u/ginopono's SOTDs for challenge 'RawHoggin' 2022'

Aug. 1, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (1)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

#GEMsOfWisdom

I had my first MMOC shave just a few weeks ago. I really wanted to do today as a first-time MMOC-user, except that I had no idea if any type of single-edge blade would be friendlier with my skin, or whether they'd even be capable of making it through the month. After testing the blades available from tryablade, I'm glad I did (test them, that is), because the ones not labeled as stainless demonstrated very quickly that there is a reason that are not so labeled. The plain-ol' stainless seemed to hold up well enough, but then I settled on the coated one for a while before switching back to my Rockwell for comparison and to see if DEs have been ruined for me forever.

Anyway, yes, today was not my first MMOC shave, because blades. My first MMOC shave was, as you might imagine, a very different experience than it was today. Here's a few things that I though about, if memory serves (and it most certainly does not), as I first tried this infamous razor.

1. I had come across a Badger & Blade thread in which someone shared an MMOC that bore the words "hold flat against face" on the top, much like one that u/EldrormR (tag for Raw Hoggin', along u/Semaj3000 for MMOC) purportedly has. If I hadn't happened across that, I might have taken a very different, bloodier approach to the first shave with this thing. it also helps to make sense of the angle of the head of this razor, which I had found odd with my DE-heavy frame of reference. With the top of the razor head held as such, it makes for a very natural-feeling angle and much gentler experience with the razor.

2. I was glad to have tried a shavette a couple times in June. While that's obviously a wholly different kind of thing, having experience with an unprotected blade was helpful in handling this infamously-aggressive razor. There was a time or two that I might not have known to stop the movement of my hand, if I hadn't had the experience of reaching that point--and going beyond--with the shavette. Thanks to that, I have not had any cuts with the MMOC.

3. The first few times with the MMOC, I couldn't get a reasonably close shave, much like I haven't gotten a reasonably close shave in the few times I used the shavette. This was simply a side-effect of being unsure of how to effectively wield the MMOC. After a week, I was able to get wonderfully smooth shaves out of it.

4. Alum was a must at the start. It almost seems strange that I wasn't able to get close enough to cut the hairs down while simultaneously wreaking havoc on my skin. But my skin wasn't feeling super-awesome, the alum helped, and I resolved that it would be a necessary component as I subjected myself to this treatment during all of August. That need dissipated, but I did kind of get in the habit of using the alum in that way, which I've never really done.

5. I use the alum for its other purpose more with the MMOC: i.e. finger-non-slip for skin-holding. The necessity for holding one's skin taut seems to be greater when using the MMOC. Is that just a clumsy segue into clumsily mentioning that the razor requires more attentive care? Maybe. Probably. Blah, blah, the razor shaves differently from DEs and takes some getting used to.

I would have liked to have address these points as I naturally progressed through them, but alas it did not come to pass (no pun intended).

Having had the motivation to subject myself to this razor in the interest of this month's challenge, I can say with confidence: using this razor for a month is going to be a breeze.

#RawHoggin

The razor is going to be easy-breezy, but I foresee a rough month with face-lathering for this challenge. Obviously, no prep or practice was allowed with the brush, but I did practice face-lathering with other brushes, and I can also say with confidence: face-lathering sucks. It is the worst. Why the hell would anyone choose to do this unless there was literally no other option. Hell, even the chest-lather is better.

But not the knee. Fuck that.

The above-linked hopefully counts for "unboxing"; it's a pristine brush, box(es) alongside, and with the rest of what I've committed to for the month. I have a feeling it'll be a few days before I figure out a good angle for progress pics, though. That's post-shave, in case that's not obvious from the the now-used brush. Once wet, it was much more pliable than I had any reason to worry it wouldn't be.

Also, I knew that boar-smell was a thing, but I naively thought I'd be spared from that, due to the absence of such a smell from the box. I have no idea why I didn't consider that the stench would be unleashed once it got wet. Perhaps this normally would be easy enough to ignore, but not so much when you're going...

#unscented

for which I'm using House of Mammoth's Z soap and aftershave, which are also for...

#MammothMafia

Aug. 2, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (2)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

The razor I'm using is of the gen 1 variety. I got a gen 2 as well, which was motivated by reports of the latter being nicer, but when I tried them both out last month, I found that I had a better experience with the former. Granted, it was in the first couple days of trying them out, and I think I only tried the gen 2 one once... I also don't care for chrome. I really don't see the appeal at all, but that's obviously a matter of subjective taste.

I wonder if chrome in modern razors is just kind of a vestigial relic from days past, which has stuck around. For example, chrome is forever in my mind associated with the 50s (though these particular razors pre-date that, I believe), during which time I have the impression that chrome seemed to have been slapped on everything, particularly cars. Perhaps razors, as time went by, never really shook free of times when chrome was so fashionable.

Or maybe it's just a production cost thing.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 3, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (3)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

The daily photos for this are really looking like I just took a bunch of pictures all at once and am just posting different ones each day. That's just the nature of gradual changes, of course.

Oh, hey, have I mentioned how much face-lathering sucks? It's terrible and there's no reason anyone should choose to spend 30x the time to get a lather that's barely usable. I knew I had to put my magical bowl away for the month—not because it would present any kind of temptation, but because I would otherwise be likely to grab it simply out of habit. Off to the side in the photos so far is a mug that I decided to use not for lathering (there's not remotely enough width, so I couldn't if I wanted to), but for pre-shave brush-wetting.

