Tijala

I can't keep up. I'm just so very proud of him.

Love your post, keepingfaith. Especially this line "Some fans seem to believe that they are the Almighty Borg, with powers to make and break." LOL

Isn't that the truth? It's crazy. "Be gone, you have no power here!" (TM Glinda)

I agree the focus will be income inequality and jobs. I live in an area where the economy is is a service economy...restaurants, big box stores, etc. Rents are high and people aren't making enough to survive without food stamps and Medicaid. I find this to be incredibly sad.

Calurker, I do remember Clay saying this. You haven't lost it. *g*

What's surprising to me is that Clay was so protective of his privacy, and now that he's considering running tells me he's very passionate for change to be willing to go through this process.

I also enjoyed the Larry Flick interview very much.

Hello all. If Clay has thought this all through carefully, then I say he should go for it. I will miss the voice terribly, but apparently he is more passionate for change than for entertaining at this point in time. I had a tough time sleeping last night, so I got lost in YouTube...great memories. I've often thought sometimes that somewhere along the way, Clay just lost interest for singing.

I think our low temp was 12 last night and were supposed to get to 43 by Thursday. I'll believe it when I see it. Stay warm!

Happy Holidays everyone. I sort of stopped posting because most everyone was feeling so optimistic about Clay's staying in entertainment, and I wasn't. I didn't want want to depress anyone or bring down the board. I'll still check in from time to time to say hello. I hope the board doesn't go away.

Have a wonderful Holiday!

I'm not one of the cool kids and have never been privy to the back channels, so in that regard I'm glad the clack was made available to all. However, I'm not downloading very much. I did watch the YATS snippet, and immediately deleted it. That was something I never want to see again. Totally different body language, and I'll never forget the look on his face as he was backing away. Wow.

I'm thinking it's getting fairly late to be scheduling those intimate "events". Maybe it was the piano concert, dinner and balloon ride? I think Clay just doesn't want to perform at the Galas anymore. Anyone remember the remark he made several years ago about "whoring" himself out? I don't remember the context of the remark at the moment, but I remember at the time it upset some to hear him refer to it like that.

Glad skating has started! Our little 7 year old starts lessons tomorrow too, so that's exciting!

Thanks so much for the reports and pictures! I can imagine the mood for some mood be a bit subdued this year. Hopefully everyone still has a nice time.

Busy day today. Got GD all signed up for her skating lessons this morning and we skated for about an hour and a half. So much fun! She informs me that we're going back again tomorrow...alrighty then!

I just saw the pics on FB. Is Ethel sniffing Clay? Lol!

He reiterated that he wasn't going anywhere!

From Corabeth at the CC:

That was in the context of the National Inclusion Project.

Diane said that he has carried them for ten years. And then they said we had done it. Everyone clapped. Then he said even if he leaves, we will still be here supporting the Foundation. He noted the applause was much smaller and then said he wasn't going anywhere.

He changed the set list to all MoaM songs, sung as ballads. The Way, RTM, ISY, MoaM and then Invisible as a ballad. Which confused me, given the intimate events, etc. he said they were only going to do Invisible as a joke bit he likes it and they are going to record it because the seven year contract on it is up.

He said he was just told last week that MoaM is ten years on Monday.. Again, I was confused. *g*

He brought Ethel on stage for the auction and she was actually hilarious.

He mentioned Law and Order. He said don't blink. H said he plays the corpse and then said its worse than that!

Hey, Kevin Costner got his start as the corpse in the Big Chill.

Invisible as a ballad?! And he may record it?

Loving all the reports!

Thanks for all the updates!!

Well, no vacation for me, but speaking of grand babies I will be taking our 7 year old GD to register for skating lessons tomorrow. Can't wait! It sounds like a lot of fun. Free skating, exhibitions, etc. Then it's back home to clean the house...blech.

Congrats on the new job Shortyjill! I love Kohls, even though we don't have one yet. We''re getting one soon though...the ground is broken. The first and only Kohl's I ever set foot in was Houston 10 years ago. Loved that store.

Will be interesting to see how much of a role Clay will play on Law and Order. I love that show.

Hope everyone that's in Charlotte is having a good time!

luckiest and everyone attending the Gala, I hope you all have a great time!

Mike Moret ‏@daMIKEMORET My Mom's at church with clay Aiken hahaha

I can fly in a plane, but if I get above the third step on a ladder, I shake and start to panic. Yeah, I won't be getting in a hot air balloon anytime soon.

<snip>

I can watch almost all my favorites online.

Cut out a lot, I know, but really just wanted to reply to this bit.. some stations are making it harder to view their content online. I know AMC works this way, I tried to watch a show on there and it wanted me to pick a cable provider in order to get access, unfortunately the one I have doesn't have a deal with them and I was blocked out. Hulu does this to an extent too, if you don't have a Plus account and you want to watch a FOX show the day after it airs, you need to connect a cable/satellite provider to your Hulu account to access the show.

