It�s not often you look at your reflection in the mirror and think �I really feel like I�m 46 years old.� I just looked into the mirror and realized that I look like I�m 46. Somehow I�ve crafted the look of a man fully in the midst of the tail end of a mid-life crisis. I�ve got the beard of a latter-era Cheers Frasier Crane. And my temples are completely gray. When I push my hair back I see the edge of my slowly receding hairline. I think the reason I�m afraid of getting an extremely short haircut is that I�ll realize how far my hairline has changed when I look back at photos from college.
Mainly I want to concentrate on my beard. I have no idea why I�ve left this ridiculous chinstrap of a beard for the past week. I originally sought this shape to dress as Silent Bob for Halloween. And then I left it. The moustache is filling in. The connectors are almost there. And there�s no hair on my cheeks! I�m trimming it. My sideburns rush straight down and connect with some sort of weirdly broadened goatee.
The exciting news is that for the past week I�ve been testing the Gillette Mach3. Yeah, yeah, the razor came out years ago but I finally tried one out. And to no one�s surprise, I�m not impressed. The razor randomly showed up in the mailbox (Sujan has vague memories of ordering it free somewhere online). I attached the blade and trimmed the hair on my neck. That blade does more than pivot! It feels like it slides around all over the place! My neck hairs disappeared, but no more easily than they disappear when I use my TracII or my Atra or my SensorExcel. And then I tried to work on the shape of my beard. I couldn�t tell where the blades actually were. And I didn�t feel comfortable pressing the razor firmly against my face. I abandoned the Mach3 and switched to the Atra � my favorite razor for whenever I need anything more than just a basic shave. I imagine the Mach3 is ideal if you shave your entire face and I look forward to using it then.