It just came to me out of the blue. I have grown out my beard in the
past but I eventually miss the "clean shaven" look. I have always
wondered how long it would get if I didn't shave and the new year was closing in, so I jumped on the chance to try out not shaving as my new year's resolution.

Q. When did you stop?

I made the decision to not shave some time in the beginning of
December of 2005 and I stopped shaving around then. I decided to shave again one last time on December 31st of 2005.

Q. Did your girlfriend object to the project?

At first she thought I was crazy because she was concerned about my appearance. She worried that I would be mistaken for a bum or some kind of pirate or something. I promised to keep the beard trimmed and also to shave my neckline to make myself look more presentable.
She's really excited right now because of all the attention I'm
generating and she is behind me 100%.

Q. What do your fellow students/ lecturers think of the project?

At this point, I'm pretty sure that most of my friends and
instructors are not really aware of any significant change. All in
all my beard is pretty unimpressive as of right now so I'm pretty
certain that no one knows or cares one way or another at this point.

Q. What do members of your family(s) think?

My Mom thinks it's awesome. She keeps on asking me, "Why do people care? What do you talk about to make them come to your website?". I tell her that I could talk about whatever I want. If I made an update about Dendrochronology, the study of tree rings, there are probably 100 people on the Internet researching that very topic as I type it. As long as I write something, someone will read it.

Q. Any regrets since?

I'm going through stages. Last week I came within seconds of
completely shaving it all off. I just wanted to look clean-shaven
again and I missed my face. Sometimes I hate the fact that I'll meet
people while I have this beard and when I shave it off in a few
months, people that met me while I had the beard won't recognize me.

Q. The rules of Antishave are simple, but don’t you think the trimming could be a get out for growing a big bushy beard.?

Nah, I look at as if I were growing my hair long. You can't really
just stop getting haircuts and hope for your hair to be perfect. You have to get hair cuts to 'train' it into the shape that you desire.
Ever time I trim my beard, I simply set my beard trimmer on the
highest setting and trim off the longest hairs to make all the hairs
relatively same in length. I also even out my moustache because that grows very long, right over my lips.

Q. How was the crucial weeks growth period for you, itching? plain sailing? or drove you nuts? (I fall into the first and last at the same time - and it's usually that point I cave in and shave)

No Answer Given!

Q. Are you getting more attention from women as a result of the beard - is your girlfriend jealous? (she doesn't have to slap me for asking this - my other half did it for her)

To be quite honest, I'm deeply in love right now so even if other
girls were to give me more attention, I usually don't even notice it.
I'm too blinded by my girlfriend's absolute and never-ending beauty.

Q. Why the web site?

Why not? The Internet is like a party in the dark with the entire
world invited. I know that I could always rely on a community to
keep me going if I got too close to shaving. Plus the stakes are
higher. If I just did it for myself, I would have shaved it all off
a few weeks ago. I'm really doing this for all the people who keep
up with my blog. I really love having people read my updates and
encouraging me to keep going. It gives the project more weight, more reason.

Q. Have you run a website/blog before?

Actually, I have had a Livejournal for a few years now but I keep
that part of my life as private as I can. Blogger is a little more
professional, a little more respectable. I post crap on my
Livejournal that I would never post on my blog. My Livejournal is
more like a diary or a scratchpad for thoughts.

Q. Were you annoyed when you found the site had been hi-jacked?

I woke up one morning and my girlfriend was on the computer. She
told me that some guy hacked into my blog and changed it all around.
I freaked out and I asked her what it said. She told me that people
missed me! I was so surprised; I had no idea people would be that
interested.

Q. How did you get it back?

First, I spent all day reading through every post and every comment to see what people were saying. Eventually I contacted Zilly, the guy who had hijacked it, and he was more than happy to give me possession once again.

Q. Have the posts about your project on other blogs generated the traffic you wanted to your own site?

Absolutely, I get over 300 unique hits a day. I spent a lot of time
submitting my blog to every search engine I could think of. It's
paying off slowly but surely.

Q. Has any of the local media picked up on this as a result?

No, not yet! I'm keeping up with a blog right now about a female
taxi cab driver in New York City. She got media coverage on the
local news and her blog is now flooded by thousands of people a day. I'm not sure how I would feel about that.

Q. Would you like it to... :)

It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, that's for sure.

Q. How did your girlfriend take the loss of the camera?

I'd believe that the camera was stolen. Ah, that was a bad, bad day.
Haha, we'll leave it at that. She is very wonderful and
understanding. We're still working with the Philadelphia police
department and Best Buy to get reimbursed through her camera
insurance (yes, there was an insurance policy for the camera).

