Among other things I had to do senior year, we had Senior Project. I tried to step a bit outside the technology hole, since everything else in my life was revolving around that at the time. So I took up fencing, and did a report on the difference between Olympic Fencing, and Renaissance Fencing. Olympic fencing is two people in white suits with little wires on a long mat. Renaissance fencing can be two teams fighting over bridges and thru doorways, with swords, daggers, and a variety of other weapons. It should be obvious which one I chose to pursue. I spent about 9 months doing that, and only quit when I left for college. I had been in a fairly unique group, and couldn't find anything like it when I moved. I only recently discovered what happened to that group, and may rejoin them at some point.
That project was technically for English class, and I did a lot of other unusual things for that class as well. Our best video work of that year was actually for that class, in place of book reports. Steve was pretty good at talking his way out of writing papers, and I came along for the ride, along with a few others to work on a “group project.” We did a legomation video combining 1984 with 9-11 (which was very current at the time), and another combining Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, with Star Wars.
A number of the senior guys got together and formed what Steve dubbed the "Gentlemen's Club." For a couple of days we got away with playing poker in English class, since we had a pretty laid back teacher. But once Steve got out the green felt table cloth, enough was enough, and we had to return to boring old class work. I don't recall what all else the Gentlemen's Club did besides host a couple of BBQs on campus. But that group combined with Thunderpaw did perpetrate one unusual feat.
I believe "Making Jack Grey" was originally the idea for a student film, about seeing how real you could make an imaginary person. Instead of making the film, we actually did it. Jack Grey was a pretty generic name, that doesn't attract much attention, and he didn’t have a memorable face. We started off with an email address, and a lot of stories. There were enough people in on it, that his name came up in a lot of places, and I don't recall anyone ever getting called out on it. He was at any important event that happened yesterday, and everyone always just missed him. I am sure he completed the STAR tests, probably multiple times, and turned in quite a bit of homework. He was even rumored to be thinking about running for Student Council. (Imagine if he had won;) My favorite part of that process was when our web manager announced at a Thunderpaw meeting that the only student who hadn't uploaded their web portfolio was Jack Grey. I am not sure which was the bigger question: "why didn't we make a portfolio for him?" or "how could she possibly not know?" But the crowning achievement was definitely when the principal mentioned his name at graduation. Anyhow, that continued to by my online name when I wanted anonymity for years to come. I just missed my 10 year high school reunion while I was traveling, but I wonder if he was there?
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