Even Our Name Says Merry Christmas

Showers are generally good things. They keep you clean, they get rid of nasty germs, they're occasionally good for singing, and sometimes you even get ideas in the shower. Sometimes those ideas are repeatable to a PG-13 audience. Sometimes not. I was struck with an idea today while scrubbing away the evil in the shower. (For those of you with visual imaginations, tell yourselves I was scrubbing the walls.)

I need to lose weight. Swimming is a good start, but I need some sort of motivation. Mainly because I have a very strong desire to go hiking and exploring in the desert, and I know that I am physically not up to that challenge without having my heart burst like a diseased appendix. So, the idea came into my head, and I acted upon it right then and there.

I shaved.

For the first time in... seven years? Eight?... my chin is visible. As is my upper lip. I'm officially bald on both poles of my globular head. Most people wouldn't recognize me. Deb has never seen me clean-shaven, either. The point is that I'm going to remain clean-shaven until I lose weight. This probably doesn't make sense to people without beards or facial hair, or possibly only makes sense to me. But it will be a daily reminder that I've got to do something in order to get my facial hair back.

Oh. In case you're saying "but you'll just get used to how you look!"... not a chance in hell. I started shaving when I was 13. Had a full beard from age 17 until mid-20s, and then a goatee from then on. In the past 18 years the total amount of time my chin has been naked is roughly three weeks, maybe four. I need my facial hair to hide my "ass chin". (Not my term, but appropriate.)

No, I'm not posting a picture. Maybe after I lose weight, but not before.