Spinning Bird Kick

As a child I grew up with a younger brother, two parents, and a Sega Genesis. Every day after school, my brother Justin and I would gather coins with Sonic, save Minnie from the castle of illusions, and fight on the streets of rage. Most importantly, though, we'd fight with each other in the guises of Ryu and Chun Li. Chun Li always won.

In high school I'd use my video game knowledge as bragging rights. While everyone knew the Contra code, I rattled off passwords to Sonic 2 and moves on Street Fighter like it was nothing. Those were the codes I had to work hard for; there weren't websites with cheats. Every now and then friends would come over after school to play. They thought I was cool because I liked video games. I thought I was cool because guys were finally talking to me.

As years went by, the PS1 and PS2 slowly replaced the Genesis and its six button controllers. Not one to forget the past, I brought it with me up to college, figuring it would at least give me something to do before I made friends. Little did I know it would actually help me make friends. Aside from the turtles, people came to my room to see the system. Stories of skipping dinner to finish a game (couldn't save back then) circulated and friends were made. Eventually, my core group of friends were made that didn't rely on video games to hang out together.

I remember late nights of Joe, John, Frank, Joel and other Joe battling it out. We all had our own characters, our own techniques. I could be in another room and still know who was playing. I might have even sewed my own Chun Li costume for Halloween that year (17 year old Lauren pictured to your left). Much like the character, my thighs overpower my waist and as a novice sewer, I made the skirt to fit my waist. I couldn't sit the entire night.

Since college, I lost some interest in video games. Sure, I spent lots of time playing Super Smash Bros or Wii bowling, but my small attention span got the best of me, until last night when Hunter brought home the new Street Fighter game. The player in me was ignited.

Like years before, I pushed aside dinner to play as my character. We battled against one another and then against others from all over through arcade mode. We met the new characters and learned their back stories. As a child again, I mashed the buttons.

An hour in I got a text message:
"Joe just kicked Frank's ass with Chun Li."

Up in Tallahassee the gang reformed to play. After many moments of user names and configurations, Hunter and I figured out how to network. I was connected to the guys that I met all those years ago in my small dorm room. So there, four hours away from one another, we battled once again.