. Plus wash clothes. And start packing. And make up a photo book gift for the bride-to-be's parents. Y'all will be relieved to know that I found something to wear for the wedding at Hilo Hatties in Orange. I have no idea what that store is doing there, but I'm very grateful. AND......because I don't WANT to describe the statistical analysis methods for this study I'm working on, I edited another picture........ Know what I mean?

Someplace along the line we got a little teeeeeeeeeeny snippet of Clay singing Superstar in Hollywood. Maybe during finale week on AI2? I'm not sure, but I remember being electrified when I heard it way back when and hoping against hope that someday we would be able to hear more. Sigh. It was even better than I thought it would be. Yup, I think their biggest thought when they heard that was "Uh-oh". I think they let him through because they thought they could control the voting and the outcome. We've had other dorky folks since (Chicken Little, anyone?), but not with that voice. Fools. I have been searching fruitlessly online for something to wear for my son's wedding in Hawaii which is NEXT SATURDAY!!! I have bought some clothing from a company that makes lovely tropical stuff and sells it at our local street fair, which is twice a year. They have online ordering, so after going back and forth with them for 2 weeks in which they promised me the moon, they finally told me they would have to start from scratch and it would only take 6 weeks!!! ACK!!!!!! We're supposed to be fairly casual, and I have something that would work if I could just find some white pants. Even in California that is no easy task!!! I have a million things to do besides shop!! AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHH!! So before hitting the highways and byways looking for something that probably doesn't exist, I'm taking a short break. I had a great time with my Clay buddies yesterday. Y Chrome came along, since he knows everyone and hadn't seen anyone for a long time. We talked and talked about all things Clay, about the writers and stagehands strikes, about the skating show, Spamalot, AI Clay......everything. After lunch we repaired to my friend's house. We watched Pala, Scruffy's Ft. Myers's banter montage (SO good!) Clay was just possessed at that concert. No one had been there or seen it except for me. SO much fun to relive that concert. We also watched AI Rewind and just loved it. We always joke that she has a TV the size of Cleveland. Words cannot describe it. This set is 14 years old, so it's not widescreen, but more traditionally TV screen shaped, but the screen is about 6 feet by 6 feet. We think it was the type that was developed when big sports bars were becoming popular. It is just GINORMOUS!!!! You would not believe the details that are revealed when you are looking at Clay larger than life. Scarlett attended one of our sairees there once and brought a DVD with lost Miami IT footage with Clay in the shirt of clingy blue goodness. It was quite apparent to us in that magnified size why we did not see that shirt again. Other hidden mysteries were revealed this time as well. Ahem. Good times. I have edited one more measly picture. Has anyone mentioned how adorable Clay was at the skating show?? So gorgeous, but really, all kinds of cute!!!! Y'all have corrupted me. Now I can't stop seeing the cute. And now, I must go on my impossible quest for white pants/tropical clothing suitable for a beach wedding in Hawaii. Any ideas from SoCal peeps are welcome. I'm desperate here.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHD!!!! Those AI rewind clips are to DIE for!!! I didn't find AI2 until the wild card. They interviewed him in the Red Room first, and I thought OMG who is this 13 year old hick? And then, of course, he absolutely blew me AWAY!!! I have to hang my head in shame for underestimating the American public, because as good as he was, I thought he was so far from what was "popular", the quality of his voice wasn't going to be enough. I was really surprised and THRILLED when he was America's choice, but I thought he would be out the first week because I didn't think he could do a creditable job with MoTown. After that, I knew he could handle ANYTHING. I also am one who love these clips because they show off that GREAT.BIG.VOICE. They still haven't really recorded that right. It's all very well to try to achieve a "chill, intimate" voice for love songs, but a lot of people can do that. One person in a lifetime has a voice like his and I'd really love to have someone record him just letting it rip. Know what I mean? OK. I smile indulgently at all this "cute" talk. I work on my pictures and I see someone really beeeeyoutiful. However......... Sometimes the man is just CUTE!!!!!!!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! M&G buttons!!!! I swear there is something new to celebrate every single day of late. I LOVE it!!! I love the pics of Sasha handing Clay the skates. Those look like they might acutally BE his hockey skates. They look big enough. However, the brown ice skates are the same ones from rehearsal so must have had to do with his "lesson". I'm sure there was other stuff we didn't actually see....or at least hear. Tracey and Brian were talking (I imagine to a camera) for a loooooooooooooong time before the show officially started, and we couldn't hear a word they said, but I'm guessing it will show up somehow on the show. Can't wait to see the final product!! I can't believe how much stuff I still have to work on before going to Hawaii next week for my son's wedding!!!! Ack!!!! I managed to get one whole picture processed last night, but it is very pretty. Well, Clay is very pretty anyway.