Speaking of wet, new boar brushes, I feel like the stench is fading. It's still noticeable, but after just a few days seems to be at a place where I can ignore it.

Hopefully anosmia's not to blame, though. I do have a bit of a cough, but at-home tests tell me it's not the roni. I actually thought it was brought on by having slammed on my back like 50 times in a row in a krav maga class the day before it started. Whatever it is, I am nonetheless foregoing krav for the time being. Shame, because I only started up again a couple weeks ago.

#GEMSofWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 4, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (4)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

The MMOC continues to MMOC, the boar continues to reek, the Mammoth soap and aftershave continue to smell of nothing but their core ingredients, and face-lathering continues to be the worst bullshit ever introduced to shaving.

The grey mug I mentioned yesterday that I have on the side there (not for lathering, not only because it doesn't provide the space for it but also because the boar contest disallows it) used to have something printed on the side for Lac Qui Parle, MN, a place that I have never gone to, even though I also have a T-shirt for the place. Talking Lake, Lake that Speaks, I guess it's a place that's big on duck/geese hunting? I have no idea, and I have no idea about or interest in hunting. But at some point the printing on the mug just completely wiped off, leaving me with a plain grey mug, which I honestly prefer. Shame it's not a darker shade to better match the brush handle, though.

I woke up this morning with a song inexplicably stuck in my head, which happens with remarkable frequency. One such song that has been the culprit on a number of occasions has been the George of the Jungle theme, I shit you not.

This morning it was actually The New Pornographers - Miss Teen Wordpower, which, having typed that, I realize could be a worrying combination of words if you're not familiar with the group. But in light of that, I figured this is as good a time as any to jump into the #sidetracked contest from /u/Teufelskraft

But that is not the song I wish to share for the purpose of the contest. This song does bring me back to my undergrad days, and it reminds me of someone who was with a study abroad group I was in (a trip I recently talked a bit about) because she mentioned that movie Little Miss Sunshine a number of times and that title is similar to the title of the song. Also, she was big into words, which is always cool.

I'm also a big fan of something in Miss Teen Wordpower song that I'm not sure how to describe: A kind of tonal downshift a the end of the lines "Nobody knows the wreck of the soul like you do" and "Miss Teen Wordpower" I don't know. It's fun to sing to, too, but maybe I drop an extra octave or something to exaggerate it.

But no, that's not the song I wanted to share for this, which is another from The New Pornographers that shares that same kind of downshift thing, and I happen to like this song a fair bit better: Sing Me Spanish Techno. I am indeed guilty, on occasion, of listening too long to that one song.

#GEMSofWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 5, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (5)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

This morning, I am speaking with s lower-than-normal voice that is characteristic of certain ailments, part of a progression of the cough I mentioned the other day. Fortunately, my job doesn't actually require my physical presence (even though my physical presence is still de jure required four out of five days per week under normal circumstances).

What was I saying? Oh, right, I have a cough, it sucks, but not as much as face-lathering sucks. Just like 16-some percent of the way through the months and then I don't have to deal with that ridiculously stupid lather method anymore.

I would be inclined to cut this short, being less-than-tip-top, but yesterday's /u/Teufelskraft #sidetracked brought to mind another song that I was introduced to in the same era as yesterday's. The song, which had been around for a good while before such introduction, is Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix). That's Fatboy Slim's name; did you know that? I didn't.

I had largely forgotten about the song until a few years ago when I decided to seek it out. I didn't know anything about the song aside from the lyrics I remembered and what it sounded like, and I didn't realize it was a remix of an earlier song, which I had not heard until this search.

If memory serves, identifying the specific remix was harder than one might expect considering that this one in particular received a huge amount of accolades. What really stands out in my mind is this, taken from the Wikipedia article on the song

NME ranked the remix at number 2 in their list of "The 50 Best Remixes Ever", saying it "does what the truly great remixes do – render you unable to enjoy the original".

Finally, I can't not point out that the song itself (original) is tribute to famed Indian playback singer Asha Bhosle.

Now I gotta make sure I'm ready to ^^**cough** start work.

#GEMSofWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 6, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (6)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

Another day, another negative result on one of those at-home nose-swab tests, telling me the cough that started up the other day is not covid. Just in case anyone in the US who happens to see this happens to be unaware, you can get free tests via USPS, with a limit. I used my last one today and ordered my third (perhaps final) batch a few days ago.

You know what sucks worse than shoving those swab things up your nose-holes? Face-lathering. At least nostril-penetration of this kind is purposeful, though, while face-lathering is at its core an ineffective exercise, except in achieving the worst possible outcome.

I didn't happen to notice the boar stench this time around; maybe it has faded beyond casual detection. A couple hundred years ago, I might have concluded that the boar bore a miasma that resulted in my ailment, which might have been avoided had I not been compelled to concentrate the release of this bad air directly under my nose.

No connection to u/OnionMiasma, of course.

#GEMSofWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 7, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (7)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

Every day I think I'm going to put something interesting in the photo, if not to make it interesting then at least make them in some way distinguishable in the otherwise invariant day-to-day. Today all I could muster up was a new angle. Maybe at some point I'll do the ol' bedsheet-light-diffuser thing.

