Day 113: I only had to send my dad two emails before he transmitted the latest batch of beard photographs, taken on Day 108 (Wayback Machinelink). Not as fast as the previous batch, way back in the Day 60s, but nothing about which to bellyache. I am grateful for the invaluable aid he has rendered to the B.B.B. II.
Reaction to the beard has grown more and more positive the deeper and deeper we've gone into this second Bonanza. The Most Dangerous Game & The Cowgirl say they prefer the bearded me to the pre-Christmas beardless model, puny debate nerds far and wide are in awe of the beard, and due to my recent foray into campus politics (still working on the title, the only reason this was left out of "Coming Attractions") my bearded visage is now well known even to students & faculty I've never met. The Magnificent Moustache Malarkey, formerly the Massive Moustache Mistake—the epilogue to the Banzai Beard Bonanza that will see my face & neck shorn of the beard, the moustache left in splendid isolation, and my beloved sideburns restored—was originally to last for three weeks, from "Cinco de Moustache" to Where's Teddy?'s first birthday. But he who insisted that I be clean shaven by wee Teddy's birthday has since apologized—unnecessarily, I've assured him—for demanding the moustache's eradication, praised the overall performance of the Bonanza (to which he was always opposed), and left the end of the Magnificent Moustache Malarkey entirely up to my judgment.
I have grown accustomed to the beard over the last four months. I'm both used to & comfortable with how I look; the appearance of the beard & moustache is a routine if small source of joy throughout the day, much in the same fashion as my tattoo; and I am not at all looking forward to returning to the shaving grind. During the first Banzai Beard Bonanza, I was antsy to be rid of the beard; here in Bonsai's Revenge, I'm apprehensive about the impending absence. Nevertheless, the moustache's days are numbered. I am sorely tempted to retain the moustache, to explore the extremes of glorious ridiculousness to which I might carry the handlebar style, but the Bonanza (including the Malarkey) was always meant as a temporary endeavour: it had a very definite beginning; so, to my mind, it must have a definite end. Why I wanted to grow a beard in the first place was unfathomable to most, why I'll shave it all off will surely be unfathomable to many, including many of the same persons. The fathomless mystery of the Bonanza is no small portion of its appeal to me.
The Malarkey will come to an end sooner rather than later, of that let there be no doubt, but mark also that I highly doubt we will have to wait another five years, until the Banzai Beard Bonanza III: Third Time's the Harm, to see a return of my magnificent moustache.
Banzai!
Jonesin'
The following Jones bottle cap fortunes are taped to the interior face of the door to my room, next to the mirror. Now these are what you should always find when you unscrew a Jones Soda bottle cap!
"Your present plans are going to succeed." (the whole of CADMUS)
"Soon you will be sitting on top of the world." (CADMUS)
"You are heading in the right direction." (Projects EPIMETHEUS, MERCATOR, & RADIANT, maybe PANDORA)
"You have artistic talent. Do something creative." (Projects TROIKA & TRITON & Serma VI)
"You will step on the soil of many countries."
(This last fortune + From Russia, with Love + the moustache = ?, to be continued in the next episode of "Project PANDORA"…)
The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
R.E.M., "It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)" via iTunes (T.L.A.M.)
Commentary: This afternoon, I was seized by a sudden and random urge to read Francis Fukuyama's The End of History and the Last Man. (I do not have time to embark upon The End of History until, at the earliest, late in the looming Summer, by which time the urge may well have ebbed, but that's neither here nor there.) I think the subsequent leap to "It's the End of the World…" is fairly short.
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