I'm so efficient now I take my pictures WHILE at a curriculum writing meeting. Multitasking for the win!

Okay, so today is a better day, so back to some frivolity.

In recent months I have embraced the future. You see, I'm a comic book guy. Back in college, though, I decided that I liked continuity and the sense that I was reading a bunch of stories in the same world. That they interacted and impacted each other. This meant that I wanted to read as many titles as I could in a comic universe. This, however, ran against my status of being a college student who paid for comics from the money I gleaned by selling plasma. This meant if I wanted to do this thing effectively, I'd have to pick a universe. Well for me it was all about the characters and for me that means DC.

So that's my explanation as to why, slowly at first, I started focusing mostly on DC Comics and then over time it's become almost entirely exclusive.

My wife is awesome.

As a result of her awesomeness she has supported my comic-habit. Somehow even in the days that my wallet has been slimmest I've always been able to find a way to get my comics even if I couldn't take her to the movies and she's never really complained about it.

I did mention that my wife is awesome, yes?

Her one complaint, over the years, however was storage. I've added a long box to the collection every year for ages now. Since we've been married there's always just sort of been an extra room wherein my comics were stored...but we all knew that this plan had a limited future.

We started to have some conversations about what to do and I made it clear, I read comics for the stories, not the collectibility. So if I could get all my comics digitally I'd do it. I'd tested it out reading a few on my iPod Touch...and it wasn't too shabby. But I wasn't sure I'd want to read all of my comics on such a small screen. My wife understood, and agreed that if I could get all my comics digitally she'd let me get an iPad. Ah ha! An in!

Then this summer DC made their big announcement. The new 52 with same day as print digital releases of every title. All of my non-DC titles were already (eventually) available in digital format. I was sold. iPad was purchased, and my "local" comic shop was told to stop shipping comics to me.

I have to say, I have LOVED, getting my comics digitally. 1. Storage savings (discussed above), 2. Guided view forces me to slow down my comic reading and as a result I notice the art a LOT more and it helps my reading experience improve, 3. I can still get the digital comics through my "local" shop and they get a cut even though they don't' spend a slim cent on the thing, I get to support a great shop (Mayhem Comics in Ames, IA, every check them out for comics or gaming, I've not seen better), 4. the BACKLOG! Oh my gosh! You've heard of these classic stories and titles that you never read and never wanted to hunt for and now...BAM, there they are as a digital download same buck or two as everything else. I've been reading so many great stories from the 70s up to last year and it's been awesome!

I've even let this digital movement leak into my other hobbies. I've gone complete digital with the iPad with my character sheets when I play D&D. I've gone digital in my novels (read on my iPad at night, pick up where I left off on my iPod Touch while I'm at work...Kindle app on iOS is great).

I'm loving the future and I highly suggest you all join me here.

Anyway, there' s a little geek-update for you that has nothing to do with beards or boobs but I thought some folks might enjoy. On to the Manly Points:

Chris - 38

Beard A Non - 96

Drew - 77 (+2 for consistency, you are in the same pose in the same place every picture)

Wesley - 88

Bob - 85 (-1 I didn't really need to hear about your sweaty beard...unless you're sweating it up doing MAN things)

Duane - 64 (+1 for the pose)

Brian - 79

Cmaaarr - 88

Fred - 44

Me - 50

Jeffrey - 94 (+0 because you muddled my mind with your many-angled beard images)

Kris - 75 (+1 what's that over there, -1 no...NO...I will not look there)

Michael - 41 (-1 for even asking if he should look presentable for "students")

Pete - 71 (+2 you made me laugh)

Brian E - 54

A Dam - 52

Jim - 77 (+2 for reassuring me I'm not the only one with clutter)

Wannes - 63 (+1 for wearing an outfit that looks like it's from my closet)

Chooch - 85 (+3 for bands for boobs goodness, +2 BEARD SLAP!)

Jason - 25 (+5 because being a dad is manly...and you need some help catching up)

The beard that just doesn't want to deal with it sometimes

At the risk of having Chris call me a whiner today (after whining a bit yesterday as well), let me say that teaching is hard. I have come to accept that and I'm okay with it, I do what I can with the time/resources I have and I walk away almost every day of the year feeling good about what I've done each day. How could I do anything else.

Then there are days like today.

