Thankfully, it’s December

Thankfully, it’s December, which means Movember is over! It was an interesting month for sure, it started off slow, but quickly started to grow out of control. Overall, my team raised $550, and I’m pretty happy about that! Thursday night was the Movember Gala Parté at Fortune Sound Club, in Chinatown. It was a lot of fun and before I went to it I was pretty hesitant about participating again next year, but seeing everyone else there who was a part of the movement was really gratifying and pretty hilarious too.

I took a photo everyday during the month and made a little stop-motion video to remember the month by, so here you go. But before you check it out, if you haven’t donated yet and would still like to, you can do so HERE! before December 9th! Thanks again to all those who donated and supported me this past month!

Movember (Half-way Point)

I have reached the half-way point of Movember, and to date, my team has raised $335. I’m pretty happy that we’ve done that well so far, but I’d really like to make it to $500.

This month has been interesting so far. Only once before have I let my beard grow out (for three months), and that was in Lethbridge, so I didn’t care what people thought of me. I shaved my beard into a moustache, to see what it looked like and then promptly shaved that off too. So to have just a moustache for a whole month has been a bit of an experience. I really wish more people I knew were doing it as well, for moral support, because I really want to shave this thing off, but I know that once December rolls around, I will be happy to have made it, and just as happy to shave this greasy stache off. I’m so happy that Movember doesn’t lead into Mocember.

I’m really looking forward to the Gala Parté on the 26th at Fortune Sound Club, where I’ll get to meet my fellow Mo-Bros. It’s bound to be a good night. Now what you’ve been waiting for, this is a photo of me taken just a little while ago, if you feel sympathy for me, or want to help change the face of men’s health, please Donate here!

Robert Enke

Robert Enke was a German national goalkeeper, he “lived the dream”, but it was too much for him. Tuesday night, he committed suicide after battling depression for the last few years. I am having a hard time to come to terms with his death, it doesn’t affect me personally, he didn’t play for the team I support (but he did play for the national team, which I do follow), but I just can’t understand how someone in his position could think that this was the only way out. He was slated to be playing, likely as the number one, next summer at the World Cup in South Africa, he was the starting keeper for Hannover 96, and he was also their captain. You always hear that an athlete’s/celebrity’s life isn’t as glamorous or great as it seems, but surely, if the pressures of the game and everything else was weighing on his so much, he could have just stopped playing and pack up his family and just move somewhere with the money he’s made and try to make things right they way he wants them. It’s really sad to see that this was the only way he thought he could deal with things, and I only hope the best for his family right now.

Fall

Fall is definitely here, and I’m happy about that.  I like this time of year and all the things that go with it, the copious amounts of food that is soon to be consumed at dinners and which we already got a glimpse of at Thanksgiving.  I like bundling up and wearing scarves.  I like when it rains in the city, to a point.   I like drinking warm drinks and as annoying as it can sometimes be, I like when my glasses fog up.  Last year’s fall was really great and I’m hoping this year will be the same, full of parties and friends, and this year, moustaches!

And I really hope scenes like this are just around the corner:

 

Movember (Update)

As the days of October fade and we close in on November, it is becoming more and more clear that this Movember thing is really going to happen.  I don’t think I originally thought this through all that much, but it’s too late to go back now.  All I know is that it’s going to be a long month, but at least I’ll have a good conversation starter, that going on the idea people will still approach me while I sport a stache.  Seriously though, I’m happy I’m doing this and I think it’s a good cause that deserves attention.  I’m also thankful for the support I’ve gotten so far and grateful for the donations, and I really hope it keeps coming!

Short Story

I have had a lot of midterms this week and other stresses in my life and for some reason I’ve turned to writing to get me through it. I’ve never really done any extensive writing but I haven’t been able to stop. I’m a good way into my first short story and maybe you’ll get to read it some time, if it gets published.

Berlin

Für Alle, Die by Klee, came on my iTunes earlier and reminded me of my time in Berlin:

I, so dearly, want to go back.

Movember

I have decided to join a global movement that is bringing much needed attention to prostate cancer. I’m doing this by growing a Moustache this Movember, the month formerly known as November. My commitment is to grow a moustache all November and I am hoping that you will support my efforts by making a donation. The funds raised go directly to Prostate Cancer Canada.

What many people don’t know is that 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer to afflict Canadian men with 25,500 diagnosed and 4,400 dying from the disease each year.

Facts like these have convinced me I should get involved.

To make a donation, you can either:

• Click this link and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account , or
• Write a cheque payable to ‘Prostate Cancer Canada’, referencing my Registration Number 18779 and mailing it to: Prostate Cancer Canada, 145 Front Street East, Ste. 306, Toronto, ON M5A 1E3, Canada.

All donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Prostate Cancer Canada will use the money raised by Movember for the development of programs related to awareness, public education, advocacy, support of those affected, and research into the prevention, detection, treatment and cure of prostate cancer.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please click here.

Thank you

Happy birthday, Scott

My friend, Scott, passed away in February. Today would have been his 21st birthday. I thought I’d just write a few of my memories of him. He was one of my best friends through elementary school and I although we didn’t get to spend a lot of time together as we got older, I am really fond of the memories we had.

I would always go for sleep overs at Scott’s house and remember one time when we were so frightened of his sister’s doll, you know the ones that you tilt and their eyes close/open… yeah those creepy ones, anyway, we were scared of this doll so we had to stash it in a closet in another room in the house just so we could sleep. Another time I remember eating an entire bag of Cherry Blasters at his house while watching movies and in the process I got rid of, at least two layers of, the skin on the roof of my mouth, and now every time that happens again, I think of that moment with him.

There are so many more memories I have of him, all of which I will cherish, I just feel bad that there isn’t a chance at making any more with him. No one ever had a bad word to say about Scott and I think it was unjust that he had to leave us early, but I guess it just means that those of us who are still here, need to play the cards we’ve been dealt to the best of our abilities.

Thanks for everything, Scott.

English class

I am taking a first year English class this semester and I am really enjoying it. Now, that may not seem odd, but our first section is poetry, which has always been taught to me as dull and mundane, thankfully however, my teacher is really good and started off our first class with the following poem:

This Be The Verse

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.

Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.

Philip Larkin

We have recited this as a class on a few occasions now, and the class has been pretty fun.  A poem like this is sure to lighten the tension of not knowing anyone on the first day of classes.