Thanks for the advice everyone. I've been wet shaving for a long time with a DE so I think my prep is OK. But the dry lather makes sense. I've noticed that a lather which would be great for DE does not feel nearly as slick with the straight. And I am certain my stropping is not what it should be - anything which gets as much attention here as stropping does is probably not going to be mastered quickly.
I guess I've been moving pretty fast with this because I haven't been hurting myself. A couple nicks but no real cuts and very minimal irritation. But I guess I'd better slow down and get used to the idea that I'll be using my DE at least part time for a good while yet. Maybe I'll use some proraso pre shave for every shave for awhile and see if I can get some more water in to my lather. And some extra stropping practice won't do any harm.

I said no cuts. Funny thing about that. I prepared myself for the possibility of some cuts while I learn this and I did get one fairly bad one - on my finger! I was turning the razor over or switching hands or something and I got my finger on the shoulder. Wow that got my attention.