“Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain…”

On By HanneIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

It’s been a busy, hot and sweaty few days in Oklahoma, but it sure has been a blast. Every year I meet and get to know more and more people who attend Mark Harmon’s event. FullSizeRender 4They event felt much more low-key this year. There were a few people who were a little too pushy and in his face, including one who pushed in on my photo and chit-chat time. I opted not to get anything signed, because after my photo there was a bit of conversation time and I didn’t want to be like some of the other people shoving a shit ton of memorabilia in his face. I mentioned wanting the bike in the silent auction (I was sitting on it at $240 until some asshole bid $400), and he asked if I was going to bike back to Seattle. I thanked him for another great season of NCIS and he thanked me for my time and money in supporting his event. What I like about him is that he’s so sincere – it’s not just a quick thanks, but he takes the time to look you in the eye, touch your shoulder and let you know that he really appreciates the support.

In the end, the NCIS set tour went for $15,000. My dream is to win the lotto and let the bidding go back and forth until someone thinks they’ve won it. And then stand up and double tIMG_8849he price. Bitch, please. That set tour is mine. Sadly, I’m not there yet. And I don’t play the lotto, so… but some day!
I wasn’t in bed until 1, but managed to roll back out at 8:00. I got ready for the day and then made the drive (40 min) back up north to Guthrie, OK. This little historic town is just the cutest! The houses are adorable, the people are friendly and the old brick buildings are beautiful! I stopped by the Oklahoma Territorial Museum first. It was two stories and had one floor about the land grab and the second floor about Oklahoma Statehood. It was good,  but small and the gift shop left much to be desired. From there I headed to Stacy’s Place for lunch. The food was great (fried green tomatoes are my favorite) and then walked up and down the street, popping into a few antique stIMG_8850ores. While it was cooler than the 103 on Wednesday when I came through, 98 wasn’t much better and there was only so long before I needed some AC. I drove back to OKC and hit a few little boutique shops along the way. OKC has so many little gems, but without a car, they’d be hard to hit for a tourist staying in/near Bricktown where you are pretty closed in.

It’s my last night in Oklahoma, and while I’m sad to leave the comfort of my swanky hotel room and a city I’ve become rather familiar with over the years, I will not miss this heavy and humid heat.

 

“Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.” Woody Guthrie

On By HanneIn Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hot.

When I have previously driven to OKC, I’ve able to slowly adjust to the heat – usually as I make my way through Wyoming, Colorado and into New Mexico. By the time I make it to Oklahoma City, I’m relatively adjust to the blistering heat of the summer. But when I fly in, there is always a huge shock when I step out from the climate controlled airport and into the furnace otherwise known as Oklahoma.

It’s like a level of hell, or walking into an oven or just… Of course I’m here just in time for an excessive heat warning. In Seattle we have ‘heat advisories’ for the low-90s, telling people to stay indoors, drink water, etc. Through Saturday we’re under an ‘Excessive Heat Warning’ with a heat index (temp/humidity) up to 115. Gross.

IMG_8769But since I didn’t drive down, I rented a car for my stay. The Colcord Hotel (home away from home) does have a shuttle for Downtown/Bricktown, but with a few days to explore, I’d rather have a car at my disposal.

I arrived around dinner time on Tuesday. I found a liquor store to buy a bottle of wine (because you can’t get wine in a grocery store – nor can you buy a wine opener where they sell wine, had to find one elsewhere), ordered room service and crashed out early. I was up and out the door by 9:30 yesterday. Since I didn’t get to road trip down, and I have unlimited miles on my rental, I decided to try and put a few miles on. From OKC I drove 110 miles up to Tulsa to visit the Woody Guthrie Center. It’s not a big place to explore, but it holds several interesting pieces from his collection as well as a ton of history surrounding his songs and art work.

