Backpages: High School Daze

Well, it certainly was a scary and exciting time. High School, puberty, acne, band, jazz band...urg. And then there was the Dead, parties, Drama Club, Camel Lights, the other stuff you smoked, Outing Club, the jocks, the rednecks, the hippies.

I was a hippie, as you will notice momentarily. Somehow I fell into that category. That was a fun phase. I sure got dumb quick. No, really, Ryan could tell you. Oh, I'm glad it's over and done. A distant memory. As crap-tastic as it may have been, there were certainly good moments. It was cool being older, finally. But I remember feeling I wasn't nearly old enough. Everybody cool was always a year or two older. And I could never catch up. Having a big sister in High School helped. It was like a VIP ticket into higher coolness. Things were surely status-oriented back then. I'm glad I'm not concerned with such things anymore. Heh.

These are a few pictures I managed to salvage. Not many, but a glimpse into the dude I once was. They're mostly of me, and some of the people I met along the way.

Ladies, your search is over.

High School is for monkeys.

Always enjoyed the school plays. It was A: a way to meet girls, and B: an opportunity to act like a fool and get away with it.

Aside from high school plays, my family used to be very involved in community theater. This was taken from a production of Camelot, maybe fifteen summers ago. Ryan even had a bigger part than me, the bastard.

I sure was skinny back then. I'm guessing 16-years-old here.

Hair! I may be losing it now, but at least I had it once.

In 1989, our high school won the Maine State Theater competition for our performance of Alice in Wonderland. Our high school also won the previous year for Marat/Sade. It's worth mentioning because there was something special about the students and teachers those few years. There really was. A wave of fierce creativity the likes of which I wouldn't see again til college. Kelly, my big sis, was a big star in both plays. She was a Senior during Alice, as in the above picture. I was a Freshman at the time, and was nothing more than a low-end techie. But I'll never forget the absolute thrill of being a part of that activity when it was happening. As far as I know, theater at that school all but fizzled away in the years that followed.

Me, Ryan and Kelly. This one's an all-time favorite.

Did you ever have that assignment in high school where you had to care for a flour baby? Well I did. I remember having to walk around with it for a week, because we were being graded on it. We also had to partner up with another 'parent'. My then girlfriend and I paired up. I remember thinking how weird it was pretending to have a baby with the person I was dating. Y'know because we were teenagers and all. And it was for a class? And the flour got everywhere. High school was creepy sometimes.

Dude. Duuude. Wow, don't ask.

This might have been my senior picture. I just don't think it was the right one. Too sleepy? What do think of my sweet Guatemalan vest though? Well, I could get away with it then. It was the look, man.

More drama. Acting is awesome.

Holy crap, I made it! I'm off to wacky progressive college now.

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