Aargh, I discovered this thread last night and read till 3am and still haven't read it all.
I'm with you all in spirit, though a long way away (Australia). I did a pre-solo check flight on Saturday in a Citabria with a hugely-experienced tailwheel pilot, and I'm hoping that this coming Saturday I might manage a first solo.
So I was looking for stories of others' experiences when I found Mazza's diary. Wow. Just what I was looking for.
I also found references to Stick and Rudder so I've just ordered a copy through Amazon. It's still relevant to me as 21 of my 22 hours so far have been on tailwheelers (I took a single C172 trip for perspective).
I see there are a couple of other's from Australia here, so hi from Sydney.