# 10 It isn't so easy to get your knickers off when they're in a knot.

[muskifest]

Claytonfan20 Hi! I'm not a mod, but your question made me think of what's at the top of the page:

This is the main thread to discuss everything Clay. We are using the linear format. It does take some getting used to since multiple conversations are taking place on one thread. If you just need to find out quickly any Clay news, go to the Fast Forward Clay News section. Everything of importance will be posted there.

And as far as I know, there IS no "OT" here! For example, my last post was about how embarrassed I am that the OFC had to close down the message board. Now, I'm posting some advice for new members and NOW I'm going to talk about how incredibly HOT that red-headed singing man is and how lately pictures of him are turning me into big puddles of goo.

And now I'm going to mention how much I don't want to get off my big butt now and take the dog for a walk.

But I'll leave you all with this.....heh.

Looks like Clay's trying to get a grip on everything, too.

[Couch Tomato]

Wow.. I'm so confused.. what are we talking about in here.. haha and im not even new to the whole fandom forums either.. is this thread just a bunch of random clay talk.. Hey i will go for that.. I love Clay, hes been my idol ever since he first walked out on that stage.. anyway please help a confused fan.. lol

Heee... Yes we have one main thread to discuss everything about Clay. If you're new to it, it can take a bit of time to get used to. But just follow the convo and you can respond to anything you feel like or bring up anything regarding Clay that you want to discuss. And yes there are several running conversations at the same time. We also allow general chat here on main but it doesn't overwhelm the Clay chatter. We will chat unti it's 80 or so pages and then vote on a new thread topic and start all over.

Then there are other sections to discuss the tours - tickets/parties/and we'll have our chat in that area during the concerts. We also have some tv forums and general chat threads. I believe all members can start threads in those areas. If you have any questions at all feel free to ask on the board or PM couch tomato (two words since Clay renamed me), ansamcw or ldyjocelyn. We are the admins. Or you can PM Bottlecap or KAndre. They are the mods and I'm sure any of the members will be willing to help.

ETA: See, Muski was every helpful. Jots down name for possible smut mod. heee oh and bwah..I could have just cut and paste that too...heeee I even forgot for a moment what kind of format we use and had to ask Ansa. LOL. Just call me the Keystone Moderator.

Also wanted to say to jamar.....did we get a new sports fan on the board? Yippee! Who is your baseball team?

ETA ETA again. My best advice to you is to always sign in even though you can read without signing in. The reason I suggest this is because then you can use the VIEW NEW POSTS option. And it will show you every thread that has new posts since the last time you checked in.

[playbiller]

Wow.. I'm so confused.. what are we talking about in here.. haha and im not even new to the whole fandom forums either.. is this thread just a bunch of random clay talk.. Hey i will go for that.. I love Clay, hes been my idol ever since he first walked out on that stage.. anyway please help a confused fan.. lol

Oh no - it is more than that! Sometimes it is a bunch of random pictures (mostly Clay) or random emoticons.

Since ther are so many newbies I will bring out some of the oldies but goodies.

Sometimes when I haven't seen Clay for a while - I post this

When I was living dangerously(for me) this was my emoticon

Then we do have our Candy corn moments

Sometimes I just go to the dogs Ah, what the heck - all the way

Then we have the chicken problem!

[Maddy]

Hi everyone!

Is it too late for me to choose my favorite TV clack?

Can't choose just one, but every Kimmel appearance and the twisty ties story on The Tonight Show combined into a FrankenClack would be right up there.

I'm sad about the messageboard situation and would like to give Clay a hug. I hope they can figure out a solution because Clay deserves to have a respectful and smooth running board. One that gives new members a good impression.

[Couch Tomato]

ETA again. My best advice to you is to always sign in even though you can read without signing in. The reason I suggest this is because then you can use the VIEW NEW POSTS option. And it will show you every thread that has new posts since the last time you checked in.

Posting it separately so that nobody misses this advice.

[merrieeee]

Hold on to the end,

:medium-smiley-070:

OOO that's what I'd like to do ....well Clay's end that is

[jamar1700]

Also wanted to say to jamar.....did we get a new sports fan on the board? Yippee! Who is your baseball team?

Minnesota Twins Baaaayyyyyybbbbeeee!

Grew up there. Been a fan all my life.

and would like to give Clay a hug

You too?

Edited June 8, 2007 by jamar1700

[muskifest]

Hold on to the end,

:medium-smiley-070:

OOO that's what I'd like to do ....well Clay's end that is

merriee! That's disgusting!

iloveyou :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I know, I know.....take the dog out....

