#23: Lordy. He is one more hunkalicious dude!

[ldyjocelyn]

Happy birthday txflwrgrl! Has anyone seen her lately? I miss her.

muski, your reasoning for not writing as much makes perfect sense to me. At the beginning of this journey, we really knew so little about Clay, and it was pretty easy to "mold" him into almost any kind of person a writer or reader or dreamer wanted him to be. But, since that time, we've learned so much more about what kind of a man he is. Granted, we still don't know everything (and frankly never will), but by both his actions and words we have gained a further insight into him, so I can see where this would influence my reading of fanfiction anymore regarding Clay.

Welcome justclay12!

I finally finished putting all my Christmas decorations away today. Up the stairs, down the stairs, up the stairs, down the stairs....you get the idea. I'm pooped.

Kareneh, fantastic pictures. Sigh....he's so dweemy.

CG, I missed you. MUAH!

[Clayzorback]

muski, I don't really have a recipe for you, but I cook mine in with a big pot of white northern beans.That is if they have some meat left on them and I have some leftover ham scraps.

1- one pound bag of dry northern beans

2-sliced celery stalks (or to taste)

1-onion diced

2-bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste.

I usually sort my beans out and then let them soak overnight. For faster cooking. But this is optional. Put all ingredients in a dutch oven pot and cook until done. Then I pull the ham bone out and let it cool down. I then take the meat off of it and dice it up and return it to the beans. Nice simple cold weather dish. Make you some cornbread to go with it. Sometimes I use smoked ham hocks, instead of leftover ham bones and scraps. Which reminds me. I have a partial ham left in the freezer from Christmas dinner.

keepingfaith, I haven't watched AI2 rewind in about 3 weeks. They have all been repeats here. I might need to check back in tomorrow night and see what is going on. This writer's strike has caused me to watch a lot of movies and no regular TV. Nothing on. I loved Trenyce. Too bad nothing has developed for her, or has there? I have always thought Clay losing and being brought back was all scripted, to make good TV.

[Gibby]

I found my head phones. I listened to Broken Wings 8.5 times on the way home on the bus.

I agree with the Broken Wings love! Broken Wings, LAA and LNM are my favorites from ATDW.

Uh, Gibby ...Alex's hair is red. Quite red. I believe the name of the color is "Strawberry Tea"...okay? I'm thinking of finally trying a 'hide-the-gray' shampoo-in rinse to show solidarity. She likes it, though, so I'll just get used to it. My hubby said that every time she spends time with this one friend of hers, she wants to do something with her hair. Yeah...that particular friend is rather....uh, adventurous?

Whoa - that sounds REALLY red! Is it red like the color of our tomato mascot, and not auburn red? I see this adolescent hair-coloring stuff as a non-permanent expression of individuality. I'd much rather have DD#2 coloring her hair than doing more piercings and tattoos, which are permanent. We will be re-coloring DD#2's hair tomorrow, and she's not doing the bright auburn this time, but strawberry blond instead.

[bottlecap]

Just watched the Group 1 episode of AIR. Simon told them their performances were "dismal." I was thinking it was a big bucket of MEH, upholstered in bad denim (Charles, dude, WTF were you thinking?) with a way-too-heavy helping of Kimber-ME Caldwell and her camera-hogging face.

One good thing about Rewind - no pesky blue phone number bar popping up to obscure the goods. Not so important for this episode, but it will come into play starting with Group 2, if ya know what I mean and I think ya do.

I'm sure AI7 will continue to top the ratings this season, especially since there will be a ton of reruns with very little new programming available. Nigel et al seem to be making noises about acknowledging that the format went off the tracks last season, so we'll see if they're serious about making changes. I haven't been following the squawking too closely, but I have read Randy making his standard annual proclamation that this will be the most talented group of finalists eva.

Maybe they can continue to compress the process, and RCA can sign and then drop the winner from the label on the same day.