WG
Lyrics to “This Land is Your Land”

From Tulsa I headed 115 miles west to Enid, OK for an ‘old time museum’ that was supposed to be open. Except it wasn’t and I wasted 2.5 hours driving there and then back toward I-35S. Oh well, it was a pretty drive. From Enid it was another 100 miles back toward OKC. I made a stop in Guthrie, OK to visit the Oklahoma Frontier Drugstore Museum – wow, they had a ton of stuff on display. And I love how pretty much everything was cured with morphine and alcohol. Established in 1887, Guthrie was the original capital of Oklahoma and it’s beautiful downtown is considered a National Historic Landmark. I wanted to spent more time exploring the city, but at 105F, it just wasn’t worth the misery of strolling the old streets. I might try and head back up on Saturday, but we’ll see.

Once I got back to the hotel, I met up with some friends who arrived from various corners of the US (and one from England). We walked down to the pub for a bite to eat and ended up playing Trivia. We were doing great, but fumbled in the last minute to come in 4th (I think?) out of six. For the majority of the game we were in second place. Boo.

This morning I was up and out the door around 9am (already 85F). I headed south to Moore, OK where a massive Tornado hit in 2013 just prior to my visit/tornado dance. Cait and I had explored one of the neighborhoods and I returned in 2014 to the same block for progress photos. This year it was almost unrecognizable. There was still one empty lot, but otherwise life goes on, right?

moore
Life not quite back to normal.

From there I drove down some backroads (only other traffic I saw was a tractor) to El Reno where the tornado that put me in a shelter, touched down. There is a memorial for the three members of the TWISTEX team that died. I have to say, it was a little nerve-wracking being out in those fields, so far from anything. There weren’t any storm clouds in the distance or anything (I would’ve chickened out), but still… It didn’t help that the radio had played an ad for storm shelters on the drive out.

Tomorrow a few more friend arrive in the morning, Harmon’s charity event tomorrow evening. Since I opted out of the Saturday golf event, I hope to spend the day exploring a bit more. Sunday will be lazy until it’s time to say goodbye for another year and head home. In an airplane. Zoom Zoom.

“Never run after a man or a bus, there’s always another one in five minutes.” ― Cherry Adair, Kiss and Tell

On By HanneIn writing1 Comment

Wow, what an incredible weekend. One that has left me near brain dead, but also full of inspiration, drive and this sparkling shred of hope that maybe I really can do this.

I was lucky enough to spend the past Wednesday – Monday with five other (ah-mazing) women as we slaved our way through plots for our next (first, in my case) fully polished novels. Brought together by Cherry Adair‘s Master Class Writing retreat, the idea was that Cherry would teach us the tricks of plotting by color and then we’d do some writing (at least, that’s how I understood it). Oh no, we spent close to 9 hours a day over Fri/Sat/Sun as we worked through each person’s plot. Some pretty much know what they wanted and already had their stories mapped out extremely well. Some of us (read: me) had this vague idea of some characters and what might happen, but zero clue on how to get from point A to point B.

Well no, that’s a little bit of a lie. Let’s bring that back a bit. It’s scary shit to share something that comes from your inner creative… being. You can bake a cake and everyone can tell if you’ve put too much salt or not enough sugar in, but with something like a story, it’s up to interpretation. It’s hard enough to share ideas with fellow retreat authors (we at least had two nights to get to know each other better, play CAD, and drink enough wine to really relax), but the idea of sharing in front of an author who has sold a bajillion books is SCARY. So when she asked about my idea, I approached it with the vaguest idea of what I had, rather than “this is my imagined start, middle and end…” I couldn’t put it all out there because:

IMG_8545-1
What if I just have to ‘make the first move’ and just fucking write this shit. 

What if I suck?

What if my ideas blow?

What if she tells me that writing isn’t my jam and I should just go home?

I mean, logically, I didn’t think she’d actually say these things (and she didn’t) but these are the things that ran on a loop through my head as she’s sitting across from me saying, “okay, what’s your story?”

Six hours later, I’ve got a pretty story board with some pretty legit ideas for book two in the series I’ve dreamed up. I’ve got new characters, new drama and now I need to go home and rework book one.

