The Many Faces of Brock Phillips

One of the greatest parts of being in certain countries is that you'll always stick out like a sore thumb. Always. It's almost as certain as the fact that my pale skin readily accepts a vicious sunburn, yet scorns any form of tanning.

This having been said, you can do anything with your appearance and it won't change anything. You're still an anomaly. I've come to embrace this and spent the past 6 weeks "working" on my glorious spread of facial hair. I put working in quotation marks, because I've been working on it about as much as someone has been "working" their way through the first season of House. There's not much involved other than just sitting there.

The beard de Brock has been a work in progress with the overall goal being a paler Grizzly Adams. Beginning on the Fourth of July selective grooming was conducted. Here are the intended looks and what was actually achieved:


June 28 (Day 30)
Full Beard
Result: Kid Rock





July 5 (Day 37)
Full Beard minus the stache
Goal: Abraham Lincoln
Note: The hat is not my, I was holding it while the owner played on an inflatable slide.





July 7 (Day 39)
Mutton Chops
Goal: Dr. Jekyll from the movie "The League of Extraordinary Gentleman"







July 11 (Day 43)
Nothing
Goal: 2 year old boy




This last photo, of me not the kid, was taken shortly after I got a full face shave at a Thai barbershop for 45B ($1.50). You're thinking, "Ah, a full face shave, that includes the cheeks, jaw, neck, and the mustache region, where Brock's doo-doo-stache typically resides," and you would be correct on all accounts. However, you would have neglected to mention the forehead, nose, upper cheeks, and ears, all areas that were freshly shorn by my newfound Thai barber. Yes, I've finally found someone who will sympathize with my struggles with the pesky forehead hair that has plagued me for years.

Now the only question is, what's next for my facial hair?