Further Down the Facial Hair Rabbit Hole?

Ho-ho-ho!?

Despite the apparent popularity of growing a beard during the month of November, the availability of hair care products designed for facial hair remains limited. (online they are plentiful, but I remain, for now, a like-to-hold-it-in-hands-before-purchase kind of shopper.) While I have been allowing my untamed facial hair to grow unchecked for periods of time ranging from one month to several months on-and-off for almost ten years now, I have rarely used any care products specifically designed for use with facial hair. (I have done some research though, most notably reading Jack Passion's Facial Hair Handbook, )

Thanks, Mom.

Occasionally I'll consider taking the beard-thing to the next level, and falling down the competitive bearding rabbit hole. This daydreaming is also usually not met with affection by my wife. Just the other day, I wondered aloud where one might buy beard-care products like moustache wax. Her response? "You go into the bathroom and shave it off!"

Even if I were inclined to buy specialized products, finding any for purchase at my neighborhood supermarket or convenience store would be near impossible. Twenty years ago, I vaguely recall using moustache (or "mustache" as is the more common spelling) wax to handlebar up a 'stache I was sporting. Wa-a-ay back then, the product (which I have zero idea where I obtained it from) came in a cylindrical tube much like lip balm. This past weekend while visiting with my mother, she inquired if I had been styling my beard with wax, and when I suggested that I might like to but didn't know where to buy it from, she suggested a local beauty supply shop. By the next day, my mother had stopped by to a shop and picked up a small tube of  Clubman Moustache Wax for me.

Before "waxing" (top)
and after. 

Ironically, it is during these moments when I begin to consider embracing the idea of the maintenance and appearance of my facial hair, that I wake up with the urge to roll out of bed, walk into the bathroom, and follow through with my wife's suggestion of buzzing the entire thing off. Invariably though, this act of initiating the "period when man with a beard shaves it off," is soon followed by, as famously suggested by Jean Cocteau, the wait to "return headlong to my [his] beard."

So what impact did using the wax have? Application was pretty simple, though I did watch a few Youtube videos illustrating just how to do so correctly. The overall impact was perhaps not noticeable by the casual observer, (see before and after pic to the right), but it did provide some lift to an otherwise unruly (and saggy) upper lip. The wax did help tame odd out-of-place hairs, as well as to provide some better overall structure for the 'stache. My beard is still in the early stages of growth (especially as compared to some of the magnificent examples I've come across online), so it's awkward look can not be avoided. In some ways, I have thus far cultivated the facial equivalent to a mullet: all business above the lip and a hillbilly party below.

With the questions of whether or not I am participating in No Shave November soon to be in the rare view mirror, and the queries about my status as a department store Santa soon to be oncoming, for today, at least I look forward to continuing to roll with the beard. That is, until I tire of it, shave and patiently await the next opportunity to return head long to my bearded state.

Now Even I Can Tie a Bow Tie!

With a day off from school, and a few hours(!) to burn, I set about late this afternoon  to attempt to learn how to properly tie a bow tie. I had purchased one a few weeks ago when visiting my stepson at college and figured  there might be no better time than the present to give it a go...

After watching four different "how to" videos on Youtube and reading numerous charts on Pinterest, this evening I finally figured out how to tie a bow tie. For whatever reason, it was the video above featuring Mike Gonsalves (aka "brother" of www.sisterbrotherstyle.com) that finally allowed it to all come together for me. After repeated viewings perhaps the best advice he gave was the reminder that "there is no such thing as a perfect bow tie." Like most, the most challenging element of the know was the back knot, which Mike explained using a taco metaphor, and--HUZZAH--it worked!

Mission accomplished! (11/11/13)

Quest for Comic Book Beards

The first of November provides me with the quick opportunity to combine two of my favorite "activities" (or activity and non-activity) , collecting comic books and not shaving. With both No Shave November and Movember upon us, it is time to offer tribute to some comic book icons who (despite no longer living in a Sixties day-glow world) currently, or in the past, have rocked facial hair.

Based on this pic, the last 9 years have been
much harder on me than I thought!

My goal, in addition to this quickie intro, is to attempt to identify as many mustachioed or bearded characters from "mainstream" comic books  in my collection. Some choices may be sort of obvious (at least to comic book fans) such as Marvel's Thor or DC's Chief of Doom Patrol. Having never really given it much thought in the past, it occurs to me that there just may be 30 panels with (fairly) significant characters to choose from... though as evidenced by my most of my previous past truncated "count downs," whether I have the time is another matter.

In addition to simply digging through long boxes for epic facial hairiness, I continue my search for an alter-ego. There was a time when I fancied the idea of trying cosplay at comic conventions (very cool, I know), but despite occasionally dressing up in a homemade Mister Fantastic costume for some Halloween 5k fun runs, such as the 2006 Johnny's Run Like Hell (pictured above), I could not commit to a hero/persona because of my disdain for shaving--which often results in an on-again/off-again stated of beardedeness. (Note: In recent years, however, Reed Richards, a.k.a.Mister Fantastic, has been featured with  beard in the "regualr" Marvel comics universe. Let me further refine my previous statement  by suggesting that rather than hoping for an appropriate alter ego, I would like to find an accessible alter ego--is it really an alter ego if no one but the geekiest of fanboys can recognize who one is dressing as... even one as well known as a member of Marvel's First Family?

