Hey, all-

Wow, that was really something. After a couple of weeks reading at Straight Razor Place, selecting lotions, and little by little receiving the other items and eventually the razors (yesterday).

Today, I held the razor in my hand for the first time, intent on not lopping-off my head! I lathered up my face with the wonderful boar's head brush, and rich Castle Forbes cream. As the bathroom filled with a thick steam from the running hot water, I opened the razor, leaned my face back, and tentatively brought the cutthroat to my face.

It has been an interesting journey, the past couple of weeks. I have thoroughly enjoyed it, but it is still somewhat "unsettling". Not that facing fresh challenges is bad, quite the contrary. But undertaking a task entirely new means beginning, and going through the phase where we are "less than proficient". Also phrased "incompetent". Sometimes, dangerous.

During this 2 week period I undertook not just the Straight Razor task, but the selection and adoption of an iPod, and outfitting it with all the music from my CD's and old cassettes (yes, I am of "a certain age"). It is like a new discovery, and yeah, it's real neat. But a different event entirely.

I began after coming across some of the "Art of Shaving" products at Nordstrom, on my annual trip to the shopping mall to buy cologne. (These shopping malls must be the unhappiest places on earth! I go there only because it really does help to actually smell a scent before you purchase it, and a bum purchase @ $60/bottle is more than enough to justify Nordy's ridiculous markup. So I go once & get 4 or 5 and am good for a year or more.) I just wanted to pick up some fru-fru for work, but this concept, really enjoying shaving, really stuck in my mind.

I have had a straight razor shave, by a pro, once or twice in my life, and it is an experience that I remember clearly- very relaxing, but physically intense (the razors even look sharp!), and very, very smooth. What Art of Shaving does is a similar effect, but with safety razors, correct? I looked at the (overpriced) beautiful heavy chrome handles- topped with a Mach 3 head (I think). Looking at it, holding it in my hand, I thought... nice concept, wrong execution. What's wrong with this thing? That night, I went home and investigated shaving, and what it is all about.

In short order, I had discovered the treasure trove of information available online at Straight Razor Place (SRP), Razor Central, and more. I found links to Classic Shaving, and other wonderful places. And I watched a lot of videos at SRP and at YouTube. I was riveted. I wanna' do that too, I thought. I want a really great shave, and appreciate ceremony in the things that are important to me... brewing the morning coffee, taking care of my cars, daily spiritual reading, dealing with clients in my work... things that really bring great, deep joy to me. This is the sincere joy that I see in the eyes and read in the posts on SRP. Not the rote, "learned phrases" that can be seen on political sites, or heard in business meetings, but the carefully chosen highly individual terminology of someone engaged in a task that they are engaged in with all their soul. This is to me an indication that this means a great deal to that person, that I should suspend my own judgment for the moment, and just listen closely to what they have to say. Genuine passion.

You can see that in posts here, at the Harley, SAAB and Jaguar owners websites (not so much at Japanese car websites, and I wonder why that is- they seem dominated by kids who wanna' drop 'em to the ground and slap on a beer-can exhaust). A passion for the task at-hand, not driven by a desire to be "better than", but to share a mutual joy because it makes it a more robust experience for everybody. But I digress.

I pressed the blade of the Harrington to my cheek (with the blond wood blades of the handle pointed adroitly away), and ssscccrrraaapppee... downward. For some damned reason, I seemed to forget everything I had read, or seen (especially on Lynn Abram's excellent DVD on Straight Razor shaving). It was all gone! Here I was standing at this mirror, with this rather large, very sharp device in my hand, and had just dragged it down my lathered face leaving behind a bare patch of freshly shaven, and when i touched it, very smooth skin. Very smooth!

I took several more full strokes down my right cheek, then went over to the left. Help! Do I reach over the top my head, and stroke from the bottom of my cheek to the top (my arm isn't that long!), do I reach across my face and block my vision (this is what I did- with unfortunate results), somehow bring my right arm around the back of my head, or use my LEFT hand to hold the razor (visions of my signature as signed with my left hand came to mind... I decided NOT to trust him!).

Across my face I came wielding the razor with my right hand (obviously, I'm strongly right handed). First stroke... slowly.... OUCH! That's gonna' bleed soon... I hope not a lot. I'd hate to show up at work looking like I was in a knife fight! 2 more long, and surprisingly (to me) noisy strokes. Okay. I've done it! I actually shaved my face with a straight razor! Wow!! And it feels good. And looks good, too! (Except for the small dribble of blood from the nick on my left cheek. I dabbed a styptic pen against the nick, forgetting to wet it first, but it worked just fine anyway. And actually, the nick hurt less than I thought one would.) I finished up my chin and neck with my Mach 5 (which always struck me as a little fast to be shaving, eh?). But I was satisfied.

It was not unlike the first time having sex. Was it everything I had hoped for? No... it was very different... like the difference between a cartoon and a photograph. But it was real. And it was mine. My first time using a real razor... a straight razor. And it felt fantastic.

I am presently re-watching Lynn's DVD. Thank God for him and his efforts. Wow... that was really neat. If you are interested in shaving with a straight razor, or just learning about and enjoying the shaving experience more, pick up that DVD here. It is a great place to start, and I believe that you will not regret it.

Thanks to all the folks posting at SRP.

Matt