Magical Games

When I was a full-time programmer, I used to live in a bachelor pad in Union City. My friend Josh had purchased a house in a cul-de-sac and had put up a basketball hoop in the street. It was awesome. After a hard day's work, I'd load up the iPod, get my basketball gear on, and just go out and shoot. One of the benefits was that it really improved my shot, but the thing I enjoyed most was just the quiet rhythm of shooting. Sometimes it's hard to start a game here. Alot of the time it's because I'm not really sure what the rules are in starting a game. Plus, sometimes it's hard for people to want to play with the foreigner, especially since they can't tell he's a foreigner. He's just some weird Chinese looking dude that has an obvious language problem. So today I decided that I'd go out for shooting practice. I was all ready to find a court for myself. No need to try and get picked or to be invited to play. There weren't any free courts but I saw a guy that was just shooting around by himself. I decided to join him. Things were going fine…dribble, dribble, shoot. I found myself really enjoying the introversion that shooting with an iPod plugged into the brain provided. All of a sudden one guy shows up. He starts helping himself to the balls and joining in the shooting. Then another guy shows up. Then still another guy with two of his friends. All of a sudden I'm in a game. I thought it was hilarious. When I try to get picked up for a game, sometimes I had to wait for a long time. When I try to just shootaround by myself, games magically form around me.