learning to weld

Looking good! Great start, nothing better then being able to melt metal together to open the door of endless projects!
Crackedback has thrown out some great info there for you. Clean metal front and back of plate makes a world of diffrence! I keep a small pair of dykes (or angle snips) at arms reach while welding to cut molten metal from the wire before each zap (snot ball)
Also be carefull what you use to clean with! http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm read all labels carefully