I am at work trying to help straighten out the biggest FUBAR ever on a patient in the hospital they are trying to admit to an inpatient study. The study is straightforward, but the logistics are tricky and they haven't solved the staffing problems since they dreamed up the study nearly a year ago. Why will no one listen to me? I'm waiting for a callback with essential information as we speak. To answer the question about the untagged pictures, if no one has answered yet, drmchaser614 posted the pictures. She went to the show with a friend who is a fan but not on the boards. It was the first time the friend had tried taking pics with her new camera, and didn't think she could get anything without a flash, but other pic-savvy fans helped her out. Neither of them know how to tag pics. Obviously, I'm still at work so I haven't been able to do any new pics, but I got a PM from the very talented clayquebec1 wanting to use the picture I posted earlier for a new blend. Naturally, I said yes, since I couldn't make a blend with a gun pointing at my head! She sent me this one that she had made with one of my summer pics. There are no skates involved in this picture blend, but it's Clay and it's purdy so I'm posting it. So there!! Aha....there's the research pharmacy calling me. Later!!

Hello FCA!!! I got back from Vegas last night. What a fabulous, fabulous trip!! Wait a minute!! There were 2 tables of FCA people at the party??? I was ALL OVER the place making a nuisance of myself and taking pictures and I missed 2 whole tables of people??? I did get my hug from couchie and saw Karen eh? after the show and got to visit with her a bit. I seem to remember meeting lilyshine(s) and she's on other people's list of FCAers others met. Oh well. Maybe next event. RL is crushing me these days with big events and deadlines. I had to do some work while in Vegas, when I got home last night and have to head into the office for MORE big work stuff. I didn't expect to be able to take pictures, so didn't get much chance to try to work with camera settings, etc., but I think I did get some drool-worthy pictures. Now I just need time to work on them. Here's one to get started with: Off to work!!

Crap. I'm never going to be at the right place in the conversation. I'll see something that I want to respond to, and by the time I can get back to do it, y'all have REALLY moved on. Well, the hell with it. I still have not tried Honey Crisp apples, and although I was not offended by the boobgate picture, I was sorry it got "out there". The person who found it was fairly young, and the fandom was still pretty young as well. This was right before the IT, if you can remember back that far, so we'd never seen Clay on his own in concert at that point. No one had sat in any cheese nachos at that point, so hating on Clay hadn't become much of an art form yet. She didn't think it would cause a huge furor, or....maybe she just didn't think. But, it wasn't malicious. He was very, very gorgeous that day. Very gorgeous. Except during the sound check when he kept the hood of his sweatshirt up and looked like a very tall, thin gnome. So, back to earlier in the day when I was last following the conversation. Re: Roger Friedman Well, I refuse to let pea-brained Fox News bloggers steal my joy. Clay Aiken produced some of the most gorgeous sounds I have ever heard last Friday night. That first "and Solitaire's the only game in town" was just breathtaking, and the whole song was a complete tour de force. Bravo, Clay!! So, Mr. I-have-an-agenda could not really review the song OR Clay. Otherwise he would have had to mention what the song was....a song widely considered to be Neil Sedaka's masterpiece....or ANYONE's masterpiece, for that matter. He would have had to mention how appropriate it was for Clay to be there to sing it, since Neil Sedaka ceded the song forever to Clay on national television. He would have had to mention how Clay recorded it, giving Neil his highest selling single in many, many years. And, of course, he would have had to remark on how beautifully Clay sang it and that it earned the first (and one of only two) standing ovations of the night. Including from everyone in Neil Sedaka's box. He didn't mention the jazz group either. Maybe he was in the bathroom and missed those two acts. Then again, maybe he's just a jerk. It drives me crazy that Clay can't get the most basic acknowledgement of his talent or for excellent performances in certain circles. I would think he would get disheartened, but he always seems to persevere. I was at the 2003 Billboard Awards when Clay was there and performed and won his award for Best Selling Single. As we all know, he was not overly impressed with the program as a whole. It could have been sitting in the first row with his Mom as they watched Pink gyrating in the lowest of lowriders while a male dancer nibbled at her crotch. No...I am not kidding. That took some creative editing for TV, let me tell you!! However, there were a few classy moments. My very favorite was a Lifetime Achievement Award for Sting. He sang, and then he gave a short speech. I'm paraphrasing here, but he said that he could sum up everything he'd learned in the music business in just 5 words. He said that it didn't matter if you sang to thousands in arenas or an audience of just one. The five word summary was: MUSIC.IS.IT'S.OWN.REWARD Clay was the first person on his feet applauding at those words, and I hope he remembers them and repeats them to himself every time some smug jerk takes a completely undeserved shot at him. That's what I did today. It's going to take me forever to finish editing all my summer pictures, so I hope it's OK if I keep posting "old" pictures from way back during the summer. Hopefully, a pretty picture of Clay is OK anytime. Right?