FullSizeRender-1
What if I just have to ‘make the first move’ and just fucking write this shit.

And then I drank wine and put myself to bed early (11:30 while some stayed up until 2am) because my brain was two sizes too big for my skull with all the new information. Ouch.

In the end, this was probably one of the most reaffirming moments in my ‘career vs hobby’ writing habit.

Not only do you have to want it, you have to do it.

You have to write it.

You have to share it.

Two of the women I was with have blogs/websites. Check them out at:

Åsa Maria Bradley

Eliana West

 

 

“Everything in life is somewhere else, and you get there in a car.” E. B. White

On By HanneIn Uncategorized4 Comments

Yo. I just bought a car.

Like a real grown-up car.

One that I had to finance because I don’t have nearly twenty grand in cash lying around.

Let me start that, while I knew this day was coming, I’m not sure I was ready for it. But I jumped in with both feet and had a pretty good time. While full of great memories and

IMG_8221-1
Old friend.

amazing adventure, my old 1994 Camry with nearly 240,000 miles is at the end
of her long career. While not junk yard material yet (c’mon it’s a camry, with a little work she’s got another 100K miles left in her), it’s just not a car that I would trust on a road trip across the US, which is something I’d like to do again.

So this past weekend, knowing mostly what I was looking for, I grabbed my check book, my loan pre-approval, and headed down to Burien Toyota to look at a bright blue (sounder blue, I might add) 2014 Camry LE. Unfortunately, the person who traded it in, had driven with some sort of motorbike on top of it and there were a ton of scratches. A ton. I understand that buying a used car means that it’s not perfect, but it looked awful when you got close – obviously why it was priced so competitively. So then I found a 2014 Camry LE with only 14,000 miles on it. Super low miles and priced to sell at only $17,999. I drove it, my mom drove it and it was a great car.

$17,999 was a bit more than I wanted to pay, but for a great car… it wasn’t a bad price. We got it down to $17,499, but the big boss came over and was so pushy and in a rush to sell. It just wasn’t a comfortable experience. I said that I was looking closer to $17k and waffled a bit, but then I had to get to an appointment. I left and came back, and they said they just couldn’t budge from $17,499. If he had left it at that, I probably would have gone back after a visit to Renton, but rather than just say that $17,499 was their best price, I got this whole talk about how they need to make money for this new building they are building.

Um, what? Last I checked I came to buy a car, not a building. And we’re $500 apart, that’s not even half a fridge for the employee break room.

So I left. The original guy followed me out to my car, offered to look at some older cars, and then offered to call me if the boss changed his mind. Whatever.

IMG_8229
We are going to have so much fun together!

I went to Renton and test drove a car, but upon closer inspection, there was a crack around the headlight. There was no carfax info on it, so it looked like someone had fixed it and repainted it themselves. No thanks.

Sunday morning I headed up to Rodland Toyota in Everett. It’s where my dad bought his highlander in 2014 and if the same guy had been working there still, I would’ve gone there first.

What a difference between Rodland and Burien. I mean, night and day. I enjoyed the time I spent at Rodland. I never felt pressured, there was no rush and when I wanted a minute to talk to my parents to get their view on the deal we had semi-settled on, he was happy to walk away and give us some quiet time.

I ended up paying a little more than what I wanted, but for the car I got, I’m not concerned. It was a great experience and other than the fact that I’m not broke AF and committed to a legit loan, I have zero negative comments about the deal.

That said, while I was waiting to sign the finance papers, the guy from Burien called to ‘chat’. “Too bad buddy, I’m already signing papers up north.” He hung up.

So if you need a car, go see Russell Pyles and tell him Hanne sent you. Unless you’re interested in a 1994 Camry needing a little work, let me know.

IMG_8244
Evan ‘checking the engine’ for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I learned all about life with a ball at my feet.” ~ Ronaldinho

On By HanneIn soccerLeave a comment

It’s that time of year again.danny

I like to think I keep fairly busy: work, extra baby-sitting gigs, writing group, GSRWA and of course the basics like sleeping, eating and doing laundry. But from March through October, a full eight months out of the year soccer seems to squeeze out an extraordinary amount of time. 

