doug wick

A few days ago, I started growing out my beard like I always do at this time of year, but this year is different. It’s mustache time. And no, it’s not because the new quarterback for my Oklahoma Sooner football team favors the ‘stache.

It’s because of this great charity event that friend and coworker Aaron Strout got me involved with called Movember, which benefits men’s health – most notably putting money toward prostate and testicular cancer through the Livestrong Foundation here in Austin. The gist of the charity is that you join up and grow a mustache (or “mo,” as they are called in Australia) through the entire month of November, and then you ask people to sponsor your ‘stache.

I think that’s great, and I’ve joined and started laying down the foundation, as you can see in the pic (yes, that’s just three days growth). However, I want to make it a little more interesting. I am prepared to style my mustache in the style dictated by the individual who donates the most money toward it on my “Mospace” page.

Yes, you can put a Fu Manchu on me, or a Zappa, or a Franz Josef. The complete display of options are below. There are only two rules. One, it has to be a mustache style, meaning there has to be hair on the upper lip and no hair on the goatee area of the chin (some of these below don’t qualify). The other rule is that I won’t do the Hitler-stache, because I just don’t roll like that. Anything else is fair game!

On Sunday, November 30, I will determine the winner based on who has made the most cumulative donations (you can make more than one to up your bid) and will shave my 4-week beard down to the selected ‘stache style. I will then announce the winner and post a picture of my ‘stache here publicly on my blog. Then, I will proudly sport the winning ‘stache style for the entire week, including the Movember gala in Austin on December 3rd.

So you should ask yourself now, when is the next time you’ll get the opportunity to determine someone else’s facial hair fate?

Act now and join the bidding for a great cause!