Shaving the Old Fashioned Way

Those who know me well, know that I have a rather old-fashioned morning ritual: vintage shaving with a badger hair brush, a puck of shaving soap and a vintage double-edged razor. Sometimes called wetshaving, this is the way my dad shaved. My grandfather shaved like that, too, except he used a straight (aka, "cutthroat") razor (and no, I'm not gutsy enough to try that).

How'd I get into it? About 10 years ago, I started getting a lot of skin irritation after shaving, and a friend suggested I get rid of the canned foam and try making my own lather with a shaving brush and soap. Oh yeah, I said to myself, just the way my dad used to do it. From there, I picked up a few double-edged (DE) safety razors, like the one I learned on back in the 60s, and an assortment of premium shaving soaps and creams in all sorts of nice scents like lime, almond and lavender. Over the years I've amassed a handful of shaving brushes, a whole bunch of DE razors and enough shave creams and soaps to last me years.

Do I get a better shave? Well, I don't have the skin problems I used to have, so yes. Is it closer than a modern multi-blade. No, but it's about equal if you do it right. But the quality of the shave is only one reason I enjoy it. It's also got a lot of retro appeal. All of that vintage shaving gear is just plain cool. And I like having a choice of lather. Lemon/lime or menthol for those hot summer days. Sandalwood or lavender for fall and winter.

What began as a way to reduce razor burn has become an enjoyable morning ritual. You've got to slow down a bit when you're whipping up your own shaving lather instead of squirting it out of a aerosol can. You also have to pay a little more attention using a DE razor than one of the new multi-blade razors. Given today's pace of life, slowing down and taking time for yourself is a good thing!

The Perfect Manhattan

Here's a pic of me at the Tubac resort with one of my favorite cocktails: a Manhattan. It's currently my profile pic. There are lots of variations on the Manhattan, and I figured I'd share my favorite recipe...

• 1-1/2 oz. Makers Mark bourbon
• 3/4 oz. "secret sauce" (3 parts Gallo sweet vermouth and 1 part grenadine)
• Dash (or two) of Angostura bitters

Put all ingredients into a martini shaker with plenty of ice. Shake well (I shake it 100 times to make it nice and icy), pour into a martini glass and garnish with a Maraschino cherry (or in my case 3 cherries).

Some guys don't like sweet Manhattans, so they leave out the grenadine. Your choice, but this is just how I like 'em.

Cheers!

Be Comfortable with the Chaos

As you may know, in May, Hewlett-Packard announced plans to acquire EDS, the huge technology services company. On August 26, after months of planning, the deal went through. EDS is now part of HP. Just as a company needs to communicate externally to the press and to Wall Street, it also needs to communicate with its own employees, so that they know what's going on, what they can expect, and what's expected of them. As one of HP's employee communication managers, I've been really busy in recent weeks. At times, things have been bordering on chaotic.

Which brings me to the title of this blog, which is a great bit of advice told to me by Katie Nutter early on in my career with HP. She had been the speech writer for former HP CEO John Young. I had been given a speech to write for the head of HP's consulting business. I'd gotten my inputs from the executive, and my head was spinning. I was new to that area of the business and really felt in over my head. The result: total writer's block. So I went to Katie and asked her if she'd ever felt this way when tackling one of Young's speeches, and she said, "All the time." "How did you handle it?" I asked. She told me, "You have to be comfortable with the chaos."

By that she meant that you have to not let yourself be overwhelmed when everything is swirling around you. Just get comfortable with it. The human mind is amazingly resourceful and will seek to make order out of chaos, if given the space to do so. I followed Katie's advice, and sure enough, pretty soon, all of the swirling ideas began to align and a structure emerged. I finished the speech on time and it seemed to hit the mark.

I've drawn on this bit of wisdom throughout the years. This week in particular, I've needed to remind myself several times to be comfortable with the chaos. And you know what? Things are working out.

Have a great week, everyone!

Pack Light

This was inspired by an experience I had on our first family trip to Hawaii...

