Walking the Line

"A Girl of the Limberlost" was my favorite book at the age of nine. It is a bittersweet tale of a girl who manages to overcome parental neglect, poverty, and loneliness. Elnora, the heroine, pays her way through school, wins the respect of all around her through her kindness and smarts, and falls in love with a dashing young man. I, however hard I try, would never be like Elnora. So lets look pass the fact that she is white girl living in the swamps in the 1920's. Because of the hardships she endured, Elnora was an adult at young age, and because of the choices I made in my life, I have yet to cross that line. For the past 5 years I feel like I have been walking the line between carefree youth and adulthood.

An example of this balancing act is Saturday. Like almost every Saturday morning, I woke up early poured myself a large bowl of cereal (reduced sugar Frosted Flakes) and sat in front of the TV to watch cartoons. After "Liberty Kids" which I watch just to pick out the famous guest star voices and its bitchin' theme song, I assembled my backpack to go to school. With backpack on my back, I sat on my living room floor to procrastinate a little longer. I watched half an episode of "Xiaolin Showdown" before realizing it was a rerun and left the house. Pedaling on my ten speed bike, I thought of the experiments I needed to do and the lesson plan I had for the summer student. At school, I was farily efficient except for the 15 min I spent reading the NYtimes online. I destained one gel, took care of my cells, ran some PCR's and purified them, and read 2 pertinent journal articles.

On Saturday night, I went to D and T's place for a bbq. (No weekend debauchery to report, although on Thursday S and I did get digits from French astrophysicists.) I was greeted at the gate by T fanning the orange tongues of fire spreading from the coals. He doused the briquettes with an additional squirt of lighter fluid. Leaving him to his manly fir ritual, I walked inside the apartment, to see an elegant spread of crostini, tapenade, and wine. D introduced me to S and M, a fun married couple, who were in the middle of an animated story about M's mother. As I was reclined, in the leather arm chair with my glass of red, I was getting feeling that nice glow of friends and of course the wine because I am asian. At the dinner table, we convened with more wine, salad, grilled steaks, and potatos. The mood was set with more tealights and conversations about politics, theater, and work. However, that is not to say the talk was not lively or that S did not break into Sir Mix-a-Lot's "I like Big Butts."

Poor Elnora. She never had this much fun. For all her maturity and wisdom, I'd trade it all to stay walking the line for at least a little while longer.