#61: Eight years of freakishly fun tours...and yes, he's still the one!

[treenuts]

My poor GIANTS And now, after reading around several boards ( NOT this board though, thank god!) the past few days I'm pretty damn depressed! WTF!!

Good thing I didn't have a loaded gun, it may have ended up in my mouth, what with all the doom & gloom and other assorted ass kicking of clay garbage. I get the frustration over his lack of communication. I really do. But it's nothing new and it's not going to change IMO. He is who he is. Take it or leave it. What else can ya do. Geeesh, people.

I've been watching Clay videos the past week when I have a chance and I gotta say I believe The Best Is Yet To Come ...A talent like his cannot be denied

::slinks out of room to go watch a good movie, do laundry or something::

[aikim]

"Big hug to treenuts"

I believe the best is yet to come also.

Just saw some tweets that the PBS special is playing in Miami and people are really loving it!

More good news...Emily called and they will be joining us for Easter after all..going down to my In-Laws who have not seen Austin yet. I wasn't sure if they were going to join us or not..so I am a very happy Nana right now.

Back to watching The Ten Commandments...cheesy, but it is a family tradition!

Kim

[justclay12]

I'm actually in a pretty good place in my fandom. Still obsessed but doing my own thing until he turns up again. I'll admit that some days I'll get worried, but I'm medicated now so I'm chilling. Plus, after the tour, I was worried that we wouldn't hear about him until the gala, but we got a bunch of tweets when he was in NY, and then news and tweets about him being on DDD and that Tori Spelling thing, and then we'll have the actual appearances to look forward to. So that has helped tide me over. Still hoping for some big news, and I would love to see him in an upswing again in his career. I'm not sure if he'll ever have the popularity that he had right after AI, or even if he'd want it, but I do think there will be many more ups in his career. I just think he's doing what most of us do when things don't work out as expected, he's continuing to plug away and eventually it will pay off. And it will be on his terms.

treenuts, I love you. And aikim, I've agreed with your posts over at CV since the gerbil wheel has started again. Trying to stay out of it though so I don't get edited again. I'm also trying to refrain from commenting because they aren't ever going to change their minds, or stop thinking that they are entitled to all of those extras cuz some other celebrity does it so Clay should too. What they don't acknowledge is that there are plenty of others who either don't do all those extra things, or are complete assholes in every other aspect of their lives so WTF do I care if they have funny tweets.

[treenuts]

:thbighug-1: Awww, thanks for the hugs and love Kim and justclay,and well said too!

I wanted to drop this off before I start my Doris Day movie.

What?

I need a distraction... :clay:

HAPPY EASTER ~ HAPPY SPRING, FCA :nature-smiley-014:

<---closest I could come to a bunny emote. LOL

[luckiest1]

HAPPY EASTER ~ HAPPY SPRING, FCA

Ooooh, I'm stealing this! It finally feels like spring here, we got sun and temps up to 22 C (mid 70s F) here yesterday. After a week of rain/sleet/snow, it was unexpected but wonderful! Hoping for more of the same today! I figure Clay is enjoying his family and his life right now. I'm sure he is a busy man, and he has things that we aren't aware of going on professionally as well. He is also very involved in his foundation, and I'm sure he devotes many hours to that. I don't worry about him anymore, not at all. I know he will be back when he is ready.

Went grocery shopping yesterday, which was a madhouse because the stores were closed Friday and will be closed again today. I already had a turkey and a pork loin but needed to get my fresh veggies, fruit, breads, stuff like that. My mom tagged along since she is visiting. She got her own cart, because she said she needed to get a few things for herself for next week. I just had to laugh when we checked out and I saw what was in her cart for the week. Coke, potato chips, fruit cups in syrup, and some strawberries and grapes. I asked her what she will make for dinners? She told me she likes canned stew (my mom is the queen of packaged mixes and canned food). The other night, she put some on to heat and she left the room, and when she came back, she found the cat eating it out of the pot. Ewwwwwwwww, he probably confused it for cat food.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

[bottlecap]

[aikim]

Happy Easter FCA!

It's not raining...we've been so used to it that days when it is not are cause for celebration!

FOD Video Premiers in May!

77 Days until Clay is on DDD!

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[FearofH2O]

Happy Easter

I hope you all have a wonderful day with friends and family. We are having turkey and dressing for dinner today and I forgot the cranberries. Hopefully some store will be open today.

My son called last night and asked me to come by the hospital today. His temperature spiked at 104 and he has been a little out of it. I ran by there other day to drop off some goodies and an Easter present for granddaughter but DIL was there and I really didn't want to see her. They just switched from being Episcopalians to becoming Quakers, so I guess that's where she'll be today.

Funny about your mom luckiest. One of our cats will even eat pizza. He has to be one of the family at dinner.

[shortyjill]

Happy Easter!!

Fear hope your son starts feeling better soon.

My cat's boooooring doesn't like anything bad but Dorito cheese. LOL

Not sure exactly of what's on Grandma's Easter menu but I know we always have ham and kielbasa. Yum!! Mom got some stuff to bring a fruit salad too.

