ClayManiacs

Just got back to my hotel room ... listened to the Sound check!!! Gahhhhh!!! He was wearing cargo shorts, blue shirt, flops (I think he was wearing tennis shoes earlier). Seemed like he sang parts of all of the songs...except he sang the entire "Lover All Alone" and "Because You Loved Me". At one point he came walking toward the back to where we were standing (behind the chain link fence) (EEEEEEEEE!)... and sat down in the middle section to listen to Angela's solo. He was sitting slouched down ... feet were up on the seat in front of him and he pivoted around - legs and feet up in the air - to get out of his seat...!!! He was on his phone a few times. He GIGGLED a couple times, too!!!! Sorry this is so air-head-ish, but I am in a hurry to get over to the venue now. Also sorry I didn't have a camera to show you all the video of the "pivot." I know I would have watched it over and over about a million times!!

Bad News Tonight Regarding Philly Clack Gathering

Just got some bad news regarding tonights clackering...

HD just called me, they were checked on the way into the venue and told, "No camera's, right ladies......Zero tolerance for camera's tonight.....He will stop the show if he sees a camera........."

Not sure of any other details.....she's going to call me back, she's on her way back to her car with her camera right now!!!

Just got off the phone with Corabeth with a pre-concert report: HOT & HUMID!!! The venue is very much like WolfTrap. They had their bags checked but Invisible926 did get her camera in. YAY!!

Corabeth only has 2 bars left on her phone and we were cut off 3 times while talking so not sure what the reception will be like tonight.

By the way, the posters are selling in the 2900s now so if indeed there are only 3000 available, Syracuse may be the last chance to get one!

Hi Everybody  (well, those who aren't at The Mann) :wink

So glad we are here!  :bouncy :bouncy :bouncy

The only Clack I have watched so far is "Lover All Alone".  :lol Very nice!! :wink

I am saving some for a rainy day.   :bigsmile

I may have to brake down and find "Here You Come Again"  :smile

It still is my favorite from ATDW, even after all this time.

Deanna - I love that one, too!      Where will you be going?

I will see him in Michigan next Monday night

I was wondering if he let it grow during the past 10 days !  :wink  Heather, what are the dates of your concerts?

DEANNA !  That is sad!  :hugg  Hopefully he will book a Holiday concert near you!

SHARON !  Keep counting  . . . . :bouncy

I'm going August 10, 11 & 12 to Cary, Asheville and Knoxville.

HEATHER !  Me, too!  :bouncy :bouncy :bouncy   (OK, I'll settle down a bit for now) ! :blush

Sheesh!!!  And I can't get Clay to come to my state at all!!! Not fair!!!!!

 :slick

DEANNA, MAYBE HE DOESN'T KNOW WHERE MAINE IS.

He has only come here once!  :cry

Someone should mention the nice yummy lobster to him....or the great beautiful rugged coastline.....or the lovely older women!!  :smile

He has only come here once!  :cry

Someone should mention the nice yummy lobster to him....or the great beautiful rugged coastline.....or the lovely older women!!  :smile

Next month my whole famn damily is going on a cruise together!!  There are at least a dozen of us going!!  :bouncy :bouncy

I have had to save my time off and my money for the cruise this time around.   But my goal is to someday take a trip to North Carolina to meet more Claymaniacs and see the sites (inculding Clay) there. :wink

Deanna!  Come on down!!  Anytime

We hope you make it down to NC for a concert sooner rather than later!

:whootwave

The Golden Girls ... my favorite!  :bouncy

What's happening, Heather?

Has anybody mentioned IF clack is being gathered?  In spite of warning? :para

I love cellcerts! :bouncy

HI EVERYONE...I HAD TO TURN THE COMPUTER OFF FOR AWHILE ...WE HAD A REALLY BAD ELECTRICAL STORM..LIGHTNING FLASHING BAD....DID YOU GET THE SAME STORM PAMELA?

:wave

HI EVERYONE...I HAD TO TURN THE COMPUTER OFF FOR AWHILE ...WE HAD A REALLY BAD ELECTRICAL STORM..LIGHTNING FLASHING BAD....DID YOU GET THE SAME STORM PAMELA?

I will see him in Michigan next Monday night ! 

                                   ARE YOU OK PAMELA. :lmao :lmao

(http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v329/Liandra2/smilies/th_claysbutt.gif)

Howdy do, Thea! 

Hey JOHANNA!  How's my SoCal buddy doing this evening?  We need to start a countdown to Pala and the Greek!!!!!  :hugg

WISCONSIN, you will be seeing him along with a number of other fun-loving, slightly crazy ladies from Michigan, Canada, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois and Florida!!!!!