Soccer (or football for my annoying European friends who will point out that it’s what the cool kids call it – you know who you are). 

For eight months there are home games, away game. Injury reports, interviews. New socks, old USL era shirts. MLS live, FS1. Western Conference, Eastern Conference. CONCACAF, Open Cup. Cascadia Cup.Supporter’s shield. MLS Cup. ECS. 

Although MLS is still rather new in Seattle (this is our 8th season), this Sounder schedule is nothing new for me. Since 1994 my schedule has revolved around this team. Clipping news paper articles (I only stopped a few years ago), road trips to Vancouver and collecting autographs like trophies of my dedication to the team. 

Now, on the morning of our season opener, I think of all the things I wanted to get done over the off-season – 90% didn’t happen, oops. But hey, there is always next off season, right?

Oh, and if you need me? You can find me at the stadium. Or call me in November.

C’mon boys, take ’em all!

“That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up.” – Walt Disney

On By HanneIn TravelLeave a comment

Two words encompass Disney World: Mickey. Magic.

castle - night

It has been twenty years since my last visit to Disney World. I had been to Disneyland a few times (three between 2002 and 2010, I think), but the comparison between the two is non-existant. When I was offered the chance to go along with the family I work with, I jumped at the chance. I was excited, of course, but I think I had really forgotten the magic that goes into a Disney trip. Until I got there.

tow mater
The doors to our building at the hotel.

We stayed at the Art of Animation, one of the Disney resorts. And from the moment I stepped off the Magical Express shuttle, I felt the Disney magic. Granted, I didn’t get a room for several hours after a red-eye, but they did all they could to make up for the room confusion (balloons for the kiddos, extra fast-passes and a $150 credit to the room).

We spent a whole week at the parks (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood studios, Epcot and Animal Kingdom), but there is SO much to see and do, I need another week (or two) to really take it all in.

The weather was perfect. A little chilly on one day, up around 80 and humid another day, but otherwise the low 70’s most the time which is perfect for my fair-weather skin (I wore a sweatshirt half the time which ruined some fun disney-inspired outfits, but whatever).

I was also pleasantly surprised with the quality of food. While they have your standard theme park snacks: popcorn, pretzels, etc. Each of the sit down dinners we had offered a wide selection (both for those with adventurous palates and those who preferred a more basic choice). Chicken with goat cheese polenta, Norwegian meatballs with lingonberry – I never felt like I was getting the same thing at every restaurant.

It’s funny though, stepping into the park, I felt instantly like a kid again. I wanted mickeyeverything – all the fun toys, the over-priced clothes. I wanted to get my hair done like a princess (legit though, you had to be under twelve or I would have had it done). I had my picture taken with all the characters and I think I was in awe of the castle lit up at night, just like the boys.

I’ve been home for 6 weeks and I find myself thinking back to the trip frequently. Reflecting back on my favorite rides (space mountain was far less jerk-y on my neck than I remember), goofing around with Buzz Lightyear and Woody and cruising gift-shops like it’s my job. As well as the things we didn’t have time for, like the rest of Animal Kingdom.

The staff cast members are 100% on point. From the ride attendants to the restaurant hosts to the the street cleaners, everyone was *on* at all times. Friendly, helpful each person I encountered didn’t hesitate to help with whatever was needed, or start up a friendly conversation about my disney manicure, the family reunion pins we wore, or just about the magic of Disney.

Can go back yet?

castle day

 

 

“The legs are the wheels of creativity.” – Einstein

On By HanneIn writingLeave a comment

When the writing gets personal…

I was given the writing prompt to ‘write about something you’ve yet to finish’, in hopes of sparking some inspiration to get it done.