Pack Light

Two weeks of vacation
The whole family is going to
Hawaii for the very first time

"Pack light" they told me
And so I did:
Swim trunks
Shorts
Sandals
A few T-shirts and tank tops
And a sport shirt and cotton slacks
Just in case

But I didn't realize that somewhere
In that little tote bag
Underneath that stuff
I had brought a whole lot of baggage:
Work agendas
Strategic plans
Action lists
And a bunch of bundled up feelings
Just waiting for a safe opportunity to unload

Adam fell in Paradise
And I carried on the grand tradition
With a critical heart
An authoritarian attitude
Harsh words
And a spirit that somewhere
Along my career path
had forgotten how to relax

Thank God I was given the chance to
Jettison the baggage overboard
In the depths of the sea where it belonged
And start over

Next time, I trust I've learned my lesson:
When traveling to Paradise
Pack light

A Belated 18th Birthday Present

I turned 56 yesterday. Let me tell you about a gift I got myself, sort of a belated 18th birthday present...

Back when I was a senior in high school, a friend brought her boyfriend to a football game. He'd just come back from a tour of duty in the South Pacific with the Seabees, the construction batallions of the US Navy. These bad boys are the heavy equipment operators who build bases, air strips, roads and bridges, sometimes under enemy fire. This guy looked like he could pull out trees with his bare hands. Then I noticed that he had ear rings - the Navy emblem - in both ears. Evidently this is not uncommon among Seabees serving in the South Pacific.

I thought that was the coolest look ever, and wanted to pierce my ear ever since. Of course, the times being what they were (almost no guys did that back in the 70's), I didn't. Even when times changed, I still held out. Ever the approval junkie, I was worried about what people would think. I used to tell my kids, "You'd worry a lot less about what other people think of you if you knew how seldom they do." I wish I'd taken my own advice a lot earlier.

So two weeks ago, at Claire's in Monterey, I gave myself an early birthday present and got my ear pierced. I like it. I like the way it looks, and more than that, I like how I feel about it.

Building a Treasure

Here's another free-verse poem inspired by one-on-one time with my daughters...

Building a Treasure

We drew up plans
My daughter and I
For a tea cup rack we saw in
A woodworking magazine

We would build it together
As a gift for her mother
We would make it out of solid cherry
And take no shortcuts in the construction
Because we wanted to give her more than a cup rack
We wanted to give her an heirloom

Slowly, meticulously
We transferred the plans to the wood
Made our cuts with saw and router
Assembled it with dowels
Sanded it, oiled it and rubbed out the finish

We stood back and admired our handiwork
We both agreed that you couldn't buy
A finer rack anywhere
I hugged her and she hugged me back
"Thank you, Daddy" she said

Looking back over the years
Only now do I fully realize
That two priceless treasures were made that day
One of wood and
One of clay

Changes That Heal

If you look at my profile, you'll see that one of my favorite books is Changes that Heal, by Dr. Henry Cloud. It's such a cliché to say that something changed your life, but this book has been truly transformational for me.

The subtitle of the book is "How to Understand Your Past to Ensure a Healthier Future," and that is a great way to sum up the book. A clinical psychologist and follower of Christ, Cloud brings both sound psychological principles and Biblical truths to bear in helping us understand the areas of brokenness from our past and develop ways to heal those areas and move beyond them. There are four sections:

• Bonding with others to form truly intimate relationships
• Separating from others and developing a sense of self
• Understanding the good and bad in yourself and others
• Grow emotionally and spiritually toward adulthood

I particularly benefited from the last section. According to Cloud, even though we live as adults, there can be areas of our personality that have not yet become fully adult. These can lead to all sorts of subtle but chronic problems. Approval addiction in adults, for example, could stem from a lack of affirmation as a child.

This book really opened my eyes to a lot of the emotional baggage I've brought into adulthood. Seriously, it was like a light going on. Have I moved past all of my "stuff"? Well, no, but I have been able to name my issues – the all-important first step – and make some good progress towards healing.

You owe it to yourself to check out this book.