Should-hood

File under "is this how it should be?":

-Last weekend I got some ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery because I wanted some and they were the only place I could find it where I was. There are too many good local places near where I live to give this chain a second thought, but in this instance they would do. What I didn't realize before entering the shop is that at Cold Stone the ice cream is really just a base for whatever you want to mix in. (Yes, I was aware that adding stuff to ice cream is this place's thing.) It's kind of like the ice cream itself is an afterthought. I wanted mint chocolate chip, which meant I ordered the mint ice cream and then had to ask for chocolate chips to be mixed in. Something just seemed wrong about this whole method.

-As noted yesterday, my original birth certificate was not in good enough condition to be accepted with a passport application. I went to the Vital Statistics office today to get a new one. I didn't have any trouble and was pleasantly surprised how little I had to wait. What struck me as odd is that it would seem anyone with enough basic information about me could have gone in and got my birth certificate if they wanted. I presented no identification. While I put my name, address, phone number, and e-mail on the form where it wanted to know who was requesting the information, there's nothing to say that I was that person. Could anyone who knows my full name, the city and county where I was born, the date of my birth, and my parents' full names pony up $21.50 and get my (or anyone's) birth certificate? Something about that just feels wrong.

Smudged

I'm planning to go north of the border for part of a major international film festival in September, which means I need a passport. No problem. I'm taking care of this plenty in advance. I even was able to find my birth certificate without any difficulty.

After having a bad passport photo taken at a drug store--can't we try again?--I headed to the post office to file the appropriate paperwork. That's as far as I got. My original birth certificate was denied because of smudges on it.

I understand that they don't want to hand out identification for international travel when there might be the potential for a bad source document, but it doesn't mean it irked me any less. Luckily I live in the state of my birth and can head to the vital statistics office tomorrow to get a new birth certificate and be done with all of this. Ordering one in person can put the document in my hand the same day. Ordering online takes weeks!

Plus, while I still have time, I don't need to mess around and get this passport application filed too late.