#46: Avoid the crazy, enjoy the good, and chill.

[calurker]

I really enjoy Clay's blogs but if he doesn't blog my day doesn't come crashing in on me !!!!!

I am so terrible at returning e-mails or even posting....sure I read the stuff I get or what's on the boards and think "I should get on that right now !!!".....doesn't often happen. I agree with smittenwithclay's thought on the matter........"but I cant say how easy it is for him, because Im not in his head...its hard for me not to give him the benefit of the doubt knowing 20 percent of the information."

[KAndre]

I guess I sympathize with Clay on the blogging thing because I kept seeing people saying how easy it would be - and I know I couldn't do it. Hell, I have a hard enough time writing when I do have something to say, and I tend to wait until I'm in the mood to at least try to enjoy the actual writing a little (which is a little explanation on the sporadic nature of my recaps - I really don't like writing. Really. Too easy to sit on my ass and not write.) Blogging every day or every week or even every months simply sounds like torture to me...especially when I know a large number of people would bitch about what I would write.

[liney23]

toni7babe is a class act.

No good deed goes unpunished.

I will never stop being a fan of Clay, but I can see myself edging over to quitting the boards because the constant bitching and nitpicking takes the fun out of it. What a stupid way to spend my time.

No, the dinner was not a fan function and has nothing to do with blogging.

Now, I am disappointed because I have not read any more about The Trip To Japan, starring KAndre - have I missed something?????

djs... just stay here! Very little angst on FCA. Won't say neveh, but seldom! I am content to read about it here, shake my head, and then just stay here. We post pretty pictures.

[tribeca]

tribeca, to answer your question...it really is two separate things in many ways (the blogging vs. what happened at the dinner), but I think it all boils down to this: communication.

More than a few fans felt that there would be some good, juicy tidbits that came out of him sharing the skybox with these people for the Celine show. Tidbits about Parker. Tidbits about his next album. Tidbits about his future career plans. Etc. And these fans felt that these tidbits SHOULD be shared with all his internet fans. The setting changed a bit (from a skybox to a dinner) but the expectations really didn't. Except...Clay set a ground rule or two, and as it happened, very few tidbits came out. Well, well.

In the same manner, these are the kinds of tidbits that I see some fans wanting from him when he blogs. IMO (and to make perfectly clear, IMO), there's a need for constant communication from him. Yes, he doesn't make good use of his blogging skills, and I too wish he would a bit more often. But I certainly don't need for him to blog on a regular basis.

In the end, to some, it feels as if he's cut off communication with the fanbase, either with his rules at the dinner or his non-blogging, and this makes them upset. And to take it further, some then feel that he's cutting off his nose to spite his face by cutting off this communication, and will lose fans.

I guess I'm just easy, easy like Sunday morning [tm Lionel Richie] when it comes to Clay in this manner. I have faith in the man, his talent, and his career, and never really expect anything from him. I like the surprise factor when something does get announced, though. (I used to hate surprises, but I've learned the joy in them by being in this fandom...)

So, while I would love to know more about the dinner last night, and would love for him to blog more often, I don't NEED it. I just want him to make me laugh, via a TV show or a radio interview or some concert banter.

that makes sense

and honestly until I read Clay says what said here stays here I didn't even care. kind of still don't it just made me more curious for some reason. but whenever I walk by a sign that says don't touch this it makes me want to touch it when otherwise I probably would not have noticed.

for myself I just enjoy the blogs (yes I read them on other sites) and like the seeing the excitement it gives people. when I say that people think I am expecting too much or demanding too much. I just personally enjoy them.

[jmh123]

It is getting nasty out there. I could care less how often he blogs. Some people are really making a big deal out of this. If 10 people were present at the dinner, we probably would get 10 different versions on what he said. This way with the conversation not being discussed, they only have their interpretations and people will not be able to speculate on the meaning of every word that came out of his mouth.

I do not get the reasoning that he will loose his fans if he does not communicate. I enjoy other artist, buy their CD's when they come out, but do not go to their fan club sites to check out every word they express or how often. The internet fans only make up a small portion of his fans. If they are that shallow that because he does not blog on a regular basis they are out of here, that is their problem not his. I remember reading when he did blog about something casual he was critized because it was not an indepth subject but something just for fun. Do not get me wrong I enjoy when he does blog but it does not make or break my love for him

Jerry Garcia never blogged. Eric Clapton never blogged. Never joined their fanclubs. (Did they have fan clubs?) Didn't stop me from being a lifelong fan.

Jerry even died, and I'm still a fan.

toni7babe is a class act.

No good deed goes unpunished.

I will never stop being a fan of Clay, but I can see myself edging over to quitting the boards because the constant bitching and nitpicking takes the fun out of it. What a stupid way to spend my time.

