Anything that can go wrong will happen while I'm shaving...

I haven't felt the need to post my last few shaves. While my shaves are awesome, they're also repetitive.

I'm using an Astra again. It's shave #2. I'm using the Overlander razor, as usual. Same Stirling Glacial Post Shave Balm as always. The only change is the soap, and those typically cycle around... So they're not 'new' in most regards.

I do like to put something up, here and there. Last two shaves, it's been the soap. As I used a sample today, I'm also going to mention my loading bowl. I'm loving this thing. Can't build a lather, persey, but you can 'charge' a brush for face lathering real well. A welcome purchase, imo.

Have a good evening DFS!

I keep seeing these bowls pop up in posts. I must be careful. I have a weak character! 

I keep seeing these bowls pop up in posts. I must be careful. I have a weak character! 

Wow, really? I never see this one. The full sized Turkish lather bowl is all I see. You sure that isn't the one you're thinking of?

I have one in "storage". I'll have to snap a comparison photo sometime.

You're right, I am probably thinking of the other!

Here's the picture show! This one is downright tiny in comparison. Lol.

So like the talking heads on The News say, it *is* a matter of optics and perspective!! lol!

So like the talking heads on The News say, it *is* a matter of optics and perspective!! lol!

. . .

Eric, I completely agree with what you’re saying. At some point along the way the quest for a good shave became a quest for a “perfect shave” made “possible” by finding the perfect hardware/software. Every day the pressure of choosing the right/pleasing/perfect products is made more difficult not just by having to choose from among a large and possibly growing stock of products, but also pressure from the products you didn’t choose. The opportunity cost-for every product you choose there are x number of products you didn’t choose that may have been better. Of course this type of thinking is completely dysfunctional and runs counter to the whole reason I got into wet shaving. To have a great shave through a pleasant, enjoyable meditative process. The means to that end became the end in itself thus undermining the whole point. Enjoyment, relaxation and meditation. I find myself using some favourite soap and thinking “this is nice” then the little voice says “yeah, but not as nice as…” and there, the shave might not be ruined but it is ever so slightly diminished. It’s a counter-gratitude way of thinking where you regret what you don’t have rather than being grateful for what you do have. The solution is to better control your thinking and direct it towards gratitude and maybe PIFing all that stuff you have that might be undermining that gratitude. I don’t know but in the words of Red Green, we’re all in this together, we’re pulling for you. And keep your stick on the ice.

I could not agree more with these thoughts and keep trying to bring my thinking under control. I keep trying to reduce especially soaps and some other hardware down to just the stuff that I know I enjoy and don't have to worry about what I'm missing out on. Really appreciate all the thoughts from you guys above!

Checking in after a few days absence, it felt like I was reading the story of my life, nicely recapped by Marko and Dave.  It appears that, unlike the hymn, the ties that bind us are not entirely blest.  

FWIW I have been working my way through the Kindle edition of the book Love People, Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works.  Based on the first 50 pages, I would describe it as a book about cultivating a healthy perspective on stuff - a perspective in which stuff is made to serve our lives and not at all allowed to dominate them.  The authors call it "minimalism", but it does not appear to be a book about necessarily doing away with opulence or luxury.  Rather, it is about developing a discerning eye for whether our things are on balance improving the quality of our lives, and foregoing or eliminating the things that don't.  

The authors point out many ways in which the the unhealthiness of excessive ownership can be expressed.  Questing for perfection can become an obsession (the perfect razor, the best soap).  Choosing among too many options can become tense and time-consuming (today's shave setup).   At some point those things add little or no joy, but instead, they rob time and resources from things like raising children, walking the dog, smelling the roses, etc.  Other examples are more subtle, like for instance, an 80 hour a week job that funds an oversized luxury house in which lives a family we never see.   There is nothing wrong with the luxury house per se, unless the cost of ownership compromises the family that lives in it.  I'm guessing you can see why I thought this book might interest some of you, if not now, then perhaps later.

There is apparently a VeggieTales episode in which Larry the Cucumber has a bad case of "Consumeritis".  At one point the dialog goes as follows:

     Bob the Tomato:        Larry, how much stuff do you need to make you happy?
     Larry the Cucumber:  [Thoughtfully.] I don't know. How much stuff is there?

I could not find that episode on youTube, but perhaps this short clip will ring a bell for some of you.  (I'm sad to say it does for me.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qko_j0R_Fu8


Where are you when we need you George Carlin?

This afternoon I used the now discontinued Fine Lavender Pour Homme. A good soap, and a great scent. Wish I had stocked up on some before it was discontinued.

I'm also more and more impressed with the APshaveCo G5C knot. As soon as the knots return on stock, I'll be picking a few up.

All in all a great shave with the Overlander and a brand new Astra SP blade. Have a great evening folks!

Great photo!