KAndre

I like how merrieeee didn't any mention that she couldn't see until ooh what was it? Six months ago? I had no idea why I was driving, especially without a license - but hell, I haven't got a ticket in decades - lots of cops though. And Solo loves driving the eHP everywhere - the highlight of her life! Man, I actually had to leave work today at 10 am - some evil person has given me a disease! My nose is stopped up, my throat hurts, and I'm running a fever of 99.7 (after taking some damn aspirin - and considering my normal temp runs around 96.5 - I am famous in the eHP for my appropriate temperature, no matter the weather. Ask PerusingOn.) I feel like complete and total crap. However, Clay is singing to me and I'm vaguely happy.

Huynh Authentic Vietnamese Cuisine sounds like my kind of place - name a day! Emphasize, empathize - it's still up against the wall!

Man, the show is boring this year. Boring, boring, boring.

See, this is why Scarlett and I struggle for world domination - she actually emphasizes with people before wishing to control their every move, while I just add them to the list of those to be put up against the wall - unless they're cute. Sums it up nicely I think - and I have to admit, I tend to pomposity whenever I can get away with it. I like sounding as well as being important!

Travel bucket? Working my way slowing through this list - what can I say? I'm a tourist to my heart! Still totally indifferent to E!Online...

No wing flapping unless you just enjoy that sort of thing - the airlines are simply a little desperate...the $400 is from Houston or NYC, of course - LA is higher, like $590 and not in the first week of May - but if Continental is offering those fares, somebody else will be cheaper still!

Oooooo - now we're talkin'! Aaaaaaand Continental is having some sort of special - it's either London, Paris or Amsterdam for that $400 fare...and I've never been to Amsterdam...and hell, all that European stuff just seems like a hop, skip and a jump away... I like your dreams, luckiest - not so much your weather!

But think about it! $400 round trip airfare to gay Paree - a cheap hotel in the 7th arrondissement somewhere by the Eiffel Tower (because we're tourists, dammit!), a 3- or 4-day weekend - you gotta admit, that would totally rock! We could go to Clay's thread and invite him - he's cheap too! First week in May - we could do it, mon chere! I'm sure there's a Renoir in a salon just waiting for us!

See - that's why I wish everyone happy birthday on MY birthday - easier to remember! Hmmmm - I am seeing relatively cheap fares from Houston to places like London, Paris and Amsterdam - antsy feet are beginning to be felt! (Though the eHP is still doing the Hawaii/Buenos Aires thing too!)

The boobs are important - I plan on using them to influence Clay in grading my test....

A certain mod eyes couchie with deep suspicion...and plans on assigning some sort of English major/librarian minion to take "her" test...Ha! Of course I totally missed the Oscars and TAR because of that goddam Comcast...I swear, they will be first up against the wall come the revolucion! And I've order my Clay whatever the hell thingie...and I FUCKIN' HATE my new bifocal glasses (that I went cheap on 'cause I didn't wanna pay $177 for the progressives on top of the $300 for everything else - which I'm gonna have to do anyhoo now because I can't even see my own boobs. Dammit.) Clay's having 52 children? Why don't you people tell me these things?

Ooooo, this has been a looooong frickin' week! My new TV is up (though the frickin' cable itsn't working - I need AT&T U-verse so frickin' BAD!) Stubborn? It's all relative...I sincerely believe that all coping mechanisms people develop work for them on some level - having a justified reputation as being stubborn can eliminate a lot of annoying people bugging you about stuff you don't wanna and ain't gonna do...compromise only if necessary. (Y'all can probably tell I'm a little biased). OK, quick question: how can one rodent type thing sort of eat the other rodent type thing? Semi-cannibalism? Hokay! RCA? Totally indifferent one way or another. Prior to Clay, the only label I paid any attention to was Motown, and that was mainly for the style of music...turns out Barry Gordy was something of a son of a bitch - just like just about every other record dude out there. Anyway, to me it looks like everybody and their brother are starting their own record label these days - and push comes to shove the majority of working musicians don't have a major label contract. I personally think in his heart of hearts, Clay is an entertainer. Now what audience he plans on entertaining, I don't know. As long as it's public, I'll be there. And there hasn't been an online fan that has yet to convince me of their expertise. Clay Aiken? Sings pretty all the frickin' time; can occasionally look real good; one of the good things in my life.

whatavoice - that's a great question - the problem is, nobody really knows, unless there's some serious backchannel I missed. The facts are these: (and the dates are not mentioned because lord knows I can't remember) Clay was doing a Joyful Noise tour with Angela, Quiana and Jacob as usual - Jacob's solo was Emannuel (here comes some heresy: I don't like the song, and even worse, I liked Jacob's version a titch better than Clay's. Sue me.) which came about the middle of the show (for certain clack takers, a good time to change tapes). During one show, Jacob was singing backup as usual but after intermission was nowhere to be seen. Clay did Emannuel just fine and never said jack shit to the audience about what happened to Jacob - and neither Clay, Jacob, Quiana, Angela, Jerome, Faye, Jaymes or anyone has ever discussed it one way or another. Rumors abound - Clay fired Jacob, Jacob quit in a huff - I personally go with "abducted by aliens who like skinny guys and Clay out ran him". He's still working as a professional musician, mostly out of Utah I think. Anybody know any more facts or better yet, wild and crazy rumors?

