I am the Walrus (coo-coo-cachoo)

I've been shirking, in a bad way. First two weeks of the mustache-a-thon I had big dreams about daily posts, photos of my uncles with mustaches, photos of my crazy and sometimes embarrassing collegiate facial hair (Faith No Eric...anyone?). But it didn't happen. I started teaching again, started working long hours again, and voila - dreams deferred.

Here's the latest photo of the mustache. I keep thinking that I look a little Wally Walrus or Sgt. Pepper. My friends seem to think that I wouldn't make it five minutes at a leather bar without being picked up. I'll have to find out, eh?

If all goes well I should be going through some mustache transformation the next two days. Tuesday night is the final mustache check in, and it's the last time for donations, so if you haven't yet, but want to, the time is nigh: http://www.capitolletters.org/moustacheathon/ Scroll down to Eric A and you'll see me (or Taft, if the picture hasn't changed yet).

Watch this space, mustache changes on the horizon.

O Captain! My Captain!

I think we have achieved stache.

Per the suggestions / advice / ridicule of donors, I have taken the hair off the chin and stopped the mustache where there might be bare spots. (Best line: "It looks like your mustache is leaking and there are pools of hair forming on your chin!") So for now, I'll keep it to parts that have filled in, and then over time slowly grow down as it allows. Remember, if you donate, you have a say in the 'stache. Donate here, look for Eric A. : http://www.capitolletters.org/moustacheathon/

Last night at Black Cat I heard that I looked like 1) a cowboy, 2) a cop, 3) a Scandinavian sea captain, 4) distinguished. Today I heard that I look "like an authority figure...someone who could boss people around." Maybe it's time for me to change professions? Who knew a mustache could do so much?

Almost There

Day 9: Almost 1/3 of the way into the Mustache-a-thon, and this is how we're looking. I think you could safely call this a mustache, but if I was being judged on form, it's a little thin at the corners of the mouth. I think I need a few more days for length to help out the "low whisker concentration" areas (knows as LWCs, in the biz).

I haven't seen growth from others, so it's hard to say where I stand in stache status. I know that I'm a little behind on the donations / pledges this week, which means if you haven't had a chance to contribute, now's a good time.

Tomorrow is my first day back to teaching high school, and I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that no other teachers have a stache like this.

Hot Button

It's not in any of the pictures, but on that fatal day of straight-razor shaving they gave me a button that says "I mustache you a question." Pretty funny, eh? I keep forgetting to wear it and as such, all of my donations / pledges (note: thanks everyone, I had the 3rd most donations last week) have been online. I took the button out for a spin tonight, but didn't really, how do they say, work it? Lots of smiles and laughs, but nothing resembling green. I even shaved again tonight, and am starting to look more Morgan Spurlock, less Barney Rubble. I'm going to give the button a try each night this weekend in hopes that at some point I up my game.

More pics coming, after some sleep.

First Shave

Me: "Ma'am? What's the difference between the Fusion and the Fusion Power?"
CVS Lady: "The Power has a battery, the blades vibrate on your face."
Me: "Oh...I'll take the regular."

I'm going to try each of the suggested razors this month, and see what works before for me. Historically, most razors take about half of my face with the whiskers. There has to be an easier way, right?

The Fusion has FIVE blades and lay very flatly. It's like what they use to even out the dirt on the infield in baseball, but on my face. Hard to tell with the whiskers this short, but it made things mostly smooth, it didn't hurt, and I didn't bleed. No blood = success! You can see in the picture that I'm shaping into a Barney Rubble meets Hells Angel look. The feedback on this newly shaved look has boiled down to "You look weird" vs. "You look cute." Cutes, I thank you. Weirds, I'm sorry, it's all I got.

Though my niece, Erica, told my sister "He doesn't look any different. And why isn't he smiling?" Erica, you see, there are bad men in this world. We call them barbers. They have these methods of....

(note: that weird half-smile is for Erica...full smile coming when I've regained some bearded superpowers)

Donate to this madness here (look for Eric A.) http://www.capitolletters.org/moustacheathon/

Razors anyone?

I haven't bought a razor in years, any suggestions to what I can use that won't remove my face in the process? First wave of stache pictures coming tomorrow night.

So...cold...now...

It hurt more than I thought it would. Something about the Nordic beard of mine gave the barber some fits and I spent more time in the chair than everyone else. Extra hot towels, extra layers of gel, more passes with the blade, repeat. Ouch. But the real pain came with the astringent at the end - it was like dipping your face in wasabi, except the part where the wasabi wears off. I found that going outside in the cold and buying some ice cream did the trick.

Ok, I'm done mourning the beard, even if I look more Robin Gibb than Barry Gibb, more Ken Doll than Kenny Rogers. I keep grabbing my face to find an unfamiliar texture, like I borrowed someone else's face for the weekend. If that's the case, who has mine?

Two pledges came in today and we're off to the races. Remember you can pledge by the day, by the week, or just a lump sum. The first check in is Tuesday at Asylum, feel free to swing by for a drink. I'll wait til then for an update picture. Quick captions for above 1) the night before, 2) nervous and looking for help, 3) wincing, 4) trying to smile but wincing, 5) tonight. The old forest has been burned down, time for some new growth.