happy b-day, god

By coincidence, ... well, not really, I clicked on Answers.com quite frequently because of my poor English. Anyway, on the homepage of Answers.com, Michael Jordan is Today's Hightlight. February 17, today is his birthday. I didn't know it even though I was a huge fan of his.

Back in junior high and high school days, I was crazily watching NBA because I fell in love with Jordan. In Taiwan, Jordan was THE Jordan. It did not mean the name of a country or anyone else's names. When I said Jordan, people knew whom I was talking about.
In US, not really. When I told my officemate that I was going to see Jordan playing basketball, she went "Jordan? Who?"
Alright, the point is that I was following NBA at least until the second or third year of university. I knew a bunch of players' names and what they were good at and rumors about them. Guys liked to talk with me because I knew all the "cool" stuff about NBA.

Oh yes, I went to see Jordan.
It was January of 2003. Jason and I traveled to DC and spent hundreds of dollars just to see him and to hear his voice. And also Iverson, the cute player in the 76ers. But mainly, I was going to see Jordan.
He was not as good as he had been when he led the empire of Chicago Bulls. He did not score as many as before either. But I had to see him. I had to see him before he retired for good.

Here is a picture from my camera. You can see more pictures on my old Chinese website. I wish I could sit even closer to feel the wind as he flew off the ground.

The first time I noticed him was when a classmate played a video of Jordan's best performances during our lunch break. Yeah... I went to a quite expensive private school where every classroom had two TV sets and a video player (and AC). The video showed Jordan's flying skill and his incredible speed passing through the opposite team, reaching the basket, putting the ball in, and of course, sticking out his tongue.
I was amazed totally. His movements were not just playing a ball game but dancing. He was performing an art. He was the god of basketball.
A Japanese comic book series was inspired by Jordan and the NBA. The comic book became the textbook of all teenagers. It also became movies and many other commercialized items.
Jordan's Nike sneakers were sold at high prices but everyone had at least one and boys had more than one. People stood in line before the stores opened so that they could buy a "fresh" pair of a new version of Air Jordan. My Jordan sneakers were not actually or officially Air Jordan, but they were Nike and got Jordan's "flying slam dunk" logo and got "AIR" covering the sides.
It was crazy and fun.

The championship game was always at the end of June, when was the busiest time for we students. I was preparing for the University Entrance Exams. Everyone appeared in the area around the Taipei Train Station was preparing for some important exams that were going to take place in June or July. The streets were super busy partly because so many students or exam-takers were walking around from class to class anytime during the day. But people would stop studying and stop at a TV anywhere one could find on the street. For example, I stopped at a McDonald's. We stopped because Jordan was on TV and Chicago Bulls were winning.

Ah.. youth. I miss it.
Like today I was cleaning up my dressing room and decided to put LaoTaiPuo 老太婆 into the closet so that it will stop collecting dust. So that it will stop reminding me of the old time.
LaoTaiPuo is a stuffed animal: a Pooh pretending to be a penguin. He (I know his name indicates that he should be a female but I think he is male) came to the US with me in 2002. He was a gift of a boyfriend who occasionally appeared in my dreams.
Dreaming of an ex is some kind of message, I guess. My best guess is that I miss youth. I miss the time when I was with him. I miss him but I don't miss him. You know what I mean?
I miss being so happy. I miss that the only thing I had to worry about was my grades in school. I miss that I could laugh easily.

Another reason that I was so mad about Jordan was his figure. He was hot.

Face is important of course. Some men just cannot stop me from looking at their faces. I like beautiful people.
And a butt like Jordan's is something that I would stare at if no one stops me.
Happy 45th birthday, Jordan. Stay in shape!
You are still the god of basketball for me.

As to my youth, I miss it but don't dwell on it. Dreams are not reality, between which I know the difference. I smile but don't cry over a scene of an old time memory.
45 is too old to play NBA. 45 is not too old in life. New hightlights are still more than just possible.
I am younger than 45. I move on and should create new highlights of my life.
I still miss my youth. For now I place it in my closet and sometimes dream of it with no harm done but smile.