shaving

shaving annoys me. i've been shaving for however many years now and still can't do it properly; i always end up cutting myself in many places and/or missing patches. it's because the hair on my neck doesn't, like the majority of people, grow in one or even two directions, but instead every direction, spreading radially outwards from corners, like trees knocked down after a hurricane. it doesn't matter if i use a razor with one, two or three blades, shaving gel or foam, facial scrub or scruffing lotion, the result is the same: a close shave but battered and bloody, or random patches of stubble.

so i don't tend to shave very often. i do this because i am lazy and because i can afford to - being a student i don't need to look presentable. indeed in some student circles having interesting facial hair is considered a bonus. (note that in no way do i condone the growing of beards or anything of that ilk, especially the current trend of the "chinstrap" - sideburns and beard purely on the underside of the chin, nothing on the face - which, in my view, tends to make the wearer look like a troll.)

usually i only bother to scrape my face once every three or four days, and when i am finished there is a satisfactory amount of hair in the sink. after letting the water out, most of the debris is flushed away, but what hair remains along the side looks like kanji symbols - intricate, delicate characters, telling the story of what has been happening to me in the past three or four days more eloquently than i could ever write down myself.