Hair Apparent

Yesterday, The NY Times declared that manly beards were all the rage these days, on everyone from George Clooney in "Syriana" to Ralph Lauren models: "At hipster hangouts and within fashion circles, the bearded revolution that began with raffishly trimmed whiskers a year or more ago has evolved into full-fledged Benjamin Harrisons. At New York Fashion Week last month at least a half-dozen designers turned up with furry faces." Meanwhile, the Manhattan Offender wrote about the winter of our bearded discontent ("Having let the hair on the body and face grow unabated since October of last year, typically, it would be time to shear this coat down to a manageable level"), only to ponder if a hairy summer -- for a change -- might be in store for us. As you can see, like Jake Plummer, I've had my own case of the Grizzly Adams(es). Although you probably can't tell from this month-old photo, my normally short hair is longer than it has been since my early '80s Kristy McNichol period, which is to say nothing of my chest (if I let my three chest hairs grow in, Michael starts calling me Tom Selleck). This, too, is a concern. And with a trip to Los Angeles just around the corner, I just don't know what to with my hairy self. So I'm glad I'm not alone in all of this, but it is curious what may have prompted this follicle frenzy. Some are calling it the anti-pretty-boy look ("It's less 'little boy' -- for a while men have looked too much like Boy Scouts going off to day camp"). Some are calling it a backlash against "the tide of metrosexual conformity." Maybe it was just that we had our first truly cold winter in 10 years that set it all off. Whatever the case may be, I do know one thing: I think it's really hot.

Paul Bunyan, Modern-Day Sex Symbol