andyMatthews.net

Ah...November (on every odd year)...when a young man's thoughts turn to the brilliant fall colors, the crisp fall weather, and facial hair, or rather the lack of it. Wait...what? Those of you who have known me for a while are probably familiar with the phenomenon known as Whiskerino. Those of you who have only recently met me are about to hear a LOT about it over the next 4 months. So what IS Whiskerino? In a nutsehll, Whiskerino is a celebration of masculinity; it's showing pride in your hirsuteness; it's being happy about not shaving for 4 long months.

That's what Whiskerino IS, here's how it works. On November 1 you shave your face clean. You take a photo of yourself and upload it to the website. Lather, rinse, and repeat for 120 days. While you can trim should you desire to, the point is to NOT shave at all. Make sure to upload a photo at least once a week or you'll get placed into the dreaded hall of shame from which no one may return. Each day registered users can vote on one, or more, photos that they like. The photos with the most votes become "King Beard", or "MVB", or whatever they call it this year. Here's some links to the archives so you can see what the craziness was all about:

• All beards from 2007
• All beards from 2005
• All beards from 2003
• My pics from 2007

Why start talking about it now? Because Whiskerino only takes place biannually, on odd years. And it starts on November 1. So, if you're interested in joining this thing, or just want to follow along. If you DO want to join I heartily recommend showing up as easly as possible on Nov 1 to register. In 2007 registration closed within hours due to overwhelming participation.

Be ready men. This is the year we take back the beard. I leave you with possibly the best picture of me from 2007.