Posts archived in Family

Well it’s official, Rockstar Brother has quit the band. After four years of living and breathing North Coast Punk Rawk, NothingLess and Rockstar Brother have agreed to end it amicably.

Rockstar Brother writes:

Dear NothingLess,

It wasn’t you. It was me. I think we need some time apart… I need to clear my psyche (and nostrils) of the collective, four-year post-show pit funk – that rite of hard rocking – that invades my brain, even now. I want to know what it’s like to ride in a van that doesn’t have four dudes, their guitars, and stank ass clothes living in it. I want to know, darling NothingLess, what life is like when your greatest concern isn’t what you’ll get pierced next, or what tattoo you’d like on your left butt cheek.

I hope we can still be friends.

Love you forever,
R.B.

Yes, Rockstar Brother has moved on to greener, cleaner pastures. He has two business degrees, but he’s back in school because he wants to be a dentist. And you might think it’s weird that someone who is so right-brained would want to take on such a left-brain endeavor, but it happens. True story: Art Garfunkle is a rock star/dentist too.

I’m happy for my bro-bro, but also a little sad. I was going through my stats and was reminded that this, the image of my bro and band mates, is the most googled pic at the haus:

wedgie

Let’s face it folks – like striking it rich by winning the lottery – magic (and monster wedgies) like this don’t happen every day.
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Record Store Video
Darling mrtl made a good point. Many of you have never even seen NothingLess. My bad. Feast your eyes on this:

NL Record Store Music Video Hi Fi | Lo Fi

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To The Teeth

Am on location in Wasilla, Alaska (hence the sabbatical from breakneck blogging), and am enjoying, amongst many things, spending time with family.

One thing that’s been great is seeing Rockstar Brother again. The ‘Brother has wrapped Warped tour, and is back home in the 49th state this week, playing a bunch of high-energy shows in support his new (and excellent) album, “Here Goes Nothing.”

Yeah today Rockstar Brother is dancing and singing and strutting on the north coast stage, but when he returns to Fresno tomorrow, it’s back to anatomy and physiology, chemistry and histology. You may be surprised to learn this, but in addition to his strong desire to rule the world one bass line at a time, Rockstar Brother also *really* wants to be a dentist.

The other night, Rockstar Brother played at the Alaska Fighting Championship, a spin off on the Ultimate Fighting Championship – a kind of no holds barred, mish mash of boxing, wrestling, and marshal arts fighting. (It’s violent stuff).

On our way home from the event, Maaa asked “What kind of life is that? What kind of person spends their life doing that to their body?”

I wanted to say, anyone who has ever dined in Hänni’s kitchen has known the suffering of a body (and intestine) abused -(think beef bourguignon and lamb chops en flambé)- but instead, I talked about Roy.

Roy was this kid I used to work with at Other People’s Money. Smarmy looking with patchy mustache and lithe limbs, Roy was a street- fighter- turned- ultimate- fighter- turned- accountant. An expat to Japan, Roy battled in Tokyo arenas just about every day for a year and a half. He quit when he lost a significant chunk of brain function and almost all of his teeth.

“How did he lose it? “ Rockstar Brother asked, in response to my tale o’ Roy.

“Got kicked in the face,” I said.

“So that’s how he lost his teeth?”

“Teeth? No that’s how he messed up his brain… but I suppose that’s how he lost his teeth too.”

And then, like addled brains are of no consequence to a Rockstar who delights in talk of cavities and crowns, my bro replied, “Teeth Hänni, we only care about the teeth!”

Mmmm k bro…
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Help our designer

There are just two more days left to vote for Chris’s super fab t-shirt at Threadless. Because we love Chris, we want you to vote 5 for Pawn, The Underdog. Muchos gracias mi amor.
Threadless.com Submission - Pawn, The Underdog

So I’ve still got a secret, and no it isn’t that blogging is for dummies. Thank you Angelface for posting your message here on my blog… but in any event, yeah the secret is stil coming. And it will be divulged, all in good time my friends, all in good time.

In the interim I would like to take this opportunity to inform you of some really fantastic news. I’m an aunt… again!

