Saturday, February 23, 2008

Yay

So I guess all I had to do was blog about it. I got the letter in the mail yesterday that I will be attending the Oath Ceremony at the US district court on March 19 to become a US citizen.

I'm so glad I'll be able to vote now!

In other news, Ruby is the cutest child in the entire world. And the smartest. And the cutest. Did I say that already? Lately she walks around with her arms held out behind her. It cracks me up.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Samurai Jack

Can I just tell everyone how much I am enjoying the cartoon series, "Samurai Jack"? It's so GORgeous-- the eye candy simply does not let up until the credits roll, and it's so cinematic. The story is told so simply by sound and visuals. And the little dialogue there is, is spare, to the point, and often hilarious. And I am in love with Aku's accent. (Aku is the evil lord of darkness, of course)

Friday, February 08, 2008

I want to vote!

So I've been despairing that I won't get to vote this year. It drives me nuts.

So I wrote an email to my congressman Keith Ellison, and then went to check out the FBI.

I talked to a moron at the Minneapolis branch. I said that my name check has been delayed for 2 years and I want to know who to talk to, to figure out why it's taking so long. The guy says, "oh yeah, there's an email address you can write to to ask them about that." And then puts me on hold for about 15 minutes, every 5 minutes saying, "well...I'm having trouble here... I usually am able to find it on the website..." And at the end told me that he couldn't find the email to the national office on their own website, so I should go on the site and look for it myself. I go on the website, and it says that the FBI branch in Washington handles the national name checks, and that it is closed to the public. Undeterred, I called the Minneapolis branch again and talked to an older lady, who said I could talk to the office in West Virginia and gave me their number. It was the "FBI criminal justice information services division and biometric services section customer services group". That cracked me up. The menu was full of bureaucratic mumbo jumbo and I finally got to someone who curtly told me that "inquiries into the national name check statuses are not allowed and it can take up to 5 years, ma'am."

I hope Ellison can do something for me, although this is what I found on the FBI website:

Because each customer agency determines which name checks are expedited, contacting Congressional representatives, the FBI's Office of Congressional Affairs, or the NNCP will only further tie up vital resources and will not contribute to the expediting of a name check.


So I guess that's it. The powers that be don't want me to take part in this "democracy" that I've been living in for 24 years.