My Russian Transformation

"During that year, Pierre had grown so fat that he would have been monstrous if he had not been so tall, so large of limb, and so strong that he obviously bore his corpulence lightly."

- Leo Tolstoy (III.1.xx)

Day Count: 87

Page Count: 671

Today, I would like to share with you a little something that's been happening with me since I decided to start reading War and Peace. In December, after I finished my role in MerryMAC Players' production of Christmas Belles, I decided to let my hair - both facial and regular-type - grow rather indiscriminately. The impetus for this decision was in an effort to look more like the characters I was reading about in Tolstoy's novel, 19th century Russians. Over the course of the last few months, then, my hair has been growing rather steadily, getting a little trim here and there as needed, but I am now the proud owner of a rather impressive beard. Here are a few transition pics over the last few months.

December 25, 2010:

The journey begins! Notice that subtle stubble around my chinny-chin-chin? Those are the early warning signs of the beard that is to come. At this point, I've only been growing the beard out for a little more than a week. More to come...

February 18, 2011:

Oddly, few acceptable pictures of me exist from during the month of January this year. That being said, the next two pictures were taken on the same day, though in admittedly different circumstances. This picture was taken in front of a classroom when I noticed I was having a particularly good hair day. The beard adds to that, methinks. :) 

February 18th, 2011:

A friend of mine was kind enough to invite me to her new place in Illinois to celebrate her birthday and I was more than happy to oblige! It was a great chance to cut loose, relax, unwind, and spend some time with friends I don't get to see very often. Thanks to both the angle and the lighting, the beard looks a bit thinner here, but I assure you, it's the same beard from above! :)

March 27, 2011:

Last night, I went with my family to a new favorite restaurant - Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza (if you visit, try their signature pie, the Slaughterhouse Five, named for Indy's own, Kurt Vonnegut!) - and I realized that I hadn't taken a picture of myself in a while. In a few short moments after taking these photos, this post formed in my head and I realized that I had to let my faithful readership in on this aspect of my War and Peace experiment.

More of the "War and Peace and Religion" series next time!