So Crown Princess Mary–you know, the Australian chick who married the Danish prince?–well anyway, apparently she’s not pregnant, so I guess that’s one bow I can untie from my finger. I’d been trying to remind myself ever since I read the tabloid headline a couple of weeks ago at the grocery store to tell Olof that she was going to have a baby (since, you know, housewives don’t have anything more important or interesting to talk about at the dinner table than the latest doings of those crazy royals).

While we’re on the subject of Mary, I keep seeing her referred to as a “former Australian,” even in the Australian media, which strikes me as a bit odd. I know that she had to relinquish her Australian citizenship when she became a member of the Danish royal family, but isn’t she still Australian at the core? How must it feel to give up your citizenship? It’s such an integral part of a person’s identity. The mere thought makes me uneasy, and I know it can’t be just an American thing because the Australians are every bit as nationalistic as we are. I can’t imagine it was a decision she made lightly.

Lydia and I are finally eligible to apply for Swedish citizenship and we’ll be doing that as soon as the money’s flowing a little more freely for us. We’ll be dual citizens, of course; I wouldn’t consider taking Swedish citizenship otherwise. With the current political climate in the States, however, it wouldn’t surprise me if the U.S. government ended up disallowing dual citizenship and making those who hold it choose one or the other. If it were disallowed, though, maybe people who are already dual citizens could be “grandfathered” in and retain both citizenships. Who knows? I suppose it doesn’t bear much thinking about either way, since I can’t do much to influence the situation (aside from voting for Kerry in a couple of months, that is).

Before I got off on the citizenship tangent, I had been going to write about the link that led me to the news of Mary’s un-pregnancy. Necessity being as it is the mother of invention, the currently-fashionable low-rise jeans have, well, given rise to backless undies. This is a development just begging for the kind of witty remarks that unfortunately escape me at the moment. All I can think when I look at the pictures is, How ’bout just wearing pants that cover your ass?