watching expired appliances align

The other night at bocce practice I bounded into Floyd somewhat energetically. Youthlarge attributed the pep in my step to the Chuck Taylors I was wearing, making a comment about how me wearing Chucks makes her laugh (but in a good way). I'm totally misquoting her, I know. It had something to do with the energy and the shoes and the slight goofiness of it all.

The comment about the shoes caused me to remember this photograph. My scanner isn't working so this is just a photo of a photo. Don't let that ruin your enjoyment of my long hair, weak moustache and casual leaning against the Grafton-Stovall Theatre popcorn machine.

(photo from 1995, probably November)

Posted by Marc at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Dear Friends,

I need your help. Six or seven or maybe even eight years ago the metal strip on my bathroom cabinet door started coming unglued from the door. The tiny metal strip stayed attached to the magnetized part of the cabinet and the door would rest in the wide open position. I swear to you there is nothing in my medicine cabinet that I'm trying to hide. Well, maybe you'll realize I have at least three razors in there but blades for none of them. I run the occasional facial hair update, though. How worried can I really be?

Back to the question at hand - for years I've applied two pieces of foamy double-sided tape. During the past ten months the lifespan for this solution has decreased. As you can see from the tape residue below, I once tried duct tape. No dice. Do I need a different brand of double-sided tape? Is there some sort of industrial grade glue solution? I need your help! Make this problem disappear. I want to walk into the bathroom and look at my face in the mirror.

I've posted a few photos below, to give you and idea of what I have to work with. Please post suggestions in the comments!

(the cabinet door)

(the cabinet - with the metal strip stuck to the magnet)

Thanks,
Your Pal Balgavy

Posted by Marc at 11:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I shaved.

I can't remember the last time I didn't have a beard. Was it two years ago? Three?

UPDATE: I checked my records. I think I was beardless for a few days in September, 2003. 3 and a half years ago!!!

Posted by Marc at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I think this entry has to be added to the "facial hair updates" category. How can it not be? I turned my beard white for a Halloween party last night!

I went to a Twin Peaks themed Halloween Party hosted by Ami, Sarah and their roommate. Or should I say I went to a party hosted by Audrey Horne, The Log Lady, and Laura Palmer?

Jim dressed as a lion. Not a cowardly lion. Or a dangerous lion. Just a lion. Too bad he shaved more of his beard than planned the morning before the party.

After the Twin Peaks party, we stopped by Skippy and Cortney's to check out their haunted house basement (which Skippy cheerfully recreated for us).

I uploaded a few images to flickr. My photos from the night start here.

Posted by Marc at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

While searching for an interesting postcard or two to decorate my apartment I found a documentary treatment I wrote in the Fall of 1994. It's called YOUR RAZOR OR MINE? Proving that I was more creative and interesting a decade ago (yet obviously obsessed with facial hair), I've included it in the podcast. Or, perhaps I read it because I'm trying to stir up interest in a documentary about facial hair? You be the judge!

download the mp3
subscribe to the feed
podcast archives

Audio Comment Line - 206.666.2726. Call now to leave an audio comment for me to use on the show! That number again is 206.66-MARC-6.

Posted by Marc at 01:02 AM | Permalink

i have a normal beard now. this facial hair update doesn't contain any new news for those of you i see on a regular basis. it's been awhile since i've done a full scale facial hair update, though.

midway through my second year of college i bought the standard cheap male accessory of oster brand hair clippers. they're good for easy buzz cuts and suitable for the trimming of beards. for more than the past ten years i've used them on and off for getting rid of the hair on the back of my neck and excess sideburn growth. i've never purchased replacement oil for the clippers but since i don't actually use them for haircuts, the oil has never felt like a necessary thing to own.

now that i plan to keep my beard at an acceptable, standard length for the next year or ten, i think it's time to upgrade to an actual, real-life beard trimmer. i'm looking for something that provides more control. i'm also looking for a device that i won't keep stored in a shopping bag inbetween my shelf and dresser at the bottom of a stack of cast-off items. i'm thinking cordless may be the way to go.

having grey hair in my beard makes me feel like i should have the appropriate adult instruments to keep that grey hair under control.

