Ready, Set, Grow!

We live in a very competitive society. It seems there's a contest for almost every endeavor; now there's even one for growing facial hair: The World Beard and Moustache Championships, to be held November 1st in Carson City, Nevada. Some of the bizarre images on the contest's categories page are almost enough to make me want to go utterly clean-shaven again. I never knew there were so many categories of chin fuzz. The "Garibaldi"? The "Musketeer"?

I suppose growing a beard or moustache is an accomplishment of sorts, and one of the few that's still exclusive to men. That is, men with enough testosterone in their veins. I remember trying to grow a moustache in college, and only being able to muster the Hitleresque style--not a popular look then or now, and I quickly shaved it off. Those were the days.

(Thanks to Goatee Style)