#40: He simply makes me smile when I see him.

[merryclay]

I wonder if Parker went to his first holiday picnic with his new mommie and daddy. I bet he was a rockstar. I want to see his little face. God bless them all.

[Scarlett]

I didn't live through the Depression but I have been an Oracle/Sybase/SQLServer DBA so I'm a pack rat too!

Thanks for posting the clip, annabear! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[Cotton]

I have been an Oracle/Sybase/SQLServer DBA

Huh?!

:lmaosmiley-1:

English might help.

Oh - glad you and KAndre made it home safely!!! And had a fun trip!

[wandacleo]

I don't really have a clue as to what Clay wants to do with his public life, but I think it's pretty clear that he makes decisions for his private life without too much regard for the fallout.

I admire him tremendously for that.

[Iseeme]

Hi everybody! Been offline for about 5 days between mil's funeral and weekend company. Then 3 minutes after they left the guys from the court down the street came up and we had wine and appetizers on the deck. It's been a really, really good day - AND I got a dinner invitation out of it! Woo Hoo! (Iseeme frantically looking for that bottle of champagne in the refrigerator.....)

Clay - being where he wants to be? I don't think so, completely. But he has made some life choices and is living with them. I think he's very competitive and wants to succeed. I'm guessing that he's a tad bit disappointed that OMWH didn't sell better. I'm guessing he's going to be more determined than ever to make the next CD sell better. What makes me sad about this is that I think OMWH is a beautiful, beautiful CD with music that I absolutely love listening to. Who knows what happened - did he want to take the summer off to wait for Parker? Did RCA only have so much promo money? Was it none of the above? But MY guess is that whatever Clay embarks upon in his career in the future - he wants to be the best! Anything less than that is not acceptable to him. He's remarked about being competitive but I also think he's a perfectionist in many ways. So - given that - I think we have alot to look forward to from him in the future. And like others have said - I don't care if it's Broadway, television, recording, movies, whatever....I just want to have the privilege of seeing him!!!! I doubt singing will ever take a backseat though - afterall, he said singing is the most joyful thing you can do!

SCARLETTTT - my sb, you're home! Safely! And KAndre - I swear, you need to write a travelogue professionally!!!

I didn't live through the Depression but I have been an Oracle/Sybase/SQLServer DBA so I'm a pack rat too!

I bet there aren't too many on FCA that understood that comment - but I do!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss: Bwaahahahha!!!

Clay as Sir Robin - a match made in heaven! Perfect role for him. You have to ask yourself how much was acting and how much was Clay just being his goofy self! I think Mike Nicholes and Eric Idle "died and went to heaven" when Clay came in to that role. I personally think he far exceeded their highest expectations and I don't think for a minute it was just Clay fans that were patronizing that show for 5 months or whatever! Maybe at first - but then the word went out! The ad-libbing and the embellishments from the first performance to the last performance - adaptability and comic genius. I don't ever see him in a dramatic role but I hope he continues to get gigs that show his comedic side!!! The man of a thousand faces - most of which are damn cute!!

Long verbose post - I'll stop now!

[Scarlett]

I have been an Oracle/Sybase/SQLServer DBA

Huh?!

:lmaosmiley-1:

English might help.

Oh - glad you and KAndre made it home safely!!! And had a fun trip!

Sorry, Cotton. I meant that I used to design and build databases & data warehouses on Oracle servers so I'm used to keeping multiple backups of everything. Remember how I used to carry backup cameras and cell phones? That's where it came from too!

:F_05BL17blowkiss: SB -- yes, you read me don't you? LOL!

Thanks for the welcome. I'm glad to be back!!!

[luckiest1]

I didn't live through the Depression but I have been an Oracle/Sybase/SQLServer DBA so I'm a pack rat too!

Hee, I work in a Sybase shop, so I hear ya!

[Scarlett]

Hee, I work in a Sybase shop, so I hear ya!

Eeeee! *High-fives luckiest!*

[muskifest]

HeidiHo said:

Yeah, I have to agree with Muski.

Huh?

Pigs DO fly!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig! We drove home today from Thousand Oaks, CA to the SF Bay Area in 6 hours---including three pit stops AND another stop to pick up Shadow from his Club K-9 vacation! Hardly any traffic at all..Doggie is now plopped on his favorite sofa in the living room just snoozing away---as it should be.