Posted by Marc at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My beard is so unnecessarily long that I can no longer trim the split ends. The beard is so unwieldy that I can�t get a good grip on it. I just tried to trim less than a centimeter off the end, and managed to snip about � of an inch. Maintenance has become totally impossible. However, the plan to let it grow until August continues.

Tuesday night I was out and mentioned to Alex that I get uncomfortable if I�m at a bar, party, restaurant, etc. and I�m not the guy with the biggest beard. If I notice someone else with a large, full beard I feel like he and I are quietly sizing the other up. Did I start my beard before this chump? Why does that guy think he can have such an unruly beard? Are the other people at this party noticing that there are two guys here who haven�t touched a razor in at least 8 months?

A week ago I visited my family. My niece had a few toys around, but her tiny hands kept gripping the end of my beard and tugging at it. My Dad couldn't stop snapping photos.

I am not mean nor angry. This self-portrait was just taken during a very hot day at the Mermaid Parade. By the way, that new subway station at Coney Island is pretty cool looking.

(previous facial hair updates)

Posted by Marc at 04:18 PM | Permalink

The following facial hair update is kind of gross but not in a blood and guts kind of way. And once you�ve read this please don�t think of me as that smelly guy that sat in front of you in trigonometry class. I�m definitely not that guy (I sat in the back of the room for that class).

Yesterday I wore a new black linen shirt to work. I had plans to join HWL and others for their tri-birthday celebration. Midway through the afternoon I went outside and in the afternoon sunlight, or maybe it was the slight overcastness (I can�t really remember), I realized that my beard dandruff was verging on �out of control.�

Although most of my male friends have grown a beard or two in their lifetimes, I�m not sure if they�ve encountered beard dandruff. It�s gross and it just sneaks up on you. When my whiskers were short I didn�t have to contend with this problem. Now that the skin hidden beneath my chin feathers doesn�t see the light of day, it tends to dry. I also blame my stuffy office conditions.

When my facial hair was less rampant along, I�d use the exfoliating facial scrub once or twice a week. I�d also moisturize with a bit more frequency, especially those parts of my face now covered by my ever-growing beard. Somehow I�d fallen out of that routine and it�s time to find it again.

At the end of the day and before leaving for the birthday event, I used a lint roller and took care of the white flakes that populated the front of my shirt. I also did what I could to avoid stroking my beard (not that I�m not some sort of evil genius � I just tried to play it down last night).

I own one or two books about facial hair. I�m 99% sure beard dandruff isn�t mentioned in either of them. Now that spring is in full swing, I hope the more humid air will help take care of this issue. I�ll also be moisturizing and taking care of my skin like any intelligent adult.

This is probably the point where you�re thinking to yourself that I should buy a small bottle of Head and Shoulders (and Chins?). I think you might be right. Maybe my beard dandruff (those two words together are just gross, aren�t they? Your head fills with these images that are much scarier than actual beard dandruff) is the result of not washing my beard with any sort of shampoo on a daily basis. I like to let my beard go three or four days between shampoo scrubs, thinking that it will take on a less wild, more contoured look. I�m not sure if that worked, but it�s time to put those days behind me.

Although four months late, my resolution for 2005 is to take care of the beard dandruff.

Posted by Marc at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Right now I'm watching a Jesus and Mary Chain video on VH1Classic. Ooops, strike that. A Dinosaur Jr. video just started.

On Friday afternoon I thought about spending part of tonight at a Knicks Singles Night at Madison Square Garden (sponsored by Gothamist). On Saturday afternoon I called the number to sign up but I think I accidentally left my work phone number. When I did that I forgot to hang up. After five seconds of silence I corrected the possible phone number mistake. It must've been my subconscious telling me that I didn't really need to go. I'm not a basketball fan, anyway.

