No-Shave November

Well, the month is half over and my beard is really itchy and scratchy. For those who do not know, I agreed to participate in the 2004 Annual No-Shave November. This is an event where guys who go to Boyce College go the entire month without shaving. Actually, it is just a couple of us from my hall and a friend from Seminary. This year, though, one of my female friends decided to participate--that took an incredible amount of encouragement, let me tell ya. I do have to say, though, it builds community among those of us who participate. When everyone tells us to shave because we look homeless, we can band together as brothers (and a sister) and support each other. *sigh* It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.

Seventeen days till I can shave again. The big question now is where should I go from here. Return to the goatee? A soul patch? An Adolf Hitler 'stache? I've recently taken a poll and the two biggest groups say I should either go clean shaven (which won't happen because of my baby face) or keep the full beard.

Right now, though, I am leaning towards a clean shaven chin and lip and go with a pair of sweet chops! Many disagree, but I continue to iterate that chops are on their way back. There, I blogged my prophecy. My friends, chops will be seen in style in the fashion and entertainment industry within a year of November 13th, 2004. They'll be thinner chops than what I would like, but they'll be chops all the same. I'm pretty excited that I am ahead of the fashion curve for once in my life. It'll probably be the first and last time I'll be on that side of the curve, though.

Seventeen days. This is all assuming I do not go along with a friend who shall remain nameless (Quinton Bridges). He is pushing me to go for "Don't-Shave December". The problem is that he won't stop there. He'll continue to make some alliteral slogan for every month from now until Kingdom come. This is the guy, by the way, who is apparently participating in "Seldom-Shave Semester". No, after much thought, I am disinclined to acquiesce to his demands. The Grizzly Adams look just doesn't appeal to me.

Seventeen days. I'll post regular updates for everyone who is interested (which is probably zero) over the next two and a half weeks. My prayer is that my mom won't freak when I go home for thanksgiving and attempt to shave me in my sleep over the holiday. I might need to lay off the turkey this year so I can stay awake longer.

Maybe next year we can call it Nazarite November. Maybe not.

--mike