So it is with my razor firmly secured in the medicine cabinet, and my comic book long boxes at the ready, that I jump into Movember/No Shave November on a quest for Superfriends with a propensity for facial hair...

Hemingway's Boat Belt?

Last weekend I began reading Hemingway's Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost by writer Paul Hendrickson. The book focuses on the years 1934 to 1961—from Hemingway’s pinnacle as the reigning monarch of American letters until his suicide around through the lens of the one constant in Hemingway's life during this time: his beloved boat, Pilar. Having never read a Hemingway biography, one piece of info that has been on my mind has to do not with his boat, but with how Hemingway wore his belt. Yes, "his belt" as in the article of clothing worn around the waist to support trousers.

No loops for Papa.

Referenced a number of times (though at 531 pages, I couldn't find the initial appearance easily), Hemingway's manner of wearing his belt is eluded to in the chapter entitled "Shadow Story": "He [Arnold Samuelson] wore his belt over top of the loops--he'd learned to do that on Pilar." (page 159) It can be inferred here that Samuelson, as a member of Pilar's crew and a Hemingway idolater, would choose to wear his own belt in a fashion similar to the captain. (The quote as it appears in Hendrickson's book is also recalled in a more recent Bismark Tribune article about the author's relationship with Samuelson, though this belt wearing is included to make him seem odd, and the fashion statement is not attributed to any influence by Hemingway.)

What would posses Ernest Hemingway to wear his felt in such a way?

One reason why belts were originally worn at all, and on the outside of clothing, was not to hold up pants, but for purely aesthetic reasons. These tightly cinched accessories served to draw in the waist and give the wearer a trim physique, emphasizing wide shoulders and a pouting chest. Perhaps like the corseted soldiers of yore, Hemingway did this to appear more physically imposing or masculine?

This wearing of the belt outside the loops flies in the face of modern fashion, and ironically runs contrary to the advice given in Esquire.com's "The Rules of Belts". One rule suggests that "A belt must be big enough to fill the loops of your pants but not overfill them." Hemingway, wore his belt outside the loops. This talk of belts, fashion Esquire and Hemingway, brings us back around to his boat.  The author was indebted to the original Esquire publication for the money fronted him for a series of articles to generate the funds to buy Pilar.

In the end, it may have been simple sizing issues that resulted in Hemingway's over-the-loops fashion statement. Hemingway famously acquired a German soldier's belt and buckle with the Deutsche words 'Gott Mit Uns' (God Is With Us) inscribed on a crest that included the German eagle and Nazi swastika. A.E. Hotchner, in a 1949 article entitled "Papa Hemingway" notes that "it [the belt] was too wide for the loops of any of his pants, but he wore it anyway outside the loops."

Though only half way through Hemingway's Boat, I am finding the book incredibly accessible and interesting... and who know what other fashion tips I may come across in the remaining 200+ pages?

Sources:
The Strange but True Story of Ernest Hemingway's Nazi belt Buckle by Tom Sanders
Belt (Clothing) Wikipedia entry
Washington Times Review from December 29, 2011.

Buckle-Up: Civil War Replica

Over the past fifteen years or so I have intermittently "collected" belt buckles on various family trips we have taken. While I don't necessarily set out to hit up gift shops or stores with the intention of finding a special buckle to commemorate the trip, when I do come across something of interest (that I would be willing to wear in public without being too self-conscious), I will purchase it.

Some of my choices are fairly obvious and common for the fashion savvy traveler. Take the one posted above for instance, a basic (and,as I recall, inexpensive) replica brass Civil War Union Army belt buckle. Purchased in Gettysburg as part of a longer roadie to visits my brother-in-law in Gloucester, Virginia, this particular one was actually bought to replace a slightly better quality buckle I had bought years ago, but that had been lost to the sands of time following a few Spring cleanings. While I am fairly certain (due to the ease with which it can be found at a variety of outlets) this buckle is a "go to" memento for folks, I quite like the simplicity of its design as well as its implied historic value. Or perhaps it's my secret reenactor seeking to come out and play.

Ever the traditionalist, I wear the buckle frequently in its intended manner with letters "US" correct side up. There is, of course, controversy regarding various ways of  wearing of the buckle ("US" up or down), but I'll leave clarification of that to the experts... of which many partake in the discussion on sites such as The Civil War Reenactors Discussion Forum.

The ONLY picture from our layover in Gettysburg; clearly my camera ran out of battery power...

A Nascent Beardsman?