My lack of going out tonight means there's no wrap-up here about my attempts at dating. I've never been to any sort of singles mixer and I'm curious. The next time something like that comes up, sign me up.

I am ready to report that I got new glasses last Monday (pictured below). I also got a haircut and even trimmed two centimeters from my beard (not that you can tell).

The haircut meant that I had to trim some of the hairs that are part of my sideburns. I'm not sure if I clipped enough of those hairs. Right now I'm comfortable with things. Having such a large beard opens so much for experimentation, but once you cut part of it away you can't grow it back overnight.

Friday night I ended up in Atlantic City. I played craps for the first time. I loved it. It's a really good thing I don't live closer to that town. Sometime in the middle of the night the guys I was with and I decided to grab some food from the only open restaurant at Caesar's. I had the french dip. It wasn't very good and I kept burping for the rest of the night. It was pretty gross. Luckily, I had thoughts of being at the craps table to keep my mind occupied. When it was my turn to roll I felt so much pressure - so much pressure that I found myself get superstitious - I had to really concentrate on making sure the right numbers came up on the dice. It's frightening stuff, that gambling.

Posted by Marc at 12:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

i've finally registered my beard with the national beard registry. i can't wait to update the photo six months from now.

jamie (TSoA for those keeping track at home) registered last november.

Posted by Marc at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last week I spent a fair amount of time trying to decide on a Halloween costume. One of my key needs was the incorporation of my somewhat shaggy beard into the outfit. I was extremely pleased with all the ideas kicked around by friends (see an earlier blog entry). A few of those will defintely be kept in my back pocket and seriously considered in future years (Hemmingway, Bruce Villanch, Jerry Garcia, Lloyd Benson). The thing is, I woke up Thursday morning with an idea. I decided I had to be a werewolf from TEEN WOLF. At first I thought about being a generic cousin and then I realized that I was being silly. I had to be the Dad from TEEN WOLF. I spent part of Thursday lightly searching the internet looking for pictures of Mr. Howard. I couldn't find a single one! I started planning a Thursday night that involved not just buying facial hair and spirit gum, but renting a movie from the video store. To my surprise (and a sure sign that I'd picked the right outfit), TEEN WOLF aired on some Cinemax channel Thursday night at 3am. I pressed record on the DVR and figured I was all set to transform myself into the dad from TEEN WOLF.

Saturday night I arrived at Juhi's party, nervous that I'd spend a lot of time trying to explain who I was. When the front door opened, I was quickly instructed to look over at Genna's costume - she'd come dressed as TEEN WOLF!!! How bizarre can things get? How is that possible to show up at a party dressed as Teen Wolf's dad and see Teen Wolf there? It was totally unplanned, and totally thrilling!

And then things got really weird. I left the party around 1am and walked the five or six blocks to O'Connor's. I thought I'd have a night cap and see if anyone I knew arrived in costume. The place was fairly empty, but Bart was behind the bar and immediately asked if I was Teen Wolf. I had to reply that I was Teen Wolf's dad. He pointed out a guy about 3/4 of the way down the bar - a guy dressed as STILES, Teen Wolf's Best Friend!!! I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around all the coincidences involved with my Halloween costume.

(Juhi's photos)

(More pictures from Halloween 2004 coming soon)

Posted by Marc at 09:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

it's time to throw down some links and clean out my bloglines clipblog:

back in june gothamist linked to a few new photoblogs which reminds me that i should update the picture on the front page of balgavy.com and check out all the photoblogs i like. posting jamie's photos from the borrowed camera project would be a good idea, too.

splicing gone wild matt of a whole lotta nothing suggests the idea of the "ego feed" which would combine all of the various feeds he produces with photos and lists and such. i don't fully understand it and i guess that's why i saved it. reminder to self: look back into this two or three months from now.

