Every so often, I get the urge to hack off my face fuzz. Most of the time, I manage to talk myself out of it — I don’t really look my age most of the time to begin with (or act it, but that’s a different matter), and going clean-shaven just makes me look even younger.
However, every few years I actually get up the nerve to see just how goofy I look without the beard. The last time was five years ago (and no photos exist of that round), so I figured it was finally time to give it another shot.
End result — well, I definitely look younger…the most popular estimate has been somewhere around 20 or 21 (which really isn’t bad at all for a guy who just turned 33). It’s hard for me to look at myself without thinking I look goofy this way, but I’ve been assured that I look fine, and that it’s probably just me being so unused to looking like this.
I still think that I’ll be letting the beard grow back in rather than stay like this.
![]()
“Keep On the Sunny Side” by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The from the album Will the Circle Be Unbroken (1972, 4:27).