HEY MISS THEA WISH I WAS GONNA SEE YA BUT RL GOT IN THE WAY.

THEA - Isn't my sense of timing on a thread pathetic??  I "wandered"!  But sure can't wait for Monday in Michigan!

Oh Thea friend, every night I go to sleep thinking about each hour of it...I'm now configuring how I'm going to avoid jet lag in NC...ha, ha...every Clay hour counts...and I've got so many places to share with you...you just need to come for at least a dozen Clay performances so we can do it all...

I'm spent. (http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/PJB013/HTML/smokin1-1.gif)

What can I say?

I just came back to my hotel from the Mann. I ended up leaving my camera in the car, which might have been wise. I don't know. I saw lots of camera policing from where I was.

Even so, I had some regrets -- especially when his shirt blew open, and his pants slipped down dangerously low on his pelvic bones. There was a good five inch strip of Aiken that I am not sure we've ever seen before.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/ILClaymate/Evening%20with%20Clay%202007/Philly/04Philly.jpg

You may want to choose between snoozing or scrolling. :)

This month of July, for me, has been both exciting and heart-wrenching at the same time. But as I am simultaneously compelled to see/feel good-byes to other reflections of the gift of life, I am equally compelled to acknowledge the beauty and joy and excitement of Life as its different aspects manifest almost instantaneously.

I have been blessed to have sadness tempered by the gift of joy and awed to recognize how they may co-exist side by side, or one within the other ... and I am grateful, ever so grateful.

I met an incredible mighty, mighty Fine Man this past week. It wasn’t so long ago that he was merely a pubescent boy, but, now, he is a Man, and many did witness the transition. *g* It’s been cause for great rejoicing and laughter. A magnificent ceremony was held in, I believe, the land of Philly. I wonder if such occasions are often marked by celebrations of such magnitude, and so openly. *g*

This mighty, mighty Fine Man (let’s call him MMFM) strides forward in his life with such force and purpose that the time/space continuum parts for him to travel through. He draws those near to him into his wake, and those that resist rail insolently in their vibrational discord, puzzled by the disconnect and being left behind and sulking because no magic dust has fallen upon them.

Upon receiving an invitation to call upon MMFM, a fog containing both a sense of serenity and joy and the ravages of panic descended upon me. What to wear? (This was before I knew there were going to be an assigned color ... hee) What gift to bear with me? What to say or ask? Silly me. The Universe has its ways in which it takes care of such matters and reminds you of what is truly important and what is really some of the excess baggage we carry with us.

I journeyed to the “Chosen Spot” for the designated meeting; and indeed it was the “Chosen Spot”. Here, the Universe spilled itself upon me, first in a drenching rain, which also caused my inner being to know that it mattered not what I wore or carried with me, but what mattered was simply that I was there and that I was there to touch another spirit, to dance the cosmic dance a little more closely than our personal journeys normally permit.

I arrived in plenty of time to receive my pass into the inner sanctum. Alas, it was not there. And I waited and waited and waited. And two others arrived to receive their passes and we waited and waited and waited. And, then the Universe spilled its cleansing waters upon us. Reluctantly, I donned a rain poncho. Kept checking with the Dispenser of the Passes who said she didn’t have them. Finally went back to ask her if there was anyone she could call to see if we were at the right place ... it seemed odd that there were only three of us there. Then, she casually reached over to her left and picked up a piece of paper and said, “You’re supposed to walk down to the first gate and look for the biggest man there.” It was now one minute to 6 p.m. We were to have met between 5:45 and 6:00. Another test by the Universe .... I swear I did not try to reach though the little slot in the glass and grab her by the throat. That does not speak to my good nature so much as to the fact that there was not time enough to do so. (Of course if I had not found that biggest man still down by the gate, the outcome could have been quite different and I might have greatly embarrassed the fandom.)

I quickly went back around to the other two who were huddled in out of the rain to tell them what they had to do. THEN, I knew why the Universe had gotten me back on the treadmill recently, because I took off like a bat out hell toward that gate and probably would have killed myself if I had not recently resumed exercising and the treadmill. The Universe works in mysterious ways y’all and it had prepared me and no doubt laughed like hell when I performed accordingly. I thought there’s no way I’m going to miss my first and perhaps only M&G.