But not for at least a couple days, I think, because this damn malady seems to be getting creative. For the past it was just a cough; you know, the kind that makes it feel like a torrent of dry sand is ripping through your trachea each time? Hell, I can handle that. But now nose stuff has been introduced, which is the worst.

But not as bad as the atrocious insult to shaving that is face-lathering, made worse by the unnecessary repeated pressure around my schnoz.

Don't worry, I'm probably out of ways to say that face-lathering sucks, so I probably won't keep it up for longer than another day or two. Saying it sucks, that is; I've committed to continue this horrid act of injustice for the duration of the month...

#GEMSofWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 8, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (8)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

Oh, man, it's the 8th? You know what that means: It's International Cat Day! Here's an Artemis to brighten your morning!

I decided to include another element that I've been using this August: unscented deodorant! Sure, it's consistent with the unscented challenge, but also, I imagine most of us here generally use some kind of unscented deodorant-type product, because a lot of the scented varieties could easily overpower the scents and fragrances that we so enjoy.

I'm pretty ready for this cough thing to be done. It's progressing through apparent stages, which hopefully means it'll subside soon.

I'm also ready to be done with this face-lathering farce. I'm convinced that anyone who says they prefer this is lying. Either that or mentally deficient.

#sidetracked /u/Teufelskraft
I happened to throw on an A Perfect Circle shirt today. That is a shirt that I've had for something around 20 years, having gotten it when I was in high school. In the spirit thereof, ~~The Outsider~~ The Noose from their second album is just one of their many great songs that take me back. It took me a little while to pick that one out after listening to so many just now. Mer de Noms and Thirteenth Step both fall under the general category of albums in which every song is memorable and fantastic, not a one being off.

That Maynard James Keenan really knew how to work teen-angst, huh? I'm not hugely familiar with his entire catalog (I'm not even familiar with anything A Perfect Circle after the second album), but A Perfect Circle was kind of a reverse introduction to earlier Tool. Angsty stuff, that. Oh, I just remembered I even saw Tool in concert way back, too. Huh.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 9, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (9)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

The first usage of tools is generally regarded as a pivotal step in the evolution of human history. I'm no anthropologist, but I believe the appearance of stone tools in generally regarded as a mark of cognitive development in our species. It is necessarily the case that combining tools, i.e. using separate tools together such as with a mortar and pestle, came later, and perhaps marks further cognitive development.

Face-lathering, then, is clearly stuck in that earlier, more primitive stage. Face-lathering is literally more primitive than banging two rocks together!

^I ^jest.

Once again, throwing another #unscented thing I use into the photo (the presence of which is independently dictated by RawHoggin): Stirling Unscented Shampoo Bar.

I've long since switched to Stirling shampoo bars, but I found that any scent was easily missed. Even the mentholated Margaritas went fairly unnoticed by me while using it. So I've been using the unscented more. Whatever scent I intend to keep around is introduced after the shower, anyway.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 10, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (10)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

After a week of coughing, I've decided it's time to go back into the office. Physically going there doesn't really bother me as much as some people (ambiguity fully intentional here), but I can't say it doesn't involve a lot of sacrifices.

(edit: Actually drove most of the way there, but as a bout of coughing intensified, figured I should turn around)

Nearly a third of the way through the month, today I am reminded of the swift passage of fleeting time bring us ever-more-quickly toward the end. What does make the passage of the month seem to take longer? Face-lathering.

u/Teufelskraft's #sidetracked got me thinking about some music that I haven't so much as thought about in a huge amount of time, and I'm almost inclined to dig up the ol' book of CDs. The rabbit-hole I wandered down did lead to a song coming to mind that I nonetheless have no CD for: Kaizers Orchestra - Bak et Hallelujah. I don't remember exactly how this song originally came to my attention, but I'm sure it was an internet video of some kind, probably a flash video. Now, I don't speak Norwegian or any other variety of Scandinavian, but I do seem to recall that the lyrics belie the upbeat tempo in that they are quite bleak. I'm not particularly inclined to seek the translation, though.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 11, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (11)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

For all the shit I talk about face-lathering, you can't say I'm not giving it a fair shot. Every day, I think, "Is this it? Is this the day I come around and say that face-lathering isn't the atrocious bullshit it proves itself to be, time and time again?" and every day I think, "This is the worst fucking way to shave! Awful!"

The face-lathering-hate is mostly a joke (except it does really suck, like wow, it's terrible), but I'm guilty of thinking that way much more seriously of certain other things. For example, Microsoft Excel is the worst fucking software to deal with data (seriously, it is the wrong software for at least 98% of what it's used for, and VBA is crap, but on the other hand M in Power Query is surprisingly handy). I also tend to have a glint of the same feeling whenever I'm typing text with anything that's not vim or at least vim-like. I'm typing this out in reddit's text-entry box, and sure, I could do it with vim and then copy it over, but.... Actually, there's no real reason I'm not doing exactly that...

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 12, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (12)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

Morning shave but afternoon post because I didn't want to make a rush of my morning. It wouldn't have been an issue at all, except face-lathering takes an absurd and unnecessary amount of time. Just rubbing my face like an idiot for half my morning, time that could be spent playing with my cat before I leave for the day.

I just got a tree/ladder thing for her today, which I'm getting ready to put up on the wall next to my desk. A couple months ago, I got a standing desk, at which point she lost interest in hanging out on a box (draped with a blanket and with a cat bed on top) that I had had next to where I sat when it was a non-standing desk. She usually likes to be near me, though, so hopefully this new thing will give her a place to chill that's at my now-elevated level.

