I was gently reminded today, once again, that facial hair of any kind is not permitted in the kitchen. Company policy, they tell me. It's been a few days since I last shaved because, you know, I'm in Yellowstone... So my homework for tonight is to drag out the cheapo (I speak of quality here, considering that the Yellowstone General Store Company has something of a monopoly on essential toiletries) single-blade Bic razor and, once again, remove from my face the beginning of that which I had so earnestly looked forward to growing this summer.
I can't be certain what it is about the beard that is so enticing to me. Honestly, though, I think it's mostly the tractor-beam pull of laziness. Something keeps growing on my face. Social ethics request that I kindly get rid of it, but...I'll do it tomorrow. I have more important things to do; like blogging... It's either that or the beard helps cover up my boyishly round face - which is a lot like shoving a cat into a burlap sack. You're free to exercise your imagination with that metaphor.
In any case, I won't have to worry about that because I'll be (mostly) perfectly clean-shaven this summer, and despite my whining, I can't say that the fact bothers me an incredible amount. Because a beard can be an incredible asset, or a crippling handicap. There's a very fine line that separates the lumberjacks from the wizards from the pedophiles.
Of course, some people wear beards for style, some for neglect, some for perceived style, and some for reasons unknown to the greater percentage of mankind. Every beard, however, tells a story. Many are boring and irrelevant, but every once in a while you come across a beard full of wisdom and experience.
I recently watched the movie Into the Wild (rent it, buy it, steal it, watch it now), which tells the tremendous real-life story of Christopher McCandless - a young man who gets fed up with the consumerism and insincerity of society and, upon his graduation from college, sets off on a tramp's journey to nowhere in particular, eager to find a more meaningful purpose than the 9 to 5 desk job that seemed looming in his future. Especially interesting to me was watching the progression of his beard throughout the film, as it was a constant reflection of his circumstances. From squeaky clean college graduate to wandering vagabond, his story could, in part, be told by the hair he wore.
Let's face it. Few physical attributes can be as genuinely expressive as one's hair. Its maintenance - or lack thereof - requires a special effort because, after all, it's attached to you. Hair is one of the first things that gets noticed on a person, and leads to first impressions such as: Sorry, this company doesn't hire pedophiles; or, Excuse me, but I was wondering if you could turn my dentist into a newt; or, I want to help you build a log cabin then live with you in it forever and have your babies.
[Please note the pun at the beginning of this paragraph]
You can tell a lot about a person from the way they choose to groom themselves, but you can't look into their soul. That requires interaction. Many times we pass people off as a first impression, and that's all they ever are to us. How many times, though, have we actually been forced to get to know someone and they turn out to be completely different than the stuck-up, greasy, insensitive jerk that we were certain of? As it were, at least one of my best friends used to be a stuck-up, greasy, insensitive jerk. After all, the best way to gain a friend is to be a friend... That, or get extremely rich.
I'm done talking about hair and related thoughts.
I can't be certain what it is about the beard that is so enticing to me. Honestly, though, I think it's mostly the tractor-beam pull of laziness. Something keeps growing on my face. Social ethics request that I kindly get rid of it, but...I'll do it tomorrow. I have more important things to do; like blogging... It's either that or the beard helps cover up my boyishly round face - which is a lot like shoving a cat into a burlap sack. You're free to exercise your imagination with that metaphor.
In any case, I won't have to worry about that because I'll be (mostly) perfectly clean-shaven this summer, and despite my whining, I can't say that the fact bothers me an incredible amount. Because a beard can be an incredible asset, or a crippling handicap. There's a very fine line that separates the lumberjacks from the wizards from the pedophiles.
Of course, some people wear beards for style, some for neglect, some for perceived style, and some for reasons unknown to the greater percentage of mankind. Every beard, however, tells a story. Many are boring and irrelevant, but every once in a while you come across a beard full of wisdom and experience.
I recently watched the movie Into the Wild (rent it, buy it, steal it, watch it now), which tells the tremendous real-life story of Christopher McCandless - a young man who gets fed up with the consumerism and insincerity of society and, upon his graduation from college, sets off on a tramp's journey to nowhere in particular, eager to find a more meaningful purpose than the 9 to 5 desk job that seemed looming in his future. Especially interesting to me was watching the progression of his beard throughout the film, as it was a constant reflection of his circumstances. From squeaky clean college graduate to wandering vagabond, his story could, in part, be told by the hair he wore.
Let's face it. Few physical attributes can be as genuinely expressive as one's hair. Its maintenance - or lack thereof - requires a special effort because, after all, it's attached to you. Hair is one of the first things that gets noticed on a person, and leads to first impressions such as: Sorry, this company doesn't hire pedophiles; or, Excuse me, but I was wondering if you could turn my dentist into a newt; or, I want to help you build a log cabin then live with you in it forever and have your babies.
[Please note the pun at the beginning of this paragraph]
You can tell a lot about a person from the way they choose to groom themselves, but you can't look into their soul. That requires interaction. Many times we pass people off as a first impression, and that's all they ever are to us. How many times, though, have we actually been forced to get to know someone and they turn out to be completely different than the stuck-up, greasy, insensitive jerk that we were certain of? As it were, at least one of my best friends used to be a stuck-up, greasy, insensitive jerk. After all, the best way to gain a friend is to be a friend... That, or get extremely rich.
I'm done talking about hair and related thoughts.
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