I'm going through a bearded faze (photo courtesy of Mat). I've been through a bearded faze before, when I was in college. Back then, something about being around academics and professors made me want to grow facial hair. But when your a college student, no matter how hard you try, a beard will always look a bit strange. A youthful face with a full-on beard just seems slightly off. I noticed this with other students my age when I was in college, but I always thought (mistakenly) that I transcended this incongruity. I always felt the beard made me look older when, in truth, I just looked like a young kid who happened to have some hair on his face. I've confirmed this by looking at my graduation pictures.

So I'm not sure if I feel good about the fact that this time around the beard seems to suit me a little better. On the one hand, it's nice to be able to grow facial hair now and again and have it look appropriate for my face. On the other hand the fact that I can pull it off much more convincingly means I'm getting older, for real. In other words, it's not the beard. I simply AM older!

Anyway, this bearded faze has mainly to do with the weather - it's a nice accessory for the cooler months. I don't plan on trimming the growth this time, either. Thanks to Jeff's redbeard look last winter, I've been inspired to see how bushy mine would get within the span of a couple of months. Should be fun.

Update 3/30/05

And here are the results -


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