georgiesmybaby

How can it be that I am sitting here at home, thousands of miles away from Vegas-and yet I am so excited to hear Clay's voice again that I can barely stand it? It's crazy, but it has just been far too long. All afternoon I've been watching the clock and willing the hours to move on by. And clack from Scarlett and the other clack goddesses? Just the possibility has a smile on my face already. If we get primo clack, I'm not sure my system can handle it. What a great couple of weeks it has been! Q&A's at the OFC, a bonanza of adorable photos of what is arguably the cutest baby on the planet, along with his beautiful mama and gorgeous daddy. Tonight's peformance as special guest with the legendary David Foster, who always seems to bring out the best in Clay. Capped by 30 Rock guest appearance later this week. So fantatsic! I feel happy. Hope all of our FCA members going to the show tonight have a magical, memorable, unforgettable evening! I'll be right here waiting for your news, recaps, and the good Lord willing-CLACK!! Fear, great news about the school. I know how much that means to the kids...and to you. Anna, hope you feel much better soon. Waves to From Claygary Claylove, I still think you might could find a way to ship mangoes and Mother's Day dinner cross country. Ummmm...did I mention that I love blackberry cobbler almost as much as coffee and chocolate? So you know that's a whole LOT. I may or may not post again later, so will take this opportunity to wish all of the mothers and grandmothers on the board Happy Mother's Day!

Good morning FCA! I'm still here. Just been reading only as RL has been sort of brutal the past few months. But I had to post this morning. What a guy! I love him, I can't help it! So funny and endearing. Such amazing gifts, both hours of his time, his honesty, his humor and JY. Fear, I emailed you, but 9 AM tomorrow works for me. Should be fun. Let's hope the weekend helps raise lots more money for TBAF.

The OFC has the new membership renewal info up. You have to sign out and it's in Fan HQ. There's no mention of meet & greets or presale tickets...unless I missed it somehow. I hope this is not indicative of anything, such as no tour this year. *sigh* I'm curious to see what everyone thinks. But they forgot to remove the 2008 disclaimer about presale tickets from the template. It's still across the bottom of the page. ETA They also use the "C" word repeatedly, which will obviously not go over well with some fans. I used to intensely dislike being called a "Claymate" myself, but over the years I have come to terms with it. Now, I just sort of accept it. When you are a member of the Raleigh Claymates, it's sort of hard to do anything else. *shrug*

From Claygary, at the Roundtable, I believe it was Jerry who mentioned the possibility of a future name change for TBAF, but at the time he said it was not something immediate. He did say that the Board had found a name they liked, "Inclusion Works!" and nearly changed it last year, but decided to hold off. I believe that's correct.

Luckiest1!!

It's been a rough week. I'm still struggling with family issues and trying to find some way to save the house. And one of my dearest friends, our own Claylove, moved back to her home this past week....which unfortunately happens to be on the opposite coast from NC. Claylove is an amazing person and a loyal friend. The west coast fans are fortunate to be getting her back. Take good care of her, k? Logically, I know she's where she belongs, in Cali with her family; and I know that she's right where she really needs to be at this time; but my heart already misses her terribly...there was such comfort in knowing that she was just down the road. I guess this contributes to the gerbil wheel, but I have no problem with fans who are genuinely grappling with disparate feelings and beliefs but are still respectful of Clay and others. The infamous "support" board, however, is in another category altogether. The only thing that board supports is the constant reviling and bashing of Clay Aiken. I do not think a lot of them will "build a bridge and get over it." Not anytime soon, at least. Their mantra, which is repeated over and over and over again, is "Clay Aiken is not the person we thought he was in any way, and we are so disappointed." Newsflash: That river runs both ways. They are certainly not the people that many of us thought they were, either, and we are very, very, disappointed in them, too. And furthermore, unlike Clay, they had a choice. Rather than becoming bitter and wallowing in recriminations, they could have chosen to simply walk away from Clay and the fandom with dignity and class, taking all of the memories, the joy, and many intact friendships, with them. Instead, they have chosen to be vindictive and "ugly," whether posting publicly admonishing Clay personally, or slinking in the shadows, attempting to draw other fans away from Clay. I love what you are doing with the FCA TBAF fundraiser, Couchie. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of money, and I don't have a collection of very valuable things. Heck, the only thing I own signed by Clay is the Spam playbill. I'm really not that into autographs, so the few times I've had an opportunity to get something autographed, I didn't get it autographed for me. But I DO have a friend who has pulled back on her fandom-FTR she'd begun prior to 2008 -anyway she has some very cool "stuff" and has said we can have it for future TBAF purposes. Annabear, maybe I missed something but puppy supplies...are you getting a puppy? Fear Hope work is going well

jmh

Claytonic, Aussie slang can get some of us Yanks in trouble, eh? My friend just bought a home in the'burbs but up until then she lived in Newtown, and from what she says, it's definitely still true. Mardi Gras alone is just wild-in case anyone doesn't know, Sydney hosts an international gay Mardi Gras every year which is just bananas. Sounds like fun! Just be sure to stock up on Tim Tams, k? Only THE BEST cookies ever created. Wish I had a package...or ten... right about now.