a link to a review of sharp's kid glove shave gel check out the actual review and all the comments...since it was linked from boing boing and got tons of exposure there are dozens of thoughts on shaving. i have yet to really delve into these. this link also reminds me that this morning i was struck with the urge to shave. i won't be getting rid of my beard but i think i will be carving away a few of the hairs below my lower lip. it's going to look seriously stupid. it's the end of summer, and i'm allowed.

a post from today by jeff jarvis about protests and the convention and the police some interesting thoughts on the nature of protesting and wondering if there's a better way for a group to get their message across.

jon stewart and ted koppel part 2 another link from today, this time from lost remote. i guess jon and todd spoke with each other again and there was good discourse about the nature of media. i'm sorry i missed this. i even watched about 5 minutes of nightline last night, too.

there are one or two other clippings i've yet to really get into but they require some actual thought on my part. i'll have to save those for some other time.

Posted by Marc at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

there is nothing new on the internet today that i feel like commenting on. this is a sad state of affairs. for me, not the internet. my brain has become an empty space that holds my head. and my head is just a space to hang my beard. and i'm in flux regarding the way i feel about my beard. i grew a large beard last summer and feel the urge to do so again. but it looks ridiculous. and i'm very tempted to trim it. i finally trimmed my moustache last night. not a lot. just a tiny bit. i told myself i was grabbing the scissors in order to "stimulate growth" but i think i really wanted to trim the entire thing so that it didn't scrape against my upper lip. it has become incredibly annoying using a napkin after every bit of food or sip or water. enough about that. my facial hair is failing to amuse me.

Posted by Marc at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I just got back from a quick trip to the local drug strore. Maybe they�re called pharmacies these days. I just checked the Duane Reade bag and according to it, the place I went was New York�s #1 Drug Store. Now I�m suddenly struck with the urge to listen to a little John Wesley Harding.

Somehow I spent close to $40. How in the world does this happen? I went intending to buy soap, lighter fluid, lip balm (lately I�ve been consciously working to call it lip balm instead of Chap Stick) and razor blades. It�s the razor blades that got me (and the urge to buy the Glide dental floss). At first I wanted both Sensor Excel and Mach3 Turbo blades (I�ve already got a fair amount of Atra blades). When I realized that I didn�t need both, I put the Sensor Excel blades back. And now it�s official. I�ve made the switch to the Mach3 as my go-to razor for day to day (well, week to week) shaving. I�ll stick to my trusty Atra for any sort of shaving that requires skill and defined lines. Obviously, I�m still behind the curve on razors (as Jamie pointed out yesterday when he mentioned the M3 Power). Man, that guy starts a blog and he�s already close to stealing my facial hair update thunder!

By the way, last night I went to bed thinking I wanted to regrow my beard. I must've forgotten than when I actually bought razor blades.

Posted by Marc at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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.

Posted by Marc at 12:19 AM | Permalink

world beard championships via youth large. i am in awe. i don't know what to say.

victor garber had a brief beard on sunday night's alias. i assume it was fake.

Posted by Marc at 01:34 AM | Permalink

late tuesday night i removed my beard. i spent five summer months growing the beard, and before i knew it, it was gone. i made sure to take plenty of pictures during the stages of removal (a photo of me looking like an old time soda jerk - or possibly an old time bartender). i was going for sean connery in "the man who would be king" but i came nowhere close to that.

i used my hair clippers to de-beard my face. doing so left a nice layer of stubble that i wore for two days. i had to let my face re-acquaint itself with the elements. earlier tonight i shaved with a razor for the first time since early april. it was a bizarre, yet familiar, experience.

a few months ago sujan gave me a bottle of kid glove shave gel. i finally used it and it was a refreshingly smooth experience. i didn't read the bottle too closely (or i forgot what gel was like) so i initially dropped my shaving brush into the mixture in the palm of my hand. when it didn't start to lather, i remembered what shaving gel was like. i gave up on the brush and applied the balm to my face. the scent was magical! i want to say it had a hint of sandalwood, but i can't be certain (because i have no idea what sandalwood smells like).

no problems with the shave. my skin is smooth and i'm looking forward to shaving two or three times a week for the next few months.

all that remains of my beard is a hint of pointy sideburns. they're not thick at all. i am a new person.

