We are now more than two thirds of the way through Movember and my ‘stache has reached ‘full grown’ status.  Of course, I will continue to let it grow for the rest of the month and end the month with one more final update.

With the awkward growth face over with, and most of the people I see regularly getting used to the moustache, I often find myself forgetting that it’s even on my face.  That’s why when I get a reaction, it surprises me again.  The shock leaves quickly though as I remember that it’s there.

The most recent of such reactions was at the office, when a couple members of our R&D team were at my  building for a meeting.  I ran into them walking by the boardroom on my way to lunch.  Some laughs happened and I remembered “Oh yeah, the moustache.”

“Do you know what you look like?”

“No,” I responded, thinking of lots of things I’ve heard so far but wondering where this was going.

“A 70s porn star.”

Surprisingly, this wasn’t the first time I had heard that exact comment.  What is it with specifically combining the 70’s as well as porn star with the moustache?  While I have had a few random comments about the 70’s, I haven’t heard porn star without 70’s attached to the comment.  I wasn’t alive back then, so I suppose I’ll never know.

I ran into the same person the next day.  “When’s your movie coming out?” he asked.  Other than men’s health and prostate cancer awareness, at least this moustache is also bringing comedy into my life.

Even though diseases like prostate cancer are very serious and men across the globe are growing moustache to bring awareness to this problem, it is important we find joy in life.  Growing a moustache is a silly way to bring awareness to a real problem.  Follow this link to a Penny Arcade comic that explains just that!

Tags: men's health, Movember; moustache, prostate cancer

What’s facial hair to a man?

November is a month where every man has a choice.  He can go about his facial hair like he normally does.  Or he can grow a moustache and participate in Movember!

Now, I’m not a big fan of moustaches.  Actually, I find they look hideous.  However, considering that I’ve signed up for a month long trek through Scotland to raise money for cancer research, what’s a month with a moustache on face?  If my facial hair can raise awareness about men’s issues, such as prostate cancer, sporting a moustache for a month is an easy sacrifice to make.

Without reading up on Movember’s official rules, I decided to grow a beard so that I could shave off all but the moustache on the night of October 31^st.  In the meantime, I decided to be a lumberjack for Halloween. Why not, I had a beard!  The beard came in really well and I’ve had a few people tell me that I should keep it.  However, I was committed to participating in Movember so the beard had to go!

So I now sit, shaved down to my moustache, fully aware that I’m not ‘technically’ following the rules of Movember.  I’m supposed to start the month with a clean-shaven face and only let my moustache grow.  But since this is my first year participating, I’ve decided that I’m allowed to break a rule or two.  I’ll just start raising awareness right away, starting now, with this article.

The tagline for Movember is: “Changing the face of men’s health”.  I hope you can appreciate the moustache I’ve grown – and will continue to grow – and contribute to a great cause.

Are you going to participate in Movember?  If so, how?

Tags: awareness, cancer, lumberjack, men's health, moustache, movember, prostate, shaving