February 4, 2006
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Lipids for Life
I used to be in a gang. We were involved in some pretty rough shit: aside from supporting a larger network, we dealt triacylglycerols. Sometimes we dealt in vitamins and hormones, but the demand for triacylglycerols kept us flush, kept us in work. Things got pretty rough the summer of 2000—South Beach was dealing on our turf, wiping us out faster than you can say “Greg Smithy.” South Beach got a taste of their own medicine a few years later, when Atkins came up and took things over. I’m not living the life anymore—I’ve seen too much as it is—but whenever I run into my peeps from the old ‘hood, I can’t help but flash our sign—three fingers held sideways—and give them a shout-out.
“Lipids!”
In case you weren’t a gangbanger like myself, you might not know that Lipids are the biological molecules from which humans and other animals store hormones, vitamins, and most importantly, triacylglycerides (that’s street for “energy reserves,” ladies and gents). Ask any gangsta and they’ll know that triacylglycerides are a bad ass three pronged structure containing fatty acids. True playa’s are down with the fact that these fatty acids do more than make you gyrate like an Easter Jell-O mold when you drop it like its hot to Wrex-n-Effect’s Rumpshaker. Depending on what kind of fatty acid you are dealing with (saturated, non saturated, trans, essential), they can either make your hair shiny and your skin fresher than a Noxima commercial or junk up your arteries with plaque, giving you a coronary. For the nutritionally ignorant, fatty acids can be a mean game of Russian roulette.
And that’s the straight dope.
My fellow ex-banger Brian’s birthday was yesterday. My dogg is 24 now, but I can still remember being a shortie in middle and high school with him, chilling with our homeskillet Lindsay in his parent’s living room. The three of us would devour mini pizza bagels and egg rolls from Wing Lauk while alternately studying biology and watching Jerry McGuire or Evita. Our reward for memorizing a page of notes or for getting through a stack of flashcards was to watch another scene of the movie. And because our study methods were so phat, we rarely abused this reward system by skipping the studying altogether to watch the movie.
Our study sessions were comprised of free style rapping about biology and improvised, biology inspired mini-dramas where we were in gangs like The Lipids. Sometimes we resorted to the tried and true flashcard method, but even that was done in game-show fashion, complete with buzzer sound effects and cheesy voices. If it weren’t for Brian, I might not know how much science rocks. In fact, I might not know that I am actually a smarty pants at all if it weren’t for him—academics were nothing but a snore to me before Brian began hosting our study sessions.
I’ve never had anything less than a riot hanging out with my buddy Brian, even when studying biology. Aside from being a great lab partner, Brian is a truly good soul and a great friend. He gets me. I get him. What more could you ask for in a pal?
So here’s to you, Brian. Or Brain. Or Byron. Or Tinos. Or whatever it is we are calling you these days. May this year of your life bring you more essential fatty acids than trans fatty acids. Omega 3 forever, baby.
___________________________________________________________How has a friend impacted your life?
Comments (5)
That’s a hard one. I think all of my friends have helped me in different ways. My friend Matt has been steady, trustworthy and served as a reference for my current job. My very handy friend Jeff helped me get to the bottom of why my basement flooded shortly after I moved into the new house. My friend Patrick and my late friend Dan introduced me to so much wonderful music. My friend Yoon introduced me to blogging. My friend Fred introduced me to Xanga, and to a number of cool people in real life. Through it all my (fraternal twin) brother has been my best friend, always happy to lend a hand when he can.I guess that’s an embarrassment of riches, but I am happy to acknowledge it.
I’ll with Tim. ^^ Many friends had an impact in many ways. RYC: No kidding about the crappy weather. I went to meet Jeff (doahsdeer) at his murder mystery convention and was stuck driving out by O’Hare, totally lost. His hotel was practically on top of a runway! Had a hamburger and talked books. It was a lot of fun. That back out in this crud. I headed off the Kennedy before the inevitable pile-up at the merge. I don’t ever want to leave home again. Lynn
I’d hate to say the same thing as them and say that all my friends have impacted me, because that would be boring, so I shall mention my elementary school best friend Sylvia. She was my buddy, we could talk and talk for hours on end and she helped me realize that it was okay to be myself and not try at all to conform to the norm.
ryc: that place is sooo very expensive, but it is so yum! My friends and I go, when we feel the need to be extra fancy.
de la soul said it best… me, myself and i. steve martin said it second best, everything you need to learn in life is in the movies. so i thank myself and movies, you know, for being there. as if “i” had a choice… but movies… artists coming together in a collective effort to provide laughter, or tears or questions to my mind, even if just in attempt to pay rent or school loans… they did it. they put their efforts on the line and risked immortilizing failure or success. if art is a question inside of an artist being answered through a medium, then film is a whole conversation! & i thank them for their hard work, and mine. E
I had a roommate who became a really close friend that thought I was the funniest person she’d ever met. I’m really not that funny…I’m just aware and comfortable enough with my lameness that I can usually stay barely on the “laughing with me” side of the line. But Megan and I had the same random sense of humor and she thought I was the most hilarious person on earth. I usually don’t connect deeply with many people. My closest friends are my family because it takes that level of trust for me to really open up to someone else. But Megan and I clicked right away, we skipped that whole awkward acquaintance stage and went straight to sleepover-like silliness. She taught me that despite all my introversion, there are some people who will totally and unexpectedly disarm me.