Anywho, I digress …

More is better

I have been quite forthright about my Britishness.  However, it has become increasingly clear that I will probably never go back and live in the UK.   Trips back to the UK have highlighted the rich vein of cynicism that runs through everything, and I can’t wait to leave, even before I touch down at LHR.

Anywho, I digress …

Becoming a US citizen has never really appealed – filing tax returns no matter where I am in the world and jury duty.  Not very compelling.

The upside – voting.  I was appalled when Prop 8 passed.  I wish I could have voted.  I started thinking about citizenship, but I was bogged down by the requirement to list every trip outside the USA since I arrived in 1996!  It took a while and a bunch of head scratching to come up with the dates.  It turns out that I have been out of the USA for 389 days since 1996.

Kind of cheesy

In early December, I applied for American citizenship.

In January, I went into San Francisco so that the FBI (!) could get a copy of my fingerprints.

In February, I returned to San Francisco for my interview and civics test.  I passed.

Having been judged as having Good Moral Character, I was invited to Oakland for the Citizenship Ceremony.  Oakland.  Really.  I had envisioned one of the grand old(ish) buildings  in San Francisco and not the rather brassy-looking Paramount Theater in Oakland.

However, all was not lost.  Inside, the Paramount Theater is somewhat less brassy than the outside, albeit a little too close to Vegas for my tastes.

As of today, call me Citizen Lisa

Lisa.