Thank you all, gentlemen, for these comments.  As you'll see below it's been a pretty rough day beard-wise for me thanks to my posting these photos on Facebook and reading these comments this evening was big help.

Paul, Sean, Twearded, Rino, Mike, BW, and Dirk,  you guys rock!

Clint, now you have me thinking (a dangerous thing).  We have an a hatchet in the shed and a chunk of wood that looks for all the world like a club

A sad fact of life for me, Dave, is that I have a deep and abiding love of opera, and Wagner operas in particular, but I can't carry a tune for anything! smiley: frown  You know I'll be wearing the beard all braided up for the next Ring cycle I attend, though!

All of my first attempts we comical too, metallic1, that's why they were never photographed  There are those who think this latest attempt was pretty awful, though.

I waited for my wife to leave, Trick, because I was too embarrassed to be caught taking yet another beard selfie, especially dressed like that! smiley: laugh  I have to say, though, that when she saw the photo on Facebook she loved it!

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Now, speaking of Facebook, therein lies the rub.  I guess I've lived a sheltered bearded life being here on the US West Coast where most guys have beards and no one really cares how people look, or they don't comment at least.  I posted these same four photos on Facebook and generally got lots of amused but kind comments, as expected, from my general friends, and loads of compliments from extended beard friends, some of whom had never commented before.  I got one rather nasty comment, though, from my old college roommate which sort of took me aback.  It's the first really negative comment I've had about my beard in ages and it stung.

The real blow, though, came this morning.  My mother called to chat - an odd occurrence for a weekday - and after some general niceties she said I was the main topic of conversation at dinner last night among her, her husband, my sister, and my brother-in-law.  They had all seen the photos on Facebook.  She told me that her husband and my brother-in-law told her she should tell me to ditch the beard and grow up! smiley: mad  I blew my stack and told her that if I gave a sh*t about what they thought I might not be living 2500 miles away and that they were cowards in telling her to pass on to me their opinions!  I have no affection and little respect for either of them, and she knows that.  After a day of fuming over this I had a realization that, with her knowing full-well my opinion of them, she was basically just using them as an excuse to say something she's wanted to say for a long time.  When I mentioned this to my wife she agreed with my assessment and said, rightly, that I need to address it with my mom.  I am extremely conflict-averse but I have to do this, and do it soon, but I need to calm down first.  Now I'm feeling both angry and hurt.

I also realized that I need to start practicing what I preach.  I regularly tell guys here to ignore the negativity, something I failed at miserably all day long.  It just isn't that easy and I won't be so glib in the future.  I'm a very lucky man in that my wife and daughter love me and like my beard, I live in a community where freedom of expression is a core value and a way of life, and my circle of friends and colleagues genuinely couldn't care less if I was bearded or not.  I've lived a sheltered beardy life it seems.

Sorry for the dump and, if you've made it this far, thanks for listening.  

Tom



Some helpful links:
Library Central of Beard Growing


Taming the Wild Mustache
Tips for eating and drinking with a big mustache

Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. ~ W. Somerset Maugham
A jerk with a beard is just a bearded jerk, but a bearded gentleman is awesomeness personified. ~ Triibeard