2008 - Year of the Beard & Year of the Clam

The Beard is still going strong (being kept at a either a 6 or a 7 on the trimmer) and as summer fast approaches phase two of 2008 is coming to realization.

Living in New England is also living in Clamtown. Not sure if you knew that. My specialfellow friend has lived in New England all his life and doesn't like seafood. He is not well. It's like living in Arizona and not liking heat. I don't know how he does it--he gets by I guess. Eating a fried clam, is like eating a piece of New England. At its best it's a crispy yet tender, salty salute. At its worst it's a rubbery, uneatable, bitter mess. It's either the best of foods or the worst of foods. Anyway, viva la clam!


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Now this, for the most part, is an exploration of the fried clam. There are one or two places on the map that may not have fried clams per se, but do offer a clam dish and look interesting enough or have enough insanely positive word of mouth that they make it on the list.

I'm not going to even attempt to make it to all of these places or even most of the places. I don't have the money or the time. I'll be trying to hit three or four a month every other weekend probably. Some trips might be exclusives -- like the Martha's Vineyard one, some might be trying to hit two or three in one swing. By and large this is going to be a playing-it-by-ear endeavor.

If you have any hot tips please pass them along. I will be updating the map constantly. This will also be coinciding with me picking up the remnants of last years botched Summer of Putt Putt -- only hit three courses... Sad. I promise this summer will not fail in such a manner. So if you know of any superior coastal mini-golf courses please pass the word along. I really haven't begun to work on the Putt Putt Map (the lack of a good Google Map was a problem to last years failure to launch) but here it is in it's infancy:


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The excitement should begin this weekend with Mike's Clam Shack in Wells, ME and THE Clam Shack in Kennebunk.

The Beard Pt. 5 (Day 60 something)

About two months old. I've been keeping tabs on it with a pair of barber scissors on a semi-daily basis. It's had one professional trim about a week or two ago. I don't know if I'm going to keep it up in the summer. a few weeks back we had some warm, close to 60 degree days and I was not enjoying the thing. But on winter days like today where the wind is blowing damp snow around -- it's perfect.

The Beard Pt. 4 (Day 13)

Yeah, these are yesterday's photo's (today is actually day 14) -- didn't have the time to post them but I don't think too much has changed (I'm not spending .75 to take another 3 pics). The big thing here is at this point I'm really not too sure how much I'm going to let it go before the trimming starts.















I think I'm going to give it one more week to grow.















One of the beard tech things I'm finding out is that it takes some work to keep it the soft texture it was when it was first getting going. I guess when it's still close to the skin it gets by all right -- but the longer it gets the more you have to do to keep it from being razor wire. I use a 3 combo shampoo that has conditioner in it but it might take a little extra help. It's not bad right now. I'm not saying the thing is like razor wire or anything -- I'm just concerned that keeping a proper beard might take me buying some extra product -- which is something I wan't quite calculating.

The Beard Pt. 3 (Day 9)

What an unattractive photo. Oh well, this isn't a vanity project! We're starting to get a bit hairy now, there's definitely some action going on here -- you can kind of see the scar under my chin from my sledding accident. I've read that you're born with a certain number of hair follicles -- it doesn't change -- you don't get more as you grow older. It debunks the old myth that you shouldn't shave certain areas for fear that it will grow back thicker. I used to have a goatee back in high school and collage and I swear that this area is growing in a bit thicker than the cheek area... I guess that's just how this beard is going to work out.















I've come across my first problem with The Beard. The area on my neck where I'm trimming my beard every day is the same area where I get the worst razor bumps. My bumps. My bumps. My ugly razor bumps. Sorry, I watched Blades of Glory last night. Anyway, I think I'm going to have to buy product.

Note: First day of work without a co-worker's mention of The Beard.

The Beard Pt. 2 (Day 7)

Yeah, no too much action going on, only the slightest of difference from Day 5. Still feels good though -- a nice surprise when I look in the mirror. Definitely makes you feel older, which in turn can give you a bit more confidence. It's getting more and more fun to rub. For a person like me who's always needing something to do with their hands, stroking The Beard is a pleasant diversion.















Still trying to figure out exactly where to trim The Beard. This picture isn't the greatest but you can kinda see where I'm at. I'd rather be cutting it a little long than shaving too much off, that's my philosophy right now. We'll see -- I think I have to wait and let The Beard grow stronger and tell me what it wants.

The Beard Pt. 1 (Day 5)

This is the part where we follow the progress on Sean's first real beard (I've read that college beards don't count). I've been threatening to grow a beard for a while now. I think the time is right.

We begin with Day 5















Not bad. Still in its infancy. Feels good. Fun to rub. Softer than expected. I've decided to keep it simple at the beginning here. We'll let the beard dictate how it will end up looking -- right now we're going with a simple line from the end of the sideburns to the mustache and trimming it about where the neck starts. We're off to a good start.