about 10 years ago?
I was. I had a collection of quite a few yo-yos, and wasn't too bad at flipping and spinning them. I was, of course, no where near the level of talent of some of the national masters, but I could yo-yo circles around pretty much everyone I knew. I even gave several local demonstrations at some chiropractor-sponsored kids events.
I remember I read everything I could get my hands on about yo-yoing.
If I recall correctly there was at that time some great strides being made in yo-yo technology. Fixed axles were being replaced with sleeve bearing and ball bearing axles that could spin for literally minutes on end. Of course, the old fixed axles still had their aficionados, especially for looping tricks, but those bearing axles literally rocked for string tricks. I wonder what type of advancements they've made in yo-yo construction lately. I should poke around the web and see what's big in yo-yo technology now.
I haven't picked up a yo-yo for years. Maybe I should dig out the old collection from the back of my closet and see what I can still do.