June 28
Chase Day--”The Tightrope”
Sunday. Chase Day. How to explain it? Life is a balancing act between striving for perfection and being content with what you have. Yes, you should always strive for better, but strive too much and it leads to discontent. Conversely, there are blessings in even the humblest of circumstances, and to ignore them is the grossest kind of ingratitude. Take it too far, though, and you become apathetic or lazy. Shakespeare explained the balancing act best: “Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied; And vice sometimes, by action, dignified.”
It’s the same with shaving. For years I would settle for nothing less than a glassy smooth shave, and much like Icharus’ wings, my face would melt, and I would plunge into a sea of irritation and torment. Is it inherently wrong to strive for a BBS? No. But at the same time, spurning a DFS or even a CCS with no damage to epidermal layers, and trading it for a BBS that leaves you so irritated that you can’t shave for a couple of days (I’ve had some that kept me from shaving for weeks) seems wrong to me.
I eventually learned to take what I can comfortably get; however, I still think there is something valuable in pushing the envelope. Hence, chase day. On Sunday I put my best foot forward and chase the baby a bit more than usual--but always with the understanding that there is nobility in striving for perfection but accepting less when your best efforts don’t take you safely there.
I’ll shut up now and get to the shave
Gear
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- Razor: Mystery’s Flare Tip
- Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (1)--I’ll be darned if I don’t feel another haiku coming on:
Stubble-stained basin
So darkly gritty. Not so,
My Polsilver face
- Brush: The JOmegan Boar
- Soap: Stirling Iced Pineapple and Glastonbury prepared and chilled with ice water
- Menthol: Stirling Frost Drops
- AS: Clubman Original (1 Frost Drop)
- Balm: Stirling Glacial Unscented
The Shave
Sunday gets a three pass shave: WTG, XTG, ATG. Had this been a weekday, I’d have walked away after the second pass quite happy with a near BBS/DFS. But Sunday is also chase day. Third pass did it--the baby has landed.
Got all gussied up for home-church, and even threw on the lapel pin my oldest son bought me for Father's Day. My son, evidently, thinks I am a Skyrim geek--he knows me so well...
View attachment 229278
"Why, Tim! Is that a St. Andrew knot in your tie?"
Yes. Yes, it is.
Have a relaxing Sunday; You’ve earned it!
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