A Weekend of Clay

I think I have only just now recovered from all the mainline Clack I did this weekend. First up, the Nick at Nite Holiday Special. This was shooting on a tiny sound stage, with seats for maybe 300 people, most reserved for friends and family of all those present. We (myself and some folks from the People's Republic of Clay) decided to show up and see if we couldn't get in (although a few folks managed to get spots through Seatfiller). Arriving at 3:00, we stood in line until 5:30, when we were then told no seats were available. We were disappointed, but we didn't feel too bad, beacuse we saw Clay drive in. Not in a limo. He drove himself, and his hair wasn't all spiky, and he was wearing a blue shirt. It was very exciting. Because a few aforementioned folks did get in, we decided to hang out for a bit so we could do something afterwards. Went to The Grove, ate, window shopped, and came back to CBS Studios.

They were still filming. It was 8:00. We talked to a security guard, and he gave us an estimate of one more hour. We sighed at the thought of Clay inside, right then. 9:15 rolled around. We asked the security guard again what was up. He went to go talk to one of the people in charge of the audience. Came back ten minutes later and told the three of us there were seats, since a few people had left. At this point, I prayed:

Dear Jesus. Please let Clay not have gone on yet. Thank you. Um, Amen.

We snuck inside, where the stage was set up like a lodge, all decorated for Christmas. Martin Mull was running the joint, along with other random TV people. We saw other PRoC people and joined them in what we thought were really bad seats way over at the side, in the very front. Ten (10) minutes after we came in, Clay arrives. He is wearing a tuxedo, a long gray tailored flannel coat, and a long black scarf. He plays himself; he shows up and tells Mull that he's stuck in the "blizzard," and can he watch a favorite holiday special on the TV? He comes in, chats with Joyce DeWitt (?) a moment, then starts watching Bing Crosby. We find out he filmed himself singing the day before, to be digitally inserted in with Bing later.

Clay is there for about 20 minutes. He leaves right in front of us. I was in the very corner seat, and I swear that he was no more than five feet away from me. I could see the color of his eyes. He was so very, very pretty. He looked up and smiled and waved at us, and then left.

Sigh.

Sunday was the American Music Awards at the Shrine, which I walk/ride my bike past every day going to class, so it seemed kind of silly not to pony up the thirty (30) dollars and go. I was way the hell up in the balcony with several other folks; PRoC represented with almost 25 members in attendance. Clay was amazing. His voice just filled the entire auditorium. It was so incredible being there for his win. We all jumped up, freaked out, and made people all around us turn and stare at us with bewilderment and a bit of fear. Good times.

That concludes this update about the Weekend of Clay. And yes, it was worth it. Mmhmm.