Yesterday after 3.45 hours of labor, blonde haired, blue eyed, little Lilly Christensen, my darling baby niece was born. Maaa says she’s a keeper.

And as we’ve been preparing to welcome little Lilly into our fun and freaky family, I’ve had a lot of time to think about important things. I’ve been thinking about fertility and you and me and how we all got here.

And here we go!

So I’m not gonna sit here and lecture about the birds and the bees. I think we all had that health class in junior high. Everybody knows how babies are made – the stork brings them in the middle of the night, duh!

But seriously, if you think about it, to make you and me, all these criteria had to fall into place. It had to be at the right time, the right mood, and the right moves (if you know what I’m saying, heh.) It had to be right chemically and spiritually and physiologically.

In short, my friends, we are living, breathing miracles. You and I are wonderfully made.

And this is why I don’t understand things like war and racism. Let’s not hatorate, let’s appreciate…. each other. After all my friends, there were a whole lotta swimmies competing for the prize, but only one reigned victorious.

By virtue of our grand and glorious birthright, we are all champions. Yes, you and me we are winners in that great sperm race we call life.

Love you Lilly!

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Almost Famous

Well it’s just the biggest thing since sliced bread, and I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned it before, but welp, big news for Rockstar Brother. His most excellent band, Nothingless, is heading out on Warped Tour this summer!!!

Yes, you read that right. My very own Rockstar Brother is going on the Warped Tour. Yes, the legendary Warped Tour – Like the very same Warped Tour that will be headlined by rock’s favorite geez, Billy – effing – Idol!

What a nice day for a white wedding. And for reading the blog of a gurl whose bro bro is somewhat of a celeb. Look he?s even featured in the Anchorage Daily News! Now if that aint the bees knees, I don’t know what is.

(Incidentally, the other band mentioned in the article, Jupiter Sunrise -I’ve met them too. I saw their show one Friday night when my the girls and I, on a whim, decided to pop into the Worst, Skeezy, Townie Bar in Blacksburg, Virginia. Maybe it was 2002? Impressed? Yeah, I may be a little bit crunchy, but I’m also a little bit rock n’ roll….)

Yes Rockstar Brother, you’ve come a long way baby. I remember when you were a 60lb weakling with a side part and penchant for Sears polyester suits. Shy by nature, you used to be such a sweet, quiet little boy-

But then you joined a band.

And now you spend your time doing rock squats, sleeping until the crack of noon, going “it’s gig time what kind of shirt do I wanna wear.” Oh, and sometimes you do things like this to your band mates for fun:

I’m so proud – that Tommy’s the one giving the wedgie and not receiving it. I guess all those wedgie wars, waged against each other when we were children, have really paid off. Not only does Rock Star brother know how to write a kick a$$ anthem, but he also has the skills needed to yank some tightey whiteys off the most rockin’ of drummers.

And to that I say – Cheers Rockstar Brother!

When I think about the state of the world today, I am appalled. Children are committing these horrifying crimes – whether bringing guns to school, doing drugs, vandalizing things, or subjecting us to the horror of having to listen to their strangled-voiced poppetesque singing of “La La” at orangebowl events – (tm Ashley Simpson).

I never got into that sort of trouble when I was a wee one. I just thank my lucky stars I grew up in boring old Alaska. I spent most of my adolescence huddled in my igloo, eating whale fat with Eskimos, always being sure to keep an eye out for roaming polar bears. Of course, there was that one time I decided to really cut loose, and ended up spending an afternoon joy riding on the back of Boris, a friendly moose.

Those were the days?

And there are some who won’t beleive me. The doubters will say “Come on H䮮i – we all know about you and your high society, cosmo-drinking friends. I’m sure you spent your teen years kicking it at debutante balls.”

And in response, I will say, “You don’t know this Alaskan gurl at all. Instead of cosmos I drink frozen margaritas. And no, I did not frequent debutante balls – I mostly stuck to dancing at snow balls.”

