2004-03-07
1:20 p.m.

BEVR: Brenda in Raleigh/Raleigh, NC, 03/01/04

Even though I'm among friends here, showing my BEVR to the world for the first time is a bit scary. I know Benjamin Franklin said, "All cats are gray in the dark", but each of us would like to think our BEVRs are special and memorable in some way. So I thought about it, and realized that what makes me different is this.

Despite the fact that I've been a Lecherous Broad, bouncing back and forth between lurker, occasional poster, and frequent poster, since late April or early May of 2003, and despite the fact that I live in Clay Aiken's home town, for cryin' out loud, I HAD NEVER SEEN HIM. Never laid (tee hee) eyes on the guy. Not even for free down at the mall. I had to take y'all's word for it that he actually existed, other than as a flickering image on my TV or computer screen. All that changed on March 1, 2004.

After leaving my job at the preschool on that Monday afternoon, with green tempera paint still under my fingernails, I stopped by Raleighgurrl's lovely home to drop off my contributions to the goodie bags, and to help her put the finishing touches on them. I also got a sneak preview of the sex manual program.

That was followed by the world's fastest run through the Crabtree Valley Mall. I bought a spiffy black blazer so I would look nice for My Boyfriend, bought the last pair of small binoculars that Sharper Image had, got cash from the machine, and bought dinner to take home for my family. Total elapsed time: 30 minutes. Honey, I shopped like a man!

A few rushed minutes at home to drop off the food, get the green paint out from under my nails, and put on my cool new purple LBFCA t-shirt, and I was good to go. I picked up my friend Rachel and headed for Houlihan's. When we were almost there, we got stuck at an extra long traffic light, and I seriously considered abandoning the car, jumping out, and darting across three lanes of traffic to get to that restaurant... Noooo, I wasn't overly excited. Not a bit!

What can I say about the mini-Broadfest? It was totally overwhelming, and much more like a reunion than a first-time meeting. Raleighgurrl put the complete list of attendees in her BEVR -- some 23 people. And a finer group of people does not exist on this earth (unless they're the Broads, Brudes, and BITs meeting at other locations this spring.)

Between the hugging and the squealing and the gifting, I hardly remember ordering food and eating. In my haste that afternoon, I had forgotten to bring the t-shirts that Nancy and Grannytramp had ordered, so I enlisted my reluctant non-BIT teenaged daughter to drive over with them. I knew that kid would come in handy someday!

After all the hugging/squealing/talking, and frantically flagging my daughter down as she rode right past the Houlihan's, I was in severe need of chilling out! After reassurances from Chell that I could ride to the RBC Center with her and her mama Cedar, I had two beers, which is unusual for me. I can now say that Clay Aiken drove me to drinkin'. I'm sure he would not like to know that, so honey, if you're reading this, just skim over that part.

At the arena, we found our seats. They were 100 level, not too far back, and not too high up, but still, they were far from the ideal situation of third or fourth row on the floor. The cute little binoculars made it look like we were that close, so I would recommend that you have some, unless your seats are very close. During the Beu Sisters' and Kelly Clarkson's sets, both of which I genuinely enjoyed, I passed the binoculars back and forth to Rachel.

And then Clay made his grand entrance singing Kyrie. I screamed, I jumped up and down, I think I peed myself a little. (Sorry, is that TMI?) I continued to do all three of the above throughout Clay's entire set, and I must admit I was a bad friend. I never once let Rachel have the binoculars while Clay was singing! I literally could not take my eyes off of him, not for one second. If the binoculars hadn't been so lightweight, my arms would have been tired from holding them up for so long.

Everything he did, said, or sang was fascinating. Oh, Lord, the beautiful sounds that come from Clay Aiken! And I kept telling myself, "Brenda, this is not a recording. This is Clay singing for real, here in this room with me!" (I know, it was a very, very large room, but STILL!)

Afterward, Broads had agreed to meet up at Damon's, a brand new sports bar/restaurant near the arena, but it turned out to be so brand new that it wasn't even opening until that Thursday.

Let me tell you, folks, Raleigh really does roll up the sidewalks at midnight. (I live here and I love it, so I'm allowed to poke gentle fun at Raleigh -- the city, not the doggy!) Heck, we couldn't find anyplace to eat at 11:00. As our numbers slowly dwindled, I remembered that a neighborhood pub near my house is always open late, so Lila, Cha Cha Trusty, Nancy and I had late night drinks and snacks at Crowley's, along with more than an hour of additional conversation. I love these ladies, and feel like I've known them for years and years.

After I got home at about 1 a.m., it took me a couple of hours more to calm down enough to sleep. And speaking of years and years, it's been that long since I've had such a wonderful, perfect evening. I love you, Lecherous Broads, and I love you, Clay Aiken! And thus ends the tale of how I lost my Clay!Live! virginity.

Brenda in Raleigh