No, the dinner was not a fan function and has nothing to do with blogging.

Now, I am disappointed because I have not read any more about The Trip To Japan, starring KAndre - have I missed something?????

Ldyjocelyn, you are so sensible. Seriously, great explanation of where various folks are coming from.

[annabear]

Very little angst on FCA. Won't say neveh, but seldom! I am content to read about it here, shake my head, and then just stay here. We post pretty pictures.

[djs111]

Heeeee.....too many cool people at FCA to really leave!

I do wish that people elsewhere would stop wrapping their personal wishes up with "The Fans'" wishes. Sure, there are burnt puppy scenarios for me with Clay - but then, there are burnt puppy scenarios for me with everybody.

Communication - not even a hair off a puppy-dog tail.

But leave me out of that "The Fans" stuff, pretty please. Own your feelings, don't spread them to me.

(That is not a board-specific request.)

Jeezy-creezy (tm Eddie Izzard!) - we have had more communication last year about the most personal life of Clay than I would have imagined possible (or needful, really). He is an entertainer, not a full-time court jester that got hired to provide full-time coverage.

Anyway, I am kinda glad I will not be reading about the dinner. Because Clay's friends and family get castigated even worse than he does, just for being with him, and it creeps me out.

Heh, yeah, I will stay here today, because, as Randy Newman sings for Monk, "It's a jungle out there!".

[Kareneh]

Just to give everyone a heads up. I will be at the GFI and if Clay whisks me away into a back room and we have a little one on one time.....I will not be telling anyone! You know what goes on in the locker room.........

Well, dang! I was going to offer you my belly button camera. It's a great little thing. It has a 12X zoom, and on me, you can't even notice it!

Hey, I didn't get a nice dinner with Clay last night but I did get to see Celine Dion a couple of weeks ago. Remember those tickets I gave the munchkin for Christmas....2007? The concert finally came, we mercifully had no flight delays, and Carolyn was thrilled. It was a very good concert and I'm not exactly a fan.

She actually got to touch Celine (who said, "Thank you for coming.") as she crossed the arena floor from the stage at the end of the show. As soon as it was over she said, "Oh, I want to go again!."

The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, does it?

I've been sort of MIA between hither and yon for the past while.....back in Baku (where I really and truly do live) again. I expect to stay for a while. I am sick of planes......and didn't I go and leave my 80 gig IPOD on one on the way over here. I will have to replace it on the sly when I next go back to North America which probably isn't going to be until June or July. The last time I flew I left the textbook for my class on the plane and I didn't get that back either. From now on I am attaching all my stuff to me with Velcro before I board. Getting through security might be interesting. But I think they know me by now. *Sigh*

I would love it be going to the golfing thing this weekend. It's a waste of words to tell those of you who are going to have a great time because I am sure you will.....but anyway.....have a great time!

I'll be sitting over here all alone working on my pictures from Knoxville (I think those are the only ones I have left......but as you can see I like to take things slow and easy....heck......in all honestly I'm lazy). John went off to Kazakhstan about 18 hours after I got home. Surprise...surprise.....Did he have a sniff about the golf tournament and me maybe changing my flight? No....not possible.

Tidbits, I have to agree, aren't going to get me anything. Since I'm hanging around these messages boards most every day, when something happens that I can go to, I can buy, watch or listen to.....well I'm going to find out about it in plenty of time. The rest of it doesn't matter in the long run. I believe you gotta take your fun where you find it and that applies to this, the same as it does to anything else. Why begrudge others their moment, or three hours, or time in the back room? I think this was a lovely thing for Clay to do for these contributors, and it was gracious of his family to attend the dinner as well. I doubt he shared anything super private or confidential with a group of fans, and asking them to keep the conversation of the boards was probably a way to keep things nice and easy..... also, maybe some deference to Jaymes, Faye and Jerome who may not have wanted to worry about their words being carried to the boards where they're going to be subject to scrutiny and interpretation. An that's all I have to say about that....

Oh, and the blogging thing. I love to get them but I get it. I have no room to complain. I've got several half written drafts at Sally's ( including one I started tonight) and no matter how much I want to write one when I sit down to do so, I find I get bored and go do something else......which kinda tells me something, doesn't it?

WOW! All this and self-discovery, too!

[canfly172]

KAndre[/.

no matter what Clay says or does, somebody will get into a hissy fit.

That might make a great thread title one day

Or.......

No matter what Clay says or does, SOMEBODY will get their panties in a wad.

[tribeca]

JMH

you know I don't know if Jerry Garcia blogged or not but my MUCH older sister followed them one summer. When i asked her how she could afford that?

She said

As long as you don't care where you are sleeping you can follow them anywhere.