Hope everyone has a good day!

[ldyjocelyn]

Happy Easter to my friends at FCA!

After some days off, but still busy, my husband and I are doing very little today. We had home-made blueberry pancakes (made by my husband) for breakfast, and I'm making seared sea scallops, mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, and strawberries for dessert as dinner.

luckiest, that's funny about your Mom, the stew and the cat. One time I was making Spam and eggs for dinner (yes, I do like Spam!) and found the cat attempting to eat it as well! For the most part, though, I'm trying to get away from packaged foods as much as possible. It helps that I really do love to cook.

justclay wrote:

I'll admit that some days I'll get worried, but I'm medicated now so I'm chilling.

BWAH!!!

I just think he's doing what most of us do when things don't work out as expected, he's continuing to plug away and eventually it will pay off. And it will be on his terms.

Amen, Sister justclay!

{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs to all that need them}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

[Couch Tomato]

Happy Easter everybody... I'm about to head to the grocery story. We don't normally do anything special but I guess everybody wants a good meal today. It's so cold and rainy here... forget spring, I'm ready for summer.

[justclay12]

No, don't wish away my spring. I love spring, although I could do without the weather changes. One day it's cool and wet and the next day it's 80 degrees. I could do without the cold and wet.

I went and posted on Clay's facebook page because canfly said I should to negate the negative posts. Wound up screwing up my posts twice by hitting enter before I was done. Hate that there is no post or comment button to press. Saw your post there aikim. Another good one. I wasn't as patient because I've been reading the bitching for the past two days on some of the boards and I was sick of it. If they wanted to know what fans were unhappy about, they would have asked (although I'm pretty sure they knew already). And I'm sure Clay himself knows. Doesn't mean it's going to change if they bitch about it enough.

[Carolina Clay]

Happy Easter with ACA's special graphic!

Easter Blessings, FCA!

The above graphic by AmazingCA with PermaSwooned's photo is featured in wallpaper size in the new Carolina On My Mind blog, which also includes a floral graphic by Sally, info/examples about CLIPish 3D animations for the iphone family, as well as a Jacquie Lawson card for you.

I sent Kai and Lia an interactive Easter Egg Hunt to find 10 eggs once they open the card.

Thank you for visiting the Carolina blog and for helping to retweet/post links/spread the news about it. This is one of my favorite Easter CLIPish emoticons (of hundreds) that can be added to text messages:

Sending lots of hugs and good vibes for your family, Fear, and all who need them.

Wishing you and yours a glorious day!

Caro

[aikim]

Back from the In-laws..thought about you LDYJ when we hit I-74 and I saw the sign for Peoria! Had a great time..been a long time since the whole family was together and I did not tell them Emily and Mike were coming with the baby so that was a nice surprise! Took lots of picture..the generation one with In-Laws, Hubby, Emily and Austin and just general family ones. Baby was passed around, but he is such a laid back little guy..didn't fuss at all. Finally fell asleep right before they left.

Came home with lots of leftovers, so time for a ham sandwich and some salads.

And next week-end Austin is coming to Nana's house for his first sleepover!

Kim

[shortyjill]

aikim I'd say you got lucky with the baby today...the youngest one of the family (about 2) today was just having a bad day, crying and screaming, but we know she was putting on a show because she'd shut up as soon as the right person held her. Yeesh. Love the little ones but days like that would be nice to skip over.

justclay went over and read at Clay's FB. Some of those comments make me want to bang my head against a wall... (too harsh?)

[aikim]

aikim I'd say you got lucky with the baby today...the youngest one of the family (about 2) today was just having a bad day, crying and screaming, but we know she was putting on a show because she'd shut up as soon as the right person held her. Yeesh. Love the little ones but days like that would be nice to skip over.

justclay went over and read at Clay's FB. Some of those comments make me want to bang my head against a wall... (too harsh?)

They're not worth giving yourself a headache over...but I really can't believe how rude some people can be.

Austin really is a good baby...he just loves to be held and doesn't mind who is doing it.

Kim

[treenuts]

Hope everyone had a wonderful day with family and/or friends!!

...but I really can't believe how rude some people can be.

And THIS is why I can't even bring myself to go over and read or respond to the OFC question there. I'm just so sad at how fans appear to act so entitled. Maybe that's not the right word, but it feels right to me somehow. I hurt to read comments like those I've seen on the boards. I know Clay's thick skinned but I am not.

[Couch Tomato]

Wait, you guys lost me. Somebody asked for imput on what...the fan club? And there's nasty comments by fans on his facebook page?

I don't blame you Tree. I certainly don't really get it. I don't get why he must work every single moment. And really it's simple. If you don't like what he does with the fan club don't join. It's really that simple.

ETA: I read the facebook posts..they aren't so bad to me..just a few rude ones. Most people want communication from Clay, not stuff. I can understand that. And if they didn't really want to know they shouldn't have asked. I don't really expect anything from the fan club and when I have money I join just to support. Others join for different reasons. Nothing wrong in that.