Following a "successful" No Shave November during which I only trimmed 2-3 times (in the interest of neatness), and cleaned up my neck once or twice, I have yet to fully shave. I've also recently begun watching Whisker Wars on IFC and been jesting with my friends and family about training to be a competitive "beardsman." I'm fairly untrained in beard grooming, so unless there is a "hobo beard" category, which according to the "Categories" page on the US Beard Team's website, there is not, I've either got learn to groom, or just go full beard natural or full beard natural with styled moustache.

My dog, my beard, and I.

As a professional, and with a wife who definitely is not that supportive of this possibility, neither is really as neat and cared for in appearance as either of the other possible options: the Garibaldi (a wide, full beard with a rounded bottom and integrated mustache) or Verdi  (a short, full beard with rounded bottom accompanied by a prominent mustache). Both the Garibaldi and the Verdi have length limitations (one's Garibaldi may not exceed V 10cm in length, while a Verdi is not to be longer than 10 cm) and, at least in the case of the Verdi, one may use "aids" such as moustache wax, for grooming. The moustache of a Garibaldi is not be integrated into the rest of the beard, so one can reasonably assume that some grooming might be necessary.

Seeking information about proper care and grooming, a quick online search on grooming led me to two resources, GC's The Modern Man's Guide to Beards and Jack Passion's book, The Facial Hair Handbook. Having previously read and reviewed (sort of) Passion's treatise, a quick review of GC's offerings only reinforced how incredibly well thought out Passion's book is, especially (for my purposes) the "Technique" chapter with a little part entitled "Shaping and Sculpting."

I would reckon that for now the goal would be to maintain my health, and the health of my beard, and let it continue to grow out a much more. In the meantime, I can continue to read up on the subject, enjoy following Passion's exploits on Whisker Wars, and resist my wife's occasional request to "shave it off."

They Call Me Kiiiiiiid...

My special edition CROCSkin Classics
in their natural habitat.

CROCS!

As a teacher and coach I spend a significant amount of my day on my feet. This was a cognisant choice I made when choosing  an educational path that would lead to a career in teaching as I recognized the difficulty I would have sitting in one place (a desk) for long periods of time (like in an office). I knew that to find myself in a job that required me to do just that would lead to a life of dissatisfaction. Of course, I had in the back of my mind that it would also lead to a dynamic life of standing, moving... teaching.

For the last few years, as I've made my way through the school day, and ultimately, school year, I would query high school students regarding footwear that was comfortable. Most of the time time their suggestions would be about one hip type of footwear or another that, though "cool" in appearance to them (Vans), proved uncomfortable for my purposes. I wanted a shoe that was breathable and comfortable.

This past summer, after noticing many more elementary school aged children, and more than a few of my high school student-athletes, wearing CROCS, I decided to make the leap to wearing the foam clogs while, at first, working in my garden. The brown Yukon Sport CROCS quickly became the only footwear I would don when doing anything that required anything on my feet. The fact that I could do so without socks was a benefit I greatly enjoyed. While some of my initial resistance to going the CROC route was my incredible misperception that they were decidedly unstylish ("hideous" by some accounts) or not professional-looking enough. This, of course, I quickly began to see was rubbish--or at the very least, in the eye of the beholder.

Now, I am a CROCS-fan and have welcomed them as a key part of my wardrobe whether in the classroom, tending the garden or coaching at meets. I proudly wear my CROCS  (Yukons, Crocskin Classics and/or Lined Cobblers) daily, in nearly every aspect of my professional and personal life, even having welcomed my students as fellow "cool" members of CROCS Nation.

If you, gentle reader and CROCS aficionado, are interested in sharing your CROCS story, as part of their 10th anniversary, CROCS is inviting you to share your CROCS story on their official website. I shared mine there and you should feel free to chime in, too!

Rabbit Walk

While I did have aspirations of starting a "Couch Potato to 10k" plan on this, my first official day of summer break, when that plan dematerialized after I had been awake for about ten minutes, I quickly switched gears and decided to head out for a walk to my local Bruegger's Bagel Bakery to pick up my traditional morning cup o' joe. Despite Bruegger's only being about one mile from my home, it did provide a nice opportunity to get out and about on a very beautiful June morning, and to have the opportunity to interact with some of my neighbors, human and animal alike.

Full disclosure: Not this morning's rabbit but one photographed on our sidewalk Sunday afternoon (6/24/12).

It has become the norm of late that when I do go for a walk (a practice I hope will increase with the summer months ahead), that I come across one of our neighborhood rabbits. Perhaps it was the unseasonable warm winter and spring, but there appears to have been an explosion in the urban rabbit population this year--a phenomena I have been sort-of following for the past two summers now. When I was training more diligently for road races the past few years I made a game out of trying to spot at least one each morning. Now, it has become difficult not to trip over at least one, especially as there has been a level of socialization taking place on their part.

This morning, a rabbit stopped not six feet from me, and I, in turn, stropped to look at it. Though it did shake slightly as it assessed my intentions, it soon continued on its way in no apparent hurry. I guess I seem harmless enough to a wild rabbit. Or it could be that I had inexplicably slipped on a pair of brown Crocs for my walk. It's my understanding that rabbits can have a very discerning fashion sense.