[Gibby]

I LURVE how Clay grabs the mic stand. Such passion! I just wish it was meeee he was grabbing, and that I was making him make those faces.

And for the record, I'm not posting pics to try to change the subject. I think it's great that we can talk about anything and everything here, including things that are controversial.

I just can't get over those hunky, manly, studly, masculine, passionate, fantastic pics. WHEW!! I think I need to go lie down.

[cindilu2]

While I do feel bad for people who were normal, participating fans on the message board, I am glad the board was shut down. I only wish it were permanent, which I don't believe it is. There are dozens and dozens of places for fans to congregate. I'd be willing to be 95% of the posters there post at least one other place.

My online fandom has always been based on the idea that I'm here for Clay. So if shutting down that cesspool message board is what was neccessary for him, then I support it. I do wish they didn't acknowledge it on the main site, but that's the way it goes.

[KAndre]

Chicks, in here, I don't think you CAN derail whatever conversation we have with pictures - in fact we are seriously so NOT anal...pretty pictures always welcome, even those with stubble (which doesn't thrill me, but I'm willing to occasionally sacrifice).

[playbiller]

Ooooh, I forgot - there are two official foods on this board - Cheese Doodles and candy corn.

I think that is missing from the board policy statement.

[Claytonfan20]

Ahh eveyone is so helpful. Thats awsome!!! and have quick replies. lol

My fave clay pics!!!

I have tons more.. but this is just 3 of them

[keepingfaith]

Regarding the situation at the OFC, I have some thoughts on the matter. I was on that message board in varying degrees of intensity for almost exactly one year. I renewed on Sunday. I joined shortly after the night I fell in love with Clay Aiken, when, and it was a surprise to me, he appeared on the AI finale and my life changed. Here was this handsome, magnetic and extremely sexy man who was comfortable, confident, considerate, and exuded happiness with twinkling eyes and a ten billion dollar smile. And then he sang. [There's no question about my favorite piece of clack, is there?] He has given me more happiness in the past year than I could ever express.

I found my way to OFC and when I first peeked into that place it was all about the album thread. First of all I was shocked to read that some fans thought he looked terrible and that the AI appearance had been just awful because they were humiliating Clay and you all know the drill. Then there was the rampant anticipation for the new album, which I immediately learned was, for better or worse, a covers album. I jumped right in because I had fallen in love with Clay just ten days before, and I wanted to proclaim what happened to me and what had jumped out at me from my TV screen. The album controversy per se didn't bother me at that time because people were expecting different things from it, and since nobody really knew any facts, one speculation was as good as another. Yes, well, some people claimed to know, but I saw through that from the get-go. I couldn't understand otherwise intelligent sounding people falling headlong into the ego-feeding frenzy.

I can testify that the newly Clayverted can be as committed and zealous as any fan, and maybe more so, but expressing my feelings was extremely important to me. That the fandom as a whole didn't seem to grasp the reappearance of Clay as a fully realized star bothered me. How could Clay's fans NOT see it? The tidal wave of Clay consciousness in the media and at the watercoolers strangely seemed to be just a footnote for so many fans. Me worry about Clay's future in the business? ... worry that if ATDW didn't sell that his career was over? .... don't make me laugh, that's how I felt about it. WAKE UP, PEOPLE, that's how I felt about it.

So I mentioned that some fans may be too close to the intricate details of the fandom to clearly see what was obvious to me. Okay, so that was a mistake. Some people took that as confrontational and all sorts of other weird stuff that just isn't me. So I read and read, and posted when I felt the need to bare the Clay Aiken love in my heart, soul and mind. Excessive? I don't think so. Love does that to you. I was a Clay fan from AI who never went to the boards ever even once. I was in the other-than-ya'll fan group for three years before the ton of bricks fell. OFC was a place to be exposed to the cacophony of thought all in one place, and while it was sometimes educational, mostly it was confusing.

Counting the days until ATDW was released was such an exciting time ... except for reading about how he was being sabotaged by his record label with promotional deficiencies, always enumerated in excrutiating detail by the pseudo-experts, and there were so many - some more condescending, authoritarian and prolific than others, but just as full of crap. The way I see it, whatever the promotion was or wasn't, it was never in our power to effect a change, and focusing on the perceived marketing shortcomings was to me just awfully boring subject matter without a seat at the table. If I've got a vote, I'm there. Otherwise, it is what it is. Who knows if there's a two-year plan, a five-year plan and what part ATDW and the promotion of it played in the plan? I surely don't know, but what I can do is formulate scenarios into which all things fit, and then determine whether the pictures I paint are in focus. I could make all kinds of sense out of the promotion of ATDW, hypothetically. And I still can.

