> Well, if you're going to name-drop, I guess you have to expect people to respond this way...;-)
>

Hey, I was *not* name-dropping. I said his name because his name, first and last, seems to be a grade-A *perfect* example of something your typical video producer would try to respell to the "correct" English spellings, yet they left *his* name alone and made *my* name "Aurthur". Hmph.

Then again, his dad is the vocal music director for our school, so I'm guessing they'd be extra careful to get his name right. :) (Especially since his dad has the same name.)

> Actually, I wasn't responding to your school's "sports reputation" per se, although for a small school you gotta admit Valley does awfully well.
>

I have my own opinion on this... basically it's that a school that at some point develops a reputation as a good sports school will tend to attract the good athletes, who then enhance the school's reputation, so more good athletes come, etc., creating a self-reinforcing cycle that acts to eventually make all schools okay at sports into schools *great* at sports and schools bad at sports into schools *lousy* at sports. It's just the same as the "magnet school" idea for gifted kids, only less overt and less planned.

Of course, there are other, complex sociological forces at work, so the equation isn't perfect... someday I shall write a monograph on the subject. :)

> No, I was responding to a familiar name...
> *chortles evily*
>
> ...I'm not only a koalamom,
>
> I'm a *crusadermom*
>
> we're EVERYWHERE, Arthur! You always suspected it, and you were right. We're even here on Rinkworks.
>
> My Crusader just happened to be on the track team with Pieter.
>

Urgh. I don't feel so well, now.

Hey, which Crusader was it? Anyone I know? (If it was one of the Jessicas, Nikkis, or Kristens, I think I shall die from an overdose of irony.)

> Yes, we Rinkydinks span the globe, but we're also in your own backyard. This is actually not a bad thing, I mean, hey, we could carpool to the Rinkunion together, right?
>

Hey, that *is* an idea. But when is it? Late July? (Urgh. I might not be in the state then.)

> (..and by the way, someone better watch their #$@&! language or someone's parents might just get a phone call...MUHWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!..., oh the possibilities *abound* here for blackma..uh, I mean, helpful community service heh heh heh)
>

Hey, all I did was type typewriter symbols! Just 34271 with the shift key held down... (All swear words in these posts are simulated. No actual children's ears were harmed in the production of these conversations.)

Besides, you don't even know my parents phone--

Oh, wait... *goes and checks*

I did leave my last name in the profile, didn't I? *goes and checks something else*

And even if I hadn't, there's only one Arthur in attendance at VCHS right now. (Not counting that freshman whose name is Arturo.) Curse this small student body! And curse our school's policy of issuing a phone directory!

> Anyway, however you feel about VCHS, you seem to have left behind a fine reputation of your own:
>
> Me: Do you know someone named Arthur Chu at your school?
> My Crusader: I don't *know* him, but I know who he is. He's really smart and really friendly.
>
> ...but I guess we already knew that from your posts here:-)
>

Okay, now I *do* want to know who your Crusader is. Is it someone who's graduated? It can't be a member of the class of '02, most of them do know me pretty well, or at least well enough to leave out the "friendly". :) (You usually have to know me really well to get through the smokescreen and learn to leave out the "smart".)

No, seriously, e-mail to me if you don't want to expose your household to Internet stalkers. I'm always interested in corresponding with a fellow Valley kid and parents. Especially one of the few who has a good impression of me. :) (Well, just tell me: male or female? Come on, don't dash my hopes... if there's *one* female student left who doesn't curse my name...)

> As far as having "Crusaders" (formerly considered bold Knights with a holy purpose, now just considered cultural imperialists) as a mascot, well, hey, I was a Tartar. That's Tartar as in "fierce Mongolian warrior" not tartar as in "dental hygiene problem". Our arch rival's favorite cheering taunt was "Let's make tartar sauce!"
>

Mmm... it's not cultural imperialism per se that gets me, just that they were a load of ex-cons who raped, burned, and looted not only foreigners but their relatives and fellow Christians (in the Byzantine Empire; I'm quite the Constantinople fan, and resent that the history of the illustrious successor of the Eastern Roman Empire gets spurned now for the much duller, IMHO, history of the splinters and shards of the ruined Western Empire.)

But it's not that big a deal. If we tried to change it half the jocks at the school as well as the vast sea of Boosters' Club alumni would destroy us. (However, our new principal does seem awfully receptive to new ideas...)

I would actually prefer Tartar, though. Maybe Hun. ("Go Hunnies!" Okay, or not.) Or Visigoth. Some of my friends talked about picking another item from Church history; how does the Valley Christian Inquisitors sound? :)

> koala"has probably sent Arthur away screaming and running from Rinkworks forever now"mom
>

Nah. I figured it wouldn't be worth it; any forum I found wouldn't be half as nice and probably would have even more Valley people lurking on it. Maybe even one of the Nikkis. *shudder* (Note: none of the Nicoles I'm talking about run track, just so you know. And, obviously, they're both people I know, so they can't be yours. :) )

And I'm not *that* down on VCHS. Sure, the spirit of Valley may not be an exact fit with my preferences (sometimes I still feel a twinge about not going to Whitney, the local magnet school), but by and large the majority of people I've met there have been incredibly cool people who really do have a heart for God. Even the ones I may have had one or two differences with. And that's really the most anyone can ask from their high school, right?

Ar"proud to be a Valley Crusader"thur