Mustache 2009 Wrap-Up

Mustache 2009 from Adam Rex on Vimeo.

Specifically, thanks to Gary and Chris Abbate, Mr. Israel Sanchez, Karen Taha, Michelle, Sarah Slocum, Cathleen McCoy, Anonymous, Joan Sandin, Jessica Olzak-McDonald, Ms Sacha Adorno, Anonymous, David Wiesner, Donna Bray, Nina Crittenden, Darrell Toland, Jacob Johnston, and Chelle Jenkins. And anyone I missed, either now or in an earlier post. Did I miss anyone?

Andre the Giant Has a Portrait

The second annual Hey You Guys charity event is set for December 5th at the Rialto Theater in South Pasedena, CA. There will be an auction of art inspired by family movies of the 80's, and a screening of Ghostbusters. All proceeds benefit Donors Choose, which is incidentally the charity for which I've been growing this damn mustache. So I've painted a little 5x7 portrait of Andre the Giant as Fezzik from The Princess Bride.

If anyone out there attends the event, let me know.

Halfway There

The month is half over, and I'm just two weeks from getting to shave this thing off my face. I think we can all agree it looks like a pair of doormats for my nose. My nose is a duplex in this metaphor.
Anyway, so far we've raised $655, and helped to fully fund two projects. The teachers have written back:

Dear Michelle, Chelle, Andrea and Kathie,
...Thank you so much for reaching out to a group of students whom you've never even met. Please know that in troubled economic times such as these, when educational budgets fall short, it's generous people like you that help us teachers raise up and educate a future generation of leaders, doctors, writers, teachers, etc.
Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.
With gratitude,
Mrs. N.

Dear Michelle, Andrea, Sarah, Kelly DiPucchio and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
Thank you for believing in education. Your donation is a tangible reminder to me that there are people "out there" who believe in what I do with my students day after day. Words cannot express what a boost that is for me as a teacher.
...Students from years to come will benefit from having this classroom set of books available to all teachers on our campus.
Your generation is a gift to me as a teacher, to my current students and to students yet-to-come.
With gratitude,
Mrs. A.

Mac, Andrea, and Fox Family,
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Your donations come at a time when I needed the pick-me-up. This week our copy machine was either not working or the paper kept getting jammed, so teacher creativity and frustration took in to play. It's difficult to teach without necessary tools. I so appreciate your donations...
-Claudia

Claudia there hasn't had her needs fully funded yet. Maybe we can help her out? Hers is the project "To See, Or Not To See!"

Seven Impossible Thing Before Breakfast

Jules over at the blog Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast posts a very nice review of my book with Mac Barnett, Guess Again!. But maybe the important thing to you people out there who don't think I post enough non-mustache-related pictures is that she includes an illustration from said book which I have not shown here on my blog. Well, except as this tiny little thumbnail on the left. Want to see it bigger? Follow the link.

Cuddly as a Cactus, Charming as an Eel

And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say that the Grinch's small heart mustache grew three sizes that day. And then, the true meaning of Christmas Movember came through, and the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches mustaches, plus two!

Sorry I freaked out a few days ago. Since Saturday you and my mustache raised $469.30 for underfunded schoolkids, and we helped to fully fund one of the class projects. Thanks to Don from Arizona, Mac from California, the Fox family from Arizona, Andrea from California, Kelly DiPucchio, Ms. Sarah Rocklin, and big thanks to Michelle from Ely, Minnesota.

Let's keep it going!

Hooray!

I browbeat someone into donating 25 dollars! Thanks, Dad!
So here's another interior illustration from Brixton Brothers #1: The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity.

Yes! Steve thought. I look more like a sailor than anyone in this place!

A Dark, Mustache-Shaped Cloud on the Horizon

I seem to have hit a snarl with my charitable mustache. As I mentioned previously, last year mustache pledges from you, my readers, contributed $1,165 dollars to underfunded schools. Teachers at those schools received the supplies they asked for, and everyone was happy. I have so far received no new pledges this year. I've been trying to consider arguments as to why someone would not want to donate, and I present these arguments below, with my responses:

I can't see that donation sidebar you keep talking about. A friend told me the same thing. His adblocker was....well, blocking it. Here's the link.

I don't believe the children are our future. Are you kidding me? The children are totally our future. Whitney Houston and I have disagreed on a lot of things (Bobby Brown, cocaine), but we agree on this.

You look like you're doing fine. That sidebar says you've raised over a thousand dollars. That sidebar says we raised over a thousand dollars LAST year. We've yet to raise anything this year. And that money from last year (which helped Philadelphia area students) doesn't mean a thing to the Tucson kids I'm trying to sponsor now.

I don't care about Tucson. I'd rather help kids in my own back yard. If they're literally in your back yard then they're probably your kids. Do they look familiar? If not, they may only need a glass of water and directions. Or maybe you mean metaphorically in your back yard. If so, follow the sidebar link to my giving page. At the bottom of the page is a link to "Search Projects," which you can use to find classrooms in your area.

That mustache looks really fantastic, yet you make it seem like this big hardship. Thank you, but I think it looks terrible. I suspect my wife, who is superficially quite supportive, also thinks it looks terrible. It makes me feel self-conscious and weird. And so, like a walk-a-thon or selling cheese logs door-to-door, it's something unpleasant I'm willing to do for a good cause. If you can think of something more unpleasant and you have a major credit card, name it. Maybe we can work something out.

Zoo Trip

Mustache for Kids

EDIT: A friend told me he could not see the donation sidebar on the right due to his adblocker. If you can't see it either, this is the link.

It's that time of year again. During the great month of Movember I and many other men across the globe will selflessly grow mustaches for charity. And look at this picture. I'm not even growing, like, a cool handlebar mustache. I'm growing a Magnum P.I.

So far it's more of a Steve Buscemi.

It's at about this point in the process that I always feel like I've made a TERRIBLE MISTAKE. Please help me stay strong by donating through the sidebar to the right. Your money will help teachers at underfunded schools get the supplies they need.

Last year we raised $1,165. I think we can do even better this year.

The Days of Wine and Cookies

You may know I went on a book tour recently at the behest of Simon and Schuster, and the publisher apparently thought they needed to express their gratitude in some fashion apart from paying for all my food, drink, lodging, and travel for two and a half weeks. So today the UPS man brought me wine and a batch of cookies featuring frosting photos of the Four Guys.

It's quite an existential hall of mirrors, eating a cookie with your face on it. Now I understand how people who look like gingerbread men feel, all the time.

The wine bottle sports a label showing us Guys raising the flag in a manner that's totally not disrespectful to our nation's veterans. Anyway, the bottle was an odd choice, as none of the Guys are big wine drinkers.

(cough)

Regardless, thanks, S&S! I got all this just in time for breakfast.