Claygasm Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 Is Claygasm among the living yet? Barely. Thanks for asking...... I am still very congested and coughing every time I utter more than a few words, which is making my head pound. I am better though. I still don't feel great, but here I am, back at work. I have a million things to do but just can't figure out which to do first, so I decided to check in here to see what I missed. I didn't even turn on my computer for the last 3 days. That may be an all time record! Haven't had a chance to watch dreamlarge's montage yet, but am looking forward to it. Muski, sorry about your mom! But thank goodness that was all it was and she's ok except for being shaken up! I hope the facility is beefing up their security system. Guess I should be a good Clay fan and go read his blog. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost my super seekrit decoder ring so I guess I'll just have to take what he says at face value. Now there's a concept! I want a nap. Do you think anyone would think it odd if they walked into this office and saw me with my head on the desk sleeping???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playbiller Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 (edited) Claygasm, have you tried Zicam nasal gel swabs? - not the nasal spray, but the que tip like things you stick in your nose. They are supposed to cut cold and the nasal protions of the flu symptoms down to one day. I use it all the time to stop a cold from digging in, but they are good for when it is there already. I have sinus shape problems, once I get a cold it was months before the symptoms would pass and zycam has been a godsend. The nasal spray makes me sicker though, don't know why. Edited January 2, 2007 by playbiller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansamcw Posted January 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 ((((hugs to all who needs it)))) I guess I;m lucky all I did this morning was play monopoly with the girls...but now my sinus headache is starting. BUT Sam agreed to prepare supper so I can now just lay my head and rest. My Clack probelm was solved by scruffy and her collection of banter compilation. Now I just need to find the best version of all the songs....So are y'all interested to help??? we can recommend our favorite version of each song and compile an FCA recommends list. Can;t think of that now...need to rest this sore head...TTYL... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldyjocelyn Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 What a sweet blog! Honestly, I saw it and saw only a friendly holiday greeting. The only words that gave me the slightest twinge were those where he said he hoped he would make the fans proud of him this year. So many fans have expressed bitterness and discontent over the album, its sales, and his handling of certain events. I can't help but wonder if he thinks he's disappointed them, because he didn't have the kind of record-breaking sales or huge critical acclaim many want for him, as if he had to be #1 at everything for fans to be proud of him. But perhaps I'm probably reading too much into it. I don't think you are, because I had the same thoughts. As a matter of fact, in my comment to his blog (which he'll never read, but oh well...), I said to him to not worry about making me proud -- worry about making himself happy instead. So yeah, I do wonder if he thinks that this year was a disappointment for the fans. I personally just have to say "no." But then, I'm only one fan, and not an extremely vocal one at that (in that I don't go to every board in the world to express my viewpoint). I really, really hope he doesn't use US as a gauge for what he does this upcoming year. I do have this feeling, though, that 2007 could be a very interesting year for Clay, one where he may be willing to try new things and take new risks. He's a very smart guy, and someone who I think is actually much more competitive than he wants to admit. I suspect we'll see more of him sooner than we expect. Love this. Claygasm, sorry you're at work feeling like death warmed over. I'm still perfecting my vegetable soup recipe just for you. Ansa, take care of that head too. My Clack probelm was solved by scruffy and her collection of banter compilation. I will go over those later this week, but I've been downloading the Chardonnay best of clips. Much more heavily edited, I suppose, but what she used was really good. (I still crack up at the Baltimore "BUT THEY WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE.") Now I just need to find the best version of all the songs....So are y'all interested to help??? we can recommend our favorite version of each song and compile an FCA recommends list. I can try my best to help on this. Maybe start a thread and everyone pick a song or two that they would listen to all of them. Also, figure out if there are mp3 for each song, or if we need to have one ripped from a video... