Sunday morning pic
Shadow on the dimpled chin
The Phantom Menace

And here is my 2nd picture. Sorry for the fuzzy, but I'm too lazy to take another one.

Yes, I just woke up, sue me.

Actually, don't. In this economy and after my engine blowout, I don't have any money.

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.

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.

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.

OMG WTF! It's How Not To Grow A Beard Month already!

I totally snapped this not 6 hours after shaving off my 3-day growth. It was such a pitiful beard that I considered not shaving at all but that would be cheating.

May the best man...

...win?

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. :)

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!

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.)