[aikim]

Hard time getting out of bed this morning; such a long day yesterday.

FOD Video Premiers in May!

76 Days until Clay is on DDD!

Happy Birthday to those celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[ldyjocelyn]

ETA: I read the facebook posts..they aren't so bad to me..just a few rude ones. Most people want communication from Clay, not stuff. I can understand that. And if they didn't really want to know they shouldn't have asked. I don't really expect anything from the fan club and when I have money I join just to support. Others join for different reasons. Nothing wrong in that.

I thought some were quite kind in their asking for an unreleased song or picture or blog. Some, though, were really rude. I guess in my mind, there's a couple of things here.

I'm OK with the fan club asking what kind of swag they should offer next. I must be the only one on the planet who kinda likes the swag! And I'm of the opinion that if you can't find anything you like in the list -- don't vote, and if you can't find anything nice to say, don't say it. (I'm hoping my Mom raised me right in that regard).

Personally, I think Clay will start communicating more when either a) he has something ready to tell us; and when people stop demanding he communicate with us. That stubborn streak that was celebrated several years ago ("balls of steel," if I remember correctly) could possibly be coming back to bite us in the butt.

[aikim]

Would it really mean as much if Clay blogged just because people were demanding he do so? I don't think so and you know sure as shit, if he did blog, the same people who are complaining about him not blogging, would then have complaints about the content. He didn't give us career news; why does he only blog to ask for money or help, I don't want a blog about book or theater or TV recommendations, yada, yada, yada. It truly does get tiring after a while.

Clay has said several times that he isn't always at liberty to tell us career news until the persons involved are ready to make an announcement..I figure when the time is right, we will hear whatever there is to hear.

Hope he had a really nice Easter with Parker and his family.

"looks out the window; more rain..sigh"

Kim

[shortyjill]

I'm OK with the fan club asking what kind of swag they should offer next. I must be the only one on the planet who kinda likes the swag! And I'm of the opinion that if you can't find anything you like in the list -- don't vote, and if you can't find anything nice to say, don't say it. (I'm hoping my Mom raised me right in that regard).

I always enjoyed the swag too. Last year was the only time I didn't get it because I didn't see anything I was interested in.

[keepingfaith]

apparently some people want to keep the frustration alive.

Bingo!!!

KEEP ANGST ALIVE!

KEEP ANGST ALIVE!

I loved the keyring last year, and wore it around my neck on a silver chain quite a few times. The first three times I wore it I saw Clay in person -- the first time Jerome talked to me, and the third time Clay talked to me. It was a talisman.

Alright now, the chant-bitching at Clay wearies my mind and brings me down. I'm good with whatever Clay chooses to do no matter how trite that sounds -- I'm not interested in telling him how to further his career - or in reading others' rather demanding opinions of what he should be doing to further his career. It's all so 2006! I've noticed RCA shit creeping in recently around the boards, and that's a deal breaker for me. Worry worry toil and trouble -- anxiety, stress, imbalance and fear. Not for ME!

Wallowing in conspiracy theories about Clay's career is a non-starter. (There are enough REAL conspiracies to investigate). Blaming Clay for wrecking his own career is off the chain insane. I don't have a good time reading woe-r-us posts, and a very wise person once told me -- when it stops being fun, don't do it. I'm taking that advice. Clay is ALWAYS fun, so I'll continue to do him. I still have my famous FCA Doing Clay Aiken pin!

Unless someone actually IS Clay, having walked a mile in his shoes, they don't know jackshit about him or his career. Even if we have memorized every word he's ever said on any subject, can quote Learning to Sing by rote, have had a dinner with him, or sat next to him at the theater, know his boyfriends, his mother, or his dogs, we don't know shit. I don't care if someone knows all about the music industry, the marketing industry, or the people industry -- if they aren't Clay and haven't experienced his life first hand, they can't speak for him and his decisions. Because it's just a ride. I'm going to again quote my favorite humorist/philosopher/political commentator, the late great Bill Hicks, who died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 32:

The world is like a ride at an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it, you think it's real, because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round and it has thrills and chills and it's very brightly colored and it's very loud. And it's fun, for a while.

After being on the ride for a long time, some people begin to question: 'Is this real? Or is this just a ride?' And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and they say 'Hey! Don't worry, don't be afraid -- ever -- because ... this is just a ride.' And we kill those people.

Treenuts, darling, about that hologram ... I'd pay double dues ... and he doesn't even have to pick up the soap! Should we make him an offer? There's a drumbeat for Clay to do the latest media things to gain popularity -- online sex worked for the Kardashians ... I mean if he really wants a huge lot of publicity and riches there are more compelling and intimate ways than tweeting about the mall.

[aikim]

Clay mention in this article about gay Dads...nice to see!

http://www.yourtango...ity-dads/page/2

[whatavoice]

I LOVE this board - so angst-free, and positive!