It’s true and it was on TV. I about fell out of my chair. I’m sure there will be a video online soon that I can refer you to.
Update: the videos are going up and coming down on your favorite video websites. I don’t want to post one as it will stop working shortly. However, I imagine this video will be a permanent fixture on youtube now so feel free to look for it there.
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I recently discovered that there were quite a few people, likely young men, who search the web in an effort to learn how to grow a beard…and do it quickly. What is so special about growing a beard? It’s a right of passage. Even if all you have are five long hairs growing off your chin…you are a manly man because you have a beard. I was endowed with epic beard-growing properties myself and I grow one every winter so I don’t have to shave in cold weather. So, to help the inexperienced among us I present:
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HOW TO GROW A BEARD:
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Stage 1: The beginning: All you have to do is to stop shaving. Do it at the very beginning of a vacation or at least at the start of a weekend so you get a couple days’ head start before the next stage begins.
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Stage 2: The interrogation: Everyone and their second cousins will be asking you if you are growing a beard. Always give a response that makes them feel stupid or else they will keep asking you this over and over. Say something like “No, I have a highly contagious rash and the doctors told me not to shave for a while.”
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Stage 3: The itching: You can expect to spend about 2 weeks itching your face. Use your fingernails, use your pencil, use your eating utensils, none of it will help…you just keep itching.
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Stage 4: In-grown hair: Yes, the joy of carrying around a bush on your face is that you will get the occasional in-grown hair. Take it like a man.
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Stage 5: Wild bush man: Yes you finally did it, you grew a beard. But you don’t look like Kenny Rogers or ZZ Top just yet.
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Stage 6: Taming the beast: It’s now time to take the clipper to the hedge and make yourself presentable. You could go for the Commander Riker or the Sigmund Freud. Just get it under control soon or you may scare away your friends and family.
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Stage 7: The ‘stash: About four months after you get the beard going you’ll have a moment of weakness and decide that you’d really look sophisticated with a moustache.
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Stage 8: The end: About 2 minutes after finishing stage seven you realize that you aren’t one of those guys who can sport the upper lip canopy and it gets cut off as well. Welcome back to the land of the clean shaven.
- Cheaters never win. Those who help cheaters get sued. One company that makes test prep materials got a hold of some “live questions” and the PSAT/SAT company is mad about the leak. The prep company claims they are getting bullied. Click here (link no longer works, keep reading for an update) to read the story and decide for yourself.
- Update: A while back I posted a link to a story about some active PSAT/SAT questions being leaked to a test prep company. There was very little information about the leak and now even less…I can no longer find the news reports about the leak online. Mysterious indeed. I didn’t put much importance on the leak at first. However, it is telling that several people have come to this website looking for information on the leak. If anyone does find information, then feel free to post a comment with a link. I’ll plan to follow up later with some information on ways to think about the PSAT/SAT that are as good as cheating, but without that whole “illegal” problem.
Ever thought independent study would be easy? It is. It’s easy to not go to class, it’s easy to not do the readings, it’s easy to procrastinate on the assignments, and it’s easy to go a full year and not complete the work. As I sit here I am finishing the independent study paper I am working on, I can’t help but think about how I had planned to finish it 2 weeks ago. Fine purveyors of this website know that I do not proof read my posts well. I do, however, take my time with my independent study classes. Here are some tips for taking an independent study class:
- Make a plan of attack. It’s really easy to put off the independent study work. Make a plan on what you need to do to finish the work within 3 months of starting the class. You are more likely to finish your course if you do it up front.
- Read the fine print. Sometimes you have to wait a couple weeks between turning in assignments, make sure you understand the rules before you wait too long to turn in assignments.
- Don’t put off the tests. Most of these classes have 1 or 2 tests you have to take in person. I once did all the work on an independent study class except the final. I put off the final for about 6 months and ended up having to reread the whole textbook because I could not remember any of the material.
- Do your best on the midterm. You should over study for the midterm because you do not know how tough the professor is on the tests. Since you will probably not know the professor, you can’t get a feel for how hard they are on tests. Make sure to read all the side bars in your assigned books. If it turns out you did not need to do all that work then you’ll know better for the final.
- Check out the questions in the back of the chapters. If your tests include an essay question, then the best way to study is to prepare to get the questions in the back of chapters. The professor cannot expect you to know information from lectures so they are likely to take test questions directly from the text.
- Learn all the words/definitions. As I so often say, if you know what the question is asking, then you can often come up with a good answer.
Good luck on your studies.