What's going on right now?

Some minor thoughts and tribulations:

I'm watching Game 3 of the NBA finals on my new 46" HDTV. The difference between regular TV and HDTV is kinda like the difference between dating a "mall cute" chick and a supermodel. Sure both will do in a pinch, but I can imagine it would be a little hard to go back to "mall cute" when you've had "goddess beautiful". And for full disclaimer's sake: it would be difficult, even in my "skinny-youthful-full-head-of-hair" heyday to date either class of female. I would have been lucky to date ANY class of female.

In the movie "Notting Hill," there's a montage scene of Hugh Grant trying to move on and date after being shut down by Julia Roberts' character, YET AGAIN. After a couple of predictable and cartoonish duds, he stumbles upon a lovely, attractive woman who clearly fancies him. In any normal circumstance, she would have been deemed a great catch. Yet, in the glaring light of Julia Roberts, she is just small potatoes . . . you know . . . "mall cute."

If I'm writing about Notting Hill, then the series is clearly not going well for the Lakers. Boston is clearly the superior team, talent-wise, in this series. That doesn't necessarily mean anything at this point. The 88 finals between LA and Detroit comes to mind. I remember the Pistons being the clearly superior team, but thanks to guts, grit and a few favorable foul calls, the Lakers escaped with a championship that they didn't necessarily deserve. Not that I'm complaining . . . I'm just saying that the Lakers have proven themselves to be the "underdog."

I guess I'm not a big "Kobe" fan; I've always been a Shaq guy. I understand why the Lakers traded him away. Hindsight has proven that Shaq was on the downside of his career. He's still a good player, he's just no longer the self-proclaimed monster force of nature. So Miami basically rented Shaq for about 2 years and he brought much needed attitude and a championship to that team. He even played his heart out that year in the Detroit series; like he had something to prove after the Lakers' loss the previous year. However, as evidenced by Phoenix's gamble this year, asking for Shaq at this point to carry a team is asking for a bit much.

I know, I know . . . Kobe is playing the best ball of his career and he's now threatening to be regarded in the same class as Jordan, but I just can't get into him. If the Lakers win the championship, I'll be very ambivalent about it.

Ok, enough basketball. Where was I?

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In terms of fan obsession, "Sex in the City" is the desperate feminine version of "Star Trek". Women dressing like their favorite "Sex in the City" character before watching the film, meet up in a bar and drinking "cosmos". Who does that? "Star Trek" fans, that's who. Dressing up and pretending to live life like their favorite FICTIONAL character . . . all in good fun. Well if it's sick for Star Trek, it's sick for Sex in the City.

But as one guy expressed in a candid conversation, "any show that encourages women to drink, screw around, cheat on their lovers and act like sluts is alright by me."

Hear, hear.

For the record, I think it's a good show.

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My brother's high school buddy took it upon himself to spearhead the creation and implementation of a scholarship commemorating my sister's memory. It was a very selfless and generous action on his end. The idea of a scholarship was publicly brought up at Kim's funeral by one of her eulogists. It sounded like a very good idea, even when that eulogist dropped the ball and disappointed the hell out of my family. The scholarship seemed to be a good step to turn what was a very distressful and sorrowful situation into something positive. My brother's friend, for no reason other than compassion, took up the cause and willed this scholarship to fruition. Jay, my family is forever in your debt.

To learn more about the scholarhip, here's the speech I wrote for the scholarship recipient's award ceremony:

We’re here to present the award for the Kimberly Perez Making Connections scholarship, which acknowledges the student whose submitted essay and actions best illustrate the following ideas:

1. that such things as age, gender, nationality, language, ethnicity and religion should never stand in the way of compassion.

2. that education is the best road to compassion.

3. that compassion, even if it frightens you, should always lead to action.

These ideas, which fuel this scholarship, was inspired by our sister Kim who embodied them every day of her life. She was an amazing person; a stubbornly fearless individual who was positioning herself to make a larger contribution to the world community.

We see a little spark of Kim in this year’s chosen essay, in which the student was so moved by the plight of Ugandan children in that country’s civil war, she felt compelled enough to raise awareness and aid, by helping to organize the “Sounds of Silence” event in 2007. This is an example of education leading to compassion which in turn, leads to action.

This year’s recipient goes on to write about her time volunteering at a neighborhood hospital, noting that making connections is not just about the grand public gesture. It’s also about the smaller personal actions that can make all the difference in everyday life.

It is our hope that this year’s recipient views this scholarship as encouragement to continue down her stated path, to begin her studies in Sociology and Psychology, and perhaps one day, join the Peace Corps.

We are proud to present this year’s Kimberly Perez Making Connections scholarship, and its $500 dollar reward, to Margarita Lopez.


The scholarship recipient had no idea she was the winner. As I read the speech and talked about the specifics of Margarita's essay, my peripheral vision caught sight of her visible surprise as the realization dawned on both her and her friends. It was once of the nicer moments I've had in a while, and I'm sure Kim would have approved.