I really like this... he looks fabulous. I like this look too. He looks so much younger here and I got a thing for younger men. Especially this younger man. And he looks so happy...genuinely glowing from the inside out.

And don't forget Luther. I really miss him.

Tribeca, so not you I was referring to. I really don't see the type of post I was referring to on FCA, more other places I lurk.{{{Tribeca}}} Didn't mean to ignite any issues, firmly believe everyone has a right to voice any opinion, but it personally bothers me and makes me scroll when people complain time and time and time again-and not in a lighthearted, jesting or playful way- about hating this or that song or the covers issue, particularly if those same posters never seem to discuss anything they do like about Clay or his choices, musical or otherwise. And I realized later that what I said could possibly be perceived that way since I have not posted all that much here. And that is so not me. It's their right to post that sort of thing, but also my right to be bugged by it when it is as outlined above. Or at least I think and hope it is. IMO, YMMV and all of that jazz. Australia: Love it. Have visited once-Bisbane, Queensland, Great Barrier Reef, Sydney, Melbourne- but would love to visit again. I sort of found it to be a cross between the US and the UK, but with only the best bits of each. Aussies were so friendly and open. I have travelled the world, but never felt more welcome than I did there. Before that visit I was warned off of Australian men - by a gay man. Not sure if he was worried about my well-being, or just wanted to increase the field for himself. A belated Happy Australia Day! One of my best non fan friends lives just outside Sydney. I met her when I was living in London. I am trying to convince Claylove to come to Australia with me if I go back for a visit, and Couchie you should come too. The juxtaposition of WYSYLM and Australia discussions reminded me of something that happened at the height of MOAM promotion. My friend used to work in clubs and knew Human Nature, the group that had the Australian number one hit with WYSYLM. Yes they did-numero uno. Anyway, they sent me this autographed CD in the mail: Back then I knew zip about images on the internet, so this is a crappy low res version and I cannot find the CD. Hey, IT'S NOT CLAY , so why would I have it in safe-keeping? lol What it said was: "Dear Pam, hope you love our version more." :image13: FTR: if Clay ever does tour the UK, I am SO there. I am a little worried about navigating in a wheelchair, haven't been back since I've needed the chair, but I miss it a lot and would love to visit, especially if in combination with Clay doings. I keep having Tube nightmares, hearing "mind the gap" and wondering how easy/difficult it would be to traverse London in a wheelchair, but I am game to find out.

Merrieeee, just lovely. Thank you for expressing how I feel better than I ever could. And thanks to you...and all of the fans who attended GFI...for being there last night and shining all of our love and affection down on that brave beautiful man. I hate the fans who whine about covers and complain about what he sings ad infintum. So hope I didn't come across that way regarding Mandy. I think for me, there have been two songs Clay has ever perfomed that I would sometimes skip to get to other songs. I didn't "hate" those songs, I'd just want to get to songs which I loved much more. And it really wasn't his performance, because he always sang them beautifully, so much as my feelings connected to those two songs. With Mandy, I attended a religious college for a time, full of heavy censorship, and Barry Manilow was literally played non stop at the expense of many other artists. He was one of the few artisits they deemed "suitable" for their radio. He even perfomed live there...and they made him rewrite some of his lyrics. I kid you not. Barry freakin' Manilow. So for me that song carried a lot of memory baggage. The really funny thing is...Clay has now performed both of those songs live at Galas and I have come to really love them. One of them, I'd even marry, if I could. Yes, there are other "great" voices in our world, but there is no other voice quite like his. Not for me, anyway. And even before my "epiphany" with those two songs, given a choice...I would have preferred to listen to Clay singing just those two songs over and over again for ages rather than any other song(s) by any other performer out there. I adore him and his voice. So much so that I have a really tough time when people ask "what's your favorite Clay song or songs?" I love them all a thousand different ways and for a thousand different reasons. Missed the Bill and Lynda show. Must find. :thRoadRunner:

