Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Well, it was fun while it lasted.


I made it just over two months without trimming the hair on my chin. The photo above, helmet hair and all, is the end result of that effort: a decently commanding and certainly respectable beard. Afghans approved.

But the long hair on my chin was remarkably annoying while wearing a helmet -- the two-pronged chin strap curls the facial hair back under and makes your whole face itch. I also felt like the beard was getting some pretty unattractive 3-D puffiness to it that had to go.

I'm headed off to another city tomorrow to meet my boss. He's about 250 kilometers away from me, and I've been in country almost a month without having met him; the beard trimming was in no small part an attempt at respectability in advance of that meeting. The base he's located at is run by the Italians and is known for its pizza and excellent chow hall; I've only been in Farah about three weeks, but I can't pretend I'm not excited about that.

I do feel oddly naked with most of my facial hair gone, though, and a resurgence may very well be forthcoming.

4 comments:

j said...

Don't you wish you had Xiao Ping there to help you tidy up the shelves in the background of your photo?

j said...

What does you room look like in general? Are you allowed to post a photo of that?

T-Rempe said...

In that picture with the beard you look exactly like a SpecialOps guy. Internet worthy.

Unknown said...

And here I was thinking that you looked like Marc Jacobs in that first picture.