Wonderful post, zena. I'm so glad I got to meet you in Houston! I'm glad you enjoyed the trip down memory lane. Those of us who were there were trying to imprint every second on our memory's so that we could fill in all the details. Of course, AI tapes LIVE to the east coast, so others were seeing the same thing we were, but there's always extra things happening that don't show up on TV! And since you are a fan of light and shadow....here's one more Solitaire moment to share S-O-L-I-T-A-I-R-E!!!!!!! I am ridiculously excited about an event I am not attending. GO CLAY!!!!!

Shhhhhhhh......I'm at work. We have a huge cardiopulmonary and exerise physiology practicum here twice a year. People come from all over for it. We have a big muckety-muck leading light in the field that comes from Wales for each one, and he reviews papers, journal articles, ongoing research, etc. All the research physicians are in a meeting with him right now. That means I can sneak in for a minute while they are diverted. I was never so grateful as to see some fog rolling in a bit ago. Unfortunately, that means that it's still hot farther inland, so that doesn't help the fire areas, but AT LAST it seems as if the tide is turning. liney23, We live in Redondo Beach, but my husband commutes 100 miles each way to Adelanto each day, and has been threatened by all the Santa Clarita area fires on his commute. He's had to find creative ways to get there a couple of times. My son works in Irvine, and they watched the flames at the top of the hill across from their facility for the first 3 days of this week. My late father's place is in Laguna Hills, and we've used it to help friends down there have a place to rest and keep there stuff when they were evacuated. It looks like they MAY be able to go home today. I am so excited about the Sedaka tribute tonight. So many times there have been honors or tribute concerts and it pained me that Clay wasn't invited. This time, he gets to be there singing the song that Neil praised him for many times, and the one on AI that seemed to guarantee a future for him. I was reminiscing over at CV about seeing him at the AI3 taping where he returned to sing a shortened version of his Solitaire single. A friend of mine got tickets and invited me to go. My fellow fans and I held our breath and grabbed each other the whole time he was singing. He came in looking every inch the star. I noted that the TV studio where the show is taped is "mic'd" for the TV feed, and the sound is really muffled and hard to hear in the studio. It was the final 12 results night show, and their group song sounded soft and flat. That's why it was so stunning when Clay started to sing. His voice was so powerful it absolutely filled the entire studio. Unbelievable. You could feel his voice reverberating in every cell of your body. We let our breath out at the end and just hugged each other with tears in our eyes. I'll be forever grateful that I got to experience that in person. I also went to the Leno taping in Las Vegas. The one where he was wearing his glasses and wore that quirky outfit. Because the stage is small, they had to completely clear it of the desk and couch at the last commercial break to make room for the band and for Clay. Jay and the guests stood over at the far edge of the stage while he sang. There were plenty of fans there, but lots of regular folks and high rollers taking in a Leno taping. Clay sang and absolutely blew everyone completely away. He got a standing ovation, which was still going on as the credits rolled. We got to watch Jay and the guests and staffers come up and just shake their heads and just gush all over him. It was that remarkable. What a special moment. I couldn't believe that night after night on both the NAT and the JBT he sang that extremely demanding song. He knocked it out of the park every single night. Only a very scary lightning strike could throw him. Tonight he will be performing for a star-studded audience in New York. Many won't know much about him. Many will not have heard him sing live before. Interest will hopefully be piqued because of his upcoming run in Spamalot. I hope that he completely blows everyone away. I hope that it turns out to be a great networking opportunity, and that everyone in New York will be after him for special events. I hope everyone going to the show has a great time. :F_05BL17blowkiss: to Clay for me, please. Go get 'em, Clay. Knock them dead!!!

