Thread: Why so quiet?

I'm a newb.. First shave with my Original Athlete 6/8, half hollow went well with a bunch of nicks and a bit of blood However, my first strop, "El Toro," as seen below already has a few nicks of its own. I have read the Wiki on stropping, gotten advice about it and watched many videos regarding the art.. Yet I still suck at it
The strop feels almost like its made out of suede. When i strop the way I have read I'm supposed to, it doesn't make that cool, official "whoosh" sound everyone else's tends to.

1) Will it mess up my edge to strop over the nicks that are parallel to my edge?
2) How can I tell when the edge is ready? I don't exactly know what "shave-ready" feels like. Only had a shave ready edge when I got it from one of the pros on our Classified section.
3) Its not only little nicks I'm left with. Some are inch long slices.. I need more practice with the proper angles. Any practice tips other than using my own face?
4) What angles am I using that produce these nasty bleeders? Too high? Too low?
5) Anyone live in central NJ that I could visit to learn from?

Thanks to all, in advance, for your help. -Dan