I was already having a little bit of a rough day, but I'm used to that, copiers down, technology not cooperating...whatever. Then every now and then there is one thing, one contact with someone that completely takes all the wind out of your sails and makes you wonder if you shouldn't be doing something else.

It's those moments that makes me understand why there is a 50% burn out rate for teachers within the first 5 years. I don't know what else I'd do with my life at this point that I COULD do and that would provide for my family (and be appropriate for my level of experience and education). But more so I don't know much else I'd like to do...but days like this make one want to just say "forget it".

In any case, teaching is hard. Appreciate the teachers in your lives. The times you don't want to appreciate this is the exact moment you should respect them the most.

That is all.

Now, the Manly Points (that I'm not really in the mood for but I'm stubborn, darn it):

Chris - 38

Beard A Non - 86

Drew - 65

Wesley - 78 (+1 funny)

Bob - 76 (+2 manly, +2 for the Beards4Boobs sweater...which I wish I could get, but just can't risk being a teacher who wears something with the word "boobs" on it)

Duane - 53

Brian - 79 (+1 evil)

Cmaaarr - 78 (+1 history)

Fred - 44

Me - 50

Jeffrey - 74

Kris - 64

Michael - 32

Pete - 59 (+2 for bonus picture)

Brian E - 54

A Dam - 52

Jim - 65

Wannes - 52

Chooch - 62

Screaming child face...interrupt my watching of X-Men: First Class will you!

I had this stuff I was going to go on about regarding my manly activities of taking parts and turning them into a fully functional grill. It was going to be really manly and impressive and reinforce that we are at the itchy neck beard stage of the competition, there was going to be advice for that as well...alas, it won't happen tonight. There were pictures and everything. Then my newest child opted to soak up all my beard-based writing time with a solid hour of screaming. He seems to have calmed down now, but I have real work to do now, so I'm gonna snap a quick pic and do your Manly Points for the day and leave it at that. That's what you get, so deal.

Manly Points:

Chris - 38 (+2 for the comic, but be ready for a penalty for the de-neck bearding)

Beard A Non - 76 (+2 for consistently rocking a meme)

Drew - 55

Wesley - 67 (+2 for the double-HoNoToGroABeMoer pic)

Bob - 52 (-1 for playing a fake instrument so well)

Duane - 53 (+3 for being ominous looking)

Brian - 68 (+2 for the evil genius, -2 for taking away my hour)

Cmaaarr - 67 (+2 for the hobo-ing...another bonus +100 if he can actually get Hodgman to join HoNoToGroABeMo...that'd take us over the top for sure)

Fred - 44

Me - 50

Jeffrey - 74 (-1 because I'm pretty sure that's not the same person in that pic, if appearances can be believed)

Kris - 54

Michael - 22

Pete - 47 (+3 for the prop)

Brian E - 54

A Dam - 42

Jim - 65 (+2 for educational card games)

Wannes - 42 (+2 for the cool cup)

Chooch - 52

Thicker already?

So, I'm curious. Look at this picture from day 5 of last year:

Now look at the picture of my beard today. Is it just me or is my beard thicker this year? Wishful thinking perhaps, I suppose time will tell but maybe my worst grown beard ever will be less worse than usual this year.

Regardless, I actually have the time to write a length post tonight, and so I'll keep it short, unlike all the other nights where I've been crunched for time and wrote short novels. Maybe tomorrow I'll write about moving towards a digital geek-life (which I've been doing over the last year made possible due to my favorite people, Apple) or how I have been fighting technology and it's driving me crazy (and it's all stupid Apple's fault).

Manly Points:

Chris - 26

Beard A Non - 64 (+2 for keeping up the awesome)

Drew - 55 (+2 because you make this look good!)

Wesley - 55 (+1 for pseudo-latin)

Bob - 43 (+3 for being in first place, -2 for blowing it)

Duane - 40

Brian - 58 (+3 for all the geek shoved into one picture, -2...maybe it's too much geek mixing at once, let's not blow it all in one post here)

Cmaaarr - 57 (+1 for a fun face)

Fred - 34

Me - 50

Jeffrey - 55

Kris - 44 (-2 because I'm not smart enough to know what you're talking about)

Michael - 22

Pete - 34

Brian E - 44

A Dam - 42

Jim - 53 (+2 for the Geek-stry lesson)

Wannes - 30

Chooch - 42

Bonus Manly Points for anyone who can tell me which of these dragons is the greatest in the comments of this post.