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muskifest Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 (edited) But what's a DEAC? ldyjocelyn A DEAC is short for deacon....the Wake Forest team name is Demon Deacons...You see, Wake started as a Baptist seminary---men only, of course, in the little town of Wake Forest, NC...it grew and eventually moved to Winston Salem and became a university, privately run by the Southern Baptist Convention! Didn't accept women until late 1960s, I think. Over time, the Southern Baptist influence lessened. By the time I got there in 1971, the only real remnant of them was a course requirement---everyone had to take one semester of a religion course. I chose "World Religions" and can honestly say it had a real hand in shaping my spiritual belief. (I grew up in a small NC town Southern Baptist---until teenaged years when I started questioning and all that....) So we're the Demon Deacons! It's a stupid name and believe me, we caught heck about it---our rivals were the nearby big, big schools of Univ. of NC at Chapel Hill, NC State in Raleigh and Duke in Durham! We had fewer people in our whole university than those schools had in one class (freshman, soph, etc.)!!! I loved my college experience. Edited January 2, 2007 by muskifest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckiest1 Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 As a matter of fact, in my comment to his blog (which he'll never read, but oh well...), I said to him to not worry about making me proud -- worry about making himself happy instead. So yeah, I do wonder if he thinks that this year was a disappointment for the fans. I personally just have to say "no." But then, I'm only one fan, and not an extremely vocal one at that (in that I don't go to every board in the world to express my viewpoint). I really, really hope he doesn't use US as a gauge for what he does this upcoming year. I like your comment to his blog. I made a comment on another board after reading the blog this morning, that I hope he already knows we are proud of him, and that he doesn't need to anything further. I used to worry that he would use us as a gauge for what to do/not to do, but I don't worry about it anymore. I honestly think he has a really good handle on himself and the fandom as it relates to him nowadays. I don't think he plans anything based on how the fans will react. Since 9/19, when we "got him back" so to speak, he has seemed happy and fulfilled with his life. I can't wait to see what he has up his sleeve for us in 2007! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmh123 Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 I used to live in Winston-Salem, near Wake Forest. It's a beautiful campus in a beautiful city. I lived with several women in a gorgeous house. We had a coin-operated washer and dryer and footsball table--used to bring guys home and humiliate them at footsball and then send them away. We racked in the quarters too. I also lived in Old Salem (Salem College) for a summer back in high school. I have lots of fond memories of that city. This may be totally off the wall, Muski, but I was struck by the fact that your mother scared the man away with her screaming. Would it help to emphasize that she "won", so to speak? As traumatic as it was for her, I'm impressed with her for defeating the bad guy by successfully running him off. Man, there are some crazy f**ked up people in this world. I'm doing mom care these days, living about 45 minutes away. My mother still lives at home, alone--she's 93. Three of us siblings are helping her out, keeping her at home where she adamantly wants to be. I'm feeling guilty today although I shouldn't because she managed to mess up her computer and I haven't gone over to fix it. She called me yesterday, told me it was messed up, and blamed me, because last time I was there I updated her virus scan. I can't imagine she stayed off the computer for 3 days, or endured it being messed up without telling anyone for that long. Somehow she logged off windows, and can't remember her password. My brother is probably going to stop by there tonight and fix it for her. My mother has always been depressive and self-centered--she's actually easier to get along with now than she used to be. She's too old and weak to be very bitchy and controlling anymore. She has short-term memory problems these days and is becoming quite ditzy, to add to her general sense of helplessness, but physically she's in pretty good shape. It's hard to separate her genuine needs from her emotional ones. She really wants me to move in with her, but for my own sanity, I'd prefer not. At any rate, she's managed to guilt trip me this time. I know she's feeling lonely because it's the holidays, but I was over there three days the past week. I'm really vulnerable to her tendency to try to make me responsible for her emotional well-being, which is the one thing I really cannot do anything about. I know I don't post much, but I really appreciate this place. I manage to avoid most of the boards these days, so was spared some of the stuff y'all were alluding to the last few weeks--Clay's so mean, getting above himself, whatever. I do read the CH, and when friends who were taken over by the pod people awhile back post conspiracy-minded comments there it bugs me. And then there's the whole Greensboro-gate thing. I think Clay could win the Nobel Peace Prize and it would be spoiled for some by the fact that he was dissed in the Bumfuck Egypt Times by a cub reporter. Sigh. Anyways, I read here everyday, even though I don't post much, and this place has probably saved my internet fandom. I've been weary of the boards for a long time, and especially so for the last few months. Instead of laughing and having fun, it seems that too many people are bitter and jaded. They come off as greedy, demanding, and entitled to me. It isn't that I love seeing Clay dissed; it isn't that I don't wish he had sold a million ATDWs in the first week; it's just that I think things are not nearly as bad as some people, a lot of