Scarlett, thank you so much for staying up late to upload more videos. The cellcert was awesome and the videos are just incredible! What a night! Awwww...you guys were right about the gorgeous. Gorgeous man, gorgeous voice, gorgeous soul. Gigantic heart. Goldarngirl, your video is fantastic, too. You and Scarlett are keeping me up all night tonight! And I love it! I have a confession to make. Something I have not shared with anyone before. *Deep breath* Okay...I admit it... I , too, am usually a Mandy skipper. Whew, I'm relieved to find myself in such good company. However, I'm thinking maybe I am a recovering Mandy-phobe because I really thought it was a beautiful performance tonight. Of course when it comes to Clay, it's all relative- I am a sucker for THAT voice. Truly a Goner. FCA GFI attendees: safe travels

Couchie, another one you might try is Vietnam Vets, although donation restrictions as far as what they will pick up tend to vary by locale. Loving the GFI photos. He is just too cute. GFI peeps are at dinner now, right? Hope we get more reports soon.

Just wanted to thank everyone again for your comments and suggestions regarding our "problem." There were several things mentioned which I had not thought of-such as shelters- and they may be very beneficial. The good news is that, thanks in part to some of your posts which I shared with her, she is now convinced that she must report this and take whatever legal action is possible. Also, over the weekend my brother was able to reach a friend who used to be an Asst. DA here, and he will be meeting with my sister ASAP. Plus it turns out another employee, an older gentleman, witnessed some of what was happening, was afraid to get involved as this is a scary dude, but now wants to make a statement and testify if necessary. Not sure when we'll feel safe again, but at least there is some movement. I'll never forget the kindness and support. {{{FCA}}} And now...bring on more GFI reports! Here's hoping that by this time tomorrow we'll have fresh clack. Just the possibility makes me wanna EEEEEEEEEE.

Thank you so much for all of your words of support and advice. It is very scary. I have been trying to convince her that she has to go to the police...she just wants it to be over. She jumps every time the phone rings. Our next door neighbor is a police detective, so I am hoping to get her to talk to him. I just wondered if anyone had any experience with this sort of thing. I tried researching on the internet but most of what I found was related to racketeering, not much on personal extortion. Jobs are very hard to find here, especially full time jobs with benefits. Many companies are laying off or going out of business. Ditto the housing market. Despite the fact that, according to the news, we live in one of the two top zip codes for home sales, homes are not selling. My brother is furious and wanted to confront him, but my mother talked him down by reminding him that he has a family and three small children and has no business confronting someone who is clearly violent. {{{FCA}}}

