Welcome aboard. The guys and gals here are incredibly helpful, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the advice, and direction.
to TSD "gmaugie007" Sounds like your off to a real good start. The EJ89 is a great razor! I used mine until I was able to get a Weber DLC, although the shave between them is very comparable the Weber is coated stainless and does shave a tiny touch smoother. If you'd like a VERY inexpensive brush with good backbone checkout a bestshave.net #6 horse(?) hair brush. I've used mine for well over 3 years now and it's still going strong. Your shave is just going to keep getting better and better as time passes.
Welcome to the den. A boar brush has a good deal of backbone. From my understanding the brush you have should have some backbone. It might be too much pressure or you need a lower loft.
questions ... three weeks into the journey what is MBOMB? how and when is it normally used? what is buffing?