OFC turned the corner down a dark road when ATDW was released and the fandom didn't come together to support it in word and deed. That was gut-clutchingly disgusting and I was pissed off. The pathetic comments on iTunes and Amazon that turned positive review opportunities into excuses to continue the bashing of RCA and the lack of promotion made me realize for the first time that some fans had gone so far into a hole that they were coming out the other side and no longer resembling fans at all. The last straw for me was when someone posted, "I'm sorry Clay that ATDW was a failure, but better luck next time." I rejoiced when the album thread was closed, and hoped that it would be a new dawn for the OFC. But the album thread metastasized into almost every topical discussion on that board -- I know I counted at least five active threads operating as "the album thread" at one time.

The OFC in the last few weeks was a sorry shell of a message board as the contempt between certain people was leaping off the pages. It had to be stopped. Clay cannot be represented by fans such as these nasty little cliques fighting for supremacy, trying to "win" as if their winning would or could establish any ultimate truth. What flimsy imaginings. The message board died at the hands of dueling agendas of special interest fans. The "I'm out of here if" people vs. the "I know more than you" people, among others. Sad, sad, sad that they aren't in love with Clay Aiken the beautiful, inspiring person who lights me up.

As always, I feel fortunate and oh so grateful to be at FCA. This is a warm and inviting place with very smart people posting thoughful and entertaining material on a daily basis. I love being here and being entertained by all of you very loving and savvy women. Now that I've got a year on the boards behind me, I don't feel like such a newbie anymore. And within a month ..... dare I speak it??? I'm getting nervous and I'm not the type. But nothing about this past year has been typical for me. Counting the days ......

[merrieeee]

keepingfaith great post!

Less than a month eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Ansamcw]

great post keepingfaith...thanks for sharing your experience very eloquently...its unfortunate that the people who needs to hear how they are hurting clay with their power play cannot read it.

[Gibby]

Wow, keepingfaith! What a great post! Thanks for sharing your experience and perspective! You have a lot of insight, and are very articulate about it.

[muskifest]

OOOh..thanks for that post, keepingfaith! I never spent time at the OFC so only knew the scoop in a very cursory way. Your words made a lot of sense!

Let's see...how long has it been since I posted a smutty picture? Must be a while 'coss I gotta itch that needs scratchin'.

whew. that's better.

[YSRN]

keepingfaith... thanks. Thanks for baring your fan soul. And describing the closest thing to an objective viewpoint that could ever be. That was all sorts of healing for me for some reason. I don't know whether to cry or just be grateful that you're still around or what, but you touched me and I appreciate it... and you.

:F_05BL17blowkiss:

I'm done bein' bitchy now!

Fuckers. <---whoops, that slipped.

[Claytonfan20]

Hmm..must of stepped into somthing dirty.. lol What is OFC? i have no clue.. i never really got into these types of things. i'm only on this one and a couple of other forums..

[YSRN]

Gee, Clay blogged about his trip to Paris.

And other stuff.

Guess it wasn't a rumor after all.

[laughn]

I totally love that man.

[Ansamcw]

Hmm..must of stepped into somthing dirty.. lol What is OFC? i have no clue.. i never really got into these types of things. i'm only on this one and a couple of other forums..

Well if you don;t have a clue...then you are lucky cos it has been nasty. OFC is Official Fan Club. we are talking about the message board that is attached to the OFC.

Anyway... I am one that have a very low post count in that MB. I think so many people just like to have drama and that becomes the arena.

[Ansamcw]

OMG what a blog...it seems like he is indirectly answering a lot of the controveries surrounding the fandom...

He is still with RCA and Clive is very supportive...wow...that kinda contradicts all the RCA conspiracy theories.

the new CD is not coming soon as often claimed and predicted by some factions...it is coming some time yet.

then the great debate on OFC...well it seems that article was not gossip after all ...just snarky and bitchy but he did lose his passport and he is in Paris. So in essence...the posting of said article was not in violation after all.

EEEEEEEEEEE Quiana, Angela and Jesse will be in the tour but new drummer. New arrangements but there will be new songs and ATDW songs and he even assured peope that they tried some upbeat numbers...

I LOVE HIM...

of course he is thrilled at the revival of Jericho and thinks the fans did it...hee

[Claytonfan20]

Ok so wait.. People are fighting on the OFC? Thats not supporting Clay.. just making him look bad. They should have enough respect for Clay to not fight on it.. Take it to email or something