I've spent the last couple of hours vegetating on my own sofa, catching up reading posts here and on CH...it's kinda interesting to see what gets discussed when Clay's not really DOING anything to generate current news. In some cases it's just ho-hum; in others, it's and my scroll finger's getting quite the workout, heh. One post from skybar at CH resonated with me, so I'm gonna bring it here, along with my CH post about it...sorta sums things up for me. (And by the way, it sums things up whether or not Clay's hair is nice and fluffy and clean like during the Sedaka tribute, or greasy and flat like AYSTAFG and AI2 Rewind... I actually already know that the important stuff remains the same, you know. )

just spent the last hunk of time sitting my fat ass on the sofa, looking over the pages I missed. Lots of some familiar issues being reworked in this Clay News lull, it seems, but I did get an "ah-ha!" moment reading ebird's post about the difficulties some women must go through to conceive and then someone else's (I'm sorry, I've lost who reported this.) story of hearing Brooke Shields talking about her own attempts. See, I had my two girls at age 38 and 42--both conceived remarkably quickly in the old fashioned way and both delivered naturally without any drugs or surgery or major health issues with mother or babies. I'm one lucky, blessed woman...but I admit that I really hadn't thought of just HOW blessed until reading about IV and some women's personal experiences--this new info coming as a result of Clay's own real-life new daddy-hood and how it came about.

Having that context really makes Clay and Jaymes' story more poignant and I can only wish them all the happiness possible.

Mainly, though, I want to just mosey up to skybar and nod while she writes. I'll just bold things that made my bangs flop around from really BIG-time nodding. (and RED bolded stuff that had me searching for a neck brace!)

Personally I am done fretting about Clay in any way, shape or form. I figure I have enough on my own plate to fret about. Clay is a happy man from everything I can see and he has managed to accumulate some major wealth in the process. He has a great talent, a family that loves him, a home that is beautiful and spacious, friends that are loyal and a career in entertainment that is good enough to keep him busy. That is all that I really care about for him. Maybe that is what he wants and maybe he counts his blessings every day in ways that most would if they had what he does.

As for me and my own Clay needs, they have always been simple. I can hear him sing anytime I want to. I don't need him to tour constantly. Most artists don't and often take time out for living their lives. I'll never really relate to the need some have to see him contantly active. It seems, to me, to be so unrealistic.

As for Broadway, he obviously loved his experience and has the opportunity to go back and do what he loves. I can't help but hope for more opportunities for him to do projects he loves. He doesn't owe me a thing. I wish him well and I hope to see him again someday but my life goes on, my friends are many and my interests are varied. JMO.

I've been sending good thoughts to all those who might be affected by the storms.

[Couch Tomato]

Skybar is very smart and it's exactly how I feel. I got there 2 years ago when all that angst hit over ATDW and I was living in the emergency room with my mother. I just can't extend that kind of energy on a man who to me seems perfectly happy. He did then and I'm almost 100% positive he is now. Every one of us has ups in downs in all facets of their lives but we forge ahead and get through them. Most of the time even when you're down you're not wallowing in misery. You're figuring out how to change things and what to do next. Clay is way smarter than I am I do believe LOL and he has way more advantages too (like not worrying about paying for groceries while he plots his next move)..and he is WAY more talented than a lot of people out there. He will be fine. And I intend to enjoy every step...the ups and the downs cuz it's all relative. I wish I had his kind of downs. His ups too. :013085001176249046:

ETA to say that Clay is perfectly happy and perfect and happy but hmmmm I'm sick of editing. The paragraph is So short..why does it need so much editing. geesh

ETA since I killed the thread to say..YUMMY I just went crashing back to childhood cuz my mommy (hee) made some blackberry dumplings. She used to make that for us when we were kids and we had blackberries all over the back yard and our neighbor had even more. We had to go steal them when they were not home though cuz they were MEAN people heee.

ETA: Lucky and it's good to know that if someday the vaults disappeard between us all we can whip it all back together. I want no lost Clay moments!!! And my eyes are so bad that I don't care about quality of the different types of files or you tube vs HD. I can enjoy even the most fuzzy of stuff LOL.

did anyone watch that new Bocho show on TNT? I'm curious about it.

[luckiest1]

I love clack. I may not watch it often but when I want to, I like to know it's there. I love that the vaults exist but I am not naive enough to believe they will always be there, so I have created my own private vault. I rarely watch anything on youtube because I prefer higher quality clips. Today I treated myself to the Raleigh gala auction clack.

[Claygasm]

I'm not ready to conceive Clay is smarter than me - or anyone here. He's smart, but so am I and MANY here on this board! Now, how we all use those smarts......

Now FOR SURE he has waaaaay more advantages than most here, and FOR SURE he is waaaaay more talented than most here - or anywhere. So worry about him or his career?

Nah. Like many here, I have enough to worry about in my real life. I'll let Clay worry about his.

And if he disappeared tomorrow I would survive. I could revisit him anytime I want thanks to his CDs and lots and lots of clack. The part I would miss most are the people (well.... some of the people....) I have met because of Clay.

