SOTD by u/RedMosquitoMM

Aug. 10, 2022

• Brush: Zenith B36 "Copper Scrubby!" 28x50mm Boar
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM (10)

• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Lime - Soap

• Post Shave: Porter's Lotion, WSP - Neroli - Cooling Aftershave Balm

• Fragrance: Hans Hendley - Mown

• Passes: WTG, XTG

• Coffee: Ethiopia, Sidama, Oromia - v: Ethiopia Heirloom - p: Natural
• Music: Sleep - Dopesmoker
• August 2022 SOTD Photo Album:

#GEMsOfWisdom / #RawHoggin

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

You'll notice from today's table entry that I tried to load more swirls of soap than yesterday. I'm thinking 40 swirls was under-loading just a bit (especially with a squeezed out brush) and adding marginally more soap would yield a richer lather without requiring ages to hydrate it. In a bizarre twist, my weighed soap usage was dramatically less than yesterday.

I think this further cements u/gfdoto's argument that swirls aren't terribly precise. Then again, I'd argue that it's the tub loading that's the problem. Satisfying? Definitely. Precise? Not at all.

I probably squeezed too much water out of the knot before starting to load. I worked with a sopping wet brush earlier in the month, knowing it would ensure I picked up a ton of soap and introduced lots of water early. Looks like I overcompensated a bit and squeezed too much out today.

Is it possible my lathering technique is somehow getting worse in real time? At least the knot is coming along nicely.

⁂

#sidetracked u/Teufelskraft

Get out your bong, sit directly in front of the biggest speakers you can find, crank up the volume dial, and loosen up your neck muscles, because today we're listening to all sixty-four minutes of Sleep's "Dopesmoker." This lumbering beast of a track combines an absurd stoner doom tale (as far as I can tell, a religious Dune meets weed saga), hypnotic, seismic riffs, extended, meditative, often concussive solos, chanted incantations and roared mantras, and the kind of continuous low-end vibration that is felt more than it's heard. "Dopesmoker"—or Dopesmoker, because they're one in the same—is not a song you should think about. Instead, you feel it man. Let the waves of over-driven sound surge through you. Notice the subtle evolution of the melody on a primal, subconscious level. "Dopesmoker" will rattle your gut. And when the song finally reaches the next of three stages—at about 20-minutes and 40-minutes in—the volume fading and the melody changing and the noisy atmosphere of the track suddenly dropping out feels like a temporary, confusing, questionably-welcome catharsis. And then more smoke billows into the sky and the monstrosity starts lurching forward again. When you finally make it to the end, you'll be entirely in the song's headspace, used and abused and not sure whether you want more. Like Sleep says: "Drop out of life with bong in hand." Deep.

YouTube: Sleep - Dopesmoker