In a nutshell, I saw SATC on opening day, and it was the cliche mess I had originally feared the series would be. The series was a pleasant surprise, smart, insightful dialogue, richly developed characters, and a snappy pace. The film basically pandered to the superficial, vapid girls who truly do value shoes and fashion over substance and intellect. I didn't have high expectations going in, and I was still, nevertheless, disappointed.
And without spoiling anything plot-wise, I will say that the character of Stanford Blatch was criminimally under-used.
Years ago before I was born (so before running water and electricity), my dad was what can be considered a minor celebrity in Honolulu. Eventually, my parents met and married there, and my mom was pregnant with me when they moved back to the mainland (thus informing the story of how a nice Italian girl like me came to receive an Hawaiian first name). At any rate, cut to the summer of 1983 when I was a college student between my sophomore and junior years and I attended summer school at the University of Hawaii Manoa with three of my dorm-mates from San Diego State. So I spent the summer living in Honolulu during which time my dad came to town for a few days on business. The senator invited us to attend a big event (unfortunately, the occasion is lost to time), and I not only found myself at the head table, but I was seated between my dad and the senator himself. Mind you, I was 20 years old at the time, spending the summer in a tropical paradise where the drinking age was 18 (thus explaining my shoddy memory about the event), but still, it's crazy, right?
It's all very serendipitous because yesterday marked the 5-year anniversary of my dad's passing, and this story gave me a nice memory to reflect upon, smiling.
Not sure why I got invested in Idol this season considering I loathe everything about it. Nevertheless, there was a nice payoff at the end, and here it is.
So did you hear about this story? It goes something like this:
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Dozens of San Diego State University students were arrested after a sweeping drug investigation found that some fraternity members openly dealt drugs and one even sent a mass text message advertising cocaine, authorities said Tuesday.
Two kilograms of cocaine were seized, along with 350 Ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hash oil, methamphetamine, illicit prescription drugs, several guns and at least $60,000 in cash, authorities said. (Click here to read the rest.)
Yeah, that went down at my alma mater. Oh yeah, and the named fraternity? That's my brother's fraternity, his chapter, the whole shebang.
I won't pretend that San Diego State isn't a party school. It definitely is, always has been, but dayum, this is way over the top.
I often find myself going through life, shaking my head in disbelief at what I see. And then sometimes I am awed by something so stunningly beautiful that I'm breathless. I hope to document both here.
In a nutshell, I saw SATC on opening day, and it was the cliche mess I had originally feared the series would be. The series was a pleasant surprise, smart, insightful dialogue, richly developed characters, and a snappy pace. The film basically pandered to the superficial, vapid girls who truly do value shoes and fashion over substance and intellect. I didn't have high expectations going in, and I was still, nevertheless, disappointed. 