people, seem to think. So why am I bringing a whole lot of funky thoughts over here? I apologize for that. Playbiller, sorry that Holly has backslid, and that you had a nasty fall. I hope that she'll be back on track very soon. I really admire the love and patience you've had training her. On another subject.... Now I just need to find the best version of all the songs....So are y'all interested to help??? we can recommend our favorite version of each song and compile an FCA recommends list. I can try my best to help on this. Maybe start a thread and everyone pick a song or two that they would listen to all of them. Also, figure out if there are mp3 for each song, or if we need to have one ripped from a video... I'm still up for this. Making mp3s with Goldwave is really easy, but a way around it for those who don't want to would be to just decide on the basis of the audio of the videos (as well as what is already in mp3 or wav form), and then I and others can make mp3s of the best ones after they are chosen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playbiller Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 Well I return for a short moment with good news CLAY AIKEN - A Thousand Days Period...... Aud...... Spins... AC...... HAC 01/01/2007 0.01...... 1...... 1...... 0 12/25/2006 00.0...... 0...... 0...... 0 12/18/2006 00.0...... 0...... 0...... 0 12/11/2006 00.0...... 0...... 0...... 0 --------------------------------------------- To Date: 0.018...... 3...... 1...... 0 ...... SOmeone decidedto play 1000 days and it is not even 1/15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennaZ Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 My mother has always been depressive and self-centered--she's actually easier to get along with now than she used to be. She's too old and weak to be very bitchy and controlling anymore. ...I'm really vulnerable to her tendency to try to make me responsible for her emotional well-being, which is the one thing I really cannot do anything about. My heart goes out to you, jmh. Seems like such a difficult situation. I'm sure you're doing everything you possibly can. I hope you find all the strength and support you deserve. Anyways, I read here everyday, even though I don't post much, and this place has probably saved my internet fandom. I've been weary of the boards for a long time, and especially so for the last few months. Instead of laughing and having fun, it seems that too many people are bitter and jaded. They come off as greedy, demanding, and entitled to me. It isn't that I love seeing Clay dissed; it isn't that I don't wish he had sold a million ATDWs in the first week; it's just that I think things are not nearly as bad as some people, a lot of people, seem to think. I suspect that's true for a lot of us, here. It's certainly true for me. When the boards are a greater source of pain than pleasure, it makes you wonder, "What's the point?" I'm so grateful there's a place that isn't so angry and cynical, a place that hasn't lost its sense of joy. To be fair, the other boards were pretty pleasant during the concerts. However, the end of the year brought back a bit of the angst. Hopefully, Clay's statements will inject a little more glee into the fandom, at least for a moment. Don't feel shy about expressing your "funky thoughts." I think we all feel them. Thanks for bringing over the stats, playbiller. Good to know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muskifest Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 I used to live in Winston-Salem, near Wake Forest. It's a beautiful campus in a beautiful city. I lived with several women in a gorgeous house. We had a coin-operated washer and dryer and footsball table--used to bring guys home and humiliate them at footsball and then send them away. We racked in the quarters too. I also lived in Old Salem (Salem College) for a summer back in high school. I have lots of fond memories of that city. Hey, jmh123 Cool beans! I lived in a house on Polo Rd. right across from campus the summer between my junior and senior years with four other women. Took a summer school course and waitressed. Turned 21 that July 4 and we had a two-day celebration at our house. I woke up with a campus hearthrob hippie in my bed---both of us fully clothed, just passed out! He'd evidently seen a place to crash and taken it! I told him to get out, but he just mumbled and turned over. It was a big joke that I'd slept with this guy that so many hot chicks lusted after! I also used to have a picture of the front and back yards after the debacle---beer cans, remnants of vodka-saturated watermelons, various articles of clothing, one broken lawn chair, and other 'memories' of a couple of days spent in the ozone layer! This may be totally off the wall, Muski, but I was struck by the fact that your mother scared the man away with her screaming. Would it help to emphasize that she "won", so to speak? As traumatic as it was for her, I'm impressed with her for defeating the bad guy by successfully running him off. Man, there are some crazy f**ked up people in this world. I think I mislead you. I doubt my mom was responsible for scaring the man away. Frankly, I doubt I'll ever know exactly how it all happened. My mom, even before honest-to-God dementia took hold of her, has always had a tendency to relate things through her unique filters. Some might call it imagination. Whatever. Let's just say that over the years I've come to realize that in many instances, what I'd heard as being fact turned out to be "The Truth According to Mom"..... :glare: I'm betting that by the time I see her later today, she'll have embellished the story a few times to a point that various details make the tale more entertaining and impressive. (Think I should ask her if what he was showing her was worth looking at? ) In any case, the residence assured me that they are beefing up security there. And WORD to your post about this board and the wild wooly wanderings of some other places that purport to be CLay fan sites. I'd question my fandom if at every turn I looked for/imagined nefarious or depressing goings-on. Makes me tired just reading that stuff. Oh, and ldyjocelyn...Wake Forest U. is a small school relative to those huge state schools, but still in the thousands. I can't remember exactly the pop. of my class... