jmh123

Lord yes. Someday you'll look back at this and say to yourself, good riddance. Clay's a much better boyfriend, anyway. Thanks for sharing that--it's a hard thing to be going through. I hope a different ending comes along for you soon, with a new life, new friends, sunshine and happiness. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

It's fun having people from different boards congregating here. I'm enjoying the mix. :Tour3:

I don't think there is a positive. Ansa's already explained that wasn't her intent to say that there was, but it's still a good question. When I first got on the boards and learned that the topic of Clay's sexuality was not allowed, I didn't understand, but after reading several long debates on the subject at boards that did allow it, I came to understand, and then it was like, "Well, duh." No amount of debate is going to determine the answer to the question, and it's really kind of ridiculous to think that it would. The tabloids and haters seem to think it's because fans are afraid of the subject, but really, it's just that it's pointless for people to be debating on the basis of pure conjecture. Gaydar? It's been shown many times to be useless. There was a show for awhile on cable called, "Gay, Straight, or Taken," on which women would spent a good amount of time with each man before deciding who fit into which category. I never saw an episode on which they were able to pick the gay man. No stereotyped behavior they claimed they saw was an indicator, because--duh--outside of TV and theatre, and outside of the deliberately signalling behaviors you see now and then, there is no classic "gay" behavior. I think one of the reasons Clay's sexual identification is so fascinating to pop culture is that to accept that he's straight might prove that people's gaydar is BS--and that bugs people. They want to feel that they can tell these things by looking at somebody, but life just isn't that simple. He's quite a man, isn't he? It's sad to see this happen. I wish there was some way to convince them to come out in the light. It's a much nicer world out here, and these things become surprisingly inconsequential very quickly. I came across this Technorati blog chart yesterday, and it makes me smile. The latest tabloid flap is literally a blip on the radar compared to the excitement of his not appearing on the American Idol finale this year--heh. More misc stuff--here's an article from the Denver Post on John Meyer that concludes with a Clay mention: There was a time when Meyer and Thomas supposedly had much more "cred" than Clay, yet here they are lumped together. Interesting....

Japan - cute isn't it?

Y'all have to see this. the ABC's of Clay Aiken. The ABC's are in English. Clay is Quirky, Religious, and Splendid. Hot, Intelligent, and Jovial. And XYZ? "eXamine Your Zipper." BWAH!! It's divided over several blogs. Scroll down almost to the end of the page, to the blog that has ABCDEFG and work your way back up. The pictures are perfectly chosen. So clever and cute! newclayaiken blog - The ABC's of Clay Aiken

Green tie? Suit with a wider-than-usual but fairly narrow striped pattern with a stitched look to it, dark blue? He wore jeans to sing Invisible.

I think he's been to Australia---don't remember when, but I remember the suit he was wearing. Brown, with a thin stripe. He flew over with Rupert Mudoch. Ruben too???? 2003 or 2004??? Please tell me I'm not the only one that remembers this. There was a newspaper photo, or wire service?? Ah, thank you ldyjocelyn for finding that!! No Australia. That we know of.

Love it!!

BWAH!!! Welcome Aspiegirl! (and anyone else I might have missed welcoming--let's see, jamar1700, oldnaiken, Sally, Maddy, how'm I doing??)

Put the Afghanistan beard on that guy and I can't be responsible for my actions. YSRN, glad you used your voice! You done good.

He's better than Krishna (remember granan's avatar?). He'll do us all at once, as usual, leaving us spent but longing for mooooorrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Heh. What a nice surprise to click on the link and see that video. My crowning glory as a videographer. Just shows that it sometimes pays to have cheap seats. What a masterful performance that night. OMG - thank you both for that. What perfect timing. How can anyone worry about the ability of that guy to take care of himself, or believe that he doesn't know how to smite his enemies and who they are? And he loves his fans, even when his board implodes. That's pretty special. Couchie, thank you for retelling that meet and greet story. I hadn't heard it in a long time and I love it even better now that I know you better.

Welcome newbies!! I'm afraid to name names and miss someone. Please join the discussions and enjoy yourselves.

Hi--jump right in. Welcome to the FCA!

Folks have made some good points. I won't belabor those infamous examples of the way the fans encouraged Clay's creative efforts on the JNT and welcomed actual insiders like Jaymes. Did anyone mention people's reactions to the new songs they tested on the JBT? BFM did get acclaim--the rest, some, not by any means overwhelming. Lot of criticism. I criticized them. I love LAA. It's a beautiful song. I hope he writes more. If he wrote 10 songs today, I wouldn't expect to hear about it anytime soon. I certainly wouldn't assume he didn't just because he watched some TV. I think I can be encouraging to Clay without instructing him on what to do with his time, and when to work. I think Clay is frequently busy, much busier than most board fans imagine him to be. I also think he's allowed to watch some TV. Most of us do. And I just really don't think of him as someone who needs admonishing that much--I'd be hard pressed to do anywhere near as well as he has with his career. Man's got a brain on him as well as talent, and common sense too, and he's funny, which is like an aphrodisiac, you know. I digress. And there's BAF and UNICEF and so forth. Man's allowed to watch TV. Period. Course I love the Riches and my comment was "Eeeeee. I love The Riches" and so forth, and that was kind of cool. Do y'all keep the window with your comment open and stare at it off and on for like three or four hours because his name and yours are on the same screen? Anyone else do that? I think I encourage Clay plenty. I just don't happen to do it by telling him no TV til he's done his homework. LOL.

Cindilu! You changed the emoticon with the Russian--kewl!! And we have a couchtomato too. YAY!! I love the Riches--one of my favorite shows. Clay has great taste!! (this time)

From the Canadian article...

Welcome laughn!! I know you too. Look forward to your posting here and keeping us laughn.

Yup, and PuddinsJoy was the liason who distributed the blankets and shirts. It would be great if she'd post here about it for those who haven't heard the story.

Welcome PuddinsJoy!! I also neglected to welcome 00lsee and Caro, and I hope we'll be hearing from y'all again soon. What in the world is this? Is there a text behind the balloons? If there is I can't read it. It's cute, but I'm not sure what it means. I know what this one means.

Or if dire predictions appear to be coming true because expectations created by hopeful predictions are not met. Did that make sense? I should go to bed too. (I'm sorry I missed what you did, couchie. It might have been entertaining.)

Thanks lydjocelyn for a fantastic job of coordinating. Thanks everyone for all the thoughtful and interesting posts.

WORD WORD WORD WORD WORD WORD!!!!!

Yeppers back atcha!! BWAH!! I like excessive long too. And I lurved the beard excessively. Even my Clay-hating sister lurved the beard. She said, "Who's that on your desktop?" "Clay" "Well, I figured it must be, but that guy is a really good-looking man. He should keep the beard."

I think he looks better some days than others, but I don't care much. I know he looks fiiiiine on my desktop or in my picture files or on my favorite clack, and I know next time I see him he'll probably take my breath away. After four years, how is it that a photograph of this guy can literally do that??!! I'm fascinated by his many looks. Back when I first got on line after AI, I honestly could not believe all the photos I was seeing were of the same guy.