I’ll prove I really did grow up in the 49th state. Look here, I found a picture of when they were building my parent’s house…

Argh, I desperately wanted to post a pick of Bella on site this morning, only to find that I have lost my Adobe PhotoShop CD. On a more positive note, my frantic Photo Shop hunt turned up my long lost Tenacious D CD. The joy I get from hearing the album’s opening lines “I love you baby, but all I can think about is kielbasa sausage, your buttcheeks is warm…” more than makes up for the small sadness of losing Frodo Shop.

You know, come to think of it, I burned a copy of the D for Rockstar Brother a while ago and sent it home USPS. He said he never got it. I wonder if CG Dad made an interception. I can just see CG going “hmm, what’s this?” and plunking it into his PC. With only one listen, the CD becomes CG’s instant favorite.

He rocks out to “Karate” and it’s ass kicking “from here to Tianamen Square” and marvels at the musical genius of One Note Song and it’s “bendy.” He is in awe of the CDs incredible life affirming lyrics. Afterall, it is a well known fact that the D has written one of the most hauntingly beautiful love songs ever written. “F* her Gently” far surpasses such romatic standards Endless Love, I Just Called to Say I Love You, or Muskrat Love.

In other news, I also found the Oregon Trail CD I filched from my parents house last summer in our CD stash. I may “travel the trail” this afternoon actually. I think the O.T. has a really special place in the hearts of 20 somethings, as kids across the US were made to play the crappy DOS version in our elementary schools’ computer labs.

Remember how cool the old boxy IBMs were? Heh.

Also, Angelface has some new digits. His previous celly has now gone on to digital heaven. I think it was a case of divine intervention: Friday night Bella chewed through his chargers cord right in front of him. Saturday he waded into the pool… He realized after getting out, that his Sanyo had gone swimming with him, in h is pocket.

Apparently you’re not supposed to get water in the LCD and exposed circuitry. Woops

And we laughed, for a few minutes at least. And now I’m worried, last night Bella Bad Girl chewed through my phone charger cord… Will plan to keep my phone away from H2o today.

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Mini Margherita

My baby neice is the greatest. She is quite a jet-setter for someone who has no teeth and can’t yet walk upright.

While home for the holidays, baby Paige and I went out to lunch, went shopping at Old Navy, and even attended a bachelorette party. Bear in mind that my little cover baby (she’s just gorgeous dahlings) is only 2 months old! Oh to be young and diapered!

The bachelorette party was for my best friend Nolie. She is the Sigfried to my Roy, the J-Lo to my Ben, the Brittany to my Justin, the lemon to my lime, the table to my chair, the spackle to my den … Ok I’ll stop here. I think you get the point.

Well, the great thing about her bachelorette party was the good clean fun. Instead of being stereotypical – ie dressing the bride in a tshirt with lifesavers sown onto it that reads “suck for a buck” – we decided to have our fiesta at Garcia’s Trattoria.

Garcias is a good 45 minute drive from my house in the boondocks, but the burrito platter is well worth the commute my friends.

At dinner I made Nolie wear a veil, and adorned her in the finest jewels: i.e. the biggest candy neclace in the world, and a strawberry-flavored lollipop ring. Mad props to Maaa for her crazy hunt all over town to get said finest jewels.

As part of the fun, everyone at the table was given a Mexican name. I was “Juanita,” nola was “Jenola” (pronounced “hey nola”- it’s a stretch I know, but i no habla espanol), Maaa was “Carmen”, Nola’s Maaa was “Maria,” my sis was “Margherita,” and Baby Paige was, of course, “Mini Margherita.”

We ate, we talked, we had a blast. Well, Mini Margherita didn’t partake of the tacos (as aforementioned, she has no teeth), and she didn’t really talk per se, but more grunted her delight. My sis calls her “Monkey,” but her little grunting and endless amount of pink onesies has me calling her “piggy.” I really don’t think sis likes me calling her infant “piggy” though.

Hey, whatever works right?

Well, inspired by Mini Margherita, I’m on my way out the door to get a little black baby. Angelface says it’s time to adopt. Adopt a kitten that is. Stay tuned!

