Long Weekend, Long Newsletter.
Seth's Barbershop
Only 5 paycheques until Yuletide!
Dearest Client/Reader/Friend/Sir/Madam/Bro,
First off, I'm sorry for the title. It's not great.
I hope this email finds you with your feet up. And I hope you enjoyed the virtual gratitude journal that was Thanksgiving.
Listen. Normally I don't enjoy autumn. It's usually a week of nice colours followed by unnecessary winds that blow all the leaves off and we're left with Tim Burton-style trees until the snow comes, either 4 days or two months later. And autumn is a cold reminder that we live in a frozen wasteland not fit for man nor beast, and you may think your gloves are warm enough, but they aren't. They just aren't.
But not this year! This year has been colourful and warm and just the best. I hope it's been great for you too.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE MAGICAL WORLD OF APPOINTMENT BOOKING!
On the list of exciting things going on in my clients' lives, there's a first time home buyer, a first child expected this month, and I have a regular client/friend who's going to climb Everest Base Camp next week. How exciting is that?! Flying into Kathmandu. (More like Kathmandon't, am I right? Which leads me to one of Seth's Humour Tips ©️. If someone says something they like that ends with "do", turn it into a "don't". Is your Aussie friend playing you a song with a didgeridoo? Nudge the person next to you and mutter under your breath, "More like didgeridon't, hey?" Someone bidding you adieu? I bid you adion't, hey? Huh? Hey? Right? Works every time.)
Anyway, as someone who reached the peak of Piper's Mountain at the age of 6, I fancy myself a bit of a mountaineer. An adventurer, if you will. A caucasian Tenzing Norgay, if you will. Won't you?
Picture this: Late 90s, I'm 19, Xtreme sports were all the rage. Capital X. Bungee jumping, Rollerblading, bleached hair, what a time to be alive. My parents were like, What are you going to do with your life? And I'm all, I'm gonna be gnarly, bro! And gnarly, I was. I graduated high school, frosted my tips, and headed west. I surfed, I skated, I shredded. Xtreme sports were marketable, so the ad people were looking for rad dudes like moi to sell their merch. They're like, "We sell green soda to the kids, and the kids love the sports. So we want you and your crew to hike K2 and snowboard down, all while drinking a Mountain Dew, and yell into the camera, DO THE DEW!" It was a whole campaign. So I'm like, whatever dude. It's cool.
So there we were, hiking to the top, which was no big whoop, after all, I'm a bit of a hiker, as I mentioned earlier. I was more concerned with snowboarding down. I get to the peak and I'm all, rad. Selfie with a disposable Kodak camera, then strap in and grind that gnar pow. They gave me a Hi8 camera to film myself drinking the pop, but being the anti-authoritarian that I am, I had a hilarious thing I was going to do. Halfway down I'm locked in, full send. I grab the Dew out of my pocket, press record on the Handicam, crack the can open with one hand and yell into the camera, "Do the Don't!" It sounded so much better in my head. I panicked. "Don't the Dew!" I was hyperventilating. "DON'T THE DON'T!" Mountain Don't was pouring all over my face, freezing on impact, my goggles useless. I hit a tree branch, sending me into a barrel roll that lasted for 1.2 km, coming to a stop a half mile from base camp. I broke a lot of bones and tore a lot of things, but as I lay there, I tasted the Xtreme Mountain Dew, and it was delicious. I felt such shame, trying to be so cool that I ended up being not gnarly. I was gnarly in the way it originally meant. Bad. That was the end of my Xtreme sports career, shunned from the Rad Community forever. and the only advice I have is to shut up and listen to the Sherpas. Sarcasm is lost in translation.
BOOKING AN APPOINTMENT IS EASY! AND YOU CAN TOO!
Fun new product! If you've had a Negroni cocktail, you need to try a barrel-aged Negroni cocktail. If you've tried my Negroni Aftershave, you need to try a Barrel-Aged Negroni Aftershave. I've not bottled it yet, but once I do, they'll be available for your sniffing pleasure. You're the first to know. One of the many benefits of being a subscriber to The World's Best Newsletter.
This month's important topics:
Holiday party season!
November is holiday party season, so plan ahead. I mean it this time. For real. As soon as you get the email with the date of the party, swipe out of there, and go to my website and book your cut. Reschedule later if you need to. You''s probably want one early Nov and mid Dec in order to reach ideal cut frequency.
Barber Expo
Last month I was invited by Tiffany of The Martlet Barbershop (formerly Red Stag Gas Alley) to go to the Calgary Barber Expo. Which was super nice of her, hey? What goes on at a Barber Expo, you ask? Same as any other industry's convention- presentations and Look & Learns with vendors selling things. In a good way! I met some cool barbers from Calgary and Edmonton (I'm old school in that I will never use airport codes because in Canada it forces you to google where they are anyway, and I hope the trend goes away. YQF. Get real.) that I'm excited to learn from.
Things I'm into this month
I subscribe to various newsletters and some of them do this little thing where they plug things they think are cool, and usually I'm like who cares, it's probably all sponsored BS anyway, but I like cool things, and I also love voicing my opinions, so here are some things. Take 'em or leave 'em. They're not sponsored, but this space for rent.
Music
- Jesse Wells is a folky kinda singer who picks a mean guitar. You may have seen him on Instagram, that's where I first saw him. He sings about current events and topical topics, and some songs that are just nice songs. He's like Bob Dylan but good. I pasted a link below for your convenience, but I don't know how to hotlink stuff, so just search him if you're inclined.
open.spotify.com/album/48Hs14SqGLxaaD8z22QDrE?si=k8Ic0udeRfixmA6EJredFQ
Books
- A generous client gifted me a copy of Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara, and I really think that everyone who deals with customers should read it. I extra loved it because it's written by a restaurant person, which I was for most of my working life, but it's all about how to go above and beyond for your customers and clients, in any industry. If you don't want to spoil your customers in order to be the best, then what are you even doing?
Local things
- The downtown food scene keep getting better and better. I'm a fan of Foodie Bros, their Yamyung Chicken Burger is in my Top 3 chicken burgers of all time. They recently expanded their dining room, so go sit down or get some takeout. As always, Skip the Skip The Dishes and go get it yourself. They're across the street from the old Uptown Theatre that was renovated and got a new name and then was abandoned for some reason.
And don't forget- Yuletide decorations are to be put up no earlier than Dec.1. Just because Costco sells them in September doesn't mean you get to put them out. You don't start school when the supplies go on sale, do you? You don't go to the beach in April when they start selling inflatables, do you? No. You don't.
I hope to see you soon, and please bring good news. The next 3 weeks are going to be the worst 3 weeks in social media history (US election that they're making our problem), so please bring jokes and stories.
Keep on keepin' on. Life's a garden- dig it.
Your Second Favourite Barber,
Seth