rsalerno: To shave or not to shave?

Ryan Salerno (

rsalerno) wrote,
@ 2008-01-13 23:38:00

Entry tags:

nph

To shave or not to shave?

So, it's been almost a full calendar year since I've been clean-shaven. I shaved last February and hated it; I didn't think I looked like myself, so I decided I wouldn't bother with that experiment again.

Then I saw this:

What Would NPH Do?

Which, I think we can all agree, is certainly one of the greatest movie posters of all time, if not one of the greatest photos outright as well.

Taking that in, I was forced to reconsider my stance. So, I shaved. And I think I hate it again. But I'm soliciting second opinions. Click this image to see it larger (if you care), and comment with your vote.

Maybe the secret to looking cool is all in the unicorn....

Something about those pictures made me want to do some kind of overlay/morph thing, but livejournal doesn't let me embed the CSS to make it work, apparently, so that's over here with the bigger picture, also.

What should I do?

(Post a new comment)

	thewalkingman 2008-01-14 08:16 am UTC (link)
	I'm pro-beard (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Thanks. rsalerno 2008-01-14 08:26 am UTC (link)
	Somehow I knew this was going to be a mistake. Hopefully having some photographic evidence will keep me from another lapse in judgment.... (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Thanks. thewalkingman 2008-01-14 08:32 am UTC (link)
	Sans beard isn't BAD or anything. It's just that with the way your hair looks in that picture and freshly shaved, you kind of remind me of Pink in The Wall (the movie) when he's in his Nazi/Hammer gear. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	Thanks? rsalerno 2008-01-14 08:43 am UTC (link)
	Oh wow. I was already bummed about how long it was going to take to grow back, but now I'm going to have a really hard time leaving the house.... (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Thanks? thewalkingman 2008-01-14 08:46 am UTC (link)
	Wait, I thought was responding to someone else in another post... What I meant to say here was that without the beard you remind me of NPH. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Thanks? rsalerno 2008-01-14 08:52 am UTC (link)
	Do I look that easily fooled to you? Wait, don't answer that. I'm scared to hear what else you think I look like.... (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Thanks? thewalkingman 2008-01-14 09:11 am UTC (link)
	Well... no. But it was worth a shot. You look fine either way. Honestly, the facial hair doesn't make a dramatic difference. I just have a beard so I'm generally pro-beard. I wasn't trying to talk shit about your face or anything. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Thanks? rsalerno 2008-01-14 05:46 pm UTC (link)
	I wasn't offended. I was laughing at everything you posted. Really, it had been so long since I'd spoken to you that I wanted to keep it going, so I just played along. If I didn't want people to talk shit about my face I wouldn't have posted goofy, floating pictures of it.... (Reply to this) (Parent)

lesliessexxy
2008-01-14 01:53 pm UTC (link)

I think both are good. Sans beard is kinda...NPHish, but not worth leaving the house over. And it definitely doesn't mean I think you should be riding a unicorn.

I was just thinking about you the other day...wondering how you were. I dropped my phone into a pan I was soaking over the weekend, so now my nine button doesn't work, which means I can't send "what's up how are you?" texts. So I'm glad you updated. :)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	rsalerno 2008-01-14 05:50 pm UTC (link)
	Huh. I tried to come up with some alternatives without using the nine button and it was really hard. That's a really critical button to lose.... You don't think I'd look hot on a unicorn? Now I'm offended. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	lesliessexxy 2008-01-17 04:22 pm UTC (link)
	Someone sent me a text the other day informing me of a party on Friday and I replied with "The double u button on phone doesn't function no more so u shall see us". He replied with "sownds gwwd". The asshole. hahaha I'm not saying you wouldn't look hot, I just think you might look hotter on say....Falcor. nod (Reply to this) (Parent)

	garrettpalm 2008-01-14 04:00 pm UTC (link)
	I'm pro switching around. I never like to keep a beard for long, but I never like to stay clean shaven for long either. I say go month by month. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	rsalerno 2008-01-14 05:41 pm UTC (link)
	Oh man. I don't know if I could handle that kind of stress. (Reply to this) (Parent)

jasongraphix
2008-01-14 06:17 pm UTC (link)

My vote is for the beard, but not without the haircut from photo B. I wanted to put both photos into elfyourself.com for a side-by-side dancing comparison, but it seems that site has been packed into a plastic box and shoved into the attic for another year. Oh well. I don't have any supporting logic behind my pro-beard decision, but if it's any consolation, I shaved off my own beard shortly after this experiment ended:
http://www.jasongraphix.com/archive/2007/12/bearded

(Reply to this)

	akshajati 2008-01-14 09:34 pm UTC (link)
	i think change is wonderful. i have been very attracted to fellows with beards lately, and think it looks great.....but clean shaven has its perks too. Now, if only we could find you a unicorn.... (Reply to this)

anilnaik
2008-01-15 05:50 pm UTC (link)

I think a beard is good for you. Unlike with me, no one is going to suspect you for a bearded "terrorist"...so I'm a bit jealous that you can grow one without all the hangups.

Also, don't let your beard become some hipster "sensitive man" beard. Geh.

I do think you should extend your facial hair experiments beyond the simple beard/no beard Manichean thinking. What you need is something Daniel Day-Lewis would be proud of. Or this!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	rsalerno 2008-02-09 12:03 pm UTC (link)
	I don't know man. I think you've got that look pretty much locked down. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	anilnaik 2008-02-09 06:16 pm UTC (link)
	Lemmy from Motorhead. Oh yeah. No bouncers will be confused when you say "I'm with the band" if you rock that. (and that anon comment below is mine) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	rsalerno 2008-02-09 12:11 pm UTC (link)
	Also, don't let your beard become some hipster "sensitive man" beard. Geh. What do you mean? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2008-02-09 06:14 pm UTC (link)
	That's gold. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	B carlyjean 2008-01-16 06:59 am UTC (link)
	I've always been a fan of the clean-shaven look. That being said, if you had the unicorn, it wouldn't matter. (Reply to this)

	pixistick76 2008-02-21 06:51 am UTC (link)
	Floating Ryan Heads! My how I miss you. I'm just gonna comment on a whole bunch of blogs now. Making up for lost time you know. I am reading them backwards though,so... (Reply to this)

Username:		Create an Account Forgot your login? Login w/ OpenID
Password:
	Remember Me
	English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…

About

Help

Get Involved

Legal

Store

LJ Labs