So it’s t – minus 8 days until “I do” for Sis and things are crazy. I got back to AK 4 days ago and have been working very hard as the designated wedding planner.

In four days I have recruited a work crew, picked wedding tunes, read fifty thousand bridal mags, shopped at several craft stores, created a party theme, and made itineraries so detailed and organized it would bring even the most crotchety yeta to happy tears.

The wedding theme is “happiness and hugs,” but I will secretly call it “crankiness and pugs.” The “crankiness” refers to the fact that sis has, understandably, been a bit of a bridezilla. Her need to be wishy washy has interfered with my need to be anal retentive, putting her on shaky ground with the Wedding Master. Roowr!

The “pug” refers to Woody, her cute little doggy. As a nice way to incorporate the pooch into the nuptuals, he will be the ring bearer. Maaa is fashioning a pillow with elastic straps to fit his shoulders. I bought him a nice doggy tuxedo, and I must say he looks very handsome in his black jacket and bowtie.

It’s a little like fat-guy-in-a-little-coat, because the polyester tux is sort of teeny, and his neck fat rolls out the front of said uniform. In short, the effect is precious.

Speaking of precious, the decorations for this shin dig are *adorable.* We are putting Hershey’s kisses everywhere and even making big Hershey sculptures out of foil and paper. The Coup D’ Grais will undoubtably be the bubble – blowing kiss, wherein a bubble machine will be conceiled under foil and paper plates. If that’s not class, I don’t know what is.

In another nice familial touch, the happy couple have decided to ask our Uncle Mike to perform the wedding ceremony. I’m *very* excited, because Uncle Mike is a real crowd pleaser. I think back fondly to all the fun he added to our Christmas get togethers. (cue the dream sequence) Each year, as per tradition, right after everyone had pie, he would get my bro Nickie in a headlock.

From there the two would wrestle like bargain hunters over sale racks, until finally Uncle Mike would reign victorious. He would remind us all that he had been a state wrestling champion in high school. Although thin and wiry, Uncle Mike has always been able to pull a mean half nelson.

Last time I saw U.M. at a wedding, coincidently, it was for Nick. While wrestling did not occur at said wedding, Uncle Mike still made things really fun. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anyone wear flip flops to a wedding. In addition, I don’t believe, until that day, that I had ever seen a hawaiin shirt paired with a bolo tie. It was a bit like Don Ho meets Clint Eastwood – very unique!

I can only imagine what sort of concotion U.M. will create for Sis’s special day. Whatever happens, it should be fun and i’ll be reporting on all the wacky details right here at the ‘house. Til next kids…

In order to make a fresh start, one must often discard the old and look to the new. And like Christinia Aguilera trading in her Disney good looks for Xtina’s skanky, peirced grunge, I have decided to change things up as well – I’m reformatting my harddrive today.

While looking through the hundreds of files on my computer, I came across a few gems that I thought I’d share here today. The following excerpts came from papers that I actually composed and submitted at some point during my distinguished years as an undergrad at Virginia Tech. And now, without further ado, and for your viewing pleasure, I present the college collection:

“Viagra makes the impotent man a magician as he *poof * pulls a bottle of wine from his hat, then * shazam* pulls a piece of wood out of his trousers.” April 2001 on gender and technology:

“Some women fear that video games will cheapen the way that men treat them. I happen to think that if a man can’t comprehend the difference between reality and a game, than humanity has bigger problems on its hands than Panty Raider.” April 2001 on gender and technology.

“I have learned that basically, it comes down to marketing. The fragrance producers tell us that women should smell like raspberries, so ladies immerse themselves in berry gels and lotions. In fact, if producers told us that women were meant to smell like cow manure, you can bet every Suzie Q. in America would shop Wal-Mart for poo pomades and bovine body creams. I am frightened by the idea that my lilac body spritzer is only feminine because corporations say so. I just thank God that marketers chose fruits and flower scents for women, as opposed to smells like sweat socks or pepperoni pizza.” April 2001 on gender and fragrance.

