Clay Aiken Reads!

Nothing like starting a blog, and then basically forgetting about it for over 2 months…

I’m calling June 2006 my “lost” month. I knew I’d be gone for the first two weeks, due to a trip to Ireland! My husband and I had a fantastic time, and we are definitely planning to go again in our lifetimes. I really should have written up my experiences immediately after the trip (more on that in a moment), but suffice it to say, the people were friendly, the food was good (I got hooked on Irish Breakfast Tea with milk), and the scenery was fantastic. I am posting here two of my favorite pictures from the trip…

This is Kylemore Abbey. I think we took a postcard picture with this one.

I took this one in Clonmel. The amazing thing about this one is that it was 8:00 p.m., and there were at least 2 more hours of daylight ahead of us!

If you're interested in seeing our entire album of pictures (and there are over 200, yikes!), go here.

Now, for the reason why I didn’t get my Ireland trip memories on paper. Our last few days in Ireland, my husband caught a cold. He managed to make it home, but felt terrible for several days after our return. I was so hoping that I would be able to avoid it, but of course, I was wrong. Worst.Cold.Ever. I managed to spend one day at work, and then didn’t do a full day of work for the next two weeks. I felt so terrible for a few days I couldn’t even eat, my throat was so sore. Finally, after several visits to doctors, several prescriptions (I am now in LOVE with cough syrup with codeine), and a lot of attempting to sleep, I got over the thing. To fully shake this cold, though, it was almost 5 weeks after getting back from Ireland. Those Irish bugs are killer!

July was spent doing three things: catching up (both at work and at home), visiting my mother (who ended up back in the hospital during the month – she’s doing better now, but in a nursing home at this point), and waiting for news from Clay Aiken. Every one of these things was frustrating in their own way. However, since my Clay Aiken fandom is really a hobby, I just said “OK, it will happen when it happens…”

…which was in August! EEEEEEEEEE!!

OK, that’s out of my system. *g*

Last week the long awaited press release appeared. While I could say a bunch about the track list (which I might later) and the reaction by the fans to it (which I probably won’t), what seemed to make the most news in the fandom was the picture. OMG, the picture.

Then, I noticed where this picture was taken. (OK, it took me a few hours…*g*) He’s standing next to books in a library. Total shoutout to me and all the librarians in the fandom, I just know it. Hee. Soon, the word spread – Clay Aiken was in the library! EEEEEEEEEEEE!

OK, that’s out of my system. *g*

Before I go further, a bit of background. The American Library Association created a poster in 1985 with Bill Cosby holding a book, and the simple word “Read”. From that, a phenomenon in the library world was born – the celebrity READ poster. More history of these posters can be read here, and the current catalog of posters can be seen here.

Sadly, one of my favorite READ posters is no longer available, the one with Harrison Ford. That poster was on my wall at work for ages!

So, anyway…a friend of mine, Betty897X, is both a Clay Aiken fan and a librarian. She’s also very, no extremely, skilled in the use of Photoshop. When she noticed the picture of Clay was taken in a library (which was honestly about the same time I did, heh), she started to work. Before too long, I received an email from her with this:

Oh Lord and Taylor. Swoon. Note his holding a copy of “The Kite Runner.” OK, so it takes a while to notice it (because it’s hard to get away from his lethal gaze) but it is there. I thought that was an inspired touch. (BTW, I finally did read “The Kite Runner,” for those familiar with one of my earlier blogs. Incredible book, and I cried. Yes, I did.)

Now all I’ve got to do is send this to the American Library Association and see if they would be interested in creating this poster…for real. Please?!?!?

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, Ireland, Sickness, American Library Association, Read posters