Today, ladies and gentlemen, I bring you a comic from the fantastic webcomic XP. I asked the author for permission to use this comic...he didn't respond yet, but he's a great guy so I'm guessing he won't mind. In any case, you should totally check out his stuff, he also did the the original art for one of my websites (www.temporaryhitpoints.com).

I'll put the image at the bottom of the post (after the point recap) so as to try to avoid this image having issues with the image that's here of my picture for the day.

Speaking of my picture for the day: Look! Dragons! It's the next in a theme, I guess. Last year the Beholder's Collectors set came out during HoNoToGroABeMo and this year the Dragon's Collectors set has arrived in my residence! What crazy awesome (and not cheap) minis will WotC make for me next year to encourage my beard-growth? We should lobby for beard-based minis. :-)

Now, on to the points, then your comic!

Chris - 26

Beard A Non - 52 (+2 for counting to be extra-entertaining)

Drew - 43 (No bonus/penalty points, but -2 to Chris for not calling you a whiner like he called me)

Wesley - 44

Bob - 32

Duane - 40

Brian - 47 (+2 for a goodly geek reference...can he keep it up the whole month?)

Cmaaarr - 46 (+4 for continuing to entertain me, -2 for stealing my pet-enhanced schtick)

Fred - 34 (+1 for trying to be creative)

Me - 40

Jeffrey - 45 (+2 for at least wearing the hat)

Kris - 36 (-1 for taking a pic that reminds me of a nocturnal fish in an aquarium)

Michael - 22

Pete - 34

Brian E - 44 (+2 for increasing my vocabulary)

A Dam - 32 (+1 or the scruff, +1 for the kitchen skills)

Jim - 41 (+3...Kuz he's the King!)

Wannes - 30

Chooch - 42 (+4 for really working a meme)

And from XP here you are. Be a Man...

With assistance from my dog, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Okay, so it's day 3 or something now and I've been growing this beard for what feels like an eternity. The days go on endlessly and so does the hair on my face. And so, the time has come to let people who may not know me a chance to bask in the glory of all that is Jeff.

In the beginning Jeff was born in 1979 in Atlantic, Iowa. The son of a banker and an in-home piano/vocal music teacher with two older sisters it was a rough life in a strange place. As the story goes the founders of his hometown calculated that the town was going to be the exact center of the nation, making it an equal distance between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. So they opted to take the name from one of those bodies of water...but which one shall it be? It was a problem that plagued them for ages until finally they opted to flip a coin. Heads, Atlantic. Tails, Pacific. The coin went flying on that cold December day on the deck of the helium-powered airship and everyone held their breath as the sun sparkled off of the glittering currency. And with unequaled anticipation the coin finally landed. All waited for the official word from the mayor of the burg and he announced, dejectedly, "Crap...it came up tails...but Pacific is a stupid name for a town...screw it, let's call it Atlantic!" So anywhere, that's where I was born and raised, in a town of less than 8,000 people...a commercial and cultural hub of southwest Iowa, I recommend it to anyone.

Then I went to college at Iowa State University of Science and Technology to get my degree in History in Ames, Iowa. While there I also worked my way up the ranks of power in student government until I became the President of the Union Drive Association, which contains Friley Residence Hall, rumored to be the second largest dormitory in the world, second to a barracks in Germany. I can not confirm this, but neither do I deny it...and part of it has been knocked down since I left, so you'll never find out otherwise.

From there I got married, became a middle school social studies teacher, got a Master's degree, and had two children. Not all in that order.

Along the way I also started various media ventures on the "interwebs".

I am the founder and now co-host of the greatest Dungeons and Dragons based podcast in the history of both D&D and podcasting, The Tome Show (www.thetomeshow.com).

About a year and a half ago I also noticed a lack in blogs for D&D players (as opposed to DMs), so I started Temporary Hit Points (www.temporaryhitpoints.com).

Earlier this year I thought, Hey, there's a bunch of us geeks having kids, there should be a place for us geeky fathers to just spew whatever we need to spew about. It's a website that serves the authors, not the audience...and I like it that way. Anyone who is a table top gamer and a father is welcome to write for the site, if anyone is interested, and it is known to the world as D&D&Dads (www.dndndads.com).

