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

[justclay12]

Finally caught up. I think I was behind by about 2 weeks. Good news is that it was because I was keeping myself busy.

I liked the FOD video. I don't normally like when people say "My gays" or stuff like that, but in the context of this video, I thought it was funny. I also saw The Talk and DDD. Enjoyed them both and thought he looked gorgeous. I knew some of the boards would have members pitching a fit over what he said at The Talk. I can't say that I like Clay even thinking about leaving show business, but I didn't think we were in imminent danger of that. And I certainly didn't want to read the drama from over-reacting fans so I took a hiatus from the boards. However, my hiatus from here had nothing to do with that because I knew you guys would be cool with it.

Thankfully, I did get to see those pics that are now deleted. He is so freaking beautiful. Can't wait until the chat and hopefully we'll find out something new.

On a personal note, I've started talking to my one sister again, and I went up to my niece's this past weekend and got to see my great nieces for the first time, other than on facebook. The oldest girl is 2 and is such a cutie and the baby is about 2 weeks and they are lucky I didn't stick her in my purse and take her home with me. She is such a good baby. My youngest sister was there too, and it was nice seeing her, but she still annoys me. Oldest sister, I'm still not talking to. Better for my health that way.

And I just turned 50 in June and it didn't hurt at all. Although it's still hard to believe I've been on the planet that long. Inside I feel like I'm about 25.

[treenuts]

Inside I feel like I'm about 25.

That says it all!

Happy belated Birthday, gbmifan

Welcome back, merrieeee!

I really hope those dropdeaddelicious photos of Clay turn up somewhere publc in some important way. I seem to have this need for the rest of the world to see him as I do

that's all I got

[FearofH2O]

justclay, welcome back to our world. I hope the break did you good. I didn't even watch the Talk until Friday. I think most everyone here was cool with what Clay said. We all, JMO, says what they are thinking out loud sometime or another. And yes the pictures are quite fine.

Sometime soon I will be retiring for the last time. I talked with one of the lawyers on Monday and I think it'll be good for all of us. I was hesitating about telling them as the other woman is still suffering from her fall in January and really didn't want to do any bookkeeping again. They really need someone to put in more hours than I am willing to put in. They are hoping to automate some of the reports, at my suggestion, and hire someone at a lot less than my rate of pay. Welcome to the new world dynamic. Today is my last day until September, or forever, as I will be Mr Fear's nurse for that next few months.

I hope you all have a great day! It'll be another scorcher here.

[aikim]

5 Days until The Video Chat!

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[ldyjocelyn]

Happy birthday KAndre!

I'll wear bling in your honor today to work.

Fear, keep us updated on the retirement plans...

Good luck with the family situation justclay!

Has anyone here submitted questions for the video chat? I honestly can't think of any at the moment.

[luckiest1]

I can never think of any good questions to ask Clay, so I'll just let others do the asking. I will probably try to get into the live chat but I don't have much faith that I'll be able to....I haven't tested it out and I think I read that you need browsers other than Explorer for it to work? I am thankful that they said they will post the video of it after the fact, that may be my safest bet.

Fear, good luck to you on your road to retirement! Happy Birthday to KAndre, gbmifan and anyone else who I've missed the last few weeks.

justclay12, you are lucky to have sisters. I only have the one brother who hates me and lives in Taiwan.

My youngest son (Stuart) lasted 3 weeks at his job before they let him go. It was really a hard day but we found out yesterday that it wasn't just him, it was every temporary (i.e. contract) employee they had hired to get the store up and running. I guess once the permanent staff started they decided they didn't need them anymore. I hope he can take the experience he got and use it to his advantage. On the bright side, at least he has something to put on his resume now!

This weekend is going to be busy with Stuart's 20th birthday and my older son's (Ian's) home run derby and all star baseball game. Each team can only send 3 players and he was chosen in a tie for 1st place for his team. So we're going to combine both things and all head to the game, with a birthday dinner celebration afterwards.

I made a kick ass, low-fat raspberry 'cheesecake' last night (ha ha, no real cheese used), but it had to chill for a few hours, so I couldn't taste it until this morning.......mmmmm, what a yummy breakfast.

[shortyjill]

Happy birthday KAndre!

Fear good luck on your possible upcoming retirement.

Has anyone here submitted questions for the video chat? I honestly can't think of any at the moment.

