Remember that time I said I’d post every day. Never happened did it? Maybe I’ll try harder this time.

Our DVD Collection

Yesterday I sorted out our DVD shelves and got most of them into alphabetical order. Today I downloaded a great piece of open source software called the Ant Movie Catalog. It alows you to catalogue all of your DVDs and then it magically imports all the data from IMDB including descriptions, actors, images. Very clever.

Once you’ve done all the hard work (took me about an hour) you can then export it as an HTML file which neatly lists all of your movies along with the appropriate image and description.

This link will take you to the list of all 207 of my DVDs

For those paying attention, I posted last week about my new shaving regime using a traditional DE (double edge) razor.  It’s actually going OK. The first shave was “interesting “and I ended up with quite a few cuts and a lot of blood. However it’s actually really enjoyable. I’m still working on my technique and it’s nowhere near perfect yet, but it’s far more enjoyable than standard shaving with nasty gel and a Gillette Mach 3.

My total shave time has now gone from 5 minutes to around 20. Here’s what I do:

• Wash face with hot water and face scrub to soften the hairs in preparation for the shave
• Using a dollop of this Taylors of Bond Street cream I whip up a lather in a mug using the shaving brush. This takes a couple of minutes to get just frothy and creamy enough.
• Then first application of the shaving cream/foam to the face using the brush. Takes a couple of minutes to get it all over the face just right. You have to take your time and do it in a certain way so all the hairs are prepared just right for…
• The first pass with the razor.
• Then rinse off the face and
• The next layer of foam with the brush, again it takes a couple of minutes
• Then shave again, this time going from left to right instead of downwards
• Then rinse off again and re-lather
• Shave again, this time getting all the bits I missed
• Rinse with cool water then rub an alum block all over my face – it closes the pores and acts as an antiseptic. And it stings!
• Use a styptic pencil if I have cut myself to stop the bleeding
• Apply organic, natural aftershave balm

So you can see, it’s not exactly a quick process but it’s far more involved and enjoyable than a “normal” shave!

My new shaving "starter kit"

I have been meaning to do this for ages and just before Christmas I finally took the plunge and ordered a “starter kit” from The Traditional Shaving Company.

For many years I have been using Gilette Mach 3 razors and other such things. They’re OK but the cartridges cost a FORTUNE, around £9 for 4 or 5 blades that last a month.

The traditional way of wet shaving is far cheaper. Each blade costs 10-20p! It’s also supposed to be a lot better for your face. You can get a much closer shave and after some time, should be able to do away with razor/shaving burn.

I have been watching some videos on Youtube about “how to” shave properly using these kinds of razors. It’s not easy, but looks fun!

I have just installed a plugin/theme that allows mobile / Ipod Touch / Iphone users to view the blog in a more “easy to read” format.

It’s called WPTouch and it seems quite clever. It completely changes the way the blog looks when it’s viewed on a mobile device. It makes it a lot easier to read if you aren’t viewing it on a big PC monitor.

I recently stumbled across this website which has a huge list of the biggest sellers on Etsy.com. The results are pretty spectacular. The top seller has 63,000 sales and I have….21. Oh dear.

It’s great to look at what’s popular on Etsy. It seems that if you want to sell lots of beads, then Etsy is the place for you. Although there are some artists in the list, which is good. A fellow Etsy photographer has sold over 2,000 prints, that’s very impressive.

It’s also given me some inspiration for expanding on what I sell at the moment. Curently it’s just photo prints and some greetings cards made from photos on my shop. But I will soon be putting some of my own design birthday/greeting cards on there. I just need a printer first…