KAndre wanders in, muttering "BE the Sex" repeatedly and still trying to straighten out her fingers from Foghat and that damn guitar... Dang, next time we are gonna get a girl-in-a-bubble suit and just fetch keepingfaith, as out of the first 16-20 songs on Guitar Hero, that heifer Scarlett knew a grand total of...two. I at least knew three. We played the hell out of them all! Like Sailng? Never in the lifetime - but I'll be damned if Clay didn't get me to listen to the whole damn song - repeatedly. I see comments from way back when...communication in a wonderful thing. Doesn't always work, especially in a written medium. And I love how international our board is - though I am well aware of how very Americanocenic some of us can be (but then again, you never know when someone on this side of the pond started out from). This community also has a lot of weird-ass history and it is not all universal. All I can suggest is that ya do the best you can. Newbies, ask anything you like - someone will always roll their eyes at the gerbil wheel/dead horse/mythology - and slapping is occasionally out of the question (I never rule out any mod techniques) but from many perspectives, many if not all of "gates" are freaking hilarious. Or at least I find them funny. But I'm biased. Hell, I know I'm seriously invested in one Clay Aiken - I simply think my level of vestment works for me and everyone else should be exactly like moi - and I find much about him, his career and his fandom as funny as hell. [Solo, don't look at the following sentence. I don't want you to be shocked.] And I like bitching about stuff. I like it a LOT. And a little whining too... I try to be funny with it, but it's still bitching. I honestly believe if you eliminate complaints, especially about other people, 40% of all communication would disappear. And we would be boring as hell. Of course, I will put the smackdown on if necessary when bitching becomes OTT - so aren't y'all lucky I like bitching? Thinking back on communication - one of the things that came up were words that we read and knew but didn't really hear aloud and didn't know how to pronounce (merrieee allowed us to pick her brain - even though British people don't seem to have a clue as to what they're drinking - lemonade is NOT fizzy! La la la I can't her you! Barley water? OMFG! Some sort of sucrose water stuff? Wha????) like reticule. It wasn't until I hit college before I connected the spoken and written forms of 'epitome,' 'segue,' and 'paradigm' (I swear, I thought it was "eppy- tom" , "seg" (I don't know why I thought the "ue" was silent) and "pa-ra-dig-em"). Or ethereal. Or catastrophe. Or couchie's "Guala"! It's difficult to tell sometimes even where the communication is falling down. But all in all I think we do pretty damn good. I'm enjoying my week off not doing a damn thing!

Heh, Clay!

Penny, hush your mouth! A northerner indeed! Unless...dammit, I'll bet he's actually Canadian! And the freckles are carefully applied every morning!

Yep, the evil waiter and the lovely 4 in heels me 'n abby were wearing!

My start in the fandom? Hardcore? Hmmm, I don't think I was crazy during the AI2 tour (just went to the Houston show, did have front row tickets, did skip work to let people I didn't know from Adam to stay in my house and party with) - I consider myself to have truly lost my mind in November of 2003, when a woman that I actually referred to by her screen name (Sane as in "SaneAikenFan" - yeah right) impulsively bought tickets to the AMAs a month before the show and asked did I wanna go...and I said yes. And the tickets turned out to be the good tickets and me 'n abbyharp walked down the red carpet...the actual red carpet...just before Clay and Ruben. The first time I was within 10 feet of Clay. And the skankiest Pam Anderson alive but nevermind. Oh Lord, that was a trip and a half! And I believe the first place I met Scarlett - who I didn't really get to know until she showed up at my house to ride the vibrating subwoofer all the way to Dallas. I think she was wearing a long formal in navy blue. I had on gold. Much of the trip is fuzzy, in that good fuzzy way.

clazycoffin, if you want, I know I have all the entire episodes of AI2 - they run between 200 and 400 MB each - how would you like them? I can do either data DVDs or video DVDs - I still have claytonic's set up.

KAndre looks around slyly... Oh yes, the carpenter's song...I think KF mentioned that as one of her FAAAAAAVORITES! Oh, don't get me wrong...I love the cheeze myself - but really? What do we mean by "cheeze"? Is it "Lord, this just doesn't make any sense at all?" Example: Islands in the Stream That is what we are No one in between How can we be wrong? Sailing in the dream Mumble mumble And we'll rely on each other, uh huh Sharing love with one another, uh huh or "Oh man, can you be any more clichéd?" Roses are red, my love Violets are blu-u-u-u Sugar is sweet, my love But not as sweet as you Or is the primary attribute horrible lyrics and a freakishly catchy tune? And yes, I blame you, Mr. Clay Aiken, for sticking this particularly piece of crap back in my head: Don't tell my heart My achy breaky heart I just don't think you'll understand And if you tell my heart my achy breaky heart It might blow up and kill this man ETA: OK, kf, those clearly aren't cheesy because I sure as hell don't recognize them! Do a link!

Ooo! I can't fight this feeling any longer It's been running 'round in circles in my mind Baby, I can't mumble mumble Mumble mumble mumble I do a lot of humming to this. As for the heatwave down under, I came across this link that says that Australians and Americans really don't seem to comprehend how really bad heatwaves can be and have to admit, I wasn't aware of things like this: Hell, I was working on my degree in public health and this wasn't covered...people need to be careful!

See, I've heard that before but don't understand...I know Lake Michigan is to the east of Chicago but if you run a line down the middle, there's some to the west and some to the east, isn't it? See, I think Chicagoans are geographically challenged - looking at google maps they've got the "South Side" due east of the "West Side" - as if the city is a triangle or somethin'...

Billy, don't be a hero Don't be a fool with your life! Billy, don't be a hero Come back and make me your wife! And as he started to go She said Keep your pretty head low Billy, don't be a hero, come back to me! I am NOT going down alone! You know, it would be worse if the chair DID hear him and told him to stop kvetching!

Ooooh, good one aikim So many nights I sit by my window Waiting for someone To sing me this song Oookay! Now I'm gonna have to take you all out because my head is creating a mix tape of all this crap! And I'm not going down alone! Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelings! Whoa whoa whoa Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelings! Whoa whoa whoa Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelings! Whoa whoa whoa Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelings! Again in my heart