I have many other ambitions, and a serious lack of time to do it...turns out being a father is time consuming...and being a teacher takes a few minutes of your day as well.

Well, that's the biography of Jeff and while you now know the man/legend a bit better, I promise you, do have no idea who JEFF GREINER is (btw, did I mention I'm a meme...it's sort of awesome)!

Now...the Manly Points:

Chris - 28 (+3 for making me giggle with a pseudo-historical reference that wasn't too elitist or obscure)

Beard A Non - 39 (+5 because I don't want him to beat me)

Drew - 33 (+5 for going extra-geeky on us)

Wesley - 34 (+1 for the work count success, +2 for the pub-i-ness)

Bob - 22 (+1 for being an "athlete")

Duane - 20

Brian - 35 (+3 for the Doctor Who reference)

Cmaaarr - 34 (-1 for not realizing that money, not Miracle-Gro helps beards grow after all these years, +3 for funny use of props)

Fred - 13

Me - 20

Jeffrey - 33

Kris - 27 (+5 for being so welcoming to our newbies)

Michael - 12

Pete - 34 (+5 for monkeying around)

Brian E - 32 (+3 for fun story about his work-beard, -1 for tacos)

A Dam - 20 (-1 for looking so smug...I don't know what you're hiding, but I'm on to you)

Jim - 28 (+4 for top hats with appropriate garb)

Wannes - 20 (-10 for starting late, +20 for going for the full head-shave)

Chooch - 28 (+5 for being dedicated to a REALLY hard meme)

Yeah, that's right! I have a t-shirt with my name on it with custom artwork created just for me. You're jealous.

So it's time for another pearl from me. Today I'd like to discuss the me that's new compared to last year's beard growing festivities.

1. I have shorter hair now. This was not done on purpose. I made a bet with my students last year that they couldn't get an 80% or better on the last 6 assessments of the year (little secret, I want to give them bonus motivation because end of grade tests take place well over a month before the year is over and without those hanging over their heads it's hard to keep the kiddos on track, the bet is my way of doing that) they could shave my head. They did it...it was painful and bad...I don't regret doing it, I do regret how I picked the kids that would get to do the task. Ow. I took a razor to the scalp a few times after that to see if I'd get used to it and like it. I did not..it's been growing back ever since, by next year I'll be a long-hair again.

2. I had a new child. No, don't congratulate me or make a fuss. It was a second child...that make is completely un-miraculous. This is abundantly clear. For the record child two is a boy as well, and he has an obscure Arthurian-based name. He's doing well and has his first tooth coming in.

3. I became a district curriculum writer. Social Studies in North Carolina is going through some big changes next year. I've been tapped to be a district curriculum writer for the new curriculum. This is very time consuming. It's like a second job (although I'm not paid for all the hours it takes). This is actually really cool, though. I really like the creativity of writing curriculum. It's like a combination of writing and teaching rolled up in fun. I just wish I had more time to do it better. In a year when the 8th grade social studies teachers around the district start complaining, "what were they thinking when they did this?" it'll all be on me, since I'm one of two people writing that curriculum right now...and I'm doing the main curriculum. But to be responsible for such a task for the 16th largest school district in the nation...it's sort of cool.

4. I gained weight and now I need to get rid of it again. Between the extra work and the new baby I put on the majority of the weight that I had lost over the previous few years. I was down over 50 pounds over two years and that was cool. I'm not back to my highest weight, but I've gained a lot of it back and that's not acceptable anymore. So I'm hoping to get ahead on curriculum writing so I can get to the gym and I've entered a new weight loss challenge through my wife's work. I lost the weight before by winning two such things, it's only three days in but I think I'm doing well so far this time as well. I can discuss my methods later, but that's that for now.

Well, I was going to discuss other things as well, geekier things than all that...but I thought it would be good to give this update. Maybe next time I'll discuss "becoming a more digital geek"...and maybe it would be good to give an introduction to "me" sometime since there are so many new people.

But for now, I'll leave you with my rankings of current earnings of Manly Points.