[muskifest]

In First Family, A Nation's Many Faces

This is so very cool. An article in the New York Times (a colleague emailed it to me) about the ethnic contributions to Obama's bloodline...truly 'multi-racial, multi-cultural'...Not to get too political here, but I love how the leader of our diverse nation actually IS of a diverse heritage--moreso that the extremely large majority of past presidents, for sure! (that we know of, of course...

What?

Oh...that....

I'm done with the other topic du jour...

[ncgurrl]

Blog or not blog that is Clay's business. However, promise me exclusive products (blog, videos, audio, pictures, etc.) in exchange for my money and I tend to get testy when they do not come through. It has nothing to do with me loving the voice, the show (when I get one) or the man. It has a lot to do with reliability. I keep saying I join the fan club because I support the man and I do. However, maybe he should honor that support by keeping up his end of the fan club contract.

[justclay12]

ldyj, excellent post and it showed sympathy to those who are having a problem with this. I'm not as happy or accepting as a lot of you on here, although not as bent out of shape as some. I am disappointed and I was upset but much of that has to do with many of my own issues. I have always felt like an outsider, for many reasons, but usually I can deal with it because some of the people who've excluded me were people I wouldn't want to hang around with anyway. Cheerleaders and exclusive country club members come to mind. However, when I feel excluded by someone I respect and care about, it brings up all those rejection issues and it hurts.

I realize that Clay may have very valid reasons for not wanting his words repeated, and what I have read here has made me understand that, but it doesn't stop me from feeling left out again. Usually I don't have a problem with people getting m&g's or getting to go to gatherings but when it starts feeling like some type of exclusive club where the same people, over and over, get the priviledges, I do wind up having some problems with resentment. I wish that wasn't the case but it is. Especially when not only do I feel like I haven't been invited to the party, but I also can't even look in the window and enjoy it vicariously. Hope that makes sense to some of you.

Now for the next few days, I think I'll stay from the one board, since I don't need to feed my own insecurities anymore than they already are. Hopefully, you stronger people can bring over anything newsworthy in the meantime.

With all that being said, I'm not going anywhere. Clay is still a class act to me. He went out of his way to make the night special for the people there and for xxx4clay, who couldn't be there.

[ausdon]

That guy is worth all the love we can bestow on him!

Thread title for next time???

muski... make sure to tell us about it, k? LOL

I think Clay was totally great to call xxx4Clay! And, I think he was totally right to ask that the conversation stay at the table. Geesh!

So they report that he hates broccoli, per something he said... fans are up in arms or predicting he'll die of some dread disease if he doesn't eat broccoli.

So they report that he thinks American cars are "just not good." Oh, my! Exploding heads, anyone?

So, he either says the convo stays at the table or he doesn't talk except to say, "Pass the salt and pepper, please."

He did the right thing, IMO.

OMG!!!! How can you say that! Don't you know that excess salt is very unhealthy!! And when he encourages, nay advocates, such prolific usage he is endangering the lives of others!!! How could he be soooo reckless!!!!

And don't get me started on pepper..................

[00lsee]

In First Family, A Nation's Many Faces

This is so very cool. An article in the New York Times (a colleague emailed it to me) about the ethnic contributions to Obama's bloodline...truly 'multi-racial, multi-cultural'...Not to get too political here, but I love how the leader of our diverse nation actually IS of a diverse heritage--moreso that the extremely large majority of past presidents, for sure! (that we know of, of course...

What?

Oh...that....

I'm done with the other topic du jour...

You mean, he really IS

heeee!!!

[annabear]

So, he either says the convo stays at the table or he doesn't talk except to say, "Pass the salt and pepper, please."

He did the right thing, IMO.

OMG!!!! How can you say that! Don't you know that excess salt is very unhealthy!! And when he encourages, nay advocates, such prolific usage he is endangering the lives of others!!! How could he be soooo reckless!!!!

And don't get me started on pepper..................

[tribeca]

ldyj,

I realize that Clay may have very valid reasons for not wanting his words repeated, and what I have read here has made me understand that, but it doesn't stop me from feeling left out again. Usually I don't have a problem with people getting m&g's or getting to go to gatherings but when it starts feeling like some type of exclusive club where the same people, over and over, get the priviledges, I do wind up having some problems with resentment. I wish that wasn't the case but it is. Especially when not only do I feel like I haven't been invited to the party, but I also can't even look in the window and enjoy it vicariously. Hope that makes sense to some of you.

Now for the next few days, I think I'll stay from the one board, since I don't need to feed my own insecurities anymore than they already are. Hopefully, you stronger people can bring over anything newsworthy in the meantime.

With all that being said, I'm not going anywhere. Clay is still a class act to me. He went out of his way to make the night special for the people there and for xxx4clay, who couldn't be there.

you explained your position very nicely without putting anyone down. Understand where you are coming from

I have been excluded so much that now being included seems strange.

