January 17, 2008

My Beard of Shame


“We have now for many centuries triumphed over nature to the extent of making certain secondary characteristics of the male such as the beard disagreeable to nearly all the females

- and there is more in that than you might suppose"
... C.S. Lewis

I've worn a goatee (or whatever you call that 'stashe and chin hair thang) for the past few years. It seemed that all the cool kids were doing it (or something like that) back in the halcyon days of the early aughts and I kept it. As an added bonus, it's a real pleasure watchin' the grey replacing the black as the years progress.

A month or so ago I got lazy and decided to grow the whole thing out, much to the distaste of the missus as well as my corporate overlords. Which, of course are two good reasons to keep it growin'.

It's never really gotten much past that nice "dirty" looking phase... the stage where it just looks like I forgot about personal hygiene. That, along with the hoodie that I don whilst riding the rails generally ensures that people leave me the f&ck alone on my commute and tend to be unwilling to sit next to me unless they have no other recourse. It also helps that most of the time I am glaring at my fellow cattle.

I think I'm gonna keep it for a while, the missus thinks it makes me look older, but others have said it makes me looks younger.

On a related note, I have recently noticed that I no longer get carded when entering bars. It used to be such a pain in the ass since I thought I was being singled out and hassled. Now I kinda miss it. That and being offered help to cross the street by those pesky boy scouts is really bugging me.

So, in light of this totally self indulgent post (as if there are any other kinds!), I present the following toonage:


Toonage:

Lagwagon - Razor Burn
The Pixies - Ain't That Pretty At All
ZZ Top - Squank
Sham 69 - Angels With Dirty Faces
Pansy Division - The Summer You Let Your Hair Grow Out

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's up with you and Bob Weir? A goatee or a moustache, I can tolerate . . . but a beard? That spells longterm mental health service user to me. Plus, it's unhygienic.

Nazz Nomad said...

it is nowhere near as gnarly as cowboy bobby's. the duboius mental health part is right on, however.

Deadman said...

Nazz - Just thought I'd stop in to say howdy!

mrow - Amen to the Bob thing. You a Deadhead??

infinite fool said...

Please excuse the boilerplate nature of this note:

As a friend (and I am your friend), I want you to be among the first to know that I've decided to run for President of the U.S. of A. You can find all the details (and a nice musical bribe) here:
http://infinitefool.blogspot.com/2008/01/important-announcement.html

I hope I can look forward to your support over the next few months. In return please expect a night or two in the Lincoln Bedroom with the hollywood actor/actress of your choice (just pick a person or people and a date after the inauguration and I'll have the IRS do the rest).

There may also be cabinet positions available for the highest bidders, er strongest supporters.

Vote early, vote often!

Anonymous said...

Mark: I hope this won't get me in trouble, but - YES, I SUPPOSE YOU COULD CALL ME A DEADHEAD. But I can't say I'm proud of it. No sir-e-bob.

Anonymous said...

"It's never really gotten much past that nice "dirty" looking phase... the stage where it just looks like I forgot about personal hygiene."

It never will. I speak from personal experience.

Anonymous said...

Just keep it growing and eventually everyone will stand clear of you. I've not cut my beard for four years now and everyone hates it - so that keeps it all intact.