Heading to the Capitol

This weekend marks the end of the rowing season for the Southwestern Conference in the United States for high school students. As assistant helper coach for the MRA I will be driving up to Sacramento tonight for a weekend of racing.

 Over the last couple of weeks I have had the honor of watching the Boys Team over at the Marin Rowing Association come together and hone their skills.

 Since September they have been rowing hard. During the Fall there were long chases and in the winter cold winds and rain. The season tests dedication and through merit, fighting spirit and a little bit of luck the teams have gelled into hardened soldiers. 

 They take to the Battle lines of Lake Natoma this weekend in a last ditch effort to show the rowing community what they are made of. I am rooting for the MRA and the points trophy.

 If they do well than there is a chance that some of the teams will be running off to Lake Harsha in Cincinatti for US Rowing Nationals in mid-June.

 Watch results on row2k.

R-E-D-W-O-O-D!

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Not sure where exactly I saw this on the interwebz, but there is a certain Duggar Family in Arkansas with 17 kids and more on the way. Its ridiculous. Two parents and seventeen children.  The Discovery Channel decided to make a show about their family. Yes, let us highlight the plight of these people. Each one of the children has a name starting with the letter ‘J’. Jenna, Jinger, Joe Bob, Justin, the list goes on.   They have to drive everywhere in a bus. Their house is 7,000 feet. Everything about them is obscene. Is this really necessary? Why so over the top?  The answer is simple. God wants them to have an outrageously large family.  I captured a screenshot of the family before they went Christmas shopping. Notice the stickers on their van “Evolution is a Lie” and their politician of choice… I think they probably believe in the Spaghetti Monster and BigFoot too. 

Not sure where exactly I saw this on the interwebz, but there is a certain Duggar Family in Arkansas with 17 kids and more on the way. Its ridiculous. Two parents and seventeen children.

 The Discovery Channel decided to make a show about their family. Yes, let us highlight the plight of these people.

Each one of the children has a name starting with the letter ‘J’. Jenna, Jinger, Joe Bob, Justin, the list goes on. 

 They have to drive everywhere in a bus. Their house is 7,000 feet. Everything about them is obscene. Is this really necessary? Why so over the top?

 The answer is simple. God wants them to have an outrageously large family. 

I captured a screenshot of the family before they went Christmas shopping. Notice the stickers on their van “Evolution is a Lie” and their politician of choice… I think they probably believe in the Spaghetti Monster and BigFoot too. 


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Moveon. San Francisco

Its official: Kristian is moving into San Francisco from Marin County.

 The last month I have been taking my bearings of San Francisco and re-acclimating myself to the Bay Area. 

 Its been a great process reconnecting with friends and family members. Its hard to fathom that I have been away in New York City since August 2001. The occasional “break” out here has always been too short lived. But now I feel like I am making amends with California. A gentle accord.

I shall be moving onto the fabled Haight Street (@ Steiner Street). I found my place on Craigslist under the shared apartments section. There were five or six places I initially emailed people about, but this place seemed the best suited to my personality and needs.

 My new flat mates are two laidback and clean women, one is a modern dancer and the other is a therapist. I am sure that Kristian Hansen could use some dance lessons and some talk time. 

 The neighborhood is fantastic. Its at the bottom of the Haight, so I don’t have any crazy hill to climb up at night or descend late at night. There are plenty of new restaurants, cafes and bars within walking distance with more places opening monthly. 

Finding a new place is never fun, but I am happy to be putting down my roots in the City by the Bay.  

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This is such bullcrap. Who are these programmers over at the Discovery Channel? What has the world come to? Why am I ranting? Its this damn television. I hate TVs like the plague. Living at home for the last few weeks has rotted my mind to sludge. Instead of hanging out with buddies, I am forced to watch “science” on the Discovery Channel as “scientists” go into the forests looking for BigFoot. The worst thing is that these crazy lunatics are taken seriously by the Disc. Channel. Why do these crazy conspiracists deserve a television show?  ”A small and growing group of ardent scientists believe the ancient species of Ape still lives on ( from a 100,000 years ago)” North American Apes Project. Give me a break. 

This is such bullcrap. Who are these programmers over at the Discovery Channel?

What has the world come to?

Why am I ranting? Its this damn television. I hate TVs like the plague. Living at home for the last few weeks has rotted my mind to sludge. Instead of hanging out with buddies, I am forced to watch “science” on the Discovery Channel as “scientists” go into the forests looking for BigFoot.

