Friday, June 05, 2009

Hoops Part 1 - I'm in the system now

One of the many hoops I had to jump through on my way to my recent hard won acquisition of this...


..was to be electronically fingerprinted at the State Dept. of Education, wherein my identity and background could be checked with the OSBI.

I was more than happy to do so, since it's one of those things that I'm glad they're checking before letting anyone near my publicly schooled kids. On the other hand, it unnerved me some to think that my name was now on yet another government "list."

True, we average citizens have been providing our thumb prints for years to get our driver's license renewed, and I know I'm not the only parent in the world to have their own kid's fingerprints on file with the local law enforcement agency.

However the entire experience of actually being f-printed at the hands of a complete stranger, even if it's for innocent and law-abiding reasons, was slightly more comfortable than the few minutes between the time you realize you need to adjust your shorts, and the instant you get to.

Guys, you know exactly what I mean here.

And what exactly am I going to do with a teaching certificate in Journalism (how all my film and tv education and experience was translated into a license to teach secondary level journalism is beyond me, but there you have it)?

Who knows. But given the number of hoops I jumped through, the number of tests I've taken (still more of these on the horizon), interviews I've succumbed to and paperwork that has passed through my home office, I guess I'd better do something more with it other than hang it on the wall next to my vintage iMac "Yum" poster and collection of American Graffiti die cast cars from the Johnny Lightning collection.

4 comments:

gorockets! said...

Congrats!! Journalism students beware!

Anonymous said...

You could always move to Tulsa and teach with me. Webster is a broadcasting and digital media magnet.

Anonymous said...

I really love reading your blog! I read your posts out loud to my husband. They are very clever!

My husband and I are in Guthrie/Cordell/Tulsa/Enid working on a film and I guess I stumbled across your blog when looking for reviews about Friends Pizza and Pub in Canute. We have found many things to love about Oklahoma (especially the Ouachita Mountains) but so far the food is not one of them. We are city folks looking for city food. I am pretty much a vegetarian except my concience will allow me to eat fish/seafood on occasion. Survival you know. Plus I love it. Oh...Sushi I miss you. We have found the PEI WEI in Edmond. Any suggestions? I know you feel our pain. Please no more fried meat and soggy veggies. Help!

OKDad said...

Anon Film Crew...working on that J. Alba shoot I imagine. Hope our weather isn't beating you up too much and that the Craft Service table is providing plenty of fresh veggies.

I'm not a vegetarian (far from it), but coming from where I come from, working in the industry, and trying to influence my girl's eating habits in the positive swing, we end up going veggie several night time meals a week.

Veggie meals in OK...there appears to be several places popping up around as a growing presence of bohemians make their way across the state.

Best luck are in the college towns (Norman, Stillwater, etc.) or one of the Asian eateries.

Pei Wei (PF Chang's little sister)...I used to frequent the one in Pasadena by the IndyMac corp offices.. In fact we just had a fine veggie lunch at the P.F. Changs by Quail Springs Mall this very afternoon -- Buddha Feast, spicy eggplant, tempura fried green bean appetizers, and the curry vegetables...yummo. We were celebrating the "casting" of my wife's broken ankle.

Red Fork Hippie Chick may be able to point you in the right direction as far as the Tulsa area is concerned. She's blogs at http://redforkhippie.wordpress.com/, although I believe she's on a Rt. 66 road trip at moment.

There are some fine Indian (not Native American) joints around town as well that'll do up some nice veggie dishes.

Otherwise, there are a couple Akin's stores around and one or two Whole Foods markets.

Good luck and hoping for a quick martini shot on horizon