Oh, and u/Teufelskraft #unscented because I happen to have a song going through my head as I type this. MXMS - The Run is a recent discovery of mine, after it popped up on a "Discovery Mix" that frankly is usually filled with nothing but crap. This kind of song is really more my speed these days, being fairly laid back and relaxing without being boring. There might be a decent chance that I'll run this into "overplayed" territory.

Oh, and I finally got around to actually using vim to type this out. I don't have much of an opinion on emacs, as I've never used it. From what u/gcgallant tells me, though, emacs is heavy and bloated and even has an Excel-mimicry mode, which is disgusting. Vim suits me, and it's ubiquitous, which is good considering that the nature of my job is such that I can't wantonly install any ol' software on my computer (that sounds restrictive, but it's justifiably so, and I'm not complaining because I feel right at home living in vim all day).

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 13, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (13)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

I seem to recall seeing that the idea behind Austere August was not only to contrast with June's shenanigans and daily-different-soaps, but also to take advantage of consistency, do away with all of the variables, and focus on the shave itself. I recall that Austere August was a time for evaluating technique in controlled conditions and without distractions of silliness.

I dare say that #unscented is very much in line with this kind of idea, clearing out the distraction of the very scent of our soaps. Boring? Overkill? Uncalled-for masochism? Maybe, but it's honest.

I have mixed feelings about the one-blade-for-the-whole-month part of whatever acronym Nightmare mode. On the one hand, even blade-by-blade variation can appear between blades of the same brand and flavor, and the act of changing one's blade may welcome that, thereby introducing a possibly-distracting variable. On the other hand, using a single blade for so long is not usually how one goes about things. Usually. As I see mentions begin to pop up of blades dulling, it makes me realize that TMNT Nightmare mode was an early introduction of wacky August shenanigans.

Then there's the band of zealots who are dedicated to the use of a single infamous soap, be it of an actually-pleasant-smelling batch or of what may well be some manner of horrid grime directly scooped from a mountain-man's ass-crack. Eh, they're doing their ting. It's wacky, but not really that different than #MammothMafia.

The whole hand-lathering thing that's apparently a thing? No one does that. That seems to fly in the face of Austere August.

But the question of lathering brings me to #RawHoggin. At its core, it's very much in the spirit of Austere August, and even promises an inherent reward from dedicated shaving practices in the form of a well-broken-in natural brush. But lurking beneath the surface is the hideous truth, a restriction that promises nothing but a month of agony and meager lathers: the lather must be built directly on whatever skin is to be shaved. For most of us here, that means.... face-lathering.

It is for this reason that RawHoggin is an affront to the spirit of Austere August! For not one can truly dedicate the needed attention and care to a shave when they cannot properly lather!

And yet, here I am...

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 14, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (14)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

So I don't actually think that #RawHoggin is an affront to Auster August. I do, however, suspect I've make a big mistake in voluntarily choosing to subject myself for an entire month to the objectively worst lathering method (short of brushless hand-lathering, which could only be conceived by someone who is dangerously insane, a threat to the safety of themselves and others—looking at you, u/verdadkc).

I'm pretty sure that last night I had a dream in which my blade was completely rusted over. This surely came from the fact that yesterday, after I pulled out a set of drill bits for the purpose of putting up a cat-ladder/tree thing, I discovered that a forstner bit that I have had indeed completely rusted over, unlike anything it had been stored with. Kind of wild; my frame of experience is such that I'm surprised when anything rusts, e.g. the regular steel SE blades that I tried before this month began.

u/Teufelskraft #sidetracked — I decided to play music during my shower this morning. Way back I got a bluetooth speaker to put in there, (more specifically, I got it to put in the shower in the place I lived two domiciles ago) a decision that I can't say wasn't inspired by a bit by comedian Kyle Kinane. The song that played when I started it up was Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside, a song that is another recent discovery of mine (although it sounded really familiar when it did come up, so maybe I knew it before and forgot about it), and one that I had previously thought of sharing here at some point during the month.

Once the shower ended and shave-time came, though, the music went off. Obviously. Because, as we all know, auditory feedback is important to be attentive to during the shave, so we can't have anything drowning that out.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 15, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (15)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

Over the course of the month, I've occasionally stated that the face-lather-hate thing has been a bit that I've been doing. A bit, a joke, a gag. It's not that I don't loathe face-lathering—I do—but this has all been exaggeration. I've said as such.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 16, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (16)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

I've been told that some of you people spend upwards of 25 minutes just building lather. You're telling me that face-lathering doesn't suck, but you'll spend the better part of an hour to attempt to produce a paltry reproduction of what takes maybe 12 seconds in my suribachi. Okay.

I am nothing if not fair, so I decided to take your recommendation. I stood there, pondering the nothingness of ~~existence~~ this soap's scent, doing nothing but play mix-the-batter upon my face, my eyes glazed over, after which I looked up and was shocked, in near disbelief of what I found—that I had wasted half an hour.

Now already late, I finished the shave and rushed to work, where I was promptly fired for my lateness and sent back out the door. In despair, I made my way back homeward, where I was once again shocked and in near disbelief, finding my wife surrounded by four men, all partially dressed in Good Humor uniforms and playing mix-the-batter upon her face, her eyes glazed over.

