Have you ever wondered why fan biographies are so popular? Why we love to read Yahoo! chats? What is so intriguing about an interview with our favorite band? Well, recently I began to form a hypothesis about the fascination. I think we’re constantly scouting that one in a million supernatural connection to the people we respect the most.

In the name of research, I have attempted to catalogue people’s connections to their favorite band. During a conversation recently with someone about Taylor’s mention of Lifehouse on www.hanson.net, I had a revelation. This fan informed me that a few days before Taylor posted his curiosity about Lifehouse at "From Us to You," she had just been listening to a song by this band and loved their music. Bam! A supernatural connection to Hanson.

This got me thinking. What is the difference between supernatural connections and say, pizza connections? When I say "pizza connections" I mean, connections that masquerade as significant but in reality are as compelling as, "Oh my gosh, you love pizza too? We must be soul mates!" Who doesn’t love pizza? Okay, there are probably a few people out there who don’t list pizza among their favorite food, but hey . . . I’d wager that the numbers are pretty slim. So we’ve got the two extreme categories, supernatural and pizza, but what about things that fall in between?

Of course, there are those rare organic connections to the band that fall into a category by themselves. At the same time, a category that falls between the two ends of the spectrum is a large category, including one that encompasses "things Hanson has introduced to my life." This category, I’m going to call "Jam ‘N Bread." Race and religion are off the table completely for reasons too numerous to list. But the question remains, how do you classify your connections, once you’ve identified them?

Characteristics of a Supernatural connection:

• Began before you even knew about Hanson.
  Example: You’ve always secretly considered Ringo to be, indeed, the coolest Beatle.
• May have occurred while you knew about Hanson, but was not influenced by Hanson and later revealed to be a connection.
  Example: You got your cartilage pierced only days before Taylor back in 1999.
• You had no control over the connection.
  Example: You are one of 7 children in your family or you share a name with one of the band members.
• A connection initiated by the band that involves you
  Example: Your online story inspires a new Hanson song.
• Contact with the band before superstardom
  Example: You randomly caught Hanson in concert pre-1997.

Organic connections:

• You're related to, a friend of, or work for the band.
  Example: One or two degrees of separation that you keep to yourself (Obviously, the band's real friends and family are not on the web 24/7 discussing the guys' personal lives.)
• You're a musician they admire.
  Example: Stephan Jenkins, etc.
• A sense of humor that allows you to identify when the band is joking and when they're serious
  Example: Betsy and Shamu

Infamous Pizza connections (too many to list):

• You’ve always liked 50s and 60s rock and roll (including the Beach Boys and the Beatles)
• You’re a fan of U2, Billy Joel or Aerosmith
• You love french fries (cousin to the pizza connection)
• You own a pair of Doc Martens
• You enjoyed playing with Legos as a youngster or you keep a journal
• You’ve picked your nose while driving.
• You’ve played Laser Tag or you rollerblade
• You’ve seen any of the Star Wars movies
• Your siblings are "basically your best friends"
• You catch yourself saying "weird" several times during the day

Famous "Jam ‘N Bread" connections:

• You’re a fan of Jonny Lang, Admiral Twin, Blues Traveler, Sheryl Crow, Black Crowes, Counting Crows, Lenny Kravitz, Athenaeum . . .
• You own clothing recognized to be "Hanson-wear" (Examples: yellow docs, a "Born to Raise H***" patch, pleather, vintage t-shirts, a silver ring, etc.)
• You’ve read a book by Ayn Rand, Andy Warhol or J.D. Salinger
• Gus Van Sant is your favorite director
• You consider T-town an attractive vacation spot
• You're outraged by a little known psychotherapy method known as "rebirthing"
• You’re addicted to online

And so now, here’s my profile:

Things that distinguish me from the Brothers:

• My favorite cold drink is Citra or Fresca and my favorite hot drink is decaffeinated tea with milk and honey.
• I stopped Austen Powers 10 minutes into the movie and returned it to the video store.
• Harper Lee, Jane Austen, George Eliot, Amy Tan and Midlred D. Taylor are my favorite authors.
• Not a huge fan of cigar smoke
• Do not own a t-shirt depicting a hemp leaf
• I’ve never been snow boarding or to the Sundance Film Festival.
• Have not relieved myself on a roof.