“I guess my being ‘unique’ or ‘weird’ is pretty interchangeable. If someone likes me, I am ‘unique’, if someone doesn’t I am ‘weird.’” January 2001 on being me.

“Because I walk the same way I did when I was small, with heavy, shifting steps, people know when I am walking down the hall as my hairy, mint slippers scratch at the tiles.” January 2001 on being me.

“I spent New Years Eve 1999 huddled on my couch watching Dick Clark count down the final seconds, of what I thought were the last minutes of civilization. However, the world didn’t end at midnight, and the only Y2K malfunction occurred on a slot machine in Delaware. To be, or not to be disappointed. That was the question.” February 2001 on Millenium madness.

“In the spirit of sports vernacular, I would like to propose a new word to express sports enthusiasm in America. Let it be said, America’s athletic obsession is simply, sportacular.” February 2001 on the Super Bowl spectacle.

“I feel a little skeptical of Palmer’s critique of Forte’s Trilobite! Most of Palmer’s review discusses the scientific importance of the trilobite in an enthusiastic manner. I feel that Palmer has a distinct love for trilobites that bias her report, as she describes fossils as an ‘unending source of pleasure.’” February 2001 on a book review:

“The proximity between the men leads me to believe that perhaps they are in a relationship with each other, or at least that there is some romantic tension between them. I imagine the latter, that perhaps they are straight boys who enjoy football and beer, and are having a hard time denying the curiosity. Maybe there is inquisitiveness in the two boys that can only be cured by a good sexual romp behind bedroom doors. I imagine the two want each other that way.” February 2002 on PDA.

“I love Enola, my best friend, and a domestic wonder, who makes the most fabulous chocolate chip cookies ever, so gooey, so rich, and thoroughly decadent. Enola is giving me wrinkles, the kind you get around your mouth – from making me smile all the time.” March 2002 on my best friend.

“I love Mom. Above all else I love Mom. She calls me ‘precious girl’ or ‘pumpkin’ or ‘cupcake.’ She lets me follow my dreams, even when they take me far from her, to places like Japan and Virginia.” March 2002 on Mom.

“And I love Blake, my boyfriend, my angelface, my confidante, and my future husband?” (*Who could predict that when these words were written in March 2002 that we would be engaged by December?)

“The possibility that a killer half breed whale and walrus can rise from the frothy depths of the ocean to inflict bloody murder on mankind is what makes this type of story so frightening and so effective.”April 2002, on the Whalerus, a CG Dad original concoction designed to scare the pants off us kids and give us an appreciation for nature.

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To Recap

Live from room 254, it’s the latest installment of hännihouse! I’ve been out of blogging for a while. You see, i’ve had to take a break from blogging. I’ve had to focus on the things that really count… the things that make the world so wonderful. The things that I’m talking about consist primarily of sleep, movies and new strappy shoes!

To catch you up I will have to do a quick post-graduation playback. In short, in the past three weeks I have:

-driven to the airport on three seperate occasions
-competed for roadspace with beach week bikers at Myrtle Beach
-splashed my toes in Charleston waters
-cried at the Dawsons Creek series finale from a couch in Wilmington (filming locale of Dawsons Creek, not coincidently)
-eaten burger king (aka “diarreah king”), IHOP, KFC, Mcdonalds and Taco Bell in less than one week’s span
-taken 162 digital photos
-lost my glasses 3 times
-drove brand-new ruby 1600 miles
-got lost in ruby about 17 times between here and a 60 mile radius
-got the worlds most annoying kanker sore
-got new flip flops and underpants
-got to hug maaa and cg and sk who all came to visit
-got milk
-got tired
-got to stop this incestant list making

I miss having the old ‘rents around. I told maaa it was pretty exciting being able to walk into taco bell and order what ever I want, regardless of price. Ooh $3.49 border bowl you tasted mighty sweet, but now that maaa’s not payin’ it’s back to the very filling $1.69 seven-layer burrito. Arrrriba!

And in the latest news, I start my job back with conferences again next Tuesday. I’m looking forward to another summer of golf-cart hijinx and conference guest crazies… More to come.