I got to keep the ice cream, so I got that going for me, which is nice. And it's all thanks to the boon to shaving that is the face-lather.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 17, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (17)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

It's been what feels like a pretty unproductive day of ~~messing with database server clusters at work~~ searching for jobs and apartments at the public library. In a little bit I'm going to ~~go to a krav maga class I haven't been to in a while because I had a bit of a cough~~ attempt to bury my emotions in ice cream because face-lathering has destroyed my life.

To be clear, I don't have anything against anyone who happens to like face-lathering. After all, subjective experience is exactly that—subjective. By the same token, I won't get in anyone's way if they, say, prefer to eat ice cream with chopsticks. Meanwhile, I might find it to be the case that chopsticks provide a time-consuming, ineffective, and unsatisfying method of ice cream consumption, in contrast to a spoon. To each their own, I say!

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 18, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (18)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

I didn't think much of it on Monday when I took someone's elbow in the ribs. I had actually forgotten all about it until the pain resurfaced yesterday, while I was on my back on the floor and trying to free myself from a man I had never met before who was on top of me. I could rephrase that, but... nah. That was only my second time back to krav maga, too, after I had had a rough cough that kept me away for a while.

From that perspective, it's kind of turning out to be a rough month, and it seems to have started right as the month began. Clearly, the root cause of all of it—and quite probably the root source of all evil—is face-lathering. Right from the instant that I first raised those bristles directly from tub to face, my fate was sealed.

But hey, if I can put up with two and a half weeks of this, and then a full month, I can handle anything, really.

This is the first time I've used a single soap consisently from a brand-new tub. If it weren't for some dedicated usage of Port-au-Prince earlier this year, it'd be the first time I've used a soap so consistently at all. I didn't realize how much of the soap had gone, becuase I was looking for hints of levels of usage at the edge of the soap, where it meets the side of the tub, much like how the level of aftershave has almost reduced to the top of the label. But that's not how soap gets used up. It was just the other day that I noticed that the top of the soap has become deeply concave.

I've been told that, because face-lathering is relatively ineffective, it requires more soap to be loaded, making it relatively wasteful. I don't know how any of that might be construed as an argument in favor of face-lathering, but okay.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 19, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (19)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

I should preface this by saying that I have no concern about whether anything is awry with my soap; I have, after all, been using it for nearly three straight weeks.

This little dark spot has been along for the ride since the beginning of this Austere August. I admit I did carve out a little divot when the soap first arrived, but the spot goes deeper than I originally thought. The divot has since smoothed out, and in the meantime I've grown fond of it.

I feel inclined to name the little guy, having been there all month, seeing me through this awful gauntlet of face-lathers. "One day", I hear him say to me, "One day soon we'll have a good, decent lather again. I promise!" I know, buddy. I know... Nigel Thadeus Dade.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 20, 2022 - Artemis Day

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (20)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

This day last year was my final day of a short-lived stint working for a particular bottled-water company, which I'll call... Niue. Sure, Niue Water, after an island nation in the south Pacific.

I hesitate to say that my job at Niue Water was the worst job I ever had, but that's just because superlative statements are cheap, so I tend to avoid them if I mean to be taken seriously.

Side note, would it surprise you to learn that a company of that size handles their beverage distribution entirely in Excel? I sure as shit was surprised. Manually-prepared Excel spreadsheets, every day. Blew my mind. And how do people within the company share data with one another? Screenshots of those Excel spreadsheets. Sadly, there was no underlying explanation other than mind-bogglingly rampant technical illiteracy. This is not to say that I categorically expect everyone to have a certain level of technical literacy, but if your job involves handling, tracking, manipulating, then internally sharing said data for further such use, you better at least recognize that an image of a spreadsheet is fucking worthless. Side side note: I quickly learned that Niue's purported workplace culture of "teamwork" could be represented with the words "That's not my job, it's someone else's problem."

I did do a lot to make things more efficient, at least for things over which I had direct influence. I automated a lot of my recurring stuff (things previously done by one of my three bosses, things that I was hired to take off of her plate because the whole department was largely short-handed), adding in some well-received improvements. By the encouragement and express instruction of Boss Two and my bosses' boss, I pushed for read-only access to our own databases, at least until Boss Three contradicted the encouragement with a curt "stop asking."

What made it really terrible, though, was Boss One. Being that the main reason I was there was to take on some of her stuff, I had to rely on her for most aspects of my job. Questions while I'm learning? Ask Boss One. New situation I've never seen before? Ask Boss One. Boss One says I'm taking on new work and provides no further information on what I'm expected to do? Ask Boss One. Boss One says, "You're here to help me, not the other way around! No one even likes you!" Cool. Mature. I didn't even make that second part up; that was a real thing that was said to me when I tried to get what I needed in order to do my job.

This is the part where I compare face-lathering to the job at Niue or to Boss One, right? Not today. Niue Water is awful, and even the water itself is gross swill that they try to justify being so overpriced by putting it in a stupid square bottle. "Fantastic" pistachios, too; same company. "Fantastic" my ass.

So last year on this day, I walked out and left that cunt to deal with all her own work, with none of the automation and none of the improvements. I later found out that Boss Two, who himself had been at the company only a few months before I came on, also quit later in the same month; it filled me with joy to learn that they were surely left in even greater disarray when he left.

