#22: Which brings us to Clay Aiken, as most good conversations should

[zena]

Greetings from the tundra....hope you don't mind us sharing a little winter with you further south...*g*

First of all, I have no business whatsoever being at my computer. I have packing to do; major packing, and before that, deciding what to pack; do you know how it is when one needs to have choices.... Don't think I'll be needing black...

Or when one doesn't get out much, and you want to take all of your favorite clothes... hee.

Nope, never was a light packer....Clay on the other hand; oh look how all this talk of folds has led my thoughts astray and made me lose my focus.

My favorite thing about FCA is how it makes me laugh. I still don't know nuthin about stuff, but I was good with that before, and I'm good with it now.

Just a little birthday note to document my oncoming senility. I knew I was having a birthday but completely FORGOT that I would be a year older until my friend (heartless bitch) reminded me.

A Very Happy Belated Birthday to you wandacleo!!! Unfortunately it is now my turn to remember today makes me a year older. You may observe by my profile that I am now 13. I've been twelve for awhile now. So tomorrow I stay in a nice hotel in Winnipeg with my husband who will lovingly deposit me at the airport very early (5:30) the next morning. I told my family I was leaving the country for this decade birthday; no party please. An old woman should be able to do what she wants to at this stage in her life, and this one likes to hear Clay sing. It was really very obliging of him to come up north for my birthday. I mean, he doesn't even know me ; even Jerome doesn't know me.

I have little tundra presents to keep all the southerners warm; so Scarlett, Couch Tomato, K'Andre and any other chilly fcaers, if you want to be where it's hot, you better look me up.

You'll know me when you see me. My name is Zena and I'm almost sure I'll be the only fifty year old with a sword!!

Waves to Kareneh!!!!!!

[Gibby]

KarenEh I definitely think we should have the other 19 pieces of anti-zipper evidence so we can examine them carefully--just to make sure and all.

I sure wouldn't mind looking at those pics, even if I think it's a fold!

Safe travels, zena!

Scarlett, I just watched your OHN, and it was gorgeous! I loved hearing Clay sing Angie's part. And I'm really looking forward to hearing Clay sing her part in the Jesus medley.

*Hugs* to Angela and her family.

[Couch Tomato]

I have little tundra presents to keep all the southerners warm; so Scarlett, Couch Tomato, K'Andre and any other chilly fcaers, if you want to be where it's hot, you better look me up.

hmmmm is it liquidy or made of material. heee either way I'll track you down.

I still need shoes. sigh.

[atinal]

I still need shoes. sigh.

Couchie, surely in the Mall of America, you can find some shoes!!

{{{Hugs to all who need them}}}

What a crazy few days

RIP Dan Fogleberg....I loved his music. I had a double album of his that I played over and over I think it was The Innocent Age. Talk about talented, he certainly was.

[luckiest1]

Wow. It's amazing how much you can miss in a day or two.

I've had my cousin here since Saturday morning. I hear there were some rumours that I was cheating on our boyfriend. Let me tell ya, as much as I enjoyed the Keith Urban concert I attended Saturday (and I did), there was no cheating involved.

Yesterday was a mess of emotions....I wanted to get to Erie so bad I could taste it. I guess maybe I was a little over anxious. I apologize to anyone who I annoyed. I think we made the right decision staying home, based on the fact that my cousin and I attempted to drive to the movie theatre (about 2 blocks) and got stuck 3 times in the snow drifts. I can't even imagine that we would have got as far as the next little town where we were to pick cindilu2 up.

I was busy with family stuff last night so didn't hear the cellcert, but I will catch up on that (and all sorts of interesting stuff, thanks to cindilu2 & couchie for emailing me the Readers Digest versions) throughout the day (aka when I get to work). Scarlett, I freaking love you for uploading OHN so quickly. Since that is the song I went on and on about hoping he'd include this tour, I am delusionally going to believe that he changed it up for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I only wish I coulda been there to see it in person.

Poor Angie, not a nice time of year to have a death in the family.

{{{Angie & family}}} {{{any FCAers that need one}}}

Safe travels to everyone either heading home from Erie or heading to Cleveland today. FromClaygary, good luck getting to Buffalo, and I hope your flight is not delayed! It had almost stopped snowing when I went to bed last night (finally!) but it appears to have dumped another 6 inches on us in the night, so I am off to clear the cars off in the driveway so that we can all get to work this morning! My fingers are crossed that the roads have been plowed so I don't get stuck again.

ETA: Um, couchie, in the great white north, we put our shoes away until spring. You probably need BOOTs instead. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[bottlecap]

to zena!

[Ansamcw]

:bday:

Zena... goodluck with your travels and enjoy the shows....