Just wanted to wish all of those heading south to Disney World :lmaosmiley-1: safe travels, especially my dear friend From Claygary. Like a few others, I, too, spoke with Jerry Aiken about GFI at the Gala, and he said much the same thing others have reported. That the economy has severely affected sponsorship, and that in times like these it is especially difficult to obtain support in a state where TBAF is not well known and has few ties. I was left with the impression that TBAF may be considering moving the tournament to NC in the future. I do suspect that under the circumstances the turnout may be a little less than TBAF had hoped for, but I know that FCA can count on all of you to make sure that TBAF and the cutesexysingerguy feel surrounded by love and affection. Can't wait to hear all of your recaps! Merrieeee You rock! Thank you so much for putting together the sponsorship of a junior golfer-what a wonderful gift. I'm sorry I wasn't able to contribute. There's a lot of shi....stuff going on in my real life at the moment, and coming on the heels of WFI , couldn't have been a worse time. I did have $20 tucked away just in case you needed it at the end, though. So I'm going to set it aside for the next project. We're all family here...right? The real life shi...stuff is so unbelievable that I really don't know what to do. I apologize for this being long and convoluted but it is very complicated. I'm feeling rather desperate and am hoping someone here might have wisdom or experience to share. My mother, sister and I live together in a town home which my mom and sister co-own. Since September we have had worrisome things happening. A few of you have been privy to bits of this. Money borrowed and not repaid, which evolved into huge sums of money disappearing, and much to our dismay, discovering that mortgage and other bills had not been paid for several months, despite the fact that the money was gone and checking accounts were even in arrears. It's been really strange. My sister was unemployed last year until September, so we had been using a lot of our savings to pay bills, but when she started working again, at that point we assumed she would be able to resume her responsibilities, and financially things should have been back on an even keel. But she never deposited any money into the household account...yet never had any money either. It got so bad, she was begging for $20 from my 91 year old great aunt who stays with us from time to time. Try as we might, we could not see where the money could possibly be being spent. My sister, like my father, is bi-polar, and we are used to ups and downs, but the past few months have been hell. There is no other word for it. Any attempt to confront her turned into a screaming match. And ended with no answers. We'd begun to suspect drugs. Or gambling. Neither of which appeared to fit...but how else could huge sums of money disappear? Finally, Thursday evening, the truth was revealed. A man who works with my sister has been physically forcing her to take money out of her account/our accounts and hand it over to him. Extortion. He's 6'6" and huge-think Jerome sized. You should see the bruises all over my sister. Other than her first 2 paychecks back in September, she has not been allowed to keep a dime of her money. And there's more. He forced her to buy a computer on our joint Dell account, and to pawn her $10,000 engagement ring from her former marriage, among other things. Her job involves driving, so they are required to have a cell phone-and she told him last month that her phone was turned off because he had taken all of her money- so he gave her a phone that was supposedly an extra. Ummmm...NO. We have discovered that he set up an account in her name with her information, and she now owes T-Mobile over $200. This is on top of the money she already owes for her own Verizon account. How could this happen? And if he did all of this...what else has he done in my sister's name? Apparently he obtained her personal info from computers in their office. The man has already used violence against her and has threatened her life....and our lives as well. We would not let her go into work yesterday, so she called in sick. Well, it was pay day...and he tried calling our home over 30 times. You can guess what he wanted. She is petrified. And I am scared, too. We are trying to get her to go to the police but she is so afraid. There IS some possibility that he has mafia ties. Obviously this cannot go on. She wants to just tell him "NO MORE" but I am afraid that without an official record of some sort, my sister is in even more danger. I don't know. It's bad enough that thousands of dollars are missing and we may lose our home....I don't want something far worse to happen. She's talking about quitting her job, although she loves the work, other than this man who is abusing her, and in this economy she could remain jobless for some time. I think her employer needs to be informed of the situation. This goes beyond my sister, and he may well have a history of things like this in his past and/or may target someone else at the same company in future. She is afraid he will be fired-and yes, I would think so-and that he might then retaliate against her or us, if that happens. She is so traumatized that she wasn't able to tell anyone what was happening until this week, when it all finally spilled out. The past few months my mother and I have scrambled to set up protected accounts, find some way to avoid losing our home (although with no financial assistance from my sister, a solution seemed impossible.) All the while trying to make sense of what was happening. I have been frantically worried about the affect the stress is having on my mother, who is 77, and has serious health issues, including two prior strokes. And, as most of you know, I am disabled myself, with my own health issues. So has anyone here ever dealt with extortion? Or has anyone here ever heard of anything like this before? She has to go to the police, right? There's more risk if she doesn't, isn't there? Advice? If you know something and feel more comfortable sharing by PM, I'd welcome that. This really does seem like a bad Lifetime movie, but it's not. It is very real. Obviously prayers are welcome, too. Forgive me for going so far off topic. Let's see if I can drag this back on topic.: I hate that the Spamalot company's privacy was invaded, especially Clay's and Reed's, but those photobooth photos have been a welcome distraction for me. I love seeing them so happy. Darn, I missed "Prayers for Bobby" and I had been looking forward to it. It sucks when the drama in your own life rivals a Lifetime movie.

I composed a post earlier, but we lost power here at the house and I lost my post, so... I think I'll just go with: I am happy that Clay looks so happy and that Reed seems so comfortable wearing Clay...I mean Clay's shirt. Whether it lasts 5 minutes, 5 weeks or 5 years-TM Clay-I am happy that there's a someone who makes him "glow" even moreso than he usually does. Happiness like that is a beautiful thing, y'all. As for the fans with the exploding heads over a few silly photos with people obviously mugging and cutting up for the cameras :boo-hoo: Did I just post that?

Awwww...love the photo. I love them together (never been fond of the combined monikers such as Cluben, though-just me?) One of my all-time favorite photos is the one where they are on the AI tour bus, asleep against each other. I found it endearing that even in sleep, they looked so comfortable with each other. I am definitely in the "hoping for a future Clay/Ruben duet" camp, too. I think JIL was brilliant. And I always celebrate Memorial Day and July 4th by re-watching Clay and Ruben perform "God Bless the USA." Their impromptu performance on the Today show back in 2003 makes me schmoopy just thinking about it. :smiley_84: Lucky 32?? Someone must REALLY like Lucky 32 because the road where the coliseum is located here in Greensboro is restaurant row. They actually had to drive out of their way to get to Lucky 32. As Fear and Claylove can attest from chauffeuring me around town mumblety mumblety times, Lucky 32 is on the way to MY house. They could have driven just a little further out Battleground...I would have been happy to feed them, so long as they weren't expecting anything fancy, like ya know...real food. I did make banana pudding for the weekend, so they could have at least had dessert.