Anyway, that brings me to what I really wanted to talk about: When I left that day, I went to pick up my cat and bring her to her forever home. Today is Artemis' Artemis Day! The broad strokes (more story and kitten pics here) are that she had been living outside, and then had kittens in a shed/garage before my landlord brought them all to their office until such a time as the kittens could be adopted. The last of the kittens was taken to their respective home, so I brought home Artemis to live inside with me!

What else? Oh, yeah, the blade isn't shaving all that great after nearly three weeks of use, but it's also been that way for a while, I think. Just ten more days until a fresh blade.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 21, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (21)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

Where'd I leave off? Oh, yes, three weeks of shaves is a lot to put a blade through, and the quality of the shave is reflecting that. I don't think I've gone this long without changing a blade since cartridge days. Remember that? A single cartridge cost, what, eighty dollars? So you'd just keep using it until the flimsy blades just wore down to nothing? Something like that, anyway; I don't know.

Now that we've hit the two-thirds mark, the month almost feels as good as over! Obviously, I'm getting ahead of myself; the blade will continue to struggle on, its wear dubiously mitigated by occasional "strops" across the edge of my, uh... ball of my thumb? No, wait... Thenar eminence. Needless to say, too, face-lathering won't be helping the whole situation.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go off and carry on with Sunday things. Like whipping up an experimental concoction of eggs, ricotta, and pesto that kind of looks like salsa. Artemis is interested, but that's no kinds of good for a kitty; dairy's generally a bad thing because most cats are lactose intolerant, and garlic/onions are straight-up toxic, causing nasty damage to their internal organs. But I digress.

Oh, right, the addition of pesto is the experimental part of that. Maybe I added too much or didn't mix the settled pesto enough, but the end result was a bit too oily for my taste. Still good, though. The rest of it was adapted from this little video from You Suck At Cooking. Sure, that guy has a habit of recycling jokes, but it's still funny and there's a lot of good stuff in those videos that I've picked up for use in my kitchen. No real reason for plugging that other than that it came to mind because I just made breakfast!

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 22, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (22)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

This dumb thing I've been doing was never meant to be taken seriously, but I am coming to the conclusion that someone out there—maybe two someones—is/are nonetheless gravely offended. It was never my intent to offend anyone, and I certainly never expected it might happen.

Is... is face-lathering... your mother? And every time I make a half-hearted comment about how terrible face-lathering is, you think I'm deliberately insulting your mother?

By the way, face-lathering sure is a filthy whore, indiscriminately doling out cheap face-massages to countless anybodies in exchange for a couple grams of soap. Can you imagine how many people do face-lathering in a single day? I hope you used one of u/nonsenseofsight's LatherGaurds.

If you don't think it's funny, fine, neither do I. It's now been over three weeks, the bit is tired, and there's not much left of the dead horse I've been beating all month.

Much of the same can be said about the blade I'm using, by the way. The blade is feeling like it definitely should have long since been retired.

I still question whether the single-blade part of the TMNT challenge is consistent with what I perceive Austere August to be about, i.e. a time for focus and undistracted, conscientious development of technique. I have, for example, become much more adept at the face-lather (which has afforded me a better understanding of why it's terrible) as well as in use of the MMOC. I do concede that the TMNT single-blade thing is useful for bringing attention to the symptoms of a blade that is well past its useful life, and the single-blade restriction forces that.

I seem to recall someone saying that blade-wear in the latter part of the month will "separate the men from the boys." There is truth to that. The men who value a close, comfortable shave will swap blades before the end of the month, while the boys who want to play a silly game will persevere. Don't worry, I'm not throwing shade; I'm clearly playing along in the role of a boy in this scenario.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 23, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (23)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

I had toyed with the idea of drawing a face around the dark spot in my soap, Nigel Thadeus Dade, but a little face surfaced on its own! I noticed it a couple days ago, but after today's excessive soap-loading (as is demanded by the ravenous and wasteful lathering method), part of it was gone.

I had noticed that the original "eye" was starting to fade before the rest surfaced. And then... well, and then the rest surfaced. Now, the original spot was Nigel Thadeus Dade, and the face that appeared surely was as well. There is continuity in all of the features, tying the original to whatever it may be at the end, but will that still the same Nigel Thadeus Dade?

This is an original thought experiment on the nature of identity that I just invented, unlike anything that has ever been considered before in the history of philosophy! I shall call it... The Face of Thadeus!

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 24, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (24)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

Hey guys, do you remember good shaves? I'm not even talking about the lather right now. Take a brief journey with me, if you will, and think back to, say, a month ago (not 2 months, but 3 months works). The lather on your face, however it got there, was slick and creamy. Maybe you used a second tool, like a modern human and member of civilized society, to expertly and efficiently build your lather with precision and control. Or maybe you haphazardly swept your brush around your face like a senseless ape, through the morning and into the afternoon because you literally have nothing more valuable to do with your apparently-worthless time. (Yikes, okay, this one feels a little gratuitous)

In either case, you then wielded your razor and its fresh, sharp blade, which effortlessly and cleanly truncated each hair in line with your skin. Do you remember that, when blades were sharp and smooth and used to slice cleanly through hairs like they weren't even there?

If anything, I'm going to come out of this month with a greater appreciation for a fresh blade. I'm also going to start questioning the cerebral wherewithal of anyone who boasts the longevity of their blades being beyond what any reasonable person would consider. Do yourself favor; change that blade!