The worst thing is that these crazy lunatics are taken seriously by the Disc. Channel. Why do these crazy conspiracists deserve a television show?

 ”A small and growing group of ardent scientists believe the ancient species of Ape still lives on ( from a 100,000 years ago)”

North American Apes Project. Give me a break. 


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Who is that adorable mutt?

 Its Pepper. Family dog at the Hansen Manor. 

 We have been hanging out recently and going on some nice walks. Pepper is busy pushing the double digits. I think like old men, dogs pee too often and do not clean up after themselves. 

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Feeds, Twitter, Tumblr and I am annoying People

At first I was super gung-ho about displaying all my feeds in tumblr.

 Wow, I can show the world everything I am doing (were my original thoughts).

 But then it became too much. Every time I twittered I was sending out a “Hansen Report”, but really it was horrible since the title was my twitter and the accompanying text was my twit. Really pathetic. 

 I think I am going for the less is more mantra now. I’d rather have a real blog posting that makes sense and send that out three times a week than sending out 20 annoying twits per week with little to no substance. 

 Thats where we are all heading: something in the middle ground between an all inclusive posting and a brevity stricken twitter alert. Instead of 140 characters we need a 400 character limit. A mid-cap twitter company concept that incorporates pictures, sound, video clips and thats optimized for smart blackberries and iphones. That would be a huge success. 

 Right now there are a bunch of twitter add ons that require you to email your pictures (TwitPic) or workout your tiny url. These are a nuisance and annoying. 

We even have TwitterSnooze, made by Andrew Parker in response to how annoying twits can become when your friend go overboard on the twitter concept. 

 People intuitively want to show how smart, quick or informed they are through their twitters. This is burdensome to a technology circle already super-saturated with information. I liken it to “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. But I would change out “nice” with “substantive”.

 Maybe that defies the ‘anything goes’ mantra of twitter, but if it wants to grow or keep being an active participant in how we are using short text messages to interact than something has got to give.

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Feel like I am not twittering enough. What a sad twit!
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I’m hitting snooze on @innonate. You can hit snooze too at http://twittersnooze.com/
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OH “Who ordered the Spring Rolls - There are none left?” - “Oh dear!”
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This is Michele. She was my teacher/instructor tonight at the lululemon shop in Corte Madera. I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I must confess, I have not really done any yoga. Thats exactly why I am trying it out. Of course when I showed up today the door was locked and everyone stared at this sweaty guy with a bike showing up late for class. Michele was great at getting the class in order. She corrected my posture a number of times and despite my lack of flexibility, I really felt like I was getting the hang of things by the time everything was said and done. The names for the positions is a bit odd, like crouching child position, Schwarmna laying on your back thing ( I think thats a food) and some other terms which I have quickly forgotten. It was an enjoyable experience and moving forward I’d like to attend some more classes and see what its all about. Lululemon has a series of complimentary yoga classes taking place in their stores either before or after business hours. This is a pretty awesome concept. Keeping the store “open” for an extra two hours and offering instructional services is a great deal for both parties. I see a win-win in building a loyal customer base, Ambassador’s have the opportunity to gain clients and people like me (not a customer or client yet) have a no-hassle, no pressure means to see whats so cool about yoga. Time for bed. Have to go stretch my back. Namaste.

This is Michele. She was my teacher/instructor tonight at the lululemon shop in Corte Madera.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect.

I must confess, I have not really done any yoga. Thats exactly why I am trying it out. Of course when I showed up today the door was locked and everyone stared at this sweaty guy with a bike showing up late for class.

Michele was great at getting the class in order. She corrected my posture a number of times and despite my lack of flexibility, I really felt like I was getting the hang of things by the time everything was said and done. The names for the positions is a bit odd, like crouching child position, Schwarmna laying on your back thing ( I think thats a food) and some other terms which I have quickly forgotten.

It was an enjoyable experience and moving forward I’d like to attend some more classes and see what its all about.

Lululemon has a series of complimentary yoga classes taking place in their stores either before or after business hours. This is a pretty awesome concept.

Keeping the store “open” for an extra two hours and offering instructional services is a great deal for both parties. I see a win-win in building a loyal customer base, Ambassador’s have the opportunity to gain clients and people like me (not a customer or client yet) have a no-hassle, no pressure means to see whats so cool about yoga.

Time for bed. Have to go stretch my back.

Namaste.


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