It's been kind of a bad week. Our house hasn't been threatened by the fires, but both my DH and DS have been threatened either at their work location, or on the commutes to try to get there. Plus my father's house is at the edge of another evacuation area, and I opened up the place to store stuff for area friends that DID have to evacuate. Plus, I work with chronic lung disease patients, and they are having a very hard time with the heat, low humidty, thick smoke and falling ash. I think the wind may be turning a little. Hopefully, that will help. Hugs to everyone who needs them. I hope some FCAers make it to the Sedaka thingy tomorrow. I hope Clay is the undisputed star. In the meantime, I will make up for my lack of pithy contributions to the conversations with pictures. Light and shadow: Lipbite (my favorite Clay thing....OK, one of my favorite Clay things): Gotta go home. Too many hours at the office again!

I haven't had a chance to post again since the news broke about Clay in Spamalot. For me, Tuesday was just a great, great day. I wanted to say thanks for all the welcomes. jmh123, I should have recognized you as the Christine Lavin fan. I didn't know your SN over here, but that should have been the tip-off. I guess there are still only the 2 of us. Yes, I did get to see her here in Pasadena, thanks to Clay. The LTS sort-of pre-publication press release had a quote from him about the prevalence of avocado on everything out here, and it reminded me of Christine's song "Santa Monica Pier". I went to her website to check the lyrics, and saw she was going to be here the NEXT NIGHT!! I couldn't believe it!!! She almost never tours out West (like someone else I could name), so that was a real moment of serendipity. The show was great. keeping faith, I do remember you from WPB. Standing outside (as near the cooling breeze from the fountain as possible) waiting for our handshakes. I think that conversation may have been my first clue that FCA had a message board!! Sometimes I am S-L-O-W. And, of course, Couch Tomato and I grin widely at each other each time we see each other. We were a little early to that Sacramento AI pre-party. She looked at my DH and I very suspiciously, but was willing to ask us if we were "Prock". I almost didn't get it, since I always pronounced it to myself Pro-Cee, but we managed to make a "connection" anyway. Who could possibly have imagined all the places we would be running into each other over the last 4 years? Amazing. So, I personally am ecstatic about the whole Spamalot dealy. Thanks to good friends, I have plans to be there cheering for Clay on his opening weekend, and maybe another trip closer to the end of the run. I’m really excited that Clay is getting this amazing opportunity to branch out, and as they used to say on Monty Python…..”do something completely different”. Monty Python is SO quirky. LOVED it back in the day. It was different from anything else at the time, and different from other British humor as well, IMHO. I can’t stand Benny Hill, so one size definitely doesn’t fit all. My 25 year old son discovered MP some years back and has lots of their stuff on tape and DVD. His favorite is the parrot sketch, whereas I was always partial to the flying sheep. All the men in my life really enjoy Monty Python, so I think it’s yet another chance to give a whole new audience a look at the funny side of Clay. I think he’ll make the most of it. Clay has stated the desire many times to stretch and do other things in the entertainment business. Anyone else remember when he was asked what kind of career he would like to have and he said he would like to have one like Reba McIntyre. He didn’t mean he wanted to be a country singer. Reba has real longevity and a lot of respect. She’s recorded LOTS of CDs, has successful regular tours, has had a hand in production, had a critically acclaimed run in “Annie Get Your Gun” on Broadway, and has had a TV show that bears her name for several years now. And yet, she had a number one album last month, and was all over TV and the media promoting it. She’s up for several awards for that album already, IIRC. How many years has she been in the business? I’d be ecstatic if Clay were able to have that kind of success. Clay has said he’d love to something else with TV, or to do a movie if one were offered. Let us not forget that Mike Nichols has been nominated numerous times and has won both Academy Awards for films and Emmy’s for TV as well as his Tony awards for Broadway. To have him give Clay such a wonderful critique in the press release just means the world to me, and I’m sure Clay as well. And I love Eric Idle’s quote even more, since writers can be notably picky, stating that he has been a big fan from the very beginning with video proof available of he and his daughter holding up a sign for Clay way back on AI2. Did I mention that I’m thrilled for Clay? Absolutely beyond thrilled. I want to be sure to give my heartfelt thanks to aikim for the obvious time and care she took to craft that amazing post. It touched on all the things that honor the affection we have for Clay and many fan's hopes for his success and happiness....and for us to let him find his own path to those things. It obviously really touched him, and spurred him to reach out to the fans on such a happy day. Thank you for expressing the thoughts of so many, and I am thrilled for you that Clay read it and acknowledged what it meant to him. That is really, really special. Clay has always seemed to have a difficult time accepting the applause and love of the fans. He generally doesn't do encores....he will motion to us to sit down and stop applauding.....he will rarely just stand there and "bask" in our response. Sometimes, he will let us go on a bit longer than usual. And very, very rarely, he will let us know that it means something special to him. Those moments are really precious, IMHO....know what I mean? Muski, I loved your story about your daughter and her upcoming trip. My son spent his junior year of college in Japan. I couldn't see how we were going to possibly pull that off, and truthfully it was a strain on our finances that we never completely rebounded from. BUT, it made such a difference. He had always had such a fascination with Japan, and had found a way to take a college Japanese class while he was in High School, and did well with it. He researched the program that he went on, and put everything together (except the money, of course) on his own. There was supposed to be one other student from his college, but they ended up not going, so he was really on his own. Well, he just thrived there. Loved the school, the classes, the environment, and made friends from all over the world. He learned to see himself differently there...no longer the uncool outsider that he felt like here. He met someone wonderful in Japan, and this year, 4 years later, they got married in Tokyo. It was a civil proceeding to get started on securing her Visa. Next month both families will meet in Hawaii for their wedding ceremony. I'm sure your much younger daughter is not going to find her soulmate there, but I'm sure the experience will enrich and change her life forever. One of these days I'll have to figure out these emoticon thingys. But not today.