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansamcw Posted January 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 EEEEEEEEEEEEEE JMH, thanks for the offer. oh don;t worry about bringing your funky thoughts here...its a way to let it go. So on to organizing clack.... I am personally very picky when it comes to Clay so at times my best is not the best recording but the most nuanced performance...or the one where his voice rings out the best. I know Clay can sound really amazing most nights...but I look for times when he did something different with his voice...or he added a flourish or two. That happened a lot in this show cos he was truly concentrating on singing the songs better even when he may not be in the best health. I think the performances in the middle might be some of the best. I think the AIW from Hartford may be really special. I actually think he started singing AIW better than the recording. At this point I will have to listen to the videos because it was difficult to judge from the cellcert. so how do we want to do this...do people want to take one or two songs and make recommendations? or do we want to review each performance and just tell people what to watch out for... hee play...for some reason that made laugh...in a good way. I guess I really don't care anymore what happens to this CD...I think it has lots of potential, but if they don;t pursue it...I am ready for what comes next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansamcw Posted January 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 oops jmh...i got distracted and ended up skipping a whole paragraph about your mom. I can relate to your situation...My mom and I don;t usually get along...it really is so much better that she is in the Philippines and I am here. She does love to use that guilt to make me feel bad about hersituation...but she made her choice to stay in her own domain and not live with us here. at least for now she still does not need me to take care of her...but when that time comes it will be me that will stay with her. It is tough and for everyone else having parental issues, hugs to you...It could be quite frustrating and emotionally draining... just know we are here when ou need to vent or a hug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAndre Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 I offer sympathy and empathy to all who need it - especially to the caregivers among us - which usually turns out to be everyone... I like this board 'cause I like y'all. Ansa, you know I like doin' it the hard way - let's review everything! Because occasionally nuances outweight the fucking annoying screeches that pepper some of the better performances - but sometimes they don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansamcw Posted January 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 I offer sympathy and empathy to all who need it - especially to the caregivers among us - which usually turns out to be everyone... I like this board 'cause I like y'all. Ansa, you know I like doin' it the hard way - let's review everything! Because occasionally nuances outweight the fucking annoying screeches that pepper some of the better performances - but sometimes they don't. I'm thinking the same thing... so next step is to get volunteers...we could do different songs each so the same standards are used for each song. review each performance and either rate them or rank them... so who wants to join the project. we can start a whole new thread for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muskifest Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 You guys are just so.....productive! Hey, I think I said somethign about this before but just in case.... I'll be in New Orleans (first time!) from Jan 20-Jan 24 to attend a conference. If there are any of you in that area who might like to meet up with me at some point, please let me know! I'd LOVE to do some EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ing! with a fellow Clay woman! :04: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atinal Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 At least when we are rating the songs, I'd say we can probably skip "All Is Well" from Waukegan. sorry Hey, I'll volunteer to do "My Grown Up Christmas List" I know it's a rotten job, but someone has to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couch Tomato Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Ok going to catch up..but something rarer from me than my pasty white boyfriend... I blogged. http://www.findingclayaiken.com/FCA2/blog/couchie.