I have a long list of works-in-progress, but one of my favorite things is likely something I will never truly finish or aim to publish. From Aug-December 2003, fresh out of high school, I spent probably the best worst time of my life at a small school, located in the middle of nowhere, Denmark. In fact to get to any store, restaurant (I use the term ‘restaurant’ lightly here), any place with other people, it was a 3.3km (2mile) walk through the woods. The bus came once an hour during the day and you had to cab back or walk the woods at night if it got too late.

Those months at Kalø were probably *the* most formative years of my life. In a previous post I mentioned being painfully shy as a child, but moving halfway around the world meant I had to move past that and advocate for myself without anyone familiar around to help me out. I do have family in Denmark, but at a few hours away, I only saw them once on a school trip to CPH. Hey, I was busy.

But back to the point, I think there are some things that are so personal and close to the heart, they don’t need to be shared. The life experiences I went through, the people I met. I think this was one experience that is for me and the people I shared this time with and that’s okay.

Because sometimes you dress like sporty barbie and that just needs to stay in the past.

“We rise by lifting others.” – Robert Ingersoll

On By HanneIn History, Uncategorized3 Comments

(This is a horrible jumbled mess as I can’t seem to really pull my thoughts together).

I am absolutely heartbroken over the terrorist attacks in Paris. I was just there, and I met some wonderful people who are no-doubt living in fear after what happened as they try to go about their daily lives.

give-me-your-tired-your-poor-your-huddled-masses-yearning-to-breathe-freeBut I’m also so very heartbroken on the response I have seen. The bitterness of people who feel certain attacks haven’t received enough attention (they haven’t, but it doesn’t mean that Paris deserves less). Heartbroken over the knee-jerk reaction that Muslims = Terrorists. And I’m heartbroken that some people seem to think that we should close our borders and not let anyone in, despite what this country is supposed to represent.

 

Paris. And those other places.

It’s all over the media that Beirut feels forgotten, but they aren’t the only one. How about the bombing targeting Shiites in Baghdad (ISIS claims that one too)? Or the 14 year old GIRL suicide bomber in Cameroon? Suicide bombers in Chad a few days before that? There were TWENTY (20) events considered terrorist attacks between the 1st and the 13th of November. I’ve seen so many posts blaming the media, but really… based on the comments I’ve seen on various news articles, even if the news did report the other attacks, would you really care?

When did we stop caring? And why? These are real people dying all over the world. Moms and babies. Teens and grandpas. I recently shared an article about Washington State receiving refugees from Syria and as I scrolled down the comments, almost every. single. one was cruel and hateful and basically stuff I refuse to copy to my blog. I get that so many people are keyboard warriors and likely wouldn’t really voice these horrible opinions in real life, but until I find a way to revoke internet/facebook licenses, I will weep internally at the truly disgusting comments I have seen.

I spent much of the day wondering why it bothered me so much, but other people seem to want to fence them out. Then I got to thinking. I lived with these people during my stay at Kalø. Iraqi, Kurdish, Afghani. Sudanese. They are my friends, people I have shared meals with. I’ve seen the physical scars, I’ve heard the mental ones. They aren’t scary. Or mean. They didn’t try to convert me or push their beliefs or traditions on me. With all this horrible backlash, I think of my friends and the good times we had together. They aren’t any different than my friends from Roskilde or from Juanita.

Are there bad people in Syria? Yes. Are there bad people who are muslim? Absolutely. But we have bad people here too. How many people have been shot on our streets? How many are locked up for life for horrible crimes? Keeping the refugees out won’t make you any more safe. It won’t secure your warm bubble. The only reason that I can find for this horrible backlash is fear. And that is what the terrorists are after. Fear.

Let’s just try to remember that hate only spreads hate.

 

Dear Santa, I’ve been good for the last week or so. Let’s just focus on that.

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November and December are probably my most favorite part of the year. Yes, the actual holidays are nice, but there is something about the coziness of this time of year. Yes it gets dark early, yes it’s cold and dreary.

But the dark evenings make candles glow brighter.

The cold nights make hot cider taste sweeter.

The dreary days made better by the endless supply of Hallmark Christmas movies.

