Bottom line, razor packs for the fancy shavers are crazy expensive.  Thanks to my best friend, I received for my birthday a vintage styled razor that holds double-edged blades for shaving.  I first thought cool, another neat item to enhance my renewed sense of manliness (I recently bought a nice pair of brown wingtips, grown up huh?)  I was also skeptical because, the fancy expensive multi-blade shavers were all I used before.

My new razor.

This 10-pack of double-edge razors came in a nice dispensing case.

The back of the case provides a safe holding place for used blades. Clever.

Like my best friend advises me, there is a learning curve, so I do like the inherent challenge to this thing.  My first time was terrible – resulting in multiple nicks and insane razor burn afterwards.  My second time, I made sure to do the following:

• Shave immediately after a hot shower.
• Further wet my face with hot water – opens the pores and loosens/softens the hairs.
• Apply a hearty amount of shaving cream – NEVER DRY SHAVE.
• Shave slowly, almost respectfully, matching the contours of my face

The last point is significant.  Shaving slowly, simply respecting your face, is a very relaxing process.  Gone are the days where you blaze right through with those multi-blade razors – what’s the rush anyways, you did pay a fortune for those razor cartridges!  When else can you essentially have manly-me time?  To finish up the shave I did the following:

• rinse with cold water – closes the pores, plus cools the skin!
• apply face lotion to smooth everything out

The skill required for using this kind of razor is fun and challenging to learn, not to  mention also very rewarding economically.  Check out a shot of my receipt from CVS for a pack of 10 double-edge blades:

$6.19 for a pack of 10 double-edged blades!

Yes you’re reading it right, only $6.19 for a pack of 10 double-edged blades!  Do note that Wal-Mart does hold a similar 10-pack for only $1.00, but didn’t have them stocked at the time for me.  Using these blades, getting the same results for a significant fraction of the cost of those multi-blades sure makes me feel like I’m beating the system.  The fact that the newer razors relatively constantly update themselves, requiring newer blades, there’s no sense of consistency – thus forcing you to have to update and buy the new razor.  This isn’t something like a computer, which constantly upgrade in terms of hardware and software, necessary to keep up with the demands of today’s users.  This is a razor – a razor is a razor, it just shaves your facial hair.  Sorry multi-blade companies, thanks to my best friend, you no longer have me fooled.

My dad still uses a gold Omega razor he bought during his 20s, which holds dual razor cartridges that are still sold today.  I only mention this because there is something endearing to see something withstand the test of time – serving my Dad faithfully through the good times and bad.  In a way, I hope this new razor does the same for me, helping me look my best everyday.

Change it up guys, you won’t regret it.

With all due respect to M.S. patients anxiously waiting for a cure or any medical breakthrough, my personal concern isn’t with the new radical approach.  I read this today during dinner with an appreciation of how real evidence based practice is out in the health care community.  According to the article, the internet has spread this new untested theory, leaving some skeptical of the entire scientific process, which is disheartening.  The beauty of science is reason.  Science, with its calm, yet strong, restraint on fanatical beliefs helps prevent unnecessary deaths, saves time and money, and more importantly, finds the truth to the world’s unknown.  On the surface, the positive results from the radical new treatment seems more due to the placebo-effect, but who knows.  Only properly conducted clinical trials and further research can clear it all up!

I’ve always wanted to make a post about this, so this is quick post while it’s fresh on my mind, since I just got back from working out tonight.

Ways to lose your man card @ the gym, specifically the weight room:

1.  Texting or talking on the phone.

2.  Spending a significant amount of time changing/searching for songs on your iPod.  The occasional quick change of song is acceptable.

3.  Working out in large groups of 3 or more and chitty chatting like you’re the male version of The View, aimlessly rambling about dumb shit.  Oh yeah, and all you are standing around one machine…

4.  Looking at yourself in the mirror for a really long time.

5.  Lifting dumbbells RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE RACK, blocking everyone’s access.

That’s it for now.  I’m sure there are probably more.  If anyone else has anymore hit up the comments.

(Notice I didn’t add in the list lifting light weights.  Hey, we all have to start somewhere and everyone’s body is different; you should man up and progress up that weight rack though!)

Take the hit, then keep running with a renewed sense of purpose – you never lost it, just disrespected it.