Chris - 15 (+5 for the awesome Trustworthiness of Beards picture...-5 for sharing it before I had a chance to)

Beard A Non - 24 (+2 for quoting Stevenson)

Drew - 18 (-2 for complaining about being disheveled and yet easily being the second prettiest man in this thing)

Wesley - 21 (+2 for hitting the word count, -1 for a sad face)

Bob - 11 (-1 for the shirt...+2 because I feel sorry about being mean about the shirt)

Duane - 20

Brian - 22 (+2 for appropriate use of props)

Cmaaarr - 22 (+2 for quoting a wrestler)

Fred - 13 (+3 for being the prettiest participant)

Me - 20

Jeffrey - 23

Kris - 22 (+4 for being sad, -2 for being sad, -1 for confusing me by posting twice in the last 24 hours making me figure out how I was fooled into giving him points at all last time)

Michael - 12

Pete - 19 (-1 for the dry lips)

Brian E - 10

A Dam - 11 (+1 for the mask)

Jim - 14 (+4 for having a die and being an old school podcaster)

Chooch - 13 (-2 for being late, +5 out of sympathy for the food poisoning)

Here I am...professionally shaved while at work moulding young minds...I mean, I wasn't doing it right that moment, they were reading textbooks when I took this...but you get the idea.

So I mentioned, in jest, in Chris' comments that I was going to start a HoNoToGroABeMo game for the participants...mostly so I could take away points from him for picking on me for picking on everyone else.

So here it is, the HoNoToGroABeMo game wherein it is your mission to earn Man Points. THe more you earn the more of a man you are.

The gist is this, every day you post (text and image) you get 10 points...if it's half there, half points. If the image is particularly awesome bonus points as determined by me. If you make me actually laugh...fer realz, bonus points. If I opt to give you more points, bonus points. That's the game.

Here is the point totals right now:

Chris - 5

Beard A Non - 12 (+2 for the picture)

Drew - 10

Wesley - 10

Bob - 0

Duane - 10

Brian - 10

Cmaaarr - 10

Fred - 0

Me - 10

Jeffrey - 13 (+3 for having a good name and the Halloween costume)

Kris - 11 (+1 for the Halloween costume...it wasn't technically for this month or else I'd give him more points)

Michael - 12 (+2 for joining the Fitocracy group)

Pete - 10

Brian E - 10

In other discussion, last years HoNoToGroABeMo was AWESOME...if it could have improved anywhere it would be have been with the community interaction...I was part of the problem so this year I'm going to work hard to be part of the solution. I will be commenting things up and reading all posts. So there.

Lastly, I was chatting on Twitter the other day about HoNoToGroABeMo and mentioned Fitocracy.com, a social network based around exercise. I thought, hey we could grow beards and muscles at the same time. So I made a HoNoToGroABeMo group which is currently made up of me and Michael. You should join us...if you need an invite into the site let me know, I have one left, but you then have to spread the love to the others.

Anyway, I've been saving up all sorts of beard-y goodness for this month and none of this stuff was part of the planned agenda, but that's enough for today...I look forward to kicking all your bearded butts this year!

This is what a MAN looks like the day before HoNoToGroABeMo starts...just saying.

That's right, I'm calling you out. Well, not Kris Johnson. TOMORROW is the day of the clean shaven-ness. Not today. So either you're in early training (sort of lame) or you are a lame cheater getting an extra 24 hours of growth in. Or worse yet, you're a normally clean shaven person...ewwwww.

For the record, this year I will post every day...like a man.

I will grow the neck beard...like a man.

I will start with a clean shave on November 1st...LIKE A MAN.

I will have a scraggly beard that looks horrible...like a mannish thing.

I will not raise the most money...like an unpopular teacher in the state that is something like 47th in teacher pay and thus knows lots of people, none of which can afford to give (we can't all be doctors, Cmarrrrrr!!!!).

And lastly, I will be a man...like a MOTHER LOVING MAN!

I have several things planned for my daily posting this year, you should all be aquiver in anticipation. There's geekitude to discuss. There's the qualities of manhood. There's my various projects to pimp. And of course there's major events in my life to discuss ranging from a new child (currently SCREAMING while I hold/type) and what the heck happened to my hair since last year!

I've been in training for this all year. My students are pumped about it. I've started mentioning it on my podcast already. This year is going to be my year...I'm totally going to win this thing (again) this year...and this time now for the worst grown beard or the bestest blogging.

I'm not entirely sure what I will win for (my beard pretty well sucks)...maybe most improved...I've been practicing that hard, I tell you.

Oh, and I am, of course, in.