In case you didn’t know, I’ve been experimenting a bit with facial hair recently. I figure, hey, I’m no longer a BYU student, so I might as well, right? Well, the results are in, and I must say I’m quite pleased.
I mean, check out how awesome I look:
Alright, fine, so that’s actually Waylander from David Gemmell’s Drenai series, but hey, a man can dream, right?
So anyways, here’s what the beard REALLY looks like:
I figured it would be good to keep it short, and trim around the neck and cheek; kind of like Riker, actually (no joke–his look was kind of what I was shooting for).
One of the funny things I’ve noticed is how many girls have actually complimented me on this thing. It struck me as quite a surprise, because from previous conversations with the opposite sex, growing a beard is something of a kiss (or lack thereof) of death. Interestingly enough, I’ve gotten as many or more compliments from women as I have from men. How does that work?
I guess that girls are opposed to beards as an idea, but (like most guys) they just don’t know what they want until they see it.
Probably the most hilarious about-face was from my sister Kate (who just started a new blog, hey!). When I was contemplating growing it earlier this winter, she kept telling me not to–that it would look hideous, that no girl would ever want to date me, that it would ruin my social life, etc. Well, guess what she said today?
Me: so you like my beard, eh?
oh ye of little faith
Kate: yes
…
Kate: I like it
I think it makes you look good
you need to be sure to keep it trimmed
it looks good
I’m really surprised
Me: hehehe
Kate: I eat my worrds
Me: so why are you so surprised?
Kate: hahaaha
So anyways, what do you think? Should it stay, or should it go? I’m kind of partial to it, but I’m open to hearing any contrary opinions, if there are any.
In unrelated news, I am sooo freaking close to finishing WAFH 2.0, and it orders of magnitude better than the first draft. Still, it needs a lot of work, so I’m looking for first readers to help me out with it. If you’d be willing to help out, please let me know (and please, only people I know in real life–as much as I love you for reading this blog, I’d prefer not to hand out my work to complete strangers) (also, some of you have already emailed me and I haven’t gotten back to you yet, but don’t worry–I haven’t forgotten. Expect an email about it sometime in the next week).
If you’d like to volunteer as a first reader for WAFH, I’d ask you to finish it by April 15 (tax day, joy!). My next project is Edenfall, and I expect that to take me at least a month and a half. I’m really hoping to get WAFH publishable before the end of the year, so I’ll probably start the next draft by May.
In other totally unrelated news, I’m going to write Edenfall 1.0 entirely in longhand. Crazy? Perhaps. I’ve got the notebook for it, though, and did some arts and crafts with it over the weekend–pictures to follow. Also, I’ll be sure to let you know what it’s like to write a novel in longhand; it should be interesting.
Aaand that’s about it for now. Gotta write!
Joe,
Your beard is good.