Normally when I review something I love it or hate it. I can recommend it, or not recommend it. There might be things that I like about a product I dislike, or things that I wish were different about products I otherwise care for.

So when something like Bump Patrol’s aftershave anti-razor shaving product comes along, I don’t know what to do. I am so neutral on the product that I think I may have trained myself out of needing Bump Patrol’s offerings.
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Every once in awhile I buy a weird doo-dad that I don’t otherwise need. I never know if the widget is going to be awesome or a total piece of garbage, but either way it will make for a good Gibberish entry.

The Squeezeit! is a classic example of a random purchase that turned out to be pretty damn good.
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I don’t know what I enjoy more: the warm feeling of a bearded fluffyface, or the fanfare associated with cutting it off.

This marks my third official Gibberish “Beardaggedon,” but this year I added a twist:

I asked my friends and readers how I should cut my facial hair.

I am excited to announce the winner, capturing 27% of the votes.
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Every year I grow a beard for the winter. I like to pretend I do so to keep my face warm while motorcycling, but for the most part I just like having a beard.

However, it gets pretty hot and humid in Virginia during the summer, and I usually shave it off sometime in the spring.

I call this event the Beardaggedon, and I posted about it twice before in March 2008 and December 2008.

So it’s getting close to Beardaggedon in 2010, and I wanted your help in deciding the fate of my face sweater.
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The holiday always throws a monkey wrench in my workout plans, and last year was no exception. We’re back on the Tony Horton home workout wagon now, and here are my thoughts after session 25 of P90 Basic by Beachbody.com … the second time around.
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I have really enjoyed the Beachbody.com at-home exercise programs. I started with the Power 90 Fat Burner Express fifteen months ago and aside from a few detours with kettlebells never looked back. I have to say, working out at home with Tony Horton and his minions has done more for my body than personal trainers, strength coaches, and mind-numbing laps in the pool ever did.

The biggest reason is consistency. Most of the Beachbody.com workouts are forty-five minutes or less; the majority of those still are thirty minutes or under. It’s hard to skip a day when one could easily spend thirty minutes browsing a Web site, watching television, or playing a video game. If you have time to complain about not working out, you have time to actually work out.

Lately I’ve gone back to the original P90 Basic routine. It’s considered the foundation series for other workouts I own, like the Power Half Hour or the Great Body program. I’m all the way at the starter pair, Phase 1 (cardio and abs) and Phase 2 (strength). This time, however, I’m doing things a little differently.
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Week two of growing my beard (and participating in the Ars Technica beard growing event).

It’s still filling in, but I’ve passed two important milestones:

1) My face is warmer inside of my motorcycle helmet. The beard is definitely blocking some of the wind that bounces off of my chest and up into my helmet.

2) I am now combing my beard out after showering.

I’ll probably let it grow another week or two and then tighten it up a bit with my Norelco G390.

When I saw the Colgate Wisp for sale at my local Target, I thought to myself, “this is a Gibberish review waiting to happen.”

The Colgate Wisp is a mini toothbrush that does not require water, and does not require you to spit. I bought it thinking that it might be nice to use at the office. I have never wanted to store a full-sized toothbrush and paste at work. If the Wisp did a great job, it might even end up in my go-bag.

Despite a great idea, the Wisp is too uncomfortable and unwieldy to use. I am a little concerned that it might damage your teeth during the initial brush strokes.
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It’s that time of year again when I stop shaving the hair off of my face. I do it mostly as a way to keep my face warm while motorcycling. I usually start on Thanksgiving day so I have a few days to grow out my stubble before I go back to work and scare my officemates.

This year, however, there is a beard-growing contest over at Ars Technica. I’m kicking it off a bit early, and unlike last year I may get more mileage out of my beard as I ride deeper into the season.

The contest ends on March 1st, 2010 … which might be a bit longer than I can tolerate. We’ll see. :)

I’ve been at the Beachbody.com workouts for a little over a year now. In that time, I’ve gone from a size 34 pant size down to a size 31. I used to wear a size XL t-shirt; now I wear a large. It was a lot of hard work, some fun, and totally gratifying — except for all of the clothes and motorcycle equipment that I’ve “undergrown.”
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