If it all ended tomorrow, though, I know I will have come out of this fandom richer than I came into it - and heaven knows I don't mean monetarily! I am richer because I have some friends I met because of Clay who I feel sure will be my friends long after Clay.

But thankfully, I don't think any of us have to worry about Clay disappearing permanently any time soon!

Speaking of more important things to worry about, I am trying to figure out how to afford a DVR with this stupid satellite I am forced to have. Now that the new TV season is upon us (watching the season premiere of "Prison Break" now) I need one! I can't rely on my old VCR!

[Couch Tomato]

I'm not ready to conceive Clay is smarter than me - or anyone here. He's smart, but so am I and MANY here on this board! Now, how we all use those smarts......

hey I just spoke for myself cuz I am really feeling out of sorts these days. I feel like I'm still learning lessons I feel certain Clay knew before he was 21! So I'm not quite sure if I'm just not using smarts I have or I'm just not smart

As for the DVR, it is tough to live with out. I think I got it on a deal..so basically free the first year and 5/mo the second. When that runs out they'll probaly push it WAY up..I have no doubt about that.

I do agree that Clay's gift of music is something that will last me forever and so he will always be with me.

ETA: posthoing is fun LOL

all the newbies do know there is no rule against that right..in fact we encourage it

edit edit edit jamar put a curse on me or something

[jamar1700]

edit edit edit jamar put a curse on me or something

Embrace your edit. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[Couch Tomato]

edit edit edit jamar put a curse on me or something

Embrace your edit. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I will if you will heee

[ldyjocelyn]

CG, I know you are a Mac person. Is there any way that you can run cable to your computer and have a TV tuner installed on your computer? With my new computer, I splurged and got this set up, and I love it. I now have a DVR without really having a DVR.

I love the contradiction that is Clay Aiken. For me, I've always believed that he's a person who likes to plan as much as possible. And yet, I also believe that he's very much a "let go and let God" person as well. I do think he's ambitious, and yet, when things don't go quite as planned, he learns from the experience, and then lets it go. I think he's smart (and I can't compare him to us at FCA....yet *g*), but I also think he's got some good common sense in him as well.

In other words, I think he's human.

I agree with Iseeme that he probably was very disappointed in the sales of OMWH. And yet, he doesn't seem to me that he's all that worried about it, at least in public. He's just picked himself up, dusted himself off, and started all over again. (Or in the case of Spamalot, picked up where he left off!)

CG, I totally agree with you about all the friends I've made because of this fandom. I think Clay would probably get a real kick out of that part of this whole shebang.

What I'm finding with clack is that I used to download EVERYTHING. Now, I'm looking back on it and going "WHY did I keep this?" So, I'm weeding my clack collection -- picking the best of a performance, deleting the rest.

This post brought to you by the phrase "and yet"....

[gbmifan]

I have just finished catching up after being off line since Wednesday. Got back from my bike trip last night and had to immediately shower and go to a wedding reception. The couple had married the week before in Jamaica. My bike trip was great with wonderful weather. We rode 72,62,53,72,and 41 miles for a total of 300 miles. The area around Nothern Michigan is really hilly and a couple of them I really huffed and puffed up. One really bad one I thought I was going to loose my lunch.

Luckely the feeling only lasted a short time and we got up the hill. My legs actually felt great and I had no pain during the ride.

I watch Clay's MDA appearance today. He was so young and cute. I really miss him. I find that now he is not cute but has become very handsome and I love how his body has filled out. Can not wait for the reports on Sept. 19th. I will have to sneek and read that night with all of our guest here for the wedding, but I know I will want to know how it went and see how great he looks. I do not care what color his hair is or how it is worn, I just hope he is happy and he does great.

I do not need him to be a superstar, I just want him to be around to continue to entertain us. He has so much talent in many different ways that I believe he will be here when other so called superstars will be forgotten.

[muskifest]

edit edit edit jamar put a curse on me or something

Embrace your edit. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I will if you will heee

Shouldn't this be "Embrace your INNER edit"?

But then....that sounds sorta....durdy...

[Claygasm]

CG, I know you are a Mac person. Is there any way that you can run cable to your computer and have a TV tuner installed on your computer? With my new computer, I splurged and got this set up, and I love it. I now have a DVR without really having a DVR.

Huh??? I have NO clue! But with this stupid satellite, my guess would be no.

On my To Do list over the next few days if I get a chance is to call Direct TV and see just what it would cost. Their website confuses me! I already pay waaaaay too much for it as it is, so I think I just need to know or sure I can't afford it so I can stop dreaming!