All of you, change that blade! Free yourself from the shackles of TMNT (or whatever) and treat yourself to a fresh, sharp instrument of shaving! I mean, I won't until next Thursday, but the rest of you! Be free!

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 25, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (25)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

I don't know how long, in number of shaves, it takes for me to go through a full container of soap. Absolutely no idea, and I have been doing this for years. I know I'm not alone on this.

The only thing I've ever finished off—aside from samples, of course—was a refill-sized-puck of Stirling Port-au-Prince, which I stuck in one of their smaller jars, but I didn't get a sense of how long it took because frankly I wasn't paying attention.

I noticed the other day that the soap in my Mammoth Z, which was fresh at the start of this month, is getting pretty thin in the middle. I thought to myself, "How can I determine exactly how close to the bottom it is, but without interfering with the natural progression? If only I had something very thin but rigid to use to gauge the depth..." So I stuck the DE blade that's been just sitting in my Rockwell 6S since last month in there. Verdict: the soap is pretty damn near the bottom of the jar.

Thing is, though, that I am no closer to having any idea of how long it takes me to go through a full container of soap, because the past three and a half weeks are not representative of how I usually use soap. At this point, I'm easily using at least thrice my normal amount (likely much more than that, but why pass up an opportunity to say "thrice"?).

Why am I using so much more soap than usual? Because at the very heart of your precious face-lather is Waste:
Waste of soap.
Waste of time.
Waste of dignity.

Oh, hey, I haven't done u/Teufelskraft's #sidetracked thing in a while. Several years ago, I was on r/tipofmytongue and found a post by someone who was too lazy to use Shazam, which I did do to identify this song: Casket Girs - Walking on a Wire

In what was otherwise a fairly unmemorable online interaction, I enjoyed the song and it stuck with me. I'm a fan of the calm, kind of dark tone to it, which it shares with MXMS - The Run, which I shared the other day, as well as Chaos Chaos - Figure it Out, which I've been meaning to include on one of these things, but at this point I'm likely to not get around to it, so here that is, too!

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 26, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (26)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

Oh, Nigel Thadeus Dade, we hardly knew ye. Perhaps you would have been with us longer were I not compelled to be so unnecessarily wasteful with your soap. Face lather!!! All for a subpar lather, too.

Alright, I wasn't planning to do u/Teufelskraft's #sidetracked thing today, but something happened this morning that only makes sense to talk about in that context.

Weeks ago, I came across this Silvastone - Full Moon Tonight. The vocals give me a kind of speakeasy vibe that I like, if that makes sense. What really caught my ear, though, is that it instantly brought to mind another song, one that I couldn't quite put my finger on, but I could almost hear it while hearing this song.

But I was at a loss, because I was not able to recognize the song that was only vaguely "activated" inside my head, aside from a few bars that may or may not even be right. I resolved that I would just have to wait for it to come up again, and hope that I noticed in the event that that did happen. In the meantime, I wrote down the above song, for reference.

This morning, I came across the note I made to myself, not for the first time since. This time, those same few bars from the mystery song popped into my head. In the weeks since, I don't think I heard whatever song it was. Maybe I had been listening in the wrong places, so I pulled up my Pandora Thumbprint station, thinking it might be more the kind of song that would play there...

Katie Herzig - Hologram was the very first song to play! Never would have guessed; the name doesn't really even have a place in my brain.

Maybe you think I'm crazy, but the "All the ghosts are out, see them dance around through the streets and all over town" sounds just like the "I'm in a love affair without a love song / I'm in the habit of having what I don't want". Enough for my brain to go right to it, anyway, and for me to instantly know that I had found the song well before it even got there. I really thought it would have had the speakeasy thing, too. Oh well, I like the Katie Herzig one far better, anyway.

Now watch me hear a different song in a couple weeks and be like, "Oh, wait, this was the one..."

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 27, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (27)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

I'll be surprised if I don't break through the bottom tomorrow. If not, it'll definitely be Monday. Against the light, you can see the ring and lines of text on the sticker on the bottom of the jar. Not only that, but another little melanoma-lookin' spot has surfaced. Don't worry, Nigel, we'll get that removed tout de suite.

Four days left, right guys? Why do we do this to ourselves? Four more days until a fresh blade. Four more days and I no longer need to lather like a troglodyte. Come the 1st, I'll see how this brush fares with a civilized lather.

Oh, and four more days until scents! Did I forget that shaving used to involve wonderful smells? That can't be a good sign...

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 28, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (28)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

Color me surprised; I didn't quite break through to the bottom.. But the mammoth's head is now more clearly visible through the soap, and poor Nigel Thadeus Dade has nearly completely perished.

I saw someone mention the other day (not here) that they had trouble producing a lather except when face-lathering. Preposterous! Then I remembered that challenge from last year's Lather Games (not this past one, but last year): Lather-on-a-Plate Day. There was a video demonstrating exactly that, and it took... a while (and yet not nearly as long as the amount of time some of you claim to spend face-lathering).

I'm coming to suspect that those of who who claim to favor face-lathering do so simply because you haven't used the right tool for the job. If you use some smooth bowl, it won't be much better than a simple flat plate. Perhaps such people are simply ignorant of the wonders of textured bowls. My suribachi is quite literally made of magic.

