New Thing #311: No Shave November

OK. You caught me. I shaved last Friday, November 1st.

And I cleaned up around the beard this week.

But I'm growing my (now annual) beard a little earlier this year.

And technically I'm not fully participating in "No Shave November".

But a pre-Thanksgiving beard is kind of a New Thing.

First of all, there are a lot of wonderful people doing great things by growing facial hair to raise money and awareness to battle cancer.

I toyed with the idea of a fundraiser for my facial hair…but "No Shave" November is also a little bit of a "Too Many Things Going On In" November in these parts.

So I'm hoping that I can be a participant in the sense that someone sees my facial hair and it makes them think of donating or something.

I wanted to grow my beard in super-early this year, but I was worried it would be mistaken for support for the Red Sox in their playoff chase. So I waited until the World Series was over. Friday, November 1st was the last day I shaved. I grew in what I had over the weekend, and then cleaned it up for school on Monday.

And away we go.

(I am consciously going with no picture to accompany this post - I'm having trouble taking a picture of my face to show the facial hair without looking creepy.)

The only tricky thing is that I have parent conferences this week and I was worried about looking sloppy for them. But I think it's coming in neat…and people are kind of used to seeing me with a beard each year. I think. No one's complained yet, anyway.

In the past I've grown the beard over winter break, or Thanksgiving break, and its impact on my school persona has been minimal. This year, it's happening during the school day - no one has seemed to mind yet.

So the time frame is a little different. But otherwise, it's the same old beard - a few more white hairs than last year, but everything's the same.

Even the fact that my wife doesn't really like it.

New Thing #228: Gillette Fusion

I guess I really liked the razor I had used for the past I-don't-know-how-many years. I never once stopped to think about what was happening - I just shaved and moved on with my day.

But old age had taken its toll on the razor and I threw it out recently, replacing it with a Gillette Fusion razor.

And I'm not sure my face is taking too well to the change.

I used to have the Mach3. (And I think I spent time with the Sensor Excel, too...but as I've mentioned - I give very little thought to razors and my shaves.)

I didn't replace the cartridges all that often, but I never felt I wasn't getting a great shave. If the shave started to feel uncomfortable, that was my cue to change the cartridge.

I'm not sure what the deal is with the Fusion razor, but it feels sharper against my face during a shave...and it feels like it needs a new cartridge a lot sooner than the Mach3 ever did.

I can't remember the first circumstance under which I changed the razor. I know it wasn't an intentional new thing - I think I just told my wife I could use a new razor and she picked this one out and that was it. (I didn't mind it at first because - Mets colors! - it's blue and orange.)

Then, when we went down to the Cape for the wedding a couple of weeks ago, I forgot to bring any shaving equipment. So I went to CVS and recognized the Fusion (blue and orange!) and picked that one up.

I'm not unhappy with the final product - I'm getting a clean shave.

But it doesn't feel so great while it's happening.

So the next time I'm ready for a new razor - maybe as soon as the beginning of school - I won't be getting new Fusion cartridges.

I think I'll be going back to my Mach3 razor.

New Thing #11: A Beard

I have a beard. It's the third time in my life I've grown a beard, so it's not exactly new.

But I would argue any time I grow a beard it's something new.

First of all, each time it comes in, it's a little grayer than it was before.

But if you know me, I'm sure that if you close your eyes and picture what I look like, it's a clean-shaven face.

A beard for me is somewhat new.

The beard won't be permanent. At some point I'll get tired of it and I'll shave.

But it's a fun novelty for a while.

The first time I grew a beard was two years ago. I grew it in the spring, and when the weather got too warm it became too itchy and uncomfortable. So I shaved it, but vowed to grow it back the following year in the winter.

I did. I started it around Christmastime when I was off from school, and it lasted a little into February, I think. It had a shorter duration than I expected.

How long will this one last? I'm not sure. I know I will definitely lose it by April, when I have an event that I do not want to have a beard for. Right now, though, we're in a great place. It's reached a good length - it looks grown-in enough that I don't have to qualify it as a 'work-in-progress', and it's not long enough to need any maintenance yet.

One of the prime benefits of the beard for me is the time it saves me in the morning. I no longer have to shave every morning before work. (A once-or-twice-a-week clean-up around the beard is much less of a morning time commitment.) The family (my wife and daughters) doesn't love it, but I think the fact that everyone knows it isn't permanent is a mark in my favor.

But...how can a non-permanent beard remain permanent? Well, that's another "New Thing" that's coming up much sooner than I expected. Stay tuned for an update.