112 days

by Chris

My friend Jimbo in Florida recently saw the Sean Penn movie "Into the Wild". Based on a true story. After graduating from Emory University in 1990, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters who shape his life.

McCandless survived for approximately 112 days in the Alaskan wilderness, foraging for edible roots and berries, shooting an assortment of game—including a moose—and keeping a journal.

above, the real Christopher McCandless aka Alexander Supertramp

Jimbo was so enamored by McCandless' story that he started calling me Supertramp, because Kelly & I sold all our possessions last year, and he pledged that he wasn't going to shave for 112 days in memory of Alexander Supertramp.

Now, I've known Jim for 14 years and I've never seen him go more than a couple of days without shaving. It drives him crazy. 112 days seems like a really long time but I agreed to give it a shot as well. I have no intention of actually growing a beard through July; I just want to last longer then Jimbo.

Day 5


Here you can see Jim's beard on Day 5. Its already growing on his neck which is enough to make you rip your own face off. If you look closely at the picture you'll notice that Jimbo already has some red bumps from no doubt clawing at the irritating stubble. I wouldn't be suprised if Jim has shaved by the time I'm done writing this.

I also commented to Jim that I think his ears are getting bigger....more on that later.

How long did it take to grow this beard I wonder ?

Well, the US invaded Iraq in March/April of 2003 and this picture was taken in December. Thats 258 days

That means Jimbo would look something like this
I have quite a good bit experience growing facial hair
(translate: I am lazy when it comes to shaving)

The second week is the absolute worst

Jay's Mom has no problem growing a beard

Jim also said that if he does indeed grow his beard, he intends to quit his job and become an undercover cop....like Pacino in Serpico.

Now back to Jim's ears.

Jim plays a Multiplayer Online Role Playing game called Everquest. Its very Dungeons & Dragons / Lord of the Rings and also very fun. You set up a character by race (Elf, dwarf, human etc) and pick what you want to be (wizard, scout, warrior etc) and off you go on adventures amid amazing graphics with thousands of other people online in the same "world", gaining experience and loot.


Jim and I started playing this game in 1997...I stopped playing a year or so later.


Jim is now a level 77 Wizard Elf and one of the most powerful characters around. When other people see ElfJim coming, they run...whole groups of people are no match for JimWizard!

My theory is that Jim is turning into his Everquest character.

There are two lessons to be learned here.
a) dont play video games until your ears start growing
b) dont send your photo to a guy who has a sister who is an expert at photoshop !
(thanks alli)


I will follow up on our beards next week!