Q. Are you a "Gadget Geek"?

I'm a total geek when it comes to technology but I there are certain gadgets that I see as just a waste of money, like PSP's or iPod Videos. My favorite new gadget is my HDTV. Aside from that, I love building computers.

About you in more depth:

Q. You state you are a student - what subject(s)?

I'm taking just simple electives right now, nothing that has to do
with my major. Computers, Spanish, Math, Anthropology.

Q. what are you going to do for your Major?

I'm majoring in Communications and I plan to land a job in the
advertising market. This is my 3rd attempt at college and I'm doing very well so far. I graduated high school in 2003 and went to college.

I almost made it through a whole semester but I ended up withdrawing before I could accumulate any credits. That was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I should have just stayed in school. I got several part time jobs. I delivered pizzas, where I met my girlfriend. I was a carpenter's apprentice for a few months.

I worked at a major music store in a mall which was just hell, but I met a ton of amazing people. After a while, I decided that I really needed to get on with my life. I want a job, a house, a wife, kids.

I realized that I could get all of those things if I had a college
degree. I got myself back into college, for the second time.
However, this time I went to a community college, figuring I could hold a job and go to school at the same time. This was another huge mistake. I got up and left after I had to correct my spelling teacher (yes, they put me into a remedial spelling class).

I decided to put all my eggs into one basket and focus on a single goal: school. I would worry about getting a job later. I am currently living off student loans and focusing all my energy on my college career. I am going to a major state college and I am doing very well in all my classes.

Q. When you graduate - what do you want to do for a living?

I'd like to be a part of an advertising company. I'm interested in
marketing and advertising.

Your Interests

Listed in your profile are: Kites, Surfing and sand - are they

Kites - the stunt variety or the kind that are big enough to give
you a tow while surfing.?

Surfing - Wind or plain board?

How long for?
(if plain board- have you tried wind surfing)?

Sand - I take it this means just laying around with your girlfriend
and a beer and not building sand castles?

All of these questions have to do with a small happy place that lives
inside me. It comes out when I'm at the beach. I don't surf or
particularly enjoy kites. I really like the idea generated in your
mind when you read those three words together. It surfaces good
feelings. Kites, surfing, sand.

Q. 4 cats. - so I take it you aren't a dog lover then.?

I have never had a dog, but I love all animals. I adore my cats more than I'd like to admit.

Q. What's on your MP3 Player?

I don't own an iPod, but I've been listening to a lot of "Straylight
Run" recently. I've also been listening to "Cog" and "Dredg".

Influences:

Person/people?

I try not to look up to any one person. I'm impressed on a daily
basis by different people but having a single "hero" is just
unrealistic.

Music?

Wow, where to begin. Music is my one true passion in life. I can
tell you that I don't like more music than I do. That is to say,
most of the music I hear I don't enjoy. I have a very selective and
acquired musical taste. I'm really excited for the new Tool album.
Some other bands that I enjoy:

30 Sseconds to Mars, A Perfect Circle, Air, Chevelle, Circa Survive,
Cog, Coheed & Cambria, Coldplay, Damien Rice, Dashboard Confessional, Deftones, Dream Theater, Dredg, Finger Eleven, Jack Johnson, Keane, Killswitch Engage, Modest Mouse, Mudvayne, Muse, Nine Inch Nails, Nonpoint, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Rishloo, Taproot, The Doors, Type O
Negative, Wintersleep

Favorites:

Food?

There are only a few things that I don't like. I love food.

Drink?

I love beer.

Colour?

I love the color red. In my photo updates, if you look closely you
can see the walls in my room are painted red. It's very warm and
welcoming.

Joke?

Ah, I don't know any but I love being told them!

Place (can be -location, town, state, country)?

I traveled to Arizona recently and I adore it. I want to go back
some time. Though I've never been there, I also want to see England.
I want to see London and Stonehenge. My girlfriend went to a
psychic for fun and the psychic told her that my girlfriend and I
knew each other in a past life, and we both lived in London.

Q. What makes you laugh (apart from this dumbass questionnaire)?

I love humor that is silly but makes sense, like Monty Python or Family Guy.

Q. What makes you cry?

The movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "The Notebook".

Finally (stop cheering)

Q. If you had the influence - is there something that you would change? (bring about world peace, prevent hunger or an event etc.)

I think that the world is in a kind of weird place. It would nice to
see the wars end and I would like to see more hybrid cars on the road.

Thanks Josh, and good luck with the project.