Couchie, so glad to hear that your mom is better, despite the need for therapy, etc. Hope you are feeling better, too. Please take care of yourself. {{{Couchie, Muski and anyone else needing hugs}}} I love the bow tie photos. They really are so very Clay. Lord help me, I sound a bit like that over the top, overdone Debby Boone song, but Clay really does light up my life. It's the mushy, sappy truth. His smile just "sends" me. K'Andre & Scarlett: Very OT but after reading K'Andre's latest recap of her trip to Japan, I just had to find and read the recaps of past eHP adventures. Thank you so much for sharing your fun, and for the laughs and beautiful photos. I always wanted to visit most of Asia. Afraid the closest I ever got was an airport layover in Bangkok on my way to Australia. Maybe one day I will still get there. Anyway, I loved your travelogues so much. Of course, I am insanely jellus, but that will be our secret...right? RCA Who? That said, I just want to hear Clay's voice singing to me, my friends and the world at large-on stage, TV, CD's and Lord willing, on the radio, radio, radio. And I want Clay & family to be financially set for life. As long as those things are happening, I'm not particular about the companies or alphabets involved. I'm basically easy-if Clay's content and happy, then my Clay world is generally quite happy, too.

Someone call for an FCA dog walker for life? If you took all my former posts from the past five years at every board out there and combined them, I'd probably still be a canine's companion. Obviously I am a woman of few words...online. Okay, I heard THAT...you didn't have to point out what a big mouth I have in real life. It's not as if someone previously reported that I would even talk to a door, or some such rubbish. Would not talk to a door. No, I would NOT. Okay, so.... maybe I would. Your point? Couchie, I was really looking forward to 24 tonight, too. DVR baby. I Clay. And I am thrilled that he seems so openly happy. That is all. Except: I want photos of Clay in his cute little bow tie. And Claylove needs to see glasses Clay. She NEEDS it. Clack...clack...CLACK.

Waves to all of my new friends from NYC weekend. Loving all of the recaps and photos. Annabear, thank you for the email. :big hug: My guess for the tour kick-off: July 10

Still recovering from a nasty case of flu but wanted to say a belated thank you for all of the birthday wishes last week. They meant a lot. Also wanted to thank my good friend Fear, who was amazing during WFI, truly my right hand. She and her husband actually finished breaking down our WFI site at the mall on Monday-including returning 7 donated 6' tables, which was no small feat....and they insisted I stay in bed and try to get better for NYC this weekend. It's a fact: FCA'ers rock! I AM feeling better, antibiotics to prevent pneumonia have helped me turn the corner. Can't wait to see so many of you on the weekend! Annabear, FromClaygary, and all other FCA members who are, or will be, in transit....safe travels. See you soon! Happy New Year FCA! May 2009 be the best and brightest year ever...for Clay & family, and for all of us, too.

Couchie, I'm praying for your mom. You get some rest. {{{Couchie & mom}}} Been there, done that as far as ER care. My gran...they were determined to send her home with viral mediacation until we pitched a fit, and threatened to take her to Duke if she wasn't admitted. She had a major intestinal rupture, and five days later, she slipped away. *sigh* Fear waving, see you in a few days.

Annabear, I am so sorry I missed the news about your mom. Please give momma a hug for me-she's a special lady. I am so glad that the oncologist is optimistic about the "detour." You know y'all are always in my prayers anyway. {{{Annabear & mama}}} I am knee deep in Wrapping for Inclusion at the moment, so I am missing a lot, even for a lurker, like myself. Speaking of lurkers, we had two wonderful FCA lurkers who helped out at WFI here in the Triad on Saturday. You know who you were...and you were amazing. Thank you so much! bottlecap Loved the cute Photoshop. Now THAT'S a Christmas present! And the wrapped gift isn't bad either. Luckiest, thank you for the email. Can we make a date to work on it in the New Year? After I get past the next few weeks, I'll have a lot more time and energy. Waves to Claylove and FromClaygary. Can't wait to kick back and kick up my wheels with y'all in NYC! And Annabear, too. I do hope you will still be making the trip? I will be wrapping all day,every day, starting Thursday so I'd like to go ahead and wish everyone here wonderful and blessed holidays! Couchie & Company, thanks so much for my new board home, even though I'm mostly a wallflower, I DO love your casa. :addemoticons43: Have Yourself A MerryLittle Christmas! Happy Chanukah!