Uncle!!!!! I kept telling myself that I need another Clay message board to post at like a hole in the head. I told myself that it was enough that I had found the message board and with it some of my favorite cyber-friends that I thought didn't post anymore. I told myself it was enought to just read and laugh. Yup. That's what I said. But then..... Someone quoted Inigo Montoya (from The Princess Bride) Someone else actually knows who Christine Lavin is!!! Then someone else noted that they are following the same crazy CITH pattern that I am....Waukegan, Kalamazoo, D.C. I give up. I don't post enough to worry about one more board anyway. So....a few thoughts.... Scarlett & merrieeee, you definitely need to keep an eye out to see if Christine Lavin makes it to Houston. She invites attendees to join her for a knitting circle either before or after her concerts. She used to have quite a big concert segment on the plight of the planet Pluto. That's before it was de-planetized. I'm not sure how she dealt with that. Also, how many folk singers conclude their set with baton twirling? I mean, really. I am SO empathizing with Clay's body type problem. I spent most of my youth as an emaciated twig. Stop laughing, y'all. I entered high school at 5'5" and 79 lbs., and no, I did not have an eating disorder. My adult height is 5'7", and spent most of my twenties at 107 lbs., and even at that weight I still had a double chin. When I finally reached 118 lbs., I got the poochy tummy. Most people asked if I were pregnant. It was a total shock when my metabolism died in my 40s. I still can't seem to master the whole diet/exercise thingy. My 1st husband, his Dad, and my son all have the same body type. Of course we're not in the public eye where we're being figuratively weighed and measured by fans and the media on a constant basis. Thank God for that!!! {{{Clay}}} Love the pic of Clay on the 5th Grader set. I was there that day, but was behind and to the side when that shot was taken. Those kids just swarmed around him...talking over each other and showing off. Beyond adorable. Can't wait to see the whole show. In order to try and win myself a welcome, I thought I would drop off a present. In honor of all the eHP members here, it's from the Houston DCAT. Any stubble fans here??? ...nervously hits submit....