I did even though I can never think of anything to ask either. I was just kinda clicking around on entering the contest for 100 points and this box comes up and I had to put in a question. I think I asked if he were approached to play another villainous character if he would take it.

I made a kick ass, low-fat raspberry 'cheesecake' last night (ha ha, no real cheese used), but it had to chill for a few hours, so I couldn't taste it until this morning.......mmmmm, what a yummy breakfast.

This reminds me I want to make a souffle. LOL I was watching MasterChef last night and on the previews for next week it looks like the chefs are going to make them bake souffles. I've never made one before but I think it would be a fun challenge for myself!

Sorry to hear about your son's job. It's true it's something good for his resume. Mine's pretty bare too but this studio work is bulking it up some.

[aikim]

RE Chat: A lot of people are using IE to get into chat..just make sure it is an updated version and your Java is updated. But they do advise that the best browsers to use are Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari. I use Google Chrome all the time..I think it is much faster and easier to use than IE. I just think it is a good idea anyway to have two browsers in case you have problems with one.

I hope things go well Monday night..it will be interesting to see how many people show up and if the site can handle it.

Kim

[Carolina Clay]

All the best with your upcoming retirement, Fear!

to KAndre and belated greetings to gbmifan!

Have a great rest of the week, all!

Caro

[jmh123]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KANDRE!!!!!!!!!!!11

:bdayparty2:

[FearofH2O]

Happy Birthday KAndre

:04:

:2164: :me0: :nana:

Thanks guys. I am looking forward to doing some more volunteer work. With the cuts to education kids are going to need all the help they can get.

ETA: Don't we have a place to post recipes luckiest? We can always use a low cal dessert recipe.

[luckiest1]

Ok, I posted the recipe here.

[justclay12]

I can never think of questions when I actually need to come up with them. Complete brain farts. There is one question this time that I'd like to know the answer to and that is if he'd do a part where he has to kiss someone. I mean a good, juicy kiss, not just a peck. And if we'll ever see him with less clothes on, although I think those most recent pics showed more chest than we've ever seen from him, which is a good start.

And another one would be about his phobias. He seems like he's gotten better with being in social situations with large groups of people, but I wonder if he's still as afraid of water and cats as he used to be.

[aikim]

4 Days until The Video Chat!

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[aikim]

Cute interview of Clay on the set of DDD!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDKcazHPyUc&feature=youtu.be

[luckiest1]

Ha ha did we crash youtube? It won't come up for me.

[ldyjocelyn]

huffingtonpost.com

Support Somalia (Because Mother Nature Ain't)

Clay Aiken

UNICEF Ambassador

Support Somalia (Because Mother Nature Ain't)

Posted: 7/28/11 05:29 PM ET

I have a small pond in my backyard.

It isn't big enough for recreational use. No fishing; no boating.

It's just pretty. But, fortunately it's big enough that, during the warmer months, I can use the water from the pond to irrigate my lawn.

The water is pumped out and through the irrigation system. It waters the grass, and then it makes its way back to the pond to repeat the cycle. It's very useful, but I certainly couldn't imagine drinking from it.

In 2008, on my first trip to Somalia as a UNICEF Ambassador, I saw a pond about the same size as the one in my backyard. It was in the middle of a somewhat barren stretch of land and it was, perhaps, the dirtiest water I had ever seen. But, for the people of the village I was visiting, it was the only source of water available for miles. I watched as young children played in it, as others bathed in it, and yes, as dozens of families loaded donkeys with jerry cans full of that turbid water and walked for miles to bring it back home. It wasn't the best of circumstances. But in the dry land of Somalia, that muddy pond was the only source of sustenance.

It's now 2011, and it's been an incredibly hot summer all across the globe. Here at my house the pond in my backyard... well... it is struggling. It's still clean and pretty, but the level has dropped enough that I have had to turn off the pump that allows me to irrigate my yard with its water. Now, I'd have to pay to keep my lawn nice and green.

In Somalia the situation is a far worse. That small, but useful, pond I stood beside in 2008 is gone now. As are so many water sources throughout the entire nation Somalia, along with neighboring countries -- Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti -- are experiencing the worst drought in 60 years. In fact, this drought has led to full-scale famine in parts of southern Somalia. This is all happening in a country whose people have not had access to much of the basic support that we take for granted, in part because Somalia has been without a functioning government for two decades.

With rising fuel and food prices, and drought, added to an already dire humanitarian situation, it seems that Mother Nature is kicking the people of Somalia while they are down.

