June 27, 2024
- Brush: Farvour Turncraft 'Blue Diamond Dust' / AP Shave Co G5A 26mm
- Razor: Weck Sextoblade #WECKONISTA
- Blade: Personna Glide-coated Hair Shaper (1)
- Lather: Wholly Kaw - King of Oud
- Post Shave: Wholly Kaw - King of Oud - Splash
- Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Rose Santal - EdP
I'm not really competing. I can't.
But I also can't help myself sometimes.
I realized today that I hadn't gotten the 1/10 of a point for Weckonista.
And it's on left hand day.
And I'm using a soap base that I don't prefer and have little experience with.
Awesome.
Let's throw in a brand new Personna blade to make it fun.
My scent theme is "Roses". Don't let this list of 14 scent notes confuse you. It's definitely rose-forward. I like roses in my garden. But, not my favorite on me. I know when I walk downstairs, I'm going to get a "what in the fuck are you wearing today?"
Top Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Clary Sage, Rose, Aldehydes and Pink Pepper
Middle notes: Angelica, Rosewood, Galbanum
Base notes: Agarwood or Oud, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Patchouli and Amber
The Shave:
I don't want to talk about it. 3 cuts. Left-handed, no depth perception, unforgiving razor, shit blade.
But, at least I have use of my right arm if I would have allowed myself to use it.
When I was in eighth grade, I had a teacher, we'll call him Mr. Thomsen (so I don't doxx myself or him) whose right arm was completely "dead" from effects of Polio he suffered as a small child.
The other students were merciless to Mr. Thomsen. Not only was he an easy target because of his arm, but I believe he was gay and partnered in a time and place where that was something to be subject of great ridicule and speculation. Many of the less-kind kids (eighth graders are particularly ruthless in the best of cases) would play a game where they would try to get things to stick in his dead arm, and then see how long it would be until he noticed. You'd often see band-aids on his right arm from where pencils, forks, or geometry compasses had been lodged into his skin. He also had a personality that just seemed at odds with teaching 13 and 14-year olds; he was kind, quiet, unassuming, shy, and frankly just liked to read and talk about books.
There are a lot of things I regret about things I've done, but I'm glad I can say I always returned the same kindness to him that he showed to me. I too was a voracious reader at the time, and didn't fit into the cow town in which I was raised, albeit for different reasons.
Things were doubly difficult for him physically, because before Polio removed the use of his right arm, he was right-handed. So he spent virtually his entire life having to navigate with only his non-dominant hand.
So while this shave was extraordinarily unpleasant, at least I don't have to do it every day.
I know that Mr. Thomsen passed on several years ago, but I fondly remember his class as being one of the few bright spots of my middle school years.