Clay Aiken Serenades Inevitable Traffic Adventure

Clay Aiken sings 'Everything I Don't Need.
View montage by gerwhisp full screen at YouTube.

Everything I Don't Need

Winston Driving a Disaster for Me

I have successfully driven in large cities with winding roads and streets with numerous name changes, but point me in the direction of Winston-Salem and it's a total disaster.

Sure enough, Friday's drive to Wake Forest University Medical Center was appropriately accompanied by Clay Aiken's "Everything I Don't Need" track from the 2008 On My Way Here album.

My appointment to complete pre-op procedures at Wake Forest was 1:50 p.m. True to form, my car immediately took a wrong turn a few miles into the trip. Business 40 versus New 40 is simple for some, but an adventure for me.

Business 40 registered as an exit for Kernersville, so I literally crossed two lanes of traffic with tractor trailers barreling down on me. Having survived that, I reached for my cell phone and dialed my sister, who was home preparing for her ensemble's wedding rehearsal.

Traffic simulation by CLIPish.

The farther westward I went, the more we decided I had taken the wrong turn. As I named exits and street names, she navigated a route that put me back on target. Knowing my Winston track record, though, she stayed on the phone until I turned into the hospital's main entrance.

It's not as if Friday's mishap was a surprise. In the years I taught orchestra at Kiser Middle and Grimsley High Schools, I annually drove students to Winston for all-state auditions and clinics. Even with in-depth instructions and maps from my brother-in-law and sister, I could count on one or more mishaps or wrong turns.

With my WS outings, BIL knows he is assured a good laugh as I inevitably call to report details and analyze my latest misadventure. His mantra for me has become, "Just drive for 15 minutes, stop, and ask someone where you are."

The only times I have driven in Winston-Salem with no trouble were when a Clay Aiken tour had come to town.

BIL is my driver for the June 13 surgery, a small melanoma on my right shoulder. We are hoping for no surprises that day.

At least I won't be driving!

Cookie awards Fan Fest door prize as Flat Clay looks on. - Scarlett cap

Faye Parker presents NIP report at dinner. - Cap by Scarlett

Fan Fest Generates $6,500 for Inclusion

Attendees at the 2011 Fan Fest of May 21-22 in York, PA, raised $6,500 for the National Inclusion Project, topping the event's goal by $1,500.

In making the announcement, Cookie, chairperson, encouraged all Clay Aiken fans to mark their calendars for the May 19-20, 2012, event in York. Along with the many fun activities "up her sleeve," Cookie plans to have an interactive website in place soon.

Proceeds were raised through a variety of events, including "market place" sales, raffle tickets, and donations. Next year's goal has been set for $7,500; so put a red circle around Fan Fest Weekend 2012.

Below is Fountaindawg's handsome tour wallpaper of CA photos by farouche and toni7babe.

Expandable wallpaper design by Fountaindawg.

Have a wonderful weekend, all!

Caro

Clay Aiken Serenades Chaotic Ride

Everything I Don't Need - Montage by Gerwhisp

Forewarning of Traffic Jam

EIDN Accompanies Hectic Day

Close adherence to schedule and a healthy dose of good luck are key ingredients for the days I teach music in a neighboring city. Monday my drive was bereft of the latter and everything I didn't need.

With Clay Aiken belting out his On My Way Here track Everything I Don't Need on my car's sound system, you could say I was forewarned that something was askew ...

Music books in tow, I hit the main drag between Greensboro and High Point 35 minutes before my 2:45 p.m. piano student at Wesleyan Christian Academy. Just one mile from my house, my car came to an abrupt standstill behind four lanes of non-moving vehicles as far as the eye could see, all trapped and going nowhere.

Frenzied Drive Follows Bottleneck

Weighing options, I noticed there were no vehicles in the approaching four lanes. At the rear of the inside lane, I happened to be in the right position to make a U-turn into an exit leading to an alternate route. The lazy, two-lane road I generally use for a peaceful drive home was nothing but hectic in the early afternoon.

Hoping to contact Brenda, my first piano student, I left messages at two academy numbers. At the first stop light, I frantically shuffled through student info sheets for the cell phone number of her father, dialed wrong, then correctly, and finally left him a message, too.

A similar traffic jam and resolution occurred last summer, but Monday's frenzied maneuvers played out in prime time for elementary school dismissal. My car quicly became the caboose for three school buses, each stopping 1-3 times before turning onto a side street.

Thank Goodness for Cell Phones!

I needed three sets of hands for this wacky trip, but thank goodness for cell phones! As the clock ticked towards to the first appointment, the studio director returned my call and I gave Brenda the assignment to warm up. A few minutes later, her father called. As I turned onto the Wesleyan's street, I was thanking him for waiting.

After the crazed drive, the lesson began only seven minutes late. The next student was tardy, and the buffer after his lesson came in handy.

Hours later while driving my normal two-lane route home, I called a friend to see if anything had appeared on the local news RE the traffic bottleneck.

Sure enough, an overturned tractor trailer was the culprit and the source of everything I didn't need Monday. Not just me -- but also the injured truckers and the hundreds of vehicles caught in the web that lasted several hours!

Clay Aiken Speaks at HRC Gala - Fountaindawg/Cotton

Clay-Ruben Concert in Biltmore Series

Meanwhile, Monday was a really good day for "Tried and True" CD news. According to a Twitter post, BeLikeWater Productions, a music production and artist management company, is in the midst of mastering Clay's TNT album.

BeLikeWaterProd: Vlado mastering the new Clay Aiken album for Decca. Dave Novik in the studio.

Not long after the Biltmore Concert Series for June-October was posted, news spread through Clay Cyberspace that Singer Man and Ruben Studdard are scheduled for the South Terrace on July 23.

Hopefully, just the first date of a cross-country summer tour promoting the TNT album!

Clay To Guest on 'Phineas and Ferb'

The kids upfront season began in earnest Tuesday night as Disney Channels Worldwide presented US advertisers and the press with its 2010-11 slate of programming for Disney Channel and Disney XD.

This summer both networks will premiere a new one-hour episode of Phineas and Ferb that features guest stars Clay Aiken and Chaka Khan.

'Turnaround' Highly Recommended

If you haven't read Living in Turnaround's take on Saturday's Human Rights Campaign Gala speeches by Clay and actor-producer Meredith Baxter, follow this link. Here's a hint:

As HRC's speechwriters found out when Aiken declined their assistance, you can't put words in the mouth of the kind of person Clay Aiken is.

He is an eloquent and gifted writer, a thoughtful, inspirational and funny speaker and I think it is obvious that, for the things to which he is deeply committed (inclusion for children with disabilities through the Project, support for children in crisis through UNICEF and now support of equal rights for the LGBT community), Clay speaks perfectly well for himself.

Clay Aiken is finally being recognized for his thoughtfulness, his intelligence, his humor, and his dedicated activism for the causes he believes in.

It's about damn time.

Have a wonderful week, Clay Nation!

Caro