Times Square can shove it

Awestruck. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xn4GO5H53rw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xn4GO5H53rw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> 2010-01-01T16:55:07Z http://fiveandabit.com/posts/times-square-can-shove-it 7 Times Square can shove it

2010-01-01T16:56:41Z

times-square-can-shove-it It's a good job I already got my citizenship papers (for both the US and the UK) because other wise I'd be looking at some serious studying!  <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidamcclain/3693952395/" title="I failed the UK citizenship test by david a mcclain's flickr, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2500/3693952395_a72ab0199e.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="I failed the UK citizenship test" /></a> I managed to get 10 right out of 24. A couple of the ones I got wrong were "How many parliamentary constituencies are there? and "How many hours can a child aged 13-16 work in a school week?" A couple of the ones I got right included I knew what "the official report of the proceedings of Parliament is called", I knew (or correctly guessed) the "number of days a year schools must be open*", I knew what a "quango" was and I knew the "two cities that the European Parliament meet". <h3><a href="http://www.ukcitizenshiptest.co.uk/">Take the UK citizenship test online</a></h3> Give it a try yourself and see if you can beat me. But no studying for it unless you're studying for real! *This is actually a relative answer. If you're of school age the answer is "as few as possible apart from school trips" and if you're a parent it's "are there only 365 days in a year?". <h3>Update</h3> I took <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13442226/">this US citizenship test</a> and got 75% right! Luckily it didn't ask me to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, sing the National Anthem or pick which team won the last Superbowl. 2009-07-06T16:14:17Z http://fiveandabit.com/posts/i-failed-the-uk-citizenship-test 6 I failed the UK citizenship test

2009-07-06T17:10:30Z

i-failed-the-uk-citizenship-test I meant to post this a while ago. I usually have so much trouble with speaking commands to phone trees. Thank you Google for making the world of voice recognition suck a little less for us non-American speaking folk. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidamcclain/3572096912/" title="Google App Update by david a mcclain's flickr, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3306/3572096912_3afd56fb61.jpg" width="320" height="480" alt="Google App Update" /></a> 2009-05-28T01:40:21Z http://fiveandabit.com/posts/thanks-for-the-update-google 5 Thanks for the update, Google

2009-05-28T01:40:46Z

thanks-for-the-update-google From my home to my day job it's about two and a bit miles as the crow flies, three and a half miles by the most direct route and just over four miles the quickest route. Very close! Recently I have been walking that three and a half miles. Being not very fit and not in a hurry it usually takes me about an hour to walk that. This morning as I whizzed to work along the freeways on my sub ten minute drive I thought to myself that I was very lucky to now live so close to my job after a couple of years of thirty to sixty minute commutes. Now I can walk it if I choose to! And my train of thought wandered. I noted how going a mile out of my way was faster than taking the direct route. I thought this was funny. It would have made my math teacher cross if I had brought that up in geometry. Then I remembered that my <a href="http://www.jfk.herts.sch.uk/">school</a> (in England) would pay for your bus ride if you lived over a certain distance from school. Well I did, the school was all the way on the other side of town, but still I had to pay. The school worked it out by who fell within a certain radius from the school. My home was outside the radius but my bus stop was inside the radius! The radius was three miles. Three miles took me clear to the other side of town, which was so far way may as well have been it's own town (trust me, I had to walk home on my very first day). If your best friend moved all the way to the other side of town he would probably have to change schools, you'd see him maybe once a year (if it was a really special occasion) and he'd probably develop a different dialect to you! Three miles used to be huge! It used to be forever. Now it's close. 2009-04-16T04:00:11Z http://fiveandabit.com/posts/three-miles 4 Three Miles

2009-04-16T04:00:11Z

three-miles I said to my wife today that if only we were in England we could be feasting on <a href="http://images.google.com/images?q=kit%20kat%20easter%20egg&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi">(proper) Easter Eggs</a> today. I said it in a half-jokingly way that I do when I think of something I miss from home that doesn't really matter. And apart from having to work on the day after Christmas, I largely am joking. And besides, I've given up chocolate anyway (but one can make exceptions of course). Joking or not, I felt a pang of guilt after saying that. I had a really great day enjoying the San Diego scenery and weather and here I was bashing it all! At one point today, looking out at the water, my brother remarked that he/we are really lucky to have "this" as our home. My brain agreed, but my heart didn't seem swayed. It petulantly crossed its arms and stared at its shoelaces. It reminded me of watching the sea in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk:80/norfolk/content/image_galleries/gallery_norfolk_spring_tides_2007_gallery.shtml?11">Norfolk during winter</a>. The roaring waves punishing the sea-wall for daring to stand against its might. A thousand tones of grey in the sea and in the sky. Just me, the wall and the angry surf. The smell, the noise, the wind. That is home. That is me. Maybe that's why, after 1299 days, it feels like I've yet to accept that America is my home now. Maybe it's too wonderful and maybe we're too different. 2009-04-13T03:40:44Z http://fiveandabit.com/posts/easter 3 Easter

2009-04-13T03:40:44Z

easter In the last couple of days I've noticed the weather warming up a lot and the daylight lasting longer. It's still cool in the evenings and first thing in the morning but the prospect of getting back in to our typical SoCal weather has got me feeling enlivened. I'm making all sorts of plans and promises to enjoy the feeling of the sunlight on my face. Then I see this beautiful snowfall back home and I feel a little more homesick - while at the same time feeling thankful I won't have to put up with the chilly evenings for much longer. <h3><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2009/feb/02/primrose-snow">Snow on Primrose Hill (London) - via The Guardian</a></h3> 2009-02-03T06:49:49Z http://fiveandabit.com/posts/an-interesting-contrast 2 An interesting contrast

2009-02-03T06:51:11Z

an-interesting-contrast I must admit, the thought of me writing an ex-pat blog strikes me as rather odd. I was born here so really I am American (and indeed I thought I was for the longest time) and lived in England from the age of 4 or 5 years old until I was about 23. My sense of American identity was a vague nagging feeling in the back of my head that no matter what I thought or did or felt I would always be different from these people around me for they are English and I am American. When I had finished with school I decided that I was going to swap England for a terrifying life in New York city. More about that some other time but those plans gradually changed into moving to Southern California with my (then future) wife, an English lass. People I would meet would ask me about my accent (I don't actually have an accent but nevermind) and I would give them the short version of the story which was to say "it [the accent] is from England" and not bother to correct their false assumption that I myself was English - I'm typically a very anti-social person, especially with strangers. And so I was quickly labelled as an Englishman. It was the first label I was aware of having and I wore it awkwardly for a time. I grew tired of fighting against it until I realised that they were right. I had never felt American. It was never a label or really a part of my identity before. It was more like some obscure factoid to pull out at birthday parties. My own one-man citizenship freak show! But this new label seemed to fit. The people I though I had nothing in common with suddenly felt like family because we called the same (tiny) piece of land our home. My once unwanted label is now a part of who I think I am. An identity I didn't have until I left my home to explore a life on a piece of land my birth certificate suggested should feel like home. 2009-02-01T03:42:52Z http://fiveandabit.com/posts/by-way-of-an-introduction 1 By way of an introduction

2009-02-01T03:42:52Z

by-way-of-an-introduction