February 2020 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

I’m so glad I didn’t sell the Rex! It’s turned out to be a great shaver for me after the repair!

 

I have already done that part. I really don't have a razor that does not shave well for me apart from my birth year Slim. I will likely put at least some razors and brushes on the purge list.

 

I'm good.

 

Thanks, Joe!

 

Awesome shave, Perry! Piacenza is one of Stirling's great ones

 

The poetry here at the Den
Is ever so wittily penned
Folks must make the most
Ere they're made a ghost
One bad shave could bring on their end

(speaking from personal experience, of course )

 

I would say those were good results Tim!

 

Thanks, Patrick!

 

Thanks Andrew!

You'll have to wait for the movie, Tim. We're canvassing Hollywood, looking for a leading man to play Joseph. It's challenging to find someone that can act, sing, and wield a cutthroat razor.

 

Now that my shavette has materialized, pretty much all of them except for two. Turns out (with the exception of one razor) they have all been shaving pretty well. Even the DE89, which I didn't think I'd get the hang of, I got the hang of.

Only two have stood out as exceptional, and one of those won't make the cut more for pragmatic reasons than anything else.

 

2/25 Shave #6 was... a humbling disaster. Feeling pretty pretty silly reporting this. But if I’m not honest I’m wasting everyone’s time and doing myself a supreme disservice. So in keeping with today’s poetry theme, here’s an equally silly homage to my disgrace !

Last night I saw red before bed
But I’m still not afraid of the blade
I shall make the pain keep me sane
And remember not to use the tool like a fool

Late, late night last night. I had a quiet and easy work day yesterday. Scored a killer deal in a knife trade: 300mm Honyaki Sakimaru Takohiki forged by one Kenichi Shiraki from a single chunk of Aogami #2 steel. So I was feeling pretty good. Settling in at home I pulled out some rocks and set up for a Honbazuke sharpening session. (Translation: I got a new hand-forged, differentially hardened mono-steel sashimi knife, made by a “top 5” (IMO) Japanese blacksmith, and performed initial sharpening to establish my geometry)

Several hours flew by and I was on the fence about shaving before bed. My gut told me to give my face a break. I’ve been shaving every day since I started. I had the knife on my mind and an early morning ahead of me. Facing 3hrs down time before Tuesday’s kickoff, I forced a shave and I paid the price.

My blade was feeling great through half of my 1st pass. Anything great halted right there. I wasn’t focused on the shave. My mind was wandering among visions of dragging through my Tuesday short on sleep. 1st dig was left-side chin. I pulled the familiar “skip-cut” as the blade momentum glanced off the whiskers and I scored a nick at the base of my lip. “Didn’t I do that yesterday?” I pushed on and clipped a bump by the right sideburn. “Okay... couple weepers. Focus. You’ve got this.” Moving into the ATG pass I just totally derailed. I may have been near delirious through this shave. Technique was sloppy and graceless. Empty of enthusiasm and focus I clipped another earlobe (all tied up now, 2-2), and felt the deep burn from the alum.

The Big Takeaway- 3 R’s

1. Revel in the wisdom- Sage advice has been offered; there is much more already written. Even the superior master never stops learning.
2. Remember the wisdom- Advice, instruction, information/data are useless unless retained and practiced.
3. Respect the wisdom- Rules are rules for a reason. While some rules in some spaces may be broken for various reasons, one must assess and understand one’s status before any rogue activity is an option. Because consequences. No sidesteps, no excuses, no exceptions.

Lesson learned: The answers to my problems are/were already available. @Keithmax I will benefit from this!

I didn’t respect this wisdom or my gut and that resulted in a bad shave.

Slow and steady wins the race. 94 shaves to go. Whether or not proficiency comes before or after 100 shaves, 94 is the target expectation.

No shave night tonight; time to give the face a break, study up, and rally my efforts. Failure is in the past and opportunities for greatness await... plenty of new days and new shaves ahead.

 

Thanks Patrick!

 

Thanks Tim, SC is good stuff. Have a great day.

 

Thanks, Andrew!

At the time it seemed like a blood = disqualification policy would help me slow down and shave more carefully. To some extent, it has, but it just hasn't mattered. As many have sagely pointed out, throwing a new razor into the mix each day has really screwed things up. Well, now I know. Still, I'm getting a feel for which ones I like, and why. Should I do this in the future, blood drawn will probably not be a factor (or a minor one at most).

 

Nice shave Tommy minus the weepers.

 

Thanks Andrew.

 

Thanks Jason

 

Noooo. Blood drawn = disqualifying score for the day. Back when I rarely seemed to cut myself, that seemed like a great idea. Now that I'm the king of weepers...



Well, such is life...

 

Yes, I turned the wood part, Joseph. The brass ferrule is a sleeve over top of the wood.

 

If I'm tired or unfocused, I skip the shave no matter what razor I have chosen . Good report!