SOTD by u/RedMosquitoMM

Aug. 19, 2022

• Brush: Zenith B36 "Copper Scrubby!" 28x50mm Boar
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM (19)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Lime - Soap
• Post Shave: Porter's Lotion, WSP - Neroli - Cooling Aftershave Balm
• Fragrance: Olympic Orchids - Osafume
• Passes: WTG, ATG
• Coffee: Colombia. Ciudad Bolivar, Antioquia - v: Catillo & Colobia - p: Natural
• Music: The Soft Pink Truth - Was It Ever Real?
• August 2022 SOTD Photo Album

#GEMsOfWisdom / #RawHoggin

Nineteen days into Austere Hogust, I am feeling very, thoroughly, maximally exfoliated. As a general routine, I typically use a boar, then a soft synthetic, and then a badger brush every three days, but Austere August yet again proves that I could use a boar brush every morning and not get too beat up. However, this is more exfoliation than I really need. I really like this Scrubby more and more as it progresses, so I may try using my boar brushes more frequently to give this one regular lathers.

Today is the first day I noticed the MMOC beginning to tug. I've been pulling the blade out of the razor each night so it can air dry, but nineteen two-pass shaves on a GEM blade is still a good amount of use. I'll be fine for the full thirty-one shaves, but it will be pushing the blade farther than I need to, and I'd usually toss a GEM blade shy of thirty uses.

Date	Soap Before (g)	Soap After (g)	Usage (g)	Loading
8/1	235.5	232.5	3	◊
8/2	232.5	228.0	4.5	◊
8/3	228.0	227.0	1	◊
8/4	227.0	223.3	3.7	◊
8/5	223.3	220.3	3	40 seconds
8/6	220.3	218.8	1.5	30 seconds
8/7	218.8	217.9	0.9	40 swirls
8/8	217.9	216.5	1.4	40 swirls
8/9	216.5	215.9	0.6	40 swirls
8/10	215.9	215.6	0.3	50 swirls
8/11	215.6	213.9	1.7	60 swirls
8/12	214.7	213.0	1.7	60 swirls
8/13	213.0	211.5	1.5	60 swirls
8/14	211.5	210.5	1	60 swirls
8/15	210.5	209.0	1.5	60 swirls
8/16	209.0	207.2	1.8	60 swirls
8/17	207.2	205.9	1.3	\~62 swirls
8/18	205.9	204.4		60 swirls
8/19	204.4	◊	◊	60 swirls

⁂

#sidetracked u/Teufelskraft

Yesterday's Halloween-themed track included an all-star cast of early-Aughts indie musicians, including the singularly-eccentric Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields. He's an exceptional songwriter, and I enjoy the stylistic breadth of his recordings, including the diverse Magnetic Fields records, as well as his work in film and musical theater. i is one of my all-timefavorite albums, and a few of the 69 Love Songs rank up there among my most played tracks.

Lesser known is Merritt's Gothic Archies project—namely The Tragic Treasury: Songs From a Series of Unfortunate Events, a compilation of songs recorded for the series' audiobooks. My favorite of those is "Crows," written to accompany "The Vile Village." Despite the band's name and the track's titular corvid, "Crows" isn't an overly spooky song, instead leaning into a grungy guitar sound, psychedelic synths, and a swirling chorus of voices fluttering about. Merritt has a unique gift for melody and "Crows" is no exception. It's short, deliberate, and captivating.