Memory Mania #3

Memory Mania #2

One really stupid thing about being 13, besides getting gigantic turquoise glasses, my first bra and a huge black eye the summer before 7th grade started, were these "Middle School" dances once a month at the YMCA. It was our big chance for the girls to stand on one side of the room and the boys to stand on the other, as these rituals go.

No one danced to fast songs...ever.

The cool girls, of which I was not one, with their big bangs, stone-washed jeans and Eastland shoes, were always asked to slow dance. I was only asked to slow dance once. Some cool boys dared this other cool boy to ask very uncool, very adolescent me with my turquoise glasses to dance to this song:



And until I found out from the cool girls that he had asked me on a dare, this song was my favorite.

And because this same boy years later asked me out and I said no, it still kind of is my favorite.

The lesson in all this? The magical r&b stylings of Bonny Brown transcend the stupid kids.

Memory Mania #1

One of the perks of being the editor of your high school newspaper is being able to feature yourself on the front page.

About Face staff member: What is NEIRAD anyway?

Artistic Director Bonnie Metzgar: It's Darien spelled backward, duh.

Here's how to enter our Multimedia Art Contest:

Yeah, yeah, we know: it's cold outside and times have been rough. But remember when you were in high school and nothing could thwart your passion or contain your dreams? Now's the time to dig deep and access that inner teenager: Make something! Be fearless! Have fun! Prove to yourself and the world that you can't be stopped by sleet, snow, or cash flow. And tell your friends to vote for your submission. Heck, vote for yourself! Lucky winners will get to present or perform their submissions for Stupid Kids audiences during the final week of our run at Center on Halsted. Submissions are due by February 18, 2009.

Your submission can take whatever form you want (poetry, music, dance, visual art, photography, film, puppetry, performance art, and/or any mash-up of the above!) and must address the perils of high school and young love. It also must include, in some manner, the words "stupid kids."

Most importantly, have fun and be creative.

Guidelines and winning information:

• Submissions must be under 2 pages/2 minutes long
• Submissions may be collaborative
• You must be high school aged or older to enter
  
• Winners receive the opportunity to perform/display work at one of the performances of Stupid Kids during the final week of the run (March 4-8) at Center on Halsted in Chicago. In addition, winners receive 2 free tickets to the Stupid Kids performance the night their work is featured and some sweet swag from Time Out Chicago!

Email submissions to aboutfacetheatre@gmail.com by Wednesday, February 18th. Please put "Stupid Kids contest submission" in the subject line

Submissions can be web links or files (small ones, please)
Text can be in a word doc or in the body of an email
Photos can be jpg, jif, bmp, and png images, no larger than 8MB
Video/Music can be AVI, MPEG, QuickTime, Real and Windows Media, no larger than 100MB

Here's how to share your Stupid Kid Stuff

It's easy, we swear. Submit stupid and embarrassing stuff from your high school years: photos, anecdotes, old love letters, journal entries…whatever!

Send your stupid stuff, and a caption if you’d like, to aboutfacetheatre@gmail.com. Please make the subject line Stupid Kid Stuff so we know what we're looking at. As long as we deem your stuff appropriate, we'll post it. If you would like to be credited, that’s cool. If you don’t want to, that’s cool too.

Photos can be a file or from the web. They can be jpg, gif, bmp and png images, no larger than 8MB.

Video, if you want to be really fancy, can be AVI, MPEG, QuickTime, Real & Windows Media, no larger than 100MB.

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