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldyjocelyn Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 I think I volunteered to do "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" a few weeks ago. I'll still do that one, unless someone is really wanting to do it. The other one I'd love to do is "Sleigh Ride" -- because that one is going to make me laugh my fool head off, thinking of him doing the "giddyup" move and the audience shouting "woohoo." Ok going to catch up..but something rarer from me than my pasty white boyfriend... I blogged. http://www.findingclayaiken.com/FCA2/blog/couchie.htm Aww....I love that blog Couchie. jmh -- thank you for being a part of this community, and thank you for taking care of your Mom. It seems that more than a few of us have had "mom issues" this past year. While I'm not the primary care giver for my Mom, I do still get the "guilts" for not coming home more often, and things like that. (OTOH, when my Mom first fell last April, I was the one who spent the entire week with Mom at the hospital, because my brother and family had tickets to Florida to visit my sister. Even missed my wedding anniversary trip because of that. That should count for something, right? *g*) {{{{{{{{{{FCA}}}}}}}}}}}}} Man, I need a new pretty picture of Clay. Anyone got one? But I'm picky -- no microphone please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muskifest Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 (edited) Will this one do? There's no microphone in it. There's some tying of shoelaces happening, but I'm not in the frame so the action shouldn't interfere with your viewing pleasure. ETA: Oh, and by the way...I tried to post a comment on your wonderful blog, couchie dear but couldn't seem to navigate the blog subscriber thingy.... I lurve your blog. Edited January 3, 2007 by muskifest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckiest1 Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 (edited) I love to help rate the clack. I'll take DSIAFCD if it isn't already taken, or if it is, just assign me something. Couchie, great blog. I love your attitude. {{{jmh123}}} Don't worry about the "funky" thoughts, we all have them at different times. Edited January 3, 2007 by luckiest1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txflwrgrl Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Sometimes miracles happen when you least expect them and who knows, without the journey that became ATDW, there may have been no Lover All Alone and whatever will come next from you. Whether you were feeling every syllable or chomping on a hot pocket while watching TAR reruns you created something special with that song. Couchie - Great blog! I especially loved the above quote. You're so right that we may never have had Lover All Alone if there had been no ATDW and bless David Foster ( I think it was him?) that pushed Clay to write the words to that song. It's definitely my favorite song. As to whether Clay was really feeling all those emotions at that time or as you said, was "chomping on a hot pocket" we will probably never know. What excites me (heh) is the anticipation that he will write more. Can't wait to see what will happen this year. Bring it on Clay.....we're ready! :00000441: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansamcw Posted January 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Couchie...great blog...sniff... I will start the thread tomorrow... at this point I don;t know if we will have enough volunteers for all songs...but we may have to double up.... I will do both TCS and HYAMLC...if no one wants them. The songs in order... Christmas Waltz...jmh123 The First Noel...play Merry Christmas With Love Winter Wonderland...georgiaclay The Christmas Song...Ansa Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas...Ansa Sleigh Ride...ldyjocelyn Mary Did you Know...Fearofh20 Hark the Herald Angels sing/ O come all Ye Faithful..txflwrgrl My grown up Christmas List ...Atinal O Come, O Come Emmanuel...ldyjocelyn Don't Save it All For Christmas Day...luckiest All is Well Putting in our volunteers.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txflwrgrl Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Ansa - Has anybody spoken for Hark The Herald Angels Sing / O Come All Ye Faithful? If not I'd be glad to take it or any other needed. It's no hardship to listen to (and watch) Clay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearofH2O Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Wow both musicfest and jmh were residents of the town I now live in? I may have lived here when you were in school. We moved here in 1973 with two toddlers. When we first moved here there was a drive in movie theatre at the corner of Robinhood and Peace Haven Roads about a mile from where we live. Now there are three shopping centers at this corner. Winston is a really nice city. But this winter we went to the concert at Red Bank which is the next city to Middletown from where I moved. Red Bank has grown quite nicely. It's also where my kids were born. Great blog Couchtomato. I admire all of you who can express yourselves through writing. Ansa, I would be more than happy to do a song from the tour: MDYK or TFN or even TCS or anything thats left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playbiller Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 OK... You might want to put astersisks next to the taken songs so people see what is left. Keep me here and from posting before I get banned. The pod people are feeling empowered. holds self back from posting pod emoticon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts