Last week I received some strops from Tony Miller, a DVD from Lynn Abrams, and a Friedmann & Lauterjung Electric 6/8 half hollow shoulderless razor from Joe Chandler. Saturday afternoon, after watching the DVD I headed to the bathroom for my first attempt at straight-razor shaving. My plan was to only shave my right sideburn and cheek with the straight, and over the next week or so slowly add new places. So there I was, face lathered, razor in hand, staring at the mirror. I used my left hand to stretch the skin on the right side of my face, brought the razor up, looked in the mirror and couldn't see a thing. No matter what angle I tried either the razor or my hand was blocking my view and I didn't want to start out by shaving my sideburn crooked nor too high, or worse by slicing my ear. Somehow I finally found a way to see and commenced shaving. Things went surprisingly well. Well enough that once I finished the right side I decided to keep going with the straight. I switch hands, nicked my left ear while trying to line up with razor, paused to put some styptic on, and continued. I ended up doing one pass on my whole face. It was more like 7/8 of a pass because there were some spots I missed, but it was Saturday and the first time so I just left everything rather than destroying my face. The only noticeable spot I missed was right under my nose. I just couldn't figure out how to get at it. The hardest spots for me were my sideburn due to vision and under my nose. For my first shave I was happy. Sunday I was dying to shave again for no reason other than to shave, but decided it was best to let the razor and my face rest. This morning I got up early and went for shave number two. It was better than the first, although I still had problems under my nose. This is great. It reminded me of when I was 12 or so and wanted to shave my peach fuzz with my grandpa's DE razor and he told me not to, because soon enough I'd have to shave and wouldn't want to. Well he was right for a time, but for the first time since then I want to shave. I'm not sure I can wait a couple days between shaves to let my razor rest--I'm going to have to get another razor. Maybe the next one will be smaller and that will make under my nose easier. Thanks to everyone here.