Beard growing is a serious business

I've just recovered from a migraine, which is why I look awful (excuses excuses). :-D Anyway, here's the third day's progress, and as you can see it ain't much...still, there's definately a shadow, woohoo!! Beard land, here I come! Oh, and in case you're wondering...yes, it *is* the same shirt I was wearing the other day...but that's not suprising as I'm wearing my pyjamas. :-D

And on the third day, there was stubble. Coarse was the stuff, and excellent for sanding small pieces of wood or scrubbing stubborn stains on dirty dishes. Yea, verily.

That's the goat, not the symbol for "call me". I interrupted a shredding session to post this.

That's the very definition of bushy undergrowth right there.

Barely 48 hours in, you're looking at about an eight of an inch on average.

It can't be stopped.

Well, that's not strictly true. I mean, a simple razor stops it usually.

But not this month!

The descent into madness begins.

Okay, it's not as bad as it looks. I've just been holed up in the house all weekend tending to an ear infection and a sinus cold. So I figured, why not get the inevitable bathrobe/puffy eyes photo out of the way early this year?

I mean, it's not like it can get much worse than this, right?

Right?

Contemplating Murder...

Okay, so you'll note from the windows behind me that I've had to tweak the picture taking time of day as a result of my playing catch up. But I'm all good to go now. Official picture time will be at 6PM Eastern each day from here on out. I'm totally gonna take this thing, everyone who isn't me sucks at beard growing, I've been saying it for years!

Hair level: More Stubble

Notes: As picture was taken (and as I type this) I am listening to Murder At Avedon Hill, a podcast novel that I'm in (http://www.pgholyfield.com/maah/).

Big chin, no stubble

It's day 2 (2 posts in one day, I know, but the first pic really was taken yesterday..honest!), and..errr...there's no difference!

Hmmm, perhaps something's broken?

A close shave

Okay..so I'm a little late to the party...but my pictures have been taken on the appropriate days. :-)

The reason I love HoNoToGroABeMo is because...it's a great excuse not to shave! I am sooo lazy!

Gotta Have Soul!

So here I am, Jeff Greiner, always willing to do something stupid with my facial hair for a good, or not so good reason.

The shaving commenced, the picture was taken, and now, now it's time to show you what I have.

At the end of Day 1 (November) I looked as I appear here (no Day 0 pic, sorry).

Hair Level: Stubble

Notes: I just couldn't lose the soul patch. Brotha's gotta have soul!

Stubblicious!

It's too bad I'm going to shave the stubble off the front of my neck come Monday morning. I have a feeling that, if allowed to grow unchecked, this is the stuff that would be most impressive at the end of the month.

And I would look like I was wearing some sort of freaky scarf, or perhaps a stole made from a fox with the mange.

Too much flash!

Behold the stubble.

Behold also the fact that I have to stoop to get in the shot while the timer goes beep. I am too tall for my bathroom.

You have to feel badly for the competition, really. My follicles have been practicing for this for the last 20 years. Examine the high-res, if you dare. You'll notice a dramatic darkening under the chin.

That's right, gentlemen, the beard begins.

The Young and the Beardless

Here we have another entry into the ranks of the beardless. Kyle is my young apprentice and he, too, has vowed that he will not lift a razor to his face in the next 30 days.

Unfortunately, Kyle isn't much of a blogger, so he has opted to participate in a more passive role: he will largely be playing with toy cars and watching Go Diego Go! while the rest of us concentrate on turning our chins into the very essence of ruggedness.

Note the manly Kirk-Douglas-Like impression on that jaw.

Wow. Okay. That's something I haven't seen in over 15 years.

Wonder if I'll sunburn more easily? Could be.

The irony of all of this is that my wife was complaining about me shaving off my beard, but once I'd done so, she wants me to keep it off for a while.

There's just no pleasing some people. :)

Ooh, artsy.

And so it us upon us: HoNoToGroABeMo.

Unfortunately, NaNoWriMo is also upon us, and it requires significantly more work, so I'm going to go jump on it in just a few minutes.

But I wanted to get my zero-day post in. I just had my last shave for a month. Like most of them, it's not very good. I've even had barbers comment on how tough I am to shave.

I'm looking forward to not tearing up my face with sharp metal objects. Having grown a beard once before, I know what to expect, so I don't have much in the way of worries about scratchiness or how Mrs. Bob will react.

In fact, the only reason I don't wear a beard nearly full time is that it makes my face too hot when I'm doing things athletic. And while the picture over there may seem to indicate that I don't do that very often, I play at least three serious hours of volleyball each week.

That'll wrap up this first installment. I have to go get my NaNo files ready. See you tomorrow!

Do Not Make Eye Contact

Step One: Shave the beard.

Check!

The beard is gone and the growing begins! Today (October 31st) I put down my razor and I will not pick it up again until December.

Big thanks to Bob Voegerl for the fantastic new home of How Not To Grow A Beard Month and a hearty welcome to those who have decided to join us in the quest to see what sort of follicular masterpiece will spring forth from our cheeks in thirty days.

If you'd like to embark upon this madness with us, it is not yet too late! Shave now! Let your chin feel the caress of cool air against bare skin for the briefest of moments before a veritable forest of facial hair springs up to reclaim it!

Now let's get out there and do Chuck proud!

How Not to Grow a Beard Month

The goal?

Simple. In thirty days, take your pretty little baby face from clean-shaven to your best approximation of that guy up there using nothing but your DNA and your not shaving.

Growing another fist under that beard should not be attempted unless you actually are Chuck Norris.

But clearly you're not, elsewise you wouldn't need to grow a beard.

You'd have been born with one.

If you'd like to participate, you don't have to do anything, but if you'd like to track your progress here on the site, you'll have to bug one of us for an invite. I'd be letting you drop raw HTML on this thing and for that, I'd have to trust you. (Or at least, be able to track you down and kill you.)