Do work, humbly and focused.

Drake's new album "Thank Me Later"

Listening to Drake’s new “Thank Me Now” album tonight.  Good stuff from beginning to end, so it’ll definitely will be in rotation this summer for me.  First impressions:  Clever for this summer release to have “Fireworks” start off the playlist.  Bust out them summer dresses ladies, the track “Fancy” is definitely for all of you.

Reading his thank yous in the album cover, he makes a shout to the medical staff about his knee injury and his recovery.  You know physical therapy played a part!  Drake’s knee even thanked the pain medicine ”Perkaset”, aka percoset – funny stuff.  I can only imagine what job specific physical therapy exercises he worked on being a rapper/singer; that would’ve been fun to work on.

Necessary:  Keyboard, books, cup of water, and google docs on full screen.  Straight up livin’ the grad school life.

Nike Free Run+ "Arctics"

Above are my new Nike Free Run+ “Arctics”.  Yes, I am gonna coin the nickname for these badboys – who knows if it’ll stick.  First impressions are:

• these feel awesome, most likely due to the increased articulating midsole pieces
• I’ve worn the Nike Free 3.0v2s, and these have a very similar low-to-the-ground feel
• bootie construction gives a nice sock-like fit
• Nike Plus system compatible is always…a plus.

I’ve only ran in them on the treadmill at the gym tonight, but I’ll be taking these out on my 10 miler tomorrow morning.  Forefoot striking isn’t new to me, so don’t worry, a 10 miler run on them shouldn’t kill me.  New to blogging, I’ve been disappointed by the available blogs out there about these shoes.  Be on the look out for a more in-depth review from me this weekend.

I was one of many early adopters of Facebook, and now I participate on Twitter and Google Buzz in addition to my Facebook status updates.  I remember when Facebook statuses were first introduced, it was a fun way to share your thoughts in a quick easy format, unlike blogs, which at the time had that sense of having to be a long thoughtful essay, or at least longer than a sentence.  Still, some were hesitant to share such thoughts.  With the Facebook feed development, similar criticisms were cried out, noting a loss of privacy over their online activity.  (Thankfully you can control the feed.)

I was a hypocrite once, thinking that Twitter was dumb to share such quick thoughts, when I was already doing the same thing on Facebook.  I was converted to Twitter mainly because of the ability of sharing your Twitter updates with the rest of the world.  Yes, there is a world outside of Facebook.  Think of Facebook like a gated community; I didn’t like having my thoughts restricted to a small piece of the online world.  When you think of the historical significance of being able to broadcast your ideas out to the world instantly, you appreciate the power you wield that Twitter and other similar social networking sites gives you.  Just with a single click, your thoughts and ideas are out to the rest of the world, when only years ago such ability was very limited if not impossible!

The question I asked myself was “Why are such sites so popular?”  Even with the criticisms of invasion of privacy, people still use the sites.  The privacy issue is essentially a non-issue because people voluntarily share their thoughts online.  This is a significant fact and the reason to why online social networking sites are popular – people voluntarily sharing their thoughts and ideas, and thus simply put:  storytelling.  Storytelling is basic to our human nature!  To deny or even ridicule the use of social networking sites is denying our own human nature to share our individual experiences.

(Storytelling online makes perfect sense for businesses online.  We all know that providing excellent customer service is vital to any successful business, and so having an online identity as a business humanizes the business, intimately developing the simple supply-demand dynamic.)

With my closest friends all in different parts of the country, and even the world, the social networking sites allow us to share each of our own individual experiences.  Yes, we could call each other and catch up the old-fashion way, but would you honestly call your friend everyday?  Instead, following a friend’s Facebook or twitter gives me a quick glimpse of their own life experiences.  For example, if my friend posted a picture online of an awesome dish for dinner at a fancy restaurant, it’s as if I was there to enjoy the awesomeness when I see the post- a shared experience (If ever I caught up with the friend on the phone or chatting online, I could quickly reference to that same dish effortlessly in conversation, without ever first being informed about the dish from my friend, as if we literally enjoyed that dished together!)

The possibilities for social networking sites are endless, and realizing this now, when I have already been using online social networking now integrated in my life, has made me further appreciate their purpose and how they are becoming so essential to anyone’s life.