EPT
" after the match, and he told me to fuck off. I guess I can see how that would be passive-aggressive, but I was seriously just trying to be nice. 
I'm kicking ass and happy about it though! As I've mentioned in previous blog posts I'm basically trying to do this with no cheese at all. I've rushed exactly once - it was a 10 pool, and it did economic damage that let me steamroll the other guy with a push at about 10 minutes. And frankly, I only did that because I thought I'd screwed up my build.
The rest of the time, I've played standard, econ-focused, and as safely as I can. I win most of my games at around the 18 minute mark (not counting one asshole terran who building floated and rebased multiple times until I got fed up and massed mutas) and usually lose a bit earlier than that - I've suicided armies when I shouldn't, straight-up lost to early rushes, and so on, but I've only been out-macroed once, and it was a scouting fail - I made a bunch of units while my opponent was flooding drones, because I thought he was doing a timing attack.
Speaking of which, scouting is the thing I need the most work on. I can check for expansions just fine (if I can take the credit for that - overlords do all the work), I can macro like a beast (given I've been playing for less than a week), and while I don't exactly micro well (or at all), I have a good sense for concaves and when I can/can't win a fight and should/shouldn't engage. I can even adapt my builds and manage crises reasonably well. But the one damn thing I can never remember to do is scout in the midgame, and it loses me games I should win. I also need to work on things like spreading creep (I need to work a LOT on spreading creep), but scouting better would have saved me just about every loss I've had in the past 20-30 games.
All in all I'm really happy with my play and development, and I'm having a lot of fun! My girlfriend has even commented on how happy I seem to be when I'm playing or after I have, and on how well I shrug off losses - I think this game is good for me.
Now for a brief explanation of what I'm doing strategy-wise. I don't really have builds set in stone yet - I figure that level of refinement can wait until I'm remembering to fucking scout and spread creep - but I more or less always open 14 hatch vT and 11pool vP and vZ. Not an aggressive 11pool, mind you - an econ-focused, I-want-my-damn-queen-and-some-cheese-protection-please 11pool. Then more or less regardless of matchup, I focus on securing expansions and massing up a strong ground army and upgrading it, before doing a timing push at +2 attack. vZ and vP this ends up being mainly roaches for a while, with hydras or infestors added once I have some extra gas and a stable footing. vT I tend to start with speedling/baneling and add roaches from there - I'd rather worry about micro vs siege tanks, which are slow or stationary, than micro versus stimmed marines with mutalisks! The nice thing is that the logical counter - mass marauders - gets completely destroyed by mass ling, which gives me tons of extra gas, which lets me get hive tech and tons of infestors out....good times.
I have to admit, I never really use broodlords or ultralisks, and I don't really see myself using either any time soon. They seem outclassed by cheaper units (zergling/roach and baneling respectively) that are available earlier and save gas for infestors - which I'm in love with. Is this a mistake on my part? It seems a waste going hive when I'm just going to use it for 3/3 and adrenal glands, but neither unit really seems necessary to me...
