No-Shave November

Yeah, I took a month off, you wanna fight about it? But fo rizzle, my bad. I'm sure you guys were really upset. I could tell by the huge pile of reader mail I got regarding my absence (read: non-existent.)

So what have I done in this past month? Well I did that whole radio training deal. Kevin and myself turned in our program application for next semester, and if everything goes well you'll be hearing our show entitled, Our Sincerest Apologies come the end of January. Did some overnights, some sit ins, and now we play the waiting game.

Also did some classes unfortunately. Food Science is still touch and go, Anthro sucks, and Greek Myth is still bossome. By the way, Boss + Awesome = Bossome. Did that, picked my classes for next semester (going to be awesome), went home for thanksgiving, worked a little bit, and now I'm back for the last two weeks of the semester.

You might notice that nowhere in the above paragraphs did I say "I shaved." Most of the time you could chalk this down to me glossing over the unimportant details. But for the month of November, it's because I didn't shave. No-Shave November has become a tradition among my friends and myself, and we often find that we feel more and more manly as the month goes on.

"But Jim! Your rugged, manly beard must be out of control!"

No need for concern, my rugged, manly beard is fully under control. But I must warn you, some (I) have feared that it is too awesome. I love having a beard. My beard doesn't come in the best, but it is most certainly a beard, it is mine, and I love it. I don't know why, but beards have always just been one of those things that I've aspired to have. That, a hoverboard, a fedora and bullwhip, and the black suit, hat and Ray-Ban combo. Name those three movies and win a prize! (Not really.)

Back to my point. Beards are sweet. In my mind, the only people who don't like beards are guys who can't grow them, chicks, and the New York Yankees. (The hate is implied on that last one.) I mean really, growing a beard is pretty much the most masculine thing a guy can do. Girls can have six pack abs and ripped pecks, but let's face it, that's kind of gross. Barring the occasional bearded lady, you're not going to find a girl out there that can have a sweet beard.

Examples of great dudes in history with beards:

• Abe Lincoln - He had a top hat too, so x2 multiplier on the awesome.
• Heracles - Beard. Club. Lionskin. Three of his most identifiable features. Boom.
  
• Indiana Jones - He was always at his best when he sported the 5 o'clock shadow. Always.
• Confucius - Pretty much the greatest wisdom beard ever.
• Peter Griffin - He housed a family of birds in his beard.
  
• Merlin - I mean really. He's a WIZARD.
• Albus Dumbledore - See above.
  
• Jesus - 'Nuff said.
• Chuck Norris - 'Nuff said.
• Mr. T - I pity the fool who tries to start something with Mr. T. (Sorry, had to do it.)
  

The list goes on. Beards are great, and anyone who says otherwise is straight up lying to your face. So whether you choose to celebrate Octobeard, No-Shave November, Decembeard, Manuary, or some other twist on a month without shaving, go and be proud of yourself. You can grow a beard; You are a Man. And anyone who tells you, "Your beard looks gross!" or "You've got a little food hanging right off the side of your mouth there..." is just jealous, of your manliness.

My Thoughts: Halloween

When it comes to Holidays, everyone usually touts their birthday and Christmahanukwanzaka as their favorites. But lets not forget good ole Halloween. For everyone between the ages of 3 and 30, it's pretty much the best night of the entire fall.

On Halloween you get what you want pretty much. When you're a kid, you want to just binge out on candy, BOOM Halloween. When you're a teenager, you want to hang out with your friends, play some pranks, and have some candy on the side, SNAP Halloween. Then when you're a young adult, all you want to do is get drunk and mack on some chicks (or dudes if you're in to that,) BAM Halloween. As most holiday's are, Halloween is a great excuse to buck shackles normally forced upon you by convention and The Man, and go out and just have some fun.

For some reason, some guy, some where, decided that Halloween costumes should attempt to be less realistic, and more slutty. He was definitely a bro. I believe I speak for most men when I say, Thank You. Halloween has become one of the most fun weekends on campus at college in part for this reason. I, for one, never knew that the dress codes for sailor women, army women, firewomen, and particularly nurses was so... how do you say.... form-fitting. And while I think everyone enjoys this variety of delicious eye candy, it's also just a great way to meet new people.

On Friday night, I dressed up as Jimmy Neutron. I know, I know. Awesome. Equally awesome though, was the calls of "Hey! Jimmy!" when I was walking through the dining hall, and later walking around. Being able to walk up to somebody and strike up a conversation with a "Hey, what're you dressed up as?" or a "DUDE! SWEET COSTUME!" makes going out on Halloween one of my favorite nights of the year. I walked up to one kid who was wearing a Purple Parrots shirt, and argued why Purple Parrots sucked and why Green Monkeys dominated, tried to convince a sailor girl that Zeus was in fact not Pikachu in vain, quacked with the Mighty Ducks, high-fived a pedophile for being awesome at flip cup, and made friends with Sloth, Envy, and Greed. I mean seriously, can you say you did that any other night of the year? No, and that is what makes Halloween one of the best, and most underrated holidays of the year.

I am personally of the opinion that there should be more Holidays like Halloween. There's Christmas in July. Why not Halloween in April?