[Ansamcw]

i loved the maxine bit. i can relate. i can't wait until ai rewind next week even though i remember worrying at the time that he wouldn't make it to the top 2 because there were several contestants in group 2 that i thought were pretty good. and i saw even then how they were building up ruben. i also thought kim would make it, partly because of the song she chose, and partly due to standing up to simon. now, when he sang on the wildcard show, even though i was still worried because i was completely hooked after that performance, i knew that none of the singers even came close to him. i also remember thinking then that that was a star performance among a bunch of amateurs.

I am glad that I didn;t see Take. Group 2 was the first time I saw him and wasn;t really impressed. I was impressed with Ruben and Kim so was pretty satisfied with the results. I think if I saw Take first...I would also be all stress out during this show. Wildcard was a different story...it was like he was a different person to me...that was the start of my Clay obsession.

I was very interested in GR1 because I really got caught up in the little drama with Kim and Julia...but I was really pissed that Kim didn't make it cos I thought she was definitely better than Charles. At the time I thought it was totally ridiculous that the audience punished her for being bitchy to poor little Julia. But now I understand the psychology of AI better and see how important a person's personality and image is in this popularity contest.

[playbiller]

Last year, Randy and all did not declare itthe best year ever. that made me quite suspicious.

I have been reading the spoiler thread on IDF and can't get anyone to talk about it with and I am so itching to make fun of TPTB already. Sniff, the IDF people are forming fan clubs and don't want to discuss it or they are very busy still determining the last 3 of the top 40. They have not picked the top 24 yeat, they will do that 1/23. There is sooooo much snark out there waiting to be spread.

[Thankful4Clay]

Maybe they can continue to compress the process, and RCA can sign and then drop the winner from the label on the same day.

[Ansamcw]

Last year, Randy and all did not declare itthe best year ever. that made me quite suspicious.

I have been reading the spoiler thread on IDF and can't get anyone to talk about it with and I am so itching to make fun of TPTB already. Sniff, the IDF people are forming fan clubs and don't want to discuss it or they are very busy still determining the last 3 of the top 40. They have not picked the top 24 yeat, they will do that 1/23. There is sooooo much snark out there waiting to be spread.

oh thats the only appeal AI has for me now, the snark. If it were not for our AI thread here...I would have stopped watching last season.

BTW...we have an AI thread where people post commentaries as the show happens. It is mostly snarky and highly critical...so hope more people join us this season. the more the merrier as they say...

[skybar22]

Clay definitely had me at TAKE and I was so disappointed that he didn't go through from group 2. It is hard to believe that it was so long ago and here we all are. I've always maintained that AI2 will be a mere footnote in Clay's bio years from now. Invisible posted an article at CH about the golf event coming up and Clay was described as an entertainer/recording artist. I love it!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/Inv...fTournament.jpg

I hope I didn't offend any of the fanfic writers when I said I didn't read the stuff. I am sure some of it is/was very well written. Clay has always been very real to me and I don't know why but reading made up stuff about him just never appealed to me.

[playbiller]

txflwrgrl

<-- heh, Spamalot trip to NYC

[ldyjocelyn]

Just testing my new avatar, thanks to Betty897x.

And yes, I know I'm not going. Doesn't mean I can't advertise for him!

Skybar, don't worry about it. I know others like you that just can't read "real people" fanfiction. We all have different "squicks." Heh.

[bottlecap]

I read this interesting little music blog entry about one of the rumored contestants the other day.

Not exactly an untested amateur looking for her big break....

[Couch Tomato]

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Please let me know if you have any issues.

[cha cha trusty]

I've just finished posting my newest wallpaper! I've been busier than a one-armed paperhanger today!!