Why do I have to go to work tomorrow????? Not fair!!! I'm so depressed.... (tm. The King)

[annabear]

I do not need him to be a superstar, I just want him to be around to continue to entertain us. He has so much talent in many different ways that I believe he will be here when other so called superstars will be forgotten.

Welcome back & congrats on the 300 miles!

*decides it would be a good idea to dust off the stationary bike and get moving again...*

[gbmifan]

That stationary bike can be really boring. I was really religious for many years and rode mine down the basement at least 45minutes five nights a week. It was the only exercise that I would get in when the kids were napping. Now I can not stand to get on it. I have tried even watching Clay on my tapes to make the time pass and it is still boring. I found out that spin class works better for me because there are 12 other people in misery with you. Instructors can be relentless. One instructor idea of fun was to make us stand the whole 50 minutes and keep increasing the tension. I was exhausted when I finished. Last winter I did not go to classes, I keep telling myself I really need to do this again this year. I was in great shape when the spring time started, that riding was fairly easy. I think this year our total miles are down, we just have been gone alot. Usually we have about 2000 miles in and I think we are at 1400 miles. With the wedding and everything coming up I do not see alot of time to get out.

Clay content - I missed AYSTAFG last week, I think I need to rewatch it.

[Cotton]

Sorry, Cotton. I meant that I used to design and build databases & data warehouses on Oracle servers so I'm used to keeping multiple backups of everything. Remember how I used to carry backup cameras and cell phones? That's where it came from too!

Thanks for the explanation!

See - when I said Clay was smarter than I am - I really meant it!!

hee

I taught the use of computers for years.

Just don't ask me how to build one!!!

YUMMY I just went crashing back to childhood cuz my mommy (hee) made some blackberry dumplings. She used to make that for us when we were kids and we had blackberries all over the back yard and our neighbor had even more. We had to go steal them when they were not home though cuz they were MEAN people heee.

did anyone watch that new Bocho show on TNT? I'm curious about it.

Ooh! We used to walk down to the RailRoad tracks and pick the blackberries for Nannie to make Blackberry Pie!!! Yum!

Can't quite picture blackberry dumplings!

And - we recorded that new show. Haven't watched it yet. We did watch The Closer. I love that show! I love how strong yet vulnerable and flawed Brenda is! Kyra Sedgewich is wonderful in that part!

On my To Do list over the next few days if I get a chance is to call Direct TV and see just what it would cost. Their website confuses me! I already pay waaaaay too much for it as it is, so I think I just need to know or sure I can't afford it so I can stop dreaming!

We have Directv and keep fussing at ourselves because we didn't get the Deal when we moved in. Make sure you check out their offers! Right now they are offering free dish and box (DVR), I think. We probably could have gotten that too, when we moved here, if we'd paid closer attention and asked around.

gbmifan, you make me feel like such a slug! :lmaosmiley-1:

Really. I need to get my ass out the door and just WALK a mile! Much less riding 300 miles!!!

You'd think it would inspire me, right? Instead of just noticing how lazy I am!

I'm so glad things weren't as bad as expected in NO and surrounds! A lot of damage, and 2 deaths, I think, but not nearly what it could have been.

G'night, Y'all!

ETA:

Gustav = downgraded to tropical storm!

[Couch Tomato]

On my To Do list over the next few days if I get a chance is to call Direct TV and see just what it would cost. Their website confuses me! I already pay waaaaay too much for it as it is, so I think I just need to know or sure I can't afford it so I can stop dreaming!

What I did is drop all those premium channels with the same movies over and over and over. If you have Netflix or something that's taken care of anyway. Now if I can stop myself from paying for the NBA Sports pak next month I'll be in good shape.

[Scarlett]

... just wanted to post this.

G'night, Cotton!

[liney23]

As to him being a natural actor - not sure of that, but I DO think he is a natural comedian! I swear he could be a successful stand-up comedian if he wanted to be. He is one of the funniest people I have ever seen and he has the quickest wit.

And he's the cutest!

CG... I totally agree! That quick wit is tremendous. He just reminds me sometimes of Johnny Carson.

I love the contradiction that is Clay Aiken. For me, I've always believed that he's a person who likes to plan as much as possible. And yet, I also believe that he's very much a "let go and let God" person as well. I do think he's ambitious, and yet, when things don't go quite as planned, he learns from the experience, and then lets it go. I think he's smart (and I can't compare him to us at FCA....yet *g*), but I also think he's got some good common sense in him as well.

In other words, I think he's human.

I agree with Iseeme that he probably was very disappointed in the sales of OMWH. And yet, he doesn't seem to me that he's all that worried about it, at least in public. He's just picked himself up, dusted himself off, and started all over again. (Or in the case of Spamalot, picked up where he left off!)

ldyj... WORD!!! That's a good analysis of Clay, at least what he has let us see.