Posted by Marc at 11:55 PM | Permalink

after i left work last night i visited the barber. i've gone to this shop for a number of years (off and on, depending on hair length). ownership changed a few years ago, but i'm comfortable with the new guys there. i've been at least four times in the past six months and for the most part i've got no complaints.

my haircut is pretty easy - take a lot off the sides and back (using the clippers) and leave it a little longer on top. and i've never thought sideburns were tricky, but apparently they are. during the past two visits i've told them to not touch my sideburns. in almost all cases, the barber cuts them too short and makes them too thin. but last night i was ready for thin sideburns. i was anxious to have them match the rest of my hair.

the guy (who hadn't cut my hair during the last two visits) did an okay job on my right sideburn. nice angle. cut at the right length. he took a bit off the backside of the sideburn that starts to curve under the ear, but i was willing to let that pass. a minute later he starts work on my left sideburn. and cuts it at least two centimeters shorter - and at an upward angle. my sideburns hadn't looked so lopsided since my failed half-beard experiment of 1995.

because i feared he would do more damage, i didn't mention the sideburn differences to the barber. i quietly accepted my fate and left for home where i got sucked into gilmore girls. then i went out. so here i am on a wednesday afternoon with uneven sideburns. i'm already planning the first twenty minutes of my evening at home. that time will be dedicated to facial treatments.

on a positive note - sunday saw the end of my scraggly goatee. i finally took a pair of scissors and trimmed it to a normal length.

Posted by Marc at 02:52 PM | Permalink

so it happened yesterday. sometime after dinner and before hanging out at the bar, i lost control. unable to cope with my inability to 'get tricky' in SSX TRICKY and frustrated by my slow running computer, i resorted to the only thing i know: shaving.

and i did some serious shaving. the only aspect of my facial hair that remains is my 'soul patch.' it's angled downward, in the shape of a triangle, but i think it's a little uneven (but that can be corrected when i brush the hair over with my fingers).

my sideburns are gone. and at the moment i don't totally miss them. sure, there's a noticeable tan line running down the sides of my face, but i can live with that. my goatee is on the list of facial hair parts i regret shaving. but i just wasn't comfortable having a goatee without a moustache...the moustache was the first thing i removed. the goatee then had to go. or is it a van dyke? i'm always losing that bet.

and then it was time for the sideburns. they were trimmed much more quickly and efficiently than i expected. ear length didn't satisfy me. they just weren't long enough, or something. the proportions with the rest of my head felt off. way off. so i got rid of them entirely.

i cleaned up the shaving with an additional shave this evening. but i'm letting the goatee return. i feel 14 without it.

Posted by Marc at 10:06 PM | Permalink

i think i'm only shaving once a week now. i have no idea how i let this habit become so infrequent. last night i finally put blade to cheek and cleared the stubble from my skin. i was in such a non-shaving mood that i didn't exfoliate first. i didn't use shaving lotion. i barely even let the water get hot. with the razor i didn't vary from my current sideburns / goatee (van dyke?) pattern. stubble was allowed to remain below the corners of my mouth and next to my 'soul patch' area. i've decided to try for a more complete look when it comes to my chin feathers. of course, after shaving i pulled the scissors from my dresser drawer and trimmed the hairs on my moustache and chin. they're now short and just four days past some sort of miami vice length stubble. growing and shaving a beard is always such a fascinating work in progress.

in another note - today's washington post had a great article about bourbon. i'm sure the pictures in the print edition made it even better.