Yes, I'm aware of this. We've had 3 providers in the past 10 years. I still pay my bill to the first one, but the actual service comes from #3. It's a mess and I can't sign up anywhere for online content. I've been lucky so far, but I know my days are numbered.

I agree Fear.

My cable just went up last month...again. I'm tired of it. Honestly, there is nothing on cable that I can't live without. I can watch almost all my favorites online. I disconnected a few years ago, and they didn't want to seem to want to do anything to keep me as a customer. I caved one year later because I got so tired of hearing DH complain there was nothing on to watch. Heck, he falls asleep on the floor in front of the TV anyway. My bill has gone up twice since then with no additional channels ( yeah...like I really need more, lol!) or services. So, I think it's time.

I've had favorite skaters quit or retire. Thank goodness for YouTube. I loved Kitty and Peter Carruthers and the Protopopovs. And I get such a kick out of watching Sonja Henie. Oh, and I do agree that the new scoring system is much more fair. It's just a tad complicated to understand.

I think with some of Clay's fans, if you don't have him right up there on that pedestal like they do, it equates to not caring, and the "good fan, bad fan" issues. I think with some it borderlines on being unhealthy. I do care. There just isn't any sense in me worrying anymore. He's gonna do what he's gonna do.

And more angst still. It's gonna be a bumpy ride for awhile I'm afraid.

I don't believe that the fans bring in that much money to the NIP that if they all disappeared it would fall apart...they have to have other sources of income. It just seems very arrogant to say that "we are the NIP". I think that is problem with the fandom (not everybody) but some have gotten way too full of themselves and their importance to Clay. Yes we are important to an extent but we are not the be all and end all and I doubt that he spends 23 hours a day thinking of us. He cannot build his life and career around the fans and their wishes..sometimes those have to be put aside and decisions made that are right for him no matter what we think.

Amen!

I hardly watched TV at all this summer because I crocheted 2 afghans, but usually had it on one of the digital music channels just for noise. DH loves The Military Channel. Me, not so much. I did get hooked on Restaurant impossible. I LOVE Parenthood. Downtown Abbey is another good one. I sometimes watch some pretty good shows on the free PBS app. I have Amazon Prime also, and I love watching some of the old TV series like The Twilight Zone.

That's so sad to hear that Stars on Ice is down to 10 shows! I remember they used to do at least 30. I heard Scott Hamilton discuss the decline in the popularity of skating, and it was really interesting. He seemed to think it has a lot to do with the new scoring system. I can see where it would cause a decline in TV viewership. I kinda miss the old 6.0 system myself.

Couch, congrats on the weight loss!

After doing some reading this morning, I think I'm going to just avoid some of the boards today. Mercy!

I've had many fandoms in my life, but never consistently stayed with one as long as I have with Clay. I sure didn't travel to see anyone until Clay came along. Living in a small city, we don't really get the big acts anymore. If we do, it's usually country. Not that it's a bad thing, because for years I listened exclusively to country radio.

I love figure skating! I competed as a kid and still skate a bit with my GD. Did Stars on ice even do a show this year? I've been to a few of their shows back in the late 80s and loved them. It's a shame that the big beautiful ice shows like ice Capades are gone.

I don't know Aikim. He's reading the boards and he knows how everyone feels. I still think many are hoping for Broadway. I've wondered if sometimes people don't over-dramatize their posts in hope that Clay will see them and maybe change his mind. I know that's a huge stretch, but it wouldn't surprise me at all. It's been two weeks since the blog. I'm wondering if we'll hear anything about 2014 before 2014.

Idy, thanks for posting the forward!

Great post Idy. I don't feel that Clay owes me anything either. He's gone above and beyond what I could have dreamed. I'm extremely grateful for everything he's done for us.

I'll have to give the new Elton John album a listen. I've heard it's very good. I've always loved EJ. When I was a sophomore in high school, we had a jukebox in the cafeteria. It was a gathering place to hang out with our friends before class in the morning, and every morning we could hear Crocodile Rock while walking down the hall...ahh, the memories.

BIL came through surgery with flying colors. He isn't awake yet, but he's expected to be soon. Thanks so much for your thoughts! Facebook is a wonderful thing sometimes. My nephew created a special page to keep the family as up to date as possible, and it's been so easy to get the latest news.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday,

{{{Hugs}}} to all. This is a time of uncertainty for us. Some of us are scared of permanently losing Clay, and some are optimistic that he's not leaving entertainment at all, but only doing something different. The unknown is a scary thing, and it's fueling all sorts of emotions. It saddens me to see all the sniping between the fans.

Clay definitely is addicting. I sure never imagined I'd be around for ten years,

but I'm sure glad I stuck around! There was a thread or discussion at the CB ten years ago and the subject was What is it about him? I still haven't been able to answer that question.

I often wonder what Clay would have done if the fans hadn't given him that $50k to make his college project a reality, Would he have eventually started a foundation on his own? Maybe. I don't think Clay will ever be able to completely distance himself from the NIP.

Just some random thoughts with no particular direction this morning.

If y'all could spare a few good thoughts for my BIL who is having open heart surgery today, I would be most appreciative. Thanks!