4b8a9cf0bdd81e5ebd3aeaba2a29363631c156c88b37f065c35e1eebbdab62eeHonestly, I don’t know what I’d do without two months of the most predictable holiday movies that cycle through the same actors and storylines. But it’s like I can’t look away. Will Lacey Chabert live happily ever after in the small town she happens to get stuck in just before Christmas? Will a Christmas card bring together two miserable people in time for some Christmas cheer?** Obviously we all know the answer, but I find myself watching anyway because you never know, right?

Aside from the Hallmark Channel, what are some of your go-to holiday films? The Grinch (the original cartoon, for me please)? The Santa Claus? It’s a Wonderful Life?

Even just thinking of these movies gives me a warm and happy feeling in my heart. I know what I’m doing this weekend.

** Probably the worst Christmas film I’ve ever seen. The acting so painful, I hope the magic of Christmas passes them by and they end the movie miserable and alone. 

“Soccer isn’t the same as Bach or Buddhism. But it is often more deeply felt than religion, and just as much a part of the community’s fabric, a repository of traditions” – Franklin Foer

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Sounder love.

The Sounders have been part of my life since 1994. Twenty-one years spent laughing, crying, cheering, angry, elated, frustrated, thrilled, disappointed, overjoyed and well, fucking pissed (I mean, losing to Portland in the playoffs? For the love of…).

I was a shy kid growing up. Like, painfully shy. So when I saw kids getting autographs from my favorite players, the ones I wrote about in my 3rd grade journal in Mrs. Rivas’ class, I wanted autographs too. Only I wasn’t brave enough to ask. I remember my parents sending me over, but I would hang back and as things started to feel too chaotic, I would turn back and shrug. I could get an autograph the next time. Or the next time.

In 1997, I started saving everything Sounders. Programs, ticket stubs, newspaper articles. I would search every page of the sports section until I found the tiny article, usually on the back page and cut them out. I remember going to Denmark that summer and asking the petsitter to save the sports page every day so that I didn’t miss anything. A few articles with pictures went on my wall, the way other girls has posters of JTT (Jonathan Taylor Thomas – the other JT wasn’t famous yet). My favorite was an action shot of Wade Webber and his bleach blonde hair.

meandcraigIn 2002 my dad and I saw Coach Schmetzer at Quest during the very first game at the new stadium. My dad suggested we say hello. I was too nervous, but my dad marched up and said hello and told him all about my scrapbook full of old Sounders stuff. The whole thing was a blur to me, but ended with an invite to the team practice at Memorial Stadium to have it signed by the guys. Thinking back on it, I can still feel the excitement radiating through my body. Coach Schmetzer waved us over and said I could go right out onto the field. I took half a step onto the turf and froze. I was terrified. I remember he eventually walked me around to the different groups of guys, starting the conversation for me and the players took it from there. They asked about me, about being a fan of the sport/team, they looked through my stuff and were really kind to me.

I hugged my scrapbook to my chest the entire ride home.

I arrived early before the next game, waiting by the entrance with a carnation forzs1each of the guys, thanking them for signing my stuff. When they approached, they remembered my name, would chat for a minute, take a picture with me and suddenly I didn’t feel so invisible anymore.

After the game I would wait with the rest of the fans wanting an autograph and I remember Scott Jenkins taking the time to talk instead of signing my program and moving on to the next. Viet once ran to the locker room and grabbed a game worn jersey and an autographed ball. And Craig always had the biggest smile and a hug for me (and still does today, 13 years later).

zs2This is why I support not only this team, but these guys (playing or not) so many years later. None of this was required by the team, the coach. This was never about being a publicity stunt or trying to gain more fans. This was about being nice. They did something nice for someone just because. And it taught me that you never know how much your kindness can effect another person. Today. Tomorrow. Or 13 years from now.

Sports fans come and go, but when you’re ‘Sounders Til I Die’, there is no end. Not the end of the game. Not the end of the season. And certainly not the end of any one players career. #EBFG

Craigandschmetzer