OMG scarlett...I love you!!! and I love that OHN clip. He looked gorgeous and the sound is fantastic!!!into my ipod it goes!!!

[aikim]

Good Morning Everyone,

5 Days until Christmas in Merrillville!

8 Days until The Skating Special Airs!

21 Days until The BAF Golf Outing!

32 Days until Clay is on Broadway!

Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating and to my DD#1 Emily, who turns 24 today (yikes, how did that happen?, LOL)

Everyone have a great day!

Off to download Scarlett's OHN clip!

'

Kim

[cindilu2]

Mmmmmm. O Holy Night.

Divine.

[keepingfaith]

Some pretty new pictures from Wichita for keepingfaith:

The album from smartypantssuz.

Thank you, thank you YSRN. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Nice way to wake me on a Monday morning! I've come to the conclusion that I love all of Clay's various incarnations, which can change from day to day and on a dime, but there's something about the darker hair and longer bangs that do me good. For me, it's the difference in a cute, unassuming, slightly nerdy guy, and a devastatingly hot piece of manhood. Clay has killer eyes and eyelashes, and the longer, darker bangs frame his deep eyes and bring them out like nothing else ... and the darker eyelashes are, well, visible, which is my preference. Yummmm-meh!

Happy Birthday to the Birthday Girls today and over the weekend -- zena, keldanker and wandacleo. Keep on celebrating. Don't ever stop!

Deepest thanks, from the bottom of my heart, to Scarlett. I'm in the OHN car with Luckiest -- and this one is a direct hit on me. Stay Pink, Sweetie, to match your cheeks up in the cold Northeast!!

[luckiest1]

OK I went back 6 or 7 pages to fill in some of the blanks about what happened in the last couple of days in this fandom. There are some really great posts, but I won't quote all of them.

I knew that mods got info from someone when I got the same exact wording from two mods on two different boards. They knew stuff I didn't know and I should not be so questioning and just accept it. DUH - I am waiting for an apology from those mods that will never ever come.

I was edited and threatened with suspension and inundated with PMs from "insiders" trying to tell me shit I didn't care about (because it was whacked and I knew it couldn't be true). I was made to feel like a traitor and I was made to feel unwelcome. I couldn't post anything without someone who thought they knew better than me trying to correct me or contradict me. I will never, ever be able to forgive some people for the way they acted and treated others. I, too, am waiting for an apology that I know will never come. These people did irreparable damage to the fandom, IMO. I am so thankful to couchie and ansa who allowed me to bitch and vent and gave me a place to call home. Also my fan buddies, especially cindilu2, who talked me off the ledge and kept me sane a number of times. I would have left the online fandom without them. Never Clay, though. I'm a fan of his for life. He is a class act, and that is something I have never doubted.

I think I hear the sound of pods popping........

Hee, me too. Sounds good.

[djs111]

Heeee.....just so you can keep up - the Great Joy-sucking RCA Conspiracy To Ruin Clay Theory is a figment of our imagination, NO ONE has mentioned that, and those of us who disagreed with said Figment were really all saying that RCA was fabulous, which means we were delusional and stoopid.

This whole thing is like The Mad Hatter's Tea Party, sort of.

It is just like something in Wikipedia! :-)

The pictures from last night are wonderful, thanks to all who provide!

Hey, it was only 35F this morning near Tampa, so I know what y'all went through yesterday.....okay, I used to live in Bloomington Il, so I am kidding, I know the weather is actually scary and life-threatening at times, up there.

[luckiest1]

And evidently nasty PMs went pretty much only to those who believed RCA was doing a bad job.

BWAH HA HA. I needed a good laugh. Thanks for the update, you saved me a trip elsewhere.

[FromClaygary]

Cripes, trying to catch up to this runaway train!! What the heck are y'all doing posting that many pages??!

Erie this morning is snowing lightly, but from my hotel room vantage point it looks as though the roads have been cleared and everything should be (relatively) copascetic. I think I can even see something yellow peeking through the snow clouds!

Scarlett I WISH I had seen your post yesterday before I left Williamsport! I would have LOVED to have had your company coming to Erie...you have no idea! I hatesssssss driving alone in that kind of weather, and having you along for the ride would have been especially fun.

My drive up the I79 sucked donkey balls, but what the heck, I arrived safe and only spent 1.5 hours driving around downtown Erie looking for the preparty I was supposed to be at an hour before. Moral of the story: NEVER ask directions of locals. They don't know the names of streets, and "turn where the hospital used to be" doesn't work too well for me it seems. insert big eyeball roll here

Course, it didn't help that the snow was stuck to most street signs so that you couldn't tell what the street name was anyway.

In compensation, I'm sure, Doris from Meadville Claymates gifted me with an extra ticket which put me in Row 2 centre, which was awesome!!