Posted by Marc at 02:46 PM | Permalink

i'm not sure if i've ever taken a gillette mach3 razor in my hand and held it like i hold my other razors. there�s a mach3 in the bathroom, but i�m freightened by it. so sleek � so modern. i'm loyal to my gillette atra. i've had the atra for at least twelve years - if not longer. i don't even want to contemplate the day i lose it.

of course, i'm no saint. i've cheated on my atra - and do so on a somewhat irregular basis. my recent (of the past three years) getaway shaving implement of choice is the gillette SensorExcel. i recently purchased new blades for it and i feel like i'm getting a fine, fine shave - but it's a light razor. while shaving with such a lightweight tool i find that i don't have time for contemplation. and the time i spend contemplating my life while performing this weekly task is a most necessary part of the process. as i look in the mirror and hold the SensorExcel i can feel the blades slide along my face in almost too zippy a manner!

i always return to the atra. i find it presents a sufficient degree of flexibility (ooh - that pivoting head!) and a smallness of area around the blades. with the atra, i can control which parts of my face i'm shaving. i fear the giant three blade approach of the mach3 would destroy any sense of finesse i now pretend to have while shaving my beard. the mach3 is for people who don't have facial hair. i�m wary of those people.

Posted by Marc at 09:30 PM | Permalink

yeah. it's all stubble. well, not all of it. just the parts that aren't my goatee and my sideburns. the sideburns are still there and in decent shape. i didn't have any luck finding the tangoes just yet. i guess that means i'll be winging the curves for the foreseeable future. i'm at the point where i'm only shaving two or three times a week. whenever i shave i use copious amounts of warm to hot water. at least a cup of water will end up around the sink, making those items at the front of the basin somewhat damp. i usually towell that area off but i'm sure it produces a lot of headaches for my roommates.

i've been going to bed somewhat early these days and that's meant a lack of late night rambling. of course, all that ever produces is various odes to the brilliance of exfoliating (which i haven't done since friday!). and i'm not going to be so bold as to exclaim i'll have a photo update at the end of this week. i tried that two weeks ago and failed. soon, though. all the baseball photos you can handle!

Posted by Marc at 07:48 PM | Permalink

so i'm working on these fancy new sideburns. it's now all about the angles. after years of shaving straight across (often parallel with my mouth), i'm shaving my facial hair along a slope - and maybe even a curve. but there's no easy way to get both sideburns exactly the same. i must lack the coordination. or the patience. or the geometric know-how.

with sideburns, it's key to have the left one be the mirror image of the right one. while traveling on the subway this weekend i got to thinking - it's high time i get some sort of plastic device to use as a sideburn template! something that's the right width and follows the right angles. i can just hold it up to my sideburns and shave around it! and then it hit me...tangoes! those little plastic puzzle pieces. surely one of them would be perfect to use as a sideburn template...maybe not the whole sideburn, but enough of it to get the angles to match.

the next time i visit my parents, i think it will be time to retrieve that box of puzzle pieces and finally put them to some good. as a pre-teen i was monumentally frustrated by tangoes. my brain just didn't think in those logical steps. and i had no interest in creating an image of an angular duck! or ship! or frog. and i'm well past the point in my life where i'm taking standardized tests. so tangoes can only be useful for one thing - creating perfect sideburns. if i can just figure out how to attach a little knob like handle (so the template doesn't slip from hand into the semi-full sink), i'll be all set.

Posted by Marc at 04:05 PM | Permalink

i don't know which email client to use for my permanant email. it's a terribly frustrating process. and i want to keep all my old email.

my moustache is getting gross. it's at the point where i need to trim it every week. why is that? i'm getting a haircut tomorrow, i think. i'm not going to trim my moustache tonight because i'm curious to see if the barber offers to trim it. of course, the important thing is to make sure the barber stays away from my sideburns. i'm over-protective of my sideburns. i was looking at them in the mirror yesterday and thought "my sideburns look damn good. they're perfect right now. the barber better not fuck them up."

and my digital camera broke. i asked canon to send it back (they had it for inspection). i wonder if they're going to send it back. we shall see, i guess. i got a cheap kodak CMOS camera to use as a temp. image gathering device. it really sucks. i'm not happy with it at all. saving money is, of course, impossible for me to do.

and that's the update. that's what's going on in my life.

rumor has it there's a rooftop party tomorrow night.