In the mid-1980s, famine in Ethiopia generated media attention and massive outpouring of assistance from concerts like Live Aid and involvement from musicians recording the famous "We Are The World" record. Many of us remember the amount of attention and money raised for Ethiopian relief in 1985 and 1986. That same sense of urgency is needed today.

The U.N. estimates that more than 11 million people are already in dire need of humanitarian assistance in Somalia and across the Horn of Africa. More than 2.3 million children are acutely malnourished, including half a million at immediate risk of death. Thousands of families are crossing the border from Somalia as emergency therapeutic feeding centers are being set up by UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies in neighboring countries. In some places, half of the children are malnourished. In fact, thousands of children are so weak that they are dying en route -- before they make it to the water, food, and basic assistance they need to survive. Their mothers, with so few resources on the journey, are being faced with the impossible dilemma -- which child do I feed and which one do I allow to die?

UNICEF is using every means possible to reach these children. Their unrivaled expertise in responding to the unique needs of children affected by emergencies of all sorts is precisely why they have saved the lives of more children across the globe than any other humanitarian organization.

But they are entirely dependent on donations. They urgently need more than $300 million over the next six months alone to meet the basic needs and save the lives of countless children.

So, as I lament the drying out of my pretty little backyard pond and its inability to help keep my grass green this summer, I find myself faced with a decision FAR easier than the mothers of Somalia. A green lawn or the life of a child.

Therefore, there'll be no irrigation in my yard this summer. Instead, the money that I would have spent on watering my grass will go to UNICEF. A brown lawn is an extremely small price to pay for the life of a child, and the amount that would have spent on irrigation will go so much further in the hands of UNICEF.

The average family spends about $100 a month on watering their yard in the spring and summer months. That $100 dollars can feed a child for 100 days! Three months!

I challenge us all to consider reallocating our watering allowance to a cause so much more important than fescue.

I'm sure we can all agree that we would rather our grass die than a child.

To help, text "FOOD" to UNICEF (864233) to give $10, which can feed a child for 10 days, or visit www.unicefusa.org/donate/horn .

[FearofH2O]

Great article. I donated from the OFC. I thought Clay might get credit for it. Clay is right, we take so much for granted. He really has a talent for making his personal experiences relative to the topic. I'll take this article over a blog any day. :04:

[treenuts]

[luckiest1]

Wow, what a wonderfully written article! Definitely makes me want to donate to the cause. But 'fescue'? I had to look it up.

fes·cue [fes-kyoo]

–noun

1. Also called fescue grass . any grass of the genus Festuca, some species of which are cultivated for pasture or lawns.

2. a pointer, as a straw or slender stick, used to point out the letters in teaching children to read.

[aikim]

3 Days until The Video Chat!

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[ldyjocelyn]

I think "fescue" is the word of the season for me, as I've now heard/read it about 5 times in the past two months. My husband is fighting a particular type of fescue grass in our yard at the moment -- even without rain, it seems to grow. I guess there is a better type of fescue grass that is desirable for lawns?

Anyhoo...

I've been seeing things about Somalia on the news in the past week, and kept thinking that I should make a donation. Of course, when Clay asks, I listen. *g*

[FearofH2O]

We love our fescue grass in the South and even buy the seed. Probably because it's tolerant of the heat and sun. I'm even happy with crab grass right now. It's the only green stuff in sight. We only have a front lawn as the back is totally woods.

In the spring we had a lovely green lawn which we watered when it didn't rain. Now we have huge patches of dirt and weeds. The only folks with nice lawns have watering systems. I water my garden from a rain barrel. I fill it with water I collect from the dehumidifier and air conditioner when we don't have rain. We obviously have a lot smaller set up than Clay.

Water may be more expensive in Raleigh because I don't think they have the availability of water that the western NC cities have. The rivers here fill up from the melted snow in the mountains. Plus more than half our water bill is storm sewer fees and other fees. Don't know what it is in whatever city Clay lives in.

Have a great day. We are getting ready for Monday's surgery. Lot's of cleaning and planning to do.

[shortyjill]

I'm reaaaallly liking the sound of this!

from CC:

David Foster is the new chief at Verve Records, Jaymes to join his creative team.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/david-foster-take-top-spot-217019

And this quote: "Verve is expected to shift its focus to adult contemporary pop."

[ldyjocelyn]

shortyjill, that is interesting. *pops popcorn*

Another DDD clip:

Clay Takes Over