All photos and text are property of Dave Forney and may not be used without express permission.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Wild Man of Borneo!

Been puttin' this one off for a long time! This past May my friend, Paul and I embarked on a crazy trek through some of the most remote jungles in Borneo. When I emerged from the dripping forest nine days later, I was pretty rough and scruffy!

Usually, when I find myself in a situation like this, I like to have a little fun by shaving it off in stages. The kids go nuts and love it when I walk out sporting a new "wild" look. Joy, on the other hand, definitely does NOT go nuts. So the whole "game" never lasts more than a few hours from the full "scruff" to the clean-shaven. And it never leaves the house.

However, this time Joy made a comment that she would later regret. She said, "I dare you to go one whole day with each new look." Well, I'm not one to back down from a dare--especially an easy and fun one like this.

So I started on a Monday and went to work each day with a new look, working backwards from full beard to clean shaven, and then finishing with the typical 5 o'clock. But before I started, Joy said that I had to document the whole thing with photos and then post it on my blog some day and let people vote on best and worst. What was she thinking??? :)

So here's what we're going to do. The following pictures were taken at the end of each day of flying. WARNING: These pictures may give you nightmares, or cause sudden outbursts of laughter. The word "professional" may not be on your mind. That's o.k. It was so funny to see the reactions of my Indonesian friends, co-workers, and passengers. We had a lot of fun with it, so hopefully you will too.

Please take a minute and cast a vote for the BEST and WORST look. The polls are up at the top right. If there's more than one of you in the family, you can each vote. The more the better! Who knows, this could be a life-changing experience for me...or Joy. But at the very least it'll be fun. Feel free to leave comments too, just don't be too mean!

#1 - Full Beard

#2 - Trimmed Beard

#3 Goatee and Burns

#4 Fu Manchu

#5 Mustache

#6 Tiny 'Stache

#7 Baby Face

#8 Five O'Clock

After you stop laughing, please vote up at the top right for the BEST and WORST. And feel free to leave comments as well. I think.

20 comments:

Peter & Carrie K. said...

You're a nut. Seriously. But what we want to know is this - where are the Elvis sideburns? The ones that made you so famous at the Wally-world in E'ton? The ones that Mama G. tried so hard to get a bit shorter each time you let her cut your hair? So Fu Manchu was probably the worst, though the tiny stash was pretty bad. Scary stuff all the way around. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Tiny stache was THE WORST! :)

As for the best, I think only a wife can decide. ;) I didn't think you were absolutely crazy until the Fu Manchu stage!

What a fun idea!

Dave said...

Yeah, weren't those burns great? I was afraid to go there again. That's an era that's as gone as the real Elvis. Now I only do professional, respectful looks. Ha, ha, ha. O.k. So actually I was just afraid Mama G. would hunt me down and shave them off. And if she didn't, then my Mom certainly would have. I can only imagine what my Mom is going to say when she sees these pics. Yikes! :)

Jenilee said...

my husband has a full "hunting" beard right now. I laughed so hard when I read this post and had to read it to Jeremy!!! I so love your wife! :) what a fun way to shave off your beard. I think you gave my husband a few crazy ideas, as if he needed any more!!

Kristen, pajama mama said...

visiting from Joy's...had to leave a comment because my husband does this same thing! I've never taken pictures though...thanks for sharing!

Christie said...

I bopped over here from Joy's blog, and so glad I did. Just hilarious! I think I'd leave the tiny one to dictators, but my hubby sports the goatee and burns look, so that one gets my vote. Granted, his goatee is a bit large and always gets us mistaken for Peace Corps instead of missionaries, but.... I like a goatee. I think I agree with your wife that the clean-shaven suits you best, however. You don't have a bit of "bad boy" look in you, to pull off facial hair!! (That's a disguised compliment, I guess.) Very brave to post for all the world to see!! God bless y'all!

rockstarbabu said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Savannah said...

Are you frowning in the pictures you do not want us to vote for as best, LOL?

Dave Downing said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dave Downing said...

Hey Dave,
I so appreciate your sense of humor, it makes life so much more enjoyable. :-)
I'm a fan of the full beard because I wish I could have one, however, since I've been a cop for 30 years I can only get by with a handlebar mustache, not the full beard.
Keep up the good work!

Kristi said...

Oh, how funny! I think it's amazing that the majority all think the same on your best and worst. Those were my answers and I was so surprised to find that they were the majority! All though, I wasn't completely against the fu mancho!

If my husband could actually grow a full beard, he would have fun doing that too! I like him babyfaced though, and since he never has been able to grow a full one in, I get my wish. It takes days for him to get a 5 o'clock shadow and by then it's time to shave for church again!

This was fun and I'm glad you shared it with all of us! Bless Joy's heart for putting up with it for so many days!

Unknown said...

Do the Fu!

Anonymous said...

Well Dave I have to admit I like the baby face look the best. The 5 o'clock shadow isn't too bad but the rest are pretty bad! I love you anyway though. It was fun to see them all.
Mom

Heather said...

do the mustache full time!!!

Rebecca Conduff Aguirre said...

You are right, I did laugh! Definitely fun!

Dave said...

You guys are all cracking us up! :) I mean, "Do the Fu." "Do the mustache full time"? Joy is really starting to regret this. :)

Tim and Susan said...

Very funny, I guess I vote the 5 o'clock...great to stumble on to your blog, via your sweet wife's. Wish we could sit down and chat with my 15 year old who would love to be a missionary pilot (he just visited LeTour). I will show him your blog.

TTran said...

Your pictorial documentary of different looks is so hilarious !

www.bellestudio.co.uk said...

some people may not like you if you wear 'hitler' stache ;)
I like 5 o'clock.

Anna Blanch said...

visiting from Joy's....you've got a beautiful wife there!

5 o'clock is the best....tiny stache is the worst!