Yes it's almost MOVEMBER!!! If you aren't familiar with Movember, then you are not alone. Movember started a few years ago in Australia when a few guys decided to grow mustaches to raise awareness of "men's cancers". Over the years it has grown from country to country. The idea is simple, men (or hairy women) start November 1st clean-shaven. Then, throughout the month of November, you let your mustache, or MO, grow in all of its glory. No beards. No goatees. Only the MO. The more hideous the Mo the better. The idea is for people to ask what that horrible looking thing on your face is which gives you an opportunity to tell them it is to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancers. So, the worse it looks the more likely it is that someone will ask you about it.
Now there are some doubts around my house on whether I plan on going through with it or not. I have only attempted facial hair once in my life. Right after my GI surgery, after not shaving for the few days I was in the hospital, I decided to leave the goatee area. I only had a few days worth of growth and met a friend for lunch. As soon as she got in the car, she took one look at me and just said "No, get rid of it". This wasn't a girlfriend or anything like that, just a close female friend, which are more likely to give an honest answer when you are making a total fool out of yourself (or in my case starting to follow a horrible 90's trend that just doesn't seem to die). Part of the reason I have never attempted any facial hair is my whiskers come in really thick everywhere except the mustache area, and not wanting to look Amish, I never attempted to do anything (except the one time). With patchy lip whiskers, my Mo will certainly be a conversation piece.
There are two caveats to my Mo. The first, I am still on a job search. If I get a job interview during the month of Movember, I will probably shave it off for that, and restart after the interview. After all, I believe I read somewhere that it is best NOT to talk about testicles in your job interview, regardless of the intent behind said testicle conversation. I guess unless it's a interview at a urologist's office, then by all means testicle away! Or a Rocky Mountain oyster bar. Or a vet's office. Or a marriage counselor. But anyway, reason number two, IF I lose my hair from chemo, it should happen in the next week or two. So, my Mo might jettison itself off of my face and that I obviously have no control over (which makes way for the joke "Are you on chemo or are you just so ugly your Mo ran away?"). I haven't quite decided which Mo I am going for. Please feel free to weigh in on which Mo, you think best fits me. The only ones I have ruled out completely are the Hitler and the John Waters. There is a Mo guide in the "Lodge" on the Movember site if you are not up on your Mo style.
Now what can you do to support Movember? The cheapest and easiest is to grow your own Mo! If you remember my journey, I am the one that noticed the lump first, not a doctor. Just as with breast cancer, it is important to do self exams (for testicular cancer, leave the prostate exams to the professionals and ask for credentials first, don't get cheap and let any old person that offers give you a prostate exam). Just talking about "men cancers" is getting awareness out there. I am certainly not here begging for donations (unless you want to buy me an American made Paul Reed Smith with twenty four frets and double cutaway) but if you would like to support Movember, and thereby support the Livestrong Foundation and all that they support (including the Wellness Community), as well as support prostate cancer research, you can go to the Movember website and search me (I am currently the only Tom Peterson registered). If there happens to be more than one of me, I am on team Juan Bahl (not my joke, but a funny one). We are headed up by the founder of the Testicular Cancer Society. Feel free to join our team if you are growing your own Mo, or if you are so inclined to donate, you can do so there as well (that is donations for cancer research, not to my PRS fund). My MoSpace page is here if you want the shortcut.
There are also parties and events planned around the world throughout the month of Movember. Unfortunately, it looks as if I will be out of town for our team's party, HOWEVER there is an event that I may be able to attend while I am out of town. IF, and that is a big IF, I can find the will to train over the next month, there is a bicycle event out of town that I would like to attend. What is it called? The "Mustache Ride" of course! I am not making any of this up. I don't know how close I am to jumping on a bicycle seat again after being sliced and diced down there a few weeks ago. But it is something I would really like to do, and we are going to have our bikes with us anyway. Although I was planning on taking my old Giant brand mountain bike named after a place in Montana that I managed to erase the last letter on. Yes, I am in possession of the one and only Giant Butt. These are the things I do in my shop when I am bored and have access to paint thinner (no I wasn't sniffing it, I was using it to take the "E" off of "Butte"). However, if I am doing this ride, I will also take my road bike. It is full of racing parts, not that I ever plan on racing it, but those parts give you the advantage that the slightest bit of effort can make you roll forever. I farted on it once and coasted for three miles.
I will close this blog by listing the links to the things I have talked about in this blog. If you want to grow your own Mo, you can link to Team Juan Bahl and join the team from my MoSpace page. But feel free to grow a Mo without joining a team. And there is no Mo obligation. As I said the main point of Movember is to get people talking. Thank you and send me those Mo suggestions (and yes I will be posting Mo photos).
C'mon grown one and show you've got a pair, for all of us that don't!!
My MoSpace: http://us.movember.com/mospace/544608/
Movember Foundation: http://us.movember.com/?home
Testicular Cancer Society: http://www.testicularcancersociety.org/
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