I LOVED that he left Angie's microphone on stage last night; some I heard thought that she must have left very suddenly and they "hadn't had time to remove it". I think it was the "empty chair at the table", left there deliberately. He was very emotional at the end of the concert when he said how much they missed her.

Tullio is very barnlike, but I'm so glad I made it! Would not have missed it for the world. I think, rather than being disappointed in the turnout, they were blown away by how MANY people were there, given the conditions.

Scarlett, I didn't even see you there! Hope to catch up with you in Minneapolis for sure! I didn't see your note until last night after the concert.

Off to Buffalo! For those of you who have been keeping track of me..... :F_05BL17blowkiss: You have NO idea how much that means....NO idea. THANKS.

[djs111]

Heee...I exaggerate a little, but I do think that the original Pod meaning has been swept aside - it was not so much that RCA was good, it was that lots of us did not think RCA was deliberately being evil to poor pitiful shackled Clay (who had a much brighter future only weeks away).

Oh well, we all are still here, having a great time, so it doesn't really matter much any more.

Well, I am having a great time, and I know of several others who are, too!

I watched two of Eddie Izzard's standup comedy shows on BBCAmerica last night, so I now think everything is funny. I find something I missed in his shows every time I watch them. Plus his makeup is awesome. Considering.

[luckiest1]

:F_05BL17blowkiss: back atcha, FromClaygary. SO GLAD you had a wonderful experience last night.

OK, maybe I missed it, but I just saw this at OFC, but since it came from CB, I figure it's safe to bring over. It's about Erie, in the M&G thread (that I am still checking religiously):

The venue tonight DID have a meet and greet, but "no one showed up from the fanclub"

"There WAS a meet and greet, but no one showed up". Was what I was told. So, I just assumed that Clay met with himself and would be posting pics and recaps later. I was excited.

She(lady on the phone, from the venue) then clarified, and said that the "fanclub" winners never showed up.

Well, sure sounds like someone dropped the ball. I truly hope that the "winners" are duly notified and offered a 2nd chance at another venue of their choice. Hee, yeah, I just want more chances to win for Merrillville.

[KAndre]

Huh...all the current brouhaha is...interesting.

I generally stopped posting at some boards because a) the board atmosphere had become toxic - and I think backchannel shit had a lot to do with it; I think the cult of "important fans" had even more to do with it; and I think people claiming expertise in matters relating to Clay's career (no matter how much you think what you do is related, or if you were in the industry 20 years ago, you are NOT on Team Clay, and your conjecture is nothing but guessing to me) had the MOST to do with it. None of that seems to have changed.

I have very little, if any, sympathy for those who were "scammed". I find a HUGE difference in being thrilled that you know about an award Clay may be getting a few days before it happened and tracking down someone whom you thought might have a date with Clay or thinking that you are somehow so freaking special that Clay himself would post crap on your board or thinking that Clay would somehow bypass actual sex with dozens of hot, young, nameless people or hot, middle-aged, nameless people or hot, old nameless people (hell, they didn't even have to be hot, just reasonable attractive to a 29 year old) to have cybersex with psychotic fans; or thinking that Clay Aiken would want someone who learned everything they know about the music industry either from the internet or another fan or a 20-year old book to run his fuckin' career. But that's just me.

With a little editing, I think "CLAY IS NOT YOUR GODDAM FRIEND, YOU STUPID BITCH" would be a lovely title.

I think folds are interesting.

I swear I will leave for the airport two hours early this time. Pinky swear.

[Gibby]

) <---- This is to help my dear KAndre finish her post. Heeee! Safe travels today. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Sounds like there's a lot of spin going on now that the FC situation has been revealed. :RandomSmiley: What a soap opera! I think it's good that all of this came out during a concert series, so that we can be distracted by great clack and recaps of fantastic performances. It helps to balance out the crap, and reminds me that there's a reason I'm a Clay fan.

Scarlett uploaded last night's DSIAFCD. I've got it downloading now. MWAH to you, Scarlett!!

ETA: Ooops - it was Williamsport. Sorry! But it was still purty!

[djs111]

Oh, KAndre, that is one of the best posts evah!!!!!!!!!!

Word!!!! to every damn word!!!!!!!!!

[KAndre]

I love my parenthetical minions!

[FromClaygary]

:F_05BL17blowkiss: back atcha, FromClaygary. SO GLAD you had a wonderful experience last night.

OK, maybe I missed it, but I just saw this at OFC, but since it came from CB, I figure it's safe to bring over. It's about Erie, in the M&G thread (that I am still checking religiously):

The venue tonight DID have a meet and greet, but "no one showed up from the fanclub"

"There WAS a meet and greet, but no one showed up". Was what I was told. So, I just assumed that Clay met with himself and would be posting pics and recaps later. I was excited.