[cha cha trusty]

Ho Hum.......... pass the salt please.

[Couch Tomato]

I definitely understand all the positions on the fan club. I kinda figured out what I was going to get from it in year 1 so every year I go into it kinda knowing what I'm gonna get. I think he has lost fan club members and he has to know not blogging more is one of the reasons why.

Did I tell ya'll mom is home. You wanna know the weird part. Before she left she was walking with a walker. She had some very scary days last week. But since she came home yesterday she has been walking withot her walker. HUH? LOL. The body is a wondrous thing. It's like she's better after this stroke then she was before it once she got through it.

[smittenwithclay]

for those that like to know when anything changes no matter how small lol clays display picture on his myspace has been changed from the OMWH cover to this

siiiiigh, Im going to need a minute...

he looks so hot there.

[tribeca]

for those that like to know when anything changes no matter how small lol clays display picture on his myspace has been changed from the OMWH cover to this

siiiiigh, Im going to need a minute...

he looks so hot there.

That's the picture that I think Clay looks like Clark Kent

[RIFAN]

toni7babe is a class act.

No good deed goes unpunished.

I will never stop being a fan of Clay, but I can see myself edging over to quitting the boards because the constant bitching and nitpicking takes the fun out of it. What a stupid way to spend my time.

No, the dinner was not a fan function and has nothing to do with blogging.

Not a big poster here, but had to come somewhere where I could read something that made sense to me.

I, too, am tired of the nitpicking and bitching!!! Why is it that every time that man does something wonderful, some boards end up arguing over it.

I joined his fan club to support him and I will continue to do that, but some of the people over there make it awfully hard. But, I figure if I quit that OFC, then they have won. Nope, not gonna happen. Clay needs to hear from happy fans on his fan club, not just those who cannot be happy with anything he does or says.

[00lsee]

I definitely understand all the positions on the fan club. I kinda figured out what I was going to get from it in year 1 so every year I go into it kinda knowing what I'm gonna get. I think he has lost fan club members and he has to know not blogging more is one of the reasons why.

Did I tell ya'll mom is home. You wanna know the weird part. Before she left she was walking with a walker. She had some very scary days last week. But since she came home yesterday she has been walking withot her walker. HUH? LOL. The body is a wondrous thing. It's like she's better after this stroke then she was before it once she got through it.

Congrats, couchie, that is good news!

Okay, dumb question: How do I know that 'he has to know'? Has there ever been a front page complaint thread about this at OFC? Where he might actually have read it? (Told you it was a dumb question). It seems to me that repeated conversations about this and other OFC issues 'on the boards' isn't really addressing the intended audience: Clay. A whole lot of choir-preachin', in other words.

I mean, some people in my life have no good excuse for 'not knowing' certain things because they have been told over and over and over. They can tell me I'm crazy or I didn't get their full attention first or that I'm imagining we talked about it or that I was unclear...but...I was in the room when the conversations took place, you know? I can postpone anger and be endlessly patient and just gloss over these 'misunderstandings' again and again, using one of the listed reasons...but...at some point, I have to trust my reality: We talked. They really do know. Finally, I feel justified acting on that information.

But, with Clay...as obvious as the issues are to me and as obvious as they maybe 'ought to be' to him, I've never been in the room...

Does that make sense? I don't go to the OFC enough to know if this has ever been permitted to be a front page issue. Anyone know? It matters to me to KNOW that he knows before I decide whether or not to be mad about it. Not sure it should matter, but it does. I've got a little too much practice rationalizing away the negative, I guess.

I mean, I'd still rather just blame Ray. heh

Oh, that blue shirt picture. Yum.

[Couch Tomato]

Oh well good question 00lsee. I don't read the OFC but there are topics more controversial than this where people are basically allowed to express their, let's say dismay - didn't think this would be off limits...thought that would be the main place for the discussion. Maybe not. I could have sworn Clay has mentioned something that led me to believe he knew the not blogging enough complaints. Let me know what you find.

Of course even if there is a thread doesn't mean he read it.

[liney23]

In First Family, A Nation's Many Faces

This is so very cool. An article in the New York Times (a colleague emailed it to me) about the ethnic contributions to Obama's bloodline...truly 'multi-racial, multi-cultural'...Not to get too political here, but I love how the leader of our diverse nation actually IS of a diverse heritage--moreso that the extremely large majority of past presidents, for sure! (that we know of, of course...

What?

Oh...that....

I'm done with the other topic du jour...

muski.... I loved this article. I emailed to friends I thought would enjoy it. Totally cool!

Couchie... whoo hooo! Great about your mom. You never know. The body is a wonderous thing sometimes.