This the Badger & Blade 'Hall of Fame'. It's a place for users to tell the community a little bit about themselves. Who should join the Hall of Fame? EVERYONE!
Konnichiha (こんにちは), Mr Kooby Shemayrew-san my shaving friend (I’m gonna guess you’re an Ex-Pat), in 'The Land of the Rising Sun' in ('Japan. Endless Discovery'!!!).
Welcome aboard the B & B (besides being enrolled in the fictional, sacred and utopian Order of Shavedom), so please feel free to come up to the promenade / sun deck & 'sit-a-spell'.
Sounds like your off to a great start and on your way to shaving nirvana and 'The Zen of Shaving', and yes,...this Forum has the knowledge, ideas, and all around 'know-how'to assist in your Wet-Shaving experience. In a nut-shell...your 'gonna' love it here.
Since you're using a Str8 (I'm too nervous to try myself ...although I have a few 'display' str8's), razor this Thread entitled "The Interactive Guide to Straight Razor Shaving" maybe of great interest to you and is very informative (which I'm sure you've probably already read).
Q. What other tools (brushes, but soaps, scents ect...), are you using?
And please don't forget The 7 P's of Shaving...Prepare, Patience, Pressure, Practice, Persistence, Post shave and Passion.
Although, you may not be addicted yet (I think I'm holding up fairly well...with a few exceptions), because we all suffer (gladly and are doomed perhaps), from this shaving compulsion (and other Acquisition Disorders), because at times..."Resistance is futile".
"[For] many people, [shaving] is not [simply a] voyage of discovery, but a ritual of reassurance". Philip Andrew Adams