This hoop's for you.

For those of you who don't know, I have recently discovered that I'm eligible to apply for UK Citizenship. I had thought that you had to wait until 5 years after you received what they (without a trace of irony) call "indefinite leave to remain" to even think about doing the citizenship thing. But, somewhat by accident, I found out a few weeks ago that in fact, if you are married to a British person (which I am) and have been in the country for a total of three years (which I have been) then you can apply. The clock on your eligibility starts ticking the moment you enter the UK on a settlement visa (which I did on 11 September 2004, on a "spousal" visa), not the "indefinite" visa as I had previously thought.

Ergo, as of 11 September 2007, I could decide if having permanent status is worth the many hoops the UK government has decided to put in place in order to prove that you really, really want to stay.

Now, I don't HAVE to apply. My status means that I can work, play, mingle with the locals and all that good stuff. I pay taxes, I go to Tesco, I discuss East Enders. The two things that don't apply to me are 1) a British passport and 2) Elections. I can't vote, and I'm not a citizen, so I don't have a UK passport (which means whenever we travel in the EU I have to stand in the "Non-EU" passport queue, which is always long and slow).

Oh, and technically, they can at any point decide that they don't want me anymore and kick me out of the country. But, of course, they can't do that as easily as if I was illegal or a tourist or on a temporary visa or whatever. They'd have to have a darn good reason (and so far, I don't think this blog entry has been treasonous, so I think I'm still ok).

The other thing is that if I went and lived someplace else, say the States, for a while, if/when we moved back to the UK, I would have to apply all over again for my "indefinite leave to remain" status (and pay £500 again). This is not life-threatening--I mean we did once already so we'd know what to expect--but it's kind of a pain.

SO, if I go ahead and go for citizenship, then I become a dual-citizen, and as far as I know, move about the countries more freely. There doesn't seem to be much reason not to go ahead and go for it, since it's likely that we have many more immigration applications to make in our future anyway. It's really becoming a bit of a hobby.

Which reminds me, I need to go study...for the TEST!

(How's that for a cliff hanger? Tune in tomorrow, folks to find out... "is Jessica British enough?")

Wii-vorce.

All last week Mark and I were down in Brean looking after his mum's dogs while she and her sisters went to Morocco. It's where we used to live when we first moved to the UK, so we're used to the house, and it's good to see Ralph and Harry, who are the same as always (i.e. Ralph = neurotic and Harry = lazy and getting fatter by the minute).

She doesn't have Internet access, so it takes a little while to get used to not being able to find the answers to random questions by going online or checking email when you get home. It was kind of nice after a while, because you realize that an evening spent without staring a screen is actually pretty enjoyable.

UNTIL...

...you realize that you can't vote on Everybody Votes on the Wii because you don't have a wireless connection!

See, we knew we could live without the Internet, but we didn't think we could live without our Wii, so we took it with us! So, ok, it wasn't completely screen-free time, but at least we were moving around in front of the screen, instead of just surfing the net.

But without the internet connection, we felt isolated. Suddenly, it was just another games console. No more coming home and voting, checking the weather for the next day or sending a message to mom and dad. All we could do is play games!

I tell you--you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

Getting into the swing of things.

Ok, I think I'm getting more into this blogging business. Yesterday, I realized the poll thing just wasn't a good idea for my particular blog...since only about three people (and I'm one of them) read it, and they're all family members, I don't think it's a very interesting exercise. I wouldn't say that I know everything about my family members, and I do agree that there are new things I can learn about them every day, but I would say that I probably have a pretty good handle on which condiment they would probably use, if faced with a hamburger. So, the poll thing is great on the wii (we are officially addicted) and great on Amigonet (since Jenny and Jeff actually have friends), but it's just silly for my purposes. I really just added it originally because I thought I kinda needed to have something for filler.

But the poll-misappropriation days are over. I've now discovered the "List" module and yesterday I promptly added three different ones. This is perfect because I like lists. I like to list things to do, though I won't do them and I like to build up my DVDs by mail list, even though we're currently watching them at a rate of about one every presidency. I even think about lists when I'm trying to fall asleep and trying not to think about the things my mind races about uncontrollably when I'm trying to fall asleep. I think about alphabetical lists of fruits or vegetables or names of cities. It's quite good actually; I'd recommend it. Better than trying to count sheep, particularly if you, like me, have a hard time visualizing more than three or four sheep at a time.

But even more than lists I like to show people what varied tastes I have. I mean the blog itself is a godsend for anyone who likes listening to themselves talk, but the lists take it to a new level. I can show off in an Internet-sanctioned way, without seeming too needy. It's great for those of us at the bottom of the familial food chain. Plus it's easy, since all you have to do is throw some titles down and make sure you've spelled the author's name correctly (since if you don't, your cover is totally blown). So it's even more perfect for the person at the bottom of the familial food chain who is also extremely lazy. Score!

Next I need to combine the lists with my opinions about the items on the list, so I can sound all intellectual. It's gonna be great.

A quote for today.

I use the iGoogle homepage (which I think is great) and one of the modules I've included on it is "Quotes of the Day." Sometimes they're the standard ones, or just kind of interesting.

But I got a kick out of today's and thought that the audience of this blog (i.e. Horns and former Horns and those connected to former Horns) might get a kick out of it too:

"Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand."
- Kurt Vonnegut

We love our wii.

Today we discovered that the wii tells you when the batteries in your remote are getting low.

So considerate!

All we need is better marketing.

The latest post on ScreaminJohn'sblog is about how JM has Roseola, which apparently is a common virus in youngins. I think it's a very nice name for an icky sort of thing. It sounds like a folk rock song. You know, something by Fairport Convention.

This got me thinking about how maybe other illnesses should have name-makeovers. Maybe, using the Roseola example, you can name them after flowers. Instead of Croup, you have Crocus. Instead of Malaria, you have Marigold.

OR, better still, to go with the folk rock-ness of Roseola, how about names-that-are-song-titles. It could be based on the name or the nature of the condition. How about:

Mono = "Only You"
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome = "I'm So Tired"
Hay Fever = "Blowin in the Wind"
Schizophrenia = "Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Mine)"
Laryngitis = "Don't Speak"
Dystentery = "Running On Empty" (ewwww.)

Ok, that last one is pretty gross, but I'm just scratching the surface here, and I think I'm on to a really good thing. I can't be the first to consider this--I would love to know if there is a list somwhere of particularly good ones. Post your own, or let me know if there is a list already out there!

But think of all the positive implications of adopting this system. Not only would it make kids feel better about embarrassing conditions (It's not a stye, dear, it's "Angel Eyes"), it might make a trip to the doctor way more fun! Plus, it might introduce the doctoring profession to a whole new audience. (Although if you want a new YOUNG audience, you might have to update the song-title connections, since all the songs I've included are from some classic rock station's regular rotation...)