SHAVING AS ODYSSEY

Before I started my new life off with the Berkeley landfill and the Alameda Flea Market, I used to shave with a safety razor and canned foam or an electric razor like everybody else, but one of the guys who used to sell near us at Alameda specialized in old straight razors, brushes and strops, so I bought and tried, and never had a better (or more attentive) shave.

I've since returned to using a simple safety razor - didn't want to have a straight razor anywhere around when the kurious kids were growing - but I've stuck with the brush and soapmug (a beautiful pottery item I got in Okinawa), not only because mug and brush afford a better shave while being cheaper and less wasteful on many levels, but because an elder deserves a touch of the finest in luxury now and then.

Here's a superb essay on the ritual of shaving, details on how to get the perfect shave, a source of the finest in shaving equipment and a throughgoing shaveblog to go with it.

Enjoy the morning mirror.