Feedback on Newbie prize

I was fortunate enough to win the newbie essay competition back at the end of April (2010) and thought I should report back on how the prize goodies are working. To sum it up - they are all great! Again - I express my gratitude to the prize donor(s) and thank everyone for the encouragement.
The The Truefitt and Hill unscented shaving cream ( which has its own nice clean smell) works well. The Simpson Best Badger Persian Jar #2 brush produces a great lather in about 45 seconds in the SRD shaving bowl. I love the bowl - after warming with hot water it stays warm for a long time and is a really solid piece.
The SRD 2" red latigo with fabric strop also works well. I massage it daily just with my hand - no conditioner. It has lots of draw and is keeping the edges on my razors in good shape.
The Boker King Cutter razor is a great shaver. I'd say it is a medium weight razor with enough heft for me and small enough to get around all the corners on my face easily. It's about 11/16.
And of course Lynn,s DVD "World of Straight Razor Shaving" is both very informative and interesting.
I started using a straight 8 months ago and now use one every day I shave (usually 6/week). Thanks to the great advice on the Lynn's DVD and on the SRP forums, I am getting consistently great shaves - DFS with 2 passes (which is what I do most days) and BBS with 3. After concentrating on all the recommended techniques for the first several months until I was getting it about right, I found that the more I kept at it, the better it became - without any great effort on my part. So - for anyone just starting, my advice is to stick with it and be patient. It should fall into place O.K.
Watch out for RAD (Razor Aquisition Disorder) - I think I have a mild case of it. David

Congrats!

Glad to hear you're enjoying your prize, and are getting on well with the shaves! :)

Yep, those AD's are catching, but lots of fun. Dont fight them, just enjoy the ride and the little thrill when a new package hits the mailbox! :D

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thank you for the update, glad to hear that it is going well and very good advise to newbies. Keep up the good work Happy shaving

Thanks for the follow up David! Good advise you passed along to our new members.