So, I reached the biggest man at the gate and , no, it was not Jerome. It was, however, someone equally as big. He had the list of names and asked me mine and asked for identification, with apologies and pointing out it was simply procedure, and asked me if there were any others coming. I told him at least two were coming up behind me ... I guess they had not been working out on the treadmill, or maybe they had more inner faith that time would stand still for them, which is very nice for them if that is the case. So, he took us through the rain to the backstage area, where we met with Jerome and waited for others to arrive before going down to the meeting area. I’m laughing inwardly at myself, realizing I must look like hell or a drowned rat. I had no mirror with me, but I looked down at my blouse and knew how wrinkled I must be; and I could only guess how my hair might look from pulling the poncho on and off my head. But, as I said, part of me was laughing inside and marveling at how the Universe works. All that time I wasted wondering what to wear and what to do with my hair .... pufft .... irrelevant.

MMFM was large and in charge when he entered, but in a gentle way. He made me smile .... imagine that ....*g* ... as he seemed to slip into somewhat of a “teacher” mode, attempting to put us at ease and letting us know we could ask questions. I am rather introverted, so situations like this are not always easy for me, but I was simply happy to be there, to meet him, to see him up close, to drink in the essence of him. Quite possibly I would not have asked any questions and remained an observer, but when there was a lull once or twice I made me speak up. I even had a tiny, in good spirit, disagreement with him which elicited a funny wrinkly-nose face from him, which I found rather fun to see up close. I am not a human recorder, so there is simply no way I can convey or repeat to you word for word what was said, nor can I convey to you every context within which he may have meant something ... I am not him. He has his experiences and filters through which he relates and we each have ours. I wish it were possible for us all to “mind meld” to be able to fully share both the verbal content and, to me, more importantly the feeling of the experience.

He fully lived up to any expectations I may have had, but then I never expected him to do otherwise. My expectations are very fluid and open to adaptation and creativity, as I understand he is human as we are, and we are all continuing to learn about ourselves and each other. I so love that our paths have crossed (his and ours and yours and mine) and the growth which has been facilitated because of these interconnections).

I warm to what I perceive to be his naturalness, his down-to-earthness and, yet, at the same time, marvel how he pulls us into orbit with him amongst the stars on a mysterious journey which we never anticipated was coming our way.

I wish for each and every one of you the opportunity to have this moment come for you, if you wish it for yourself.

He does notice who is wearing the color of the day. What I had planned to wear was not the color of the day, although I did toy with the idea of putting on a different blouse which would have been the color of the day, but then I thought to myself: No, I won’t wear it; can’t let him think he has that much control. *g* (Who am I kidding, right?!) But the earrings which I had already planned to wear because they’re the closest thing I had to go with the necklace I was wearing, were somewhat the color of the day. So, he asked me if I had worn them on purpose, to which I was able to honestly reply, “No.” Ok, so I was just a teensy bit glad they were somewhat the color of the day.

It was a very special day for me ... lost in time at the “Chosen Spot.” You see, it did not matter to me whether or not the potential cd song he played for us was up tempo or ballady, I gladly let myself be hypnotized and was lost in the sense of being in a special place and time .... incredibly sharing space with him, leaning in over his iPhone, listening to his spontaneous gift of sharing ... and lost in the gift the Universe had given me this day.

A few of you know this already, but not many, and though it makes me weep to think of it and speak of it, I will tell you why this gift was even more special than it might have been at another time. My dear dear sister passed away on July 4th; our older sister went a couple of months before her. She was the last of my siblings, the last of my immediate family from whence I was born. She was also a fan, though not able to be so on the scale of many of us. She was not on the boards and had been ill for some time. I had been hoping Clay would appear in Oklahoma near where she was so that I might be able to go and take her to see him. But, I’m afraid he ran a little too late for that, so it was not possible, When I received notification of having won the M & G, though I found my self ecstatically and insanely happy about it, I also felt the impact of not being able to pick up the phone and call her and tell her; she would have been so very happy for me. It was a strange acknowledgment of how Life is and how pain and joy walk together hand in hand.

I think you can see I feel this was an amazing gift I received and I embrace it as such.

I was also entranced at the concert. There’s something especially cozy and welcoming to have our boyfriend sing to us in the night with the sound of rainfall all around us. It was comforting and in some way primal. (That might not make sense to anyone but me, but that’s ok ... we were the tribe huddled together in safe harbor while the music of life played all about us in its various manifestations and we let ourselves become lost in it and one with it.)

Oh, and Canandaigua is the Iroquois word for “chosen spot” ... and, again, indeed it was. I only wonder who/what was “The Chooser”?

Namaste.

P.S. I believe in Magic.