A Peek At The Former Me

I was planning on writing about a really bad car crash that I was involved in about 12 years back.
 
I knew that I had pictures of my car that showed the passenger door touching the center console. I started to dig through the drawer of old pictures and trinkets. This drawer is a mess and a black hole-like distraction.
 
I didn't find the car pictures. Instead I found a picture from around '00 or '01. It needs no introduction.


I've made mention of some hippie days, some month-long road trips and my hair's past life. So here's a little visual aid.
 
Most peoples' first question is "Why did you cut them off?" There's a number of great reasons.

• They smelled
• When I washed them, they would stay wet for a couple of days and smell like wet laundry that's been sitting too long
• They were heavy - when I cut them off, I put them in a shoebox and it felt like there were shoes in it.
• I'm competitive and I felt like I had won all of the hippier-than-you contests in my head a long time ago.
• There's only so far in life you can go with nicknames like Jesus and Chong
• Sometimes you need a break from being a chick-magnet

I cut them off a few months after this picture was taken. It was traumatic. My neck was so strong from holding them, I would whip my head from side to side accidentally, overcompensating for the lost weight. I kept the beard for a while but it just didn't work with a shaved head.
 
You should see my driver's license.