reader, you may know that the baron is one-half chinese, having inherited her relative lack of body hair and sallow winter-time skin from the mother (math skills as yet to be developed). in her youth - her extreme youth - she never gave her ancestry much thought, except that her house (and that of her grandmother's, and of her aunts') smelled strongly of cooked onions and canola oil and spices, and recently boiled rice; these odors were absent in the homes of her friends. when she was slightly older (having moved from the protective smallness of private school to the jarring public school landscape of junior high), her dark hair and slightly slanted eyes *really* bothered her, what with all her friends being blonde, petite, and destined for cheerleading greatness. the baron - tall and skinny and dark complected - felt her difference acutely.
those days are long past, reader. the baron has since come to appreciate herself: dark hair is no better or worse than blonde hair, the swim team is just as worthwhile as the cheerleading squad, and it turns out everyone wants to be tall and skinny! yay!
and, all those cooking smells, the ones that permeated her childhood home? the ones that permeate her memories still? well, those are coming around too: see this article in today's new york times.
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