Well, it's August. That means...it's concert month! It seems like it was just yesterday that I was questioning my sanity by buying tickets to shows in New Hampshire and Boston, which are both incredibly far away from my house. I've never been to either place, and would love to see them...if I get the time after seeing Clay, partying with my friends, and watching clack. Oh well, maybe next time.

I've been a fan of many people in my life, and have seen one performer (Huey Lewis) many times. I think it was 8 times in 8 years for Huey, and I never did fly to see him live, always drove to concerts close to me.

But with Clay...I still can't believe I've seen him live 11 times in the past two years, and will be seeing him 3 more times in the next month. Plus, the fact that I've bought plane tickets for the sole purpose of seeing Clay Aiken in concert -- the idea boggles my mind.

Fortunately, my husband doesn't mind too much. I buy him Fruit Loops (his favorite "bad" cereal) for his dinner while I'm gone, and he's actually happy. Also, the deal is that if I go to Clay concerts, he gets to buy power tools. I can live with that...because I get some nice woodworking projects out of the bargain too. g

The rest of my family, though...they know nothing of my Clayland travels. Probably won't tell them either -- I'd get the guilt trip of the first degree, and I had enough of that when I was growing up.

Why do I do this? The obvious answer is a love of Clay Aiken. It's so much fun to watch him grow, change and develop as a performer, even within the confines of a tour. That, plus the fact that he's very easy on the eyes.

But then, there's also meeting up with people I've met online. It's my one chance to be fangirly without people looking at me funny, and it's a liberating experience. It really is fun to regress into your preteen years...as long as I can go back to being an adult again later. (I mean, I have to, in order to pay for all this. g)

Anyway, I'm getting excited about all this travel in the near future to see OCB. Thank you Clay -- I'm indebted to you forever.