She(lady on the phone, from the venue) then clarified, and said that the "fanclub" winners never showed up.

Well, sure sounds like someone dropped the ball. I truly hope that the "winners" are duly notified and offered a 2nd chance at another venue of their choice. Hee, yeah, I just want more chances to win for Merrillville.

Oh, I'm glad to know about the M&G....in a way....because I was having a small, personal and non-verbal paranoia attack, thinking perhaps he was not going to do them after the Morristown thing. Whew! I think I can go back off the meds now.

.....BUT, I just KNOW that was MY M&G and luckiest's and we'll NEVER, EVER have a chance again because he thinks we hate him and don't wanna be there!!!

Yah, OK, I'll take the meds......but crap, that would be just my luck.

You know I'm kidding, right??

[muskifest]

I LOVED that he left Angie's microphone on stage last night; some I heard thought that she must have left very suddenly and they "hadn't had time to remove it". I think it was the "empty chair at the table", left there deliberately. He was very emotional at the end of the concert when he said how much they missed her.

I get the warm and fuzzies, too, Claygary, when it's about Clay and his 'professional' family. That's a tightknit group there and it makes me feel good to know that Clay has such people around him.

Of course, since I'm an expert on such things I could definitely advise Clay as to which people would be even better suited to be under on top of around him.

Take me, for example.

[playbiller]

My drive up the I79 sucked donkey balls, but what the heck, I arrived safe and only spent 1.5 hours driving around downtown Erie looking for the preparty I was supposed to be at an hour before. Moral of the story: NEVER ask directions of locals. They don't know the names of streets, and "turn where the hospital used to be" doesn't work too well for me it seems. insert big eyeball roll here

Ooooh, that is so me - a local person who is always being asked directions by strangers in cars because I walk my dog. I don't know that many street names or even place names, like such and such school or church. I usually ask them what kind of event they are going to and what kind of place they are looking for and then if they are going to a highschool reunion in a church, I will direct them to the church that rents out halls near the high school. But my directions are by the number of blocks, driving until the street ends or the number of stop signs and lights for each turn. Driving with Fear to Red Bank was fun when she told me to turn at the 4th light after we had been driving for a while without counting lights. We guessed right. Did I mention the restaurant where I offered to give the CH party in Red Bank (no takers) turned out to be fabulous and not all that expensive, the food was like something out of top chef with a combination of American/French and Asian cooking. I, of course, would have made it a fixed price prepaid meal, since I don't like messing with money afterwards and maybe having someone pay an unfair amount.

The funny turn of this is how many many people never said anything extreme or believed any of that crap to begin with. In fact, many people are saying they posted exactly what I posted! Too bad I missed it. I onder if they were threatened with banning (no mere suspensions for me!) from many boards.

[bottlecap]

laughn and I are scheduled to head off to Cleveland in about an hour. Maybe we should just spend the whole afternoon hanging around the venue box office in case Jerome / Jamie / Mary come around looking for M&G'ers and don't figure out that no one got notified. We'll take the bullet and volunteer to be fill-ins.

:PickMe-1:

[playbiller]

BC, Good Idea, you really can say you are members ofthe fan club - show your cards and offer to fill in.

I just thought that few people who visit here read the board philosophy and need to see this periodically. I think that JMH point of view has truly been explained and validated with all the mess.

Am I poddie?

as long as someone has a open mind...they are not poddies.

Who came up with this poddie concept?

That would be JMH who wrote:

Couchie's explanation makes the most sense, but I usually jump in at this point and add my 2 cents anyway, since I kind of started this mess. I was off the boards for awhile due to moving, and when I came back, a lot of people seemed to have changed personalities overnight. When I left, they were acting normally, but when I came back they were acting like Couchie described. It was like the movie, the Invasion of the Body Snatchers, where people looked the same as ever but had been taken over by the Pod People. I was afraid they would get me too, so I came over here to hide from them cause this place was obviously safe. So FCA is a safe place for people who are sick of conspiracy theories and people casting blame far and wide, sick of mad jealousy of all other musical artists--especially other AI contestants, who are all supposedly taking away attention from Clay. It's a safe place for people who don't buy delusional notions like the idea that Clay will not play any songs from ATDW on tour this summer because he hates the album, and so on.

I know we say :pod: but honestly, anyone is welcome as long as they aren't spewing a bunch of nonsense, or, if they are, they are willing to be told that they are spewing a bunch of nonsense.

And you know, based on sheer volume of theories - one or two are bound to be right eventually. Hey some of them even make some sense. I just refuse to wallow in misery until Clay is the rockingest rocker that ever rocked.