Posted by Marc at 12:58 AM | Permalink

i've covered this subject before, but i think more needs to be said. i love exfoliating. and the chris isaak show is one damn good television show. yola is one of the best female characters on television. she emobodies everything that the women on sex and the city attempt to embody but she does it with grace and humor and a delicacy that helps make chris isaak's television show one of the best things on television.

is my face supposed to get all dried out after i exfoliate? is the exfoliant (or - exfoliator?) just a crutch to make me buy more products? this wacky world of hygiene - always biting you back, i think. and i still need that haircut. i think my longish hair is the reason for the occasional zit or two on the back of my neck. i hate those. who wants to lick my neck if there are tiny bumps there?

in my real life news, my friends have done a damn good job compiling their year end movie lists. they're such fun to read.

i. yes. it's all about me. i toyed with taking digital photos of myself the other night. i did it two nights in a row. the photos from the first night were erased. i'm a computer klutz. and so instead of having twenty five photos saved on my harddrive, i've only got five. (the second night was much less productive). and i've yet to examine these photos. they're all about the temporary weekend goatee i had. my beard is gone. i am free!

(was shaving my beard just an excuse to use more exfoliant?)

Posted by Marc at 12:42 AM | Permalink

yeah. so how about that shins video, huh? pretty neat.

i spent the better part of my evening hanging out in a friend's extra large kitchen. he, the doctor and i were sitting around the table playing a boardgame called 'eurorails: the european railbuilding game.' it's so good that i encourage you to drop what you're doing at this very moment and race to the local hobby shop in order to purchase this game. it's that good. sort of a mix between risk and monopoly - but not quite like either one. for three plays or twelve. it's a lot of fun. moving goods from one city to another and building train tracks.

in less exciting news, i shaved my beard. my facial hair configuration now consists of normal looking sideburns and a not so normal looking goatee. there's the moustache. and the soul patch. and a bit of hair on my chin. and gross looking wisps of hair that extend from the corners of mouth to my chin...leaving a bit of room between them and the chin feathers. it's all very rock and roll pirate guy on a motorcycle.

are you scared of me now?

Posted by Marc at 12:35 AM | Permalink

felicity. there. i said it. i'm a boy who watches "felicity." not only do i watch it, i tape it. i 'time-shift' it. i allow myself to go out on wednesday nights - as long as i can come home and watch my taped episode of "felicity."

i love shaving. it's one of my favorite activities. and right now i'm low on shaving supplies. i own no shaving cream and i only have one type of razor blade (atra plus). i'm a fan of geo. f. trumper shaving creame. and i like having my choice of the gillette shaving blades (tracII, atra plus, sensor excel). i have not yet made the leap to the mach3. those angles just don't look comfortable. the reason i have so many atra plus blades dates back 8 or 9 months - they were on sale. i'm not one to pass up sales.

i had shaving creame - but the screw top to the tube was broken and it dried out. i tossed it. and i need to get to the 'art of shaving' to buy more. the store is way up town. and i don't ventue uptown.

i just finished shaving - the hot water is so relaxing. shaved my moustache and my neck - i think i'm going to put a beard in place. well, i'm flirting with putting a beard in place. i've got the sideburns (mutton chops?) and the bottom half of a goatee. connecting the pieces for a moustache-less beard wouldn't be that tough. there are parties this coming friday and saturday nights - i'll make my decisions then.

during my radio show in college i would interrupt halfway though and offer my "facial hair updates" to the campus at large. i did that for three and a half years. i miss giving those facial hair updates. writing the above felt good.

i hope i find some cool young woman to make out with this weekend. i'm so in the mood to do some making out.

Posted by Marc at 01:03 AM | Permalink