In light of the objectively superior lather that comes from a suribachi, there's only one reason left that anyone might possibly be inclined to suggest that a rubbing your face for so long is preferable: a dedication to onanism.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Evidently I posted this day's on the wrong day. So I'm putting this here, showing that the post was made within any relevant time limit. Glancing at the relevant rule sets, I see that the requirement to make the post on the relevant day (which I clearly did) did not also come with a requirement to make said post on the relevant day's thread, so...

/u/semaj3000 /u/EldrormR /u/rocketk455

Aug. 27, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (27)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

I'll be surprised if I don't break through the bottom tomorrow. If not, it'll definitely be Monday. Against the light, you can see the ring and lines of text on the sticker on the bottom of the jar. Not only that, but another little melanoma-lookin' spot has surfaced. Don't worry, Nigel, we'll get that removed tout de suite.

Four days left, right guys? Why do we do this to ourselves? Four more days until a fresh blade. Four more days and I no longer need to lather like a troglodyte. Come the 1st, I'll see how this brush fares with a civilized lather.

Oh, and four more days until scents! Did I forget that shaving used to involve wonderful smells? That can't be a good sign...

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 29, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (29)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

If it wasn't yesterday, it was going to be today: I broke through to the bottom.

I suspect it goes without saying that this blade has been next to worthless for the past couple of weeks. I do think there's value in having the experience of pushing a blade past its useful point, because it allows one to recognize when a blade has reached that point. To continue to use it, though, feels pretty asinine, but Mr. ST:TNG dictates another two days.

I've said that—even though it, too, surely goes without saying—come Thursday, I plan to take this brush for a proper lather after a month of such unrefined face-kneading. Probably more important, though, is the opportunity to use a fresh blade. I do not consider it unlikely that, while I grew adept with the MMOC after my first uses last month and then as I commited to daily use this month, using it for so long with an ineffective blade has allowed some bad habits to develop without me noticing. Habits that I will discover that I need to unlearn after a sharp blade acutely brings them to my attention.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 30, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (30)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

It can't be great that, at the end of these month-long events, the prevalent kind of thinking seems to be that the end can't come soon enough. Why, indeed, do we do this to ourselves? I do miss scents, my bowl, and a blade that is capable of cutting. What I won't change on Thursday, though, is the soap base; i.e. I'll still use a Mammoth Soap, so as to not change too much at once in order to make for a direct-er comparison to the past 31 days.

As for tomorrow, I'm likely to need to report for jury duty. Or rather, report to sit in the courthouse for a day, waiting to find out if I'll even make it into a potential jury, much less get selected for one. There seems to be a widespread idea that you're supposed to want to avoid jury duty, but I'm not sure if that's because people actually want to avoid it or if that's just what people think they're supposed to think. Of course, I'm not ruling out the very real cases where having to take time to serve on a jury would indeed create hardship.

I actually want to serve on a jury. If nothing else, for the experience of it. But also because in none of the past (3, I think) times that I've been called have I gotten to. Instead, in every past case, I've had a precious day's time taken away from me at a time when I had some kind of deadline that I would have been able to push back if I had been selected, but instead just lost a day.

Wait, one of those times I was actually selected for a jury. I don't recall the details of the case, but I'm pretty sure it involved assault charges, including sexual assault or rape, because there was a big point made during the selection about DNA evidence and juries' possible expectation of a requirement thereof. In any case, the trial never actually started. Once again, I don't recall the details, but for some reason the defendant had an opportunity to opt for a mistrial because of circumstances with the judge (I feel like they maybe could have gone with another judge, but the defendant wanted to keep this one for the trial). In any case, I didn't really serve on the jury, even if it says so on paper.

If I do get selected tomorrow, I already know what the case to be tried will be: surely, it will involve charges unduly conduct, crimes against humanity, contributing to the delinquency of the general populace by conspiracy to influence the widespread usage of face-lathering. Trouble is, I wouldn't be able to serve on such a jury, either, as I have been the victim of such heinous crimes for the past month, so I obviously couldn't be impartial in such a case.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 31, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (31)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

Well, we've come a long way since the first day. Time to change our blades and bring out our bowls!

I decided to try to flatten out the soap to get a gauge of how much I used, which is kind of tricky to do when it's all concave, the outer edges not having changed much (also, I didn't weigh it like some of you have). Looks like it was about half. I wasn't using as much per shave early in the month, I'm sure, during which time I was still getting a handle on the face-lather.

I gotta run to report for jury duty, at a time that is earlier than expected. I get to leave earlier than I do for work to probably just sit around the courthouse all day until I leave to go home later than I do for work. It won't even take me longer to get there.

By the way, I'm not calling jurty duty "sitting around the courthouse"; rather, that's literally what's likely to happen, based on my previous experiences. There's also a chance I might get to sit around a courtroom for awhile. Then, there's a chance I might then wind up in a lineup for a jury. And then—and only then—might I end up actually serving on a trial. Which I guess might also be considered to be more sitting around, albeit with the demand for active attention after I've been staring at walls for who-knows-how-long.

Should I be selected, perhaps I'll need to return tomorrow, provided the trial doesn't happen to conclude the same day. In either case, tomorrow's shave is planned, and it's probably the last time I'll plan a shave until June.

Oh, and after a month of practicing, improving, and exploring the face-lathering method, I have come to the following conclusion:

Face-lathering blows.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia