So, here it is, post 10,000. Exactly.
What a momentus occasion. It signifies that I have far exceeded wasting more people’s time on this forum than anyone else. For that, well, nevermind.
May 11, 2011. This is when I started on this path of yoyo and bought a Duncan Reflex and Imperial and started. A week later, I needed to look at upgrading and found YoYoExpert.
May 26, 2011 marks my joining of YYE. My first order, a DM2, 100 strings and thick and thin YYJ lube, was May 25, 2011.
Within 6 months, I became a ForumXpert.
In 10 months, I was running sound at CalStates 2012, which was also my first yoyo contest. I met many amazing players.
May, 2012, a year after joining YYE, I was running sound at BAC. That day I met Andre and met many more amazing players.
The past 2 years have had a lot of ups and downs, which have nothing to do with yoyo. Lots of bad stuff, some good stuff. Having this toy around has been a great method of dealing with issues, or rather not dealing with issues, or managing issues… well, whatever, it’s been there.
I’ve been honored, flattered and humbled. I mean, being able to be named in the same thank you list as people like Mark McBride, Andre, JD, Paul Escolar and more. This was my reminder:
Me, a nobody in the yoyo world, and yet somehow I am mentioned in the same thank you list with the likes of legends. Wow.
I recently came back across this the past couple of days, as I was thinking, “gee, what am I gonna write for my post #10K…”, that kinda summed it up for me.
I’m a horrible player. I’ve had enjoyment with it and I’ve cursed it. I’ve embraced it and I’ve rejected it. I come at it, and other times I quit from it. I never know what it will be from one day to the next.
I would like to take a few minutes to lay out some thanks, whether or not the people feel it’s due them or not, and in no particular order:
theroybit, who has become a close personal friend, through this whole yoyo thing, and is probably why I push forward with it.
Chris Allen, AKA Dr. YoYo, for giving me the chance to do what I do best, in front of a new group of people who have accepted me. By this, I mean doing sound for CalStates as a service to the yoyo community.
Andre Boulay, of course. Honestly, if it wasn’t for this site and that first order, this journey would have ended a LONG time ago. Not only that, but the “vote of confidence” of being name a ForumXpert.
JD Steel: Having met JD via pushing to do sound for BAC, and yes, granted, he runs a competing shop, I enjoy the working relationship and the new challenges he throws at me. Some of those challenges you’ll see in 2014!
YoYoDoc: Thanks for kicking me in the rear here and there when needed.
Tony Alonso, who runs another competing store, who kept me going at a time when I was just gonna say “you know, I think I’m done”. It was merely coincidental timing though.
To the people of YYE who I converse with via PM’s or Facebook, include yourself in this list as well, such as iyoyo58 and a few others.
I leave you with some words that I live by, that I discovered on my own, but may have been said by many others:
You never know when inspiration will find you. You may not know what form it may come in either. However, when it finds you or you find it, you owe it to yourself to take it as far as it will let you go, because you may not get another chance. Life is a short thing, in the greater scope of things. We are only here for a very finite period of time. Of that time, we should try to do things that we enjoy and make is happy.
This applies towards anything you need it to apply to. It’s especially true when it comes to creative and expressive things. It is not unusual for me to wake up in the middle of the night and try to write some music, save ideas, write an essay, re-design a network, re-wire a rack, take photos of stuff, make stupid animation videos or even pick up a yoyo and play.
Stay happy. And sleep with a glowing yoyo by your bed with a fresh string on it so you can throw in the dark and not disturb others.