Here's a preview!

this one is widescreen and reduced size. You can get larger ones on this page:

CLAY IN POUGHKEEPSIE WALLPAPER

~~~~~

Question for Scarlett (or anyone who knows...)

When you were talking about the DivX stuff last week I didn't pay attention because I didn't think I'd need any of it! But I've just finished downloading "Becoming Jane" and find that it won't play because the files are all fragmented! (I also downloaded and installed the DivX player) I found a joiner program, but it doesn't say it will work on WinXP. What should I do??

Separate question in the same subject. Have you ever heard of a program called "Handbrake"?

THANKS!!!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

~~~~~

txflwrgrl

adding mine to the greetings!!

[bottlecap]

PIN ORDER FORM

Please let me know if you have any issues.

Couchie, you have a stray line in there down by the order buttons that's probably leftover from the Christmas pins:

Click on the add to cart button BELOW to TO ORDER CHRISTMAS IN THE HEARTLAND - FCA 2007,

Otherwise, just submitted my order with no problem! EEEEEE!

[Couch Tomato]

yep with the strike, I think Idol will be bigger than ever this year, DEPENDING on the cast of characters they come up with.

I was reading that they were doing Idol Gives Back again this year with some changes..what those are, I don't know.

While Clay had me at TAKE I wasn't so deep that I thought much of it when he didn't make it in group 2. I thought both Ruben and Kim were better. I was happy to see him back in wildcard and the rest as they say is history.

Happy Birthday TXFlwrGrl

Well I tweaked my back doing the strenuous task of bending over to grab something off the table.

I guess I"ll go back to work but I really want to spend time playing with my ipod today. I have so much Clay stuff to add. I need to move my itunes to my lap top but am scared. Last time I tried to add my itunes to my new ipod all I remember is a horrible crunching noise and all my files disappearing.

[jumpingjacks]

I love Clay's comment about the golfing tournament being a great way to "swing" into 2008.

What a card!

[jamar1700]

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Please let me know if you have any issues.

Well you know my parents always like my sister better.

I can't eat food on a stick.

Oooooh .... you mean with the pins?

Nope. They're lovely.

[Bookwhore]

I'm sure AI7 will continue to top the ratings this season,

I will be watching AI7 because I can't not watch. No matter how much I dislike Slimon, I enjoy hearing people sing and I like the competition, I just don't like being treated like a fool by the producers, as bottle's link below implies....

I read this interesting little music blog entry about one of the rumored contestants the other day.

Not exactly an untested amateur looking for her big break....

Thanks for the link bottle. That was really interesting, and really revealing. What kind of music does she sing? I wonder if they'll try to push her off as a poor country girl who's never been out of Ireland before? I remember buying into the whole marketing package for Carrie U., and being pissed off when I found out her background. I know,, it was my own fault for being so gullible. And I'll probably fall for it again.

[Couch Tomato]

thanks bottle

[duckyvee]

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Please let me know if you have any issues.

Well you know my parents always like my sister better.

I can't eat food on a stick.

I could start a list....

I'll be watching AI7 because I enjoy it.

[wandacleo]

My you've been a talkative bunch while I've been sitting here for a day and a half with no electricity. I can appreciate Maxine's angst as I've been going through computer withdrawal.

The first time I saw the word "fanfic," I thought the "i" was a "u" and was horrified to think that there was some kind of perverted behavior that I didn't know about.

It was such a letdown to discover the truth.

[playbiller]

ooh, oooh oooh can't we talk about this in a spoiler thread becasue there are 4 others with similar stories and one with a major issue. I want to squeal on them. Please please.

[justclay12]

i'll probably be watching ai this season too but only because i don't think there will be anything else on because of the writers strike. although i thought they had some really talented singers last year, none of them did anything for me, although that could be said about every year since ai2. thought some were better than others, some were downright horrible, but none that thrilled me. i thought chris d was good but didn't have much variety and i actually like performers who actually look like they are having a good time so i lost interest in him pretty quick.

[aikim]

No AI7 for me; can't tell you how much I hate that show...it has been a real struggle just watching AI Rewind...only for Clay. Guess I will stick to The Food Network.

Kim