Zil's Domain

...feels more owned than I do right now.

So, you know when you work at a retail store, you're on the lookout for suspicious people. Well yea, long story short, I stopped a woman at the door and told her to take the hair out of the bag, only to be utterly shocked when she took the hair out of the SHOPPING BAG and showed me the hair she BOUGHT. And to top that off, it was in front of a crowd of people who simply shook their head in dismay, while I scurried away with my head hung in deep, abject humiliation.

So that would explain my current situation, why I'm wallowing in a corner of the back storage room. Somebody please post an embarassing situation that happened to them so I feel better T_T

...Rickroll'd me.

Right now, that Rick JamesAstley song is on 106.1. And there's no way of ctrl+alt+delete to quit this damn song, WTF!

EDIT: Actually, now that I actually listen to the song fully for the first time, it's sorta catchy.

EDIT 2: Thanks brood.

I am creating this blog today to offer my free service in training anyone who would like help in getting better. I remember seeing a few threads about some players wanting to surpass their current level up to the C-/C levels or beyond, so if you want to give it a shot with me, post!

As far as credentials go, my only significant point is I had gained a B- rank on the name Mallow[x] during Iccup season 3 (kept track on my previous blogs). I am not known in any scenes, and statistically, I believe I tend to lose more than I win, but if anyone's willing to improve with my help, I'd be glad to offer maybe an hour or so of my time to help. I am available usually 8PM EST ~ 12AM EST mon-sat; almost any time Sunday.

Finally, I have a request for any takers: please be at least semi-serious at wanting to get better -_-. I find it very disheartening when I try to help my friends/acquaintences at getting better, then they stop halfway just because they "don't feel like it" anymore. That is all, toodles!

*EDIT*

AIM: UD spongebob
MSN: x.domain at hotmail.com

First of all, I'd like to say that, being a stream/http user, I'm very much a stranger to torrent technology. Making the transition to using torrents, I'd like to ask how to search for certain/safe torrents for those of you who are familiar with it.

For example, I'm searching right now for a manga series called Ai Yori Aoshi. First of all, I've heard that torrent has had its fair share of cases of catching viruses; how would I go about using it safely? Second, I have no idea on even where to start to look for that particular manga series. Please help me out! Thanks for your time~

So, even with the "carpel tunnel syndrome" I diagnosed myself with, I kept playing this god-forsaken game. The result? Well, I took it easy and my right hand's fine now. And...I also went back into iccup -_-

Currently, I am still extremely unsatisfied with myself. I still struggle in the B- range, fluctuating a lot between C+/B-. I feel like I'm making some trivial error which should be easily fixed, yet I can't put my finger on it. I know my micro is not the problem, and my build orders seem fairly solid. I'm also fairly confident in my macro, in that I am fairly adept at balancing unit production facilities, expos, and probe numbers.

Still, I'm doing something terribly wrong. I'm losing games not like a B- player, but more like an amateur. I think the main reasons are that I tend to re-use and recycle my build orders, so I'm used to responding in a limited way to similar situations, which obviously is a problem against multiple players with different styles. I also tend to avoid late game like the plague. Instead of trying to grab expos and play passively, I usually opt for the "hasty" builds. Mass gaming is helping me realize this though. Speaking of mass gaming...

I began Iccup on January 9th or something January 21st. So in a little over a month, I played 265 games. And I work all day except sundays. Funny how I couldn't even play a quarter of that amount when I played sc all day and never worked -_-

Iccup page: http://iccup.com/profile.php?lookup=104649

Double post...Close

I've decided to end my Iccup session for the season. Why am I concluding two weeks prior to the end of the season? It seems I might have carpal tunnel syndrome on my right hand. Lately, I'm having trouble gripping my mouse and objects such as pens. I can make a fist, albeit, a weak one. I'm getting these weak, tired feeling in the hand spells sporadically, so I'm planning on resting my right hand for a while.

As I mass gamed on Iccup during the past month or so, I've been trying to figure out ways to break past my current skill cap in order to take myself to the next level. Due to my sudden hiatus in gaming, I'm sure that I still lack in many areas, but I do know that I have improved beyond the level I began at.

To begin, I feel it's necessary to point out that you need a consistent gaming schedule to follow in order to fully gain the most out of the learning experience. I somewhat kept to that schedule by playing at a good 3-4 hours per night from 8 ~ 12 o'clock. Due to my work schedule, I couldn't do much more than that, however. The best benefit I received from gaming at a constant pace is that I got used to constant exposure to the ladder experience, meaning that factors such as build orders, micro, and overall "game flow" stick to me more permanently.

Now, there is one HUGE factor that I had to overcome that was a hindrance during my sessions. We all probably experienced it on a ladder before... don't you love it when you wrack up win streaks in Iccup? You know those pretty stats (12-1, 8-0, etc) that look like candy before your eyes? Take those stats, hold them before your eyes, smile...then dowse it in oil, get a lighter, put it on fire, and watch as your dreamy record dissipates into thin air. Because if you're playing iccup to improve and to learn, you're gonna have to get used to 0-4, 0-8, 0-11, 1-33, 3-95, 9-173, and all sorts of ugly, jaded stats. So don't even worry about opening iccup with pure losses; they're all for the better! The sooner you burn down dreamland, the better it is to face the reality that, hey! You suck, I suck, we all suck, but it's ok. There will be a lot less sucking by the time Iccup whips your fat, candy ass into shape.

Before I conclude facing losses, there's one more thing to discuss: mentality. It's really hard on just about any gamer to run into that "lose few games, lose all of your games" curse. If you read Mgz)Merz's blogs, you'll see that when that losing curse hits you, it hits you HARD. In extreme cases, Keyboards and mouses have been reported broken due to the side effects of The Curse. The best advice I have to avoid it is don't let it get to you. It's really not so bad if you learn how to take a deep breath, calm down, and analyze what you did that caused you to lose instead of acting out what happened in
this famous episode.

That aside, I conclude Iccup on
Mallow[x] with a 103-106 losing record rank C+ + Show Spoiler +

K, so I've been seeing a lot of iccup blogs lately. Following that, I wanted to see if any of you Iccup gamers wanted to have a showmatch. Mass gaming should be in our blood by now (I see a lot of C/B rank Iccupers here), so let's do a best of 7 match. Personally I want:

Match Format: Bo7

Maps: Start with python, then losers pick (need other player's consent)

Time: Mon~Sat: About 9PM EST. Sunday: Anytime

Anyone up for it? Post message or PM here and we're ready to rock and roll.

EDIT: It has been settled. Mod, please delete.

Before I begin, I'm sorry for going blog-crazy about my iccup. I find that it helps me stay motivated to write down my progress as I go along.

If I remember correctly, I started my Iccup journey 9 days ago, on January 20. Since then, I've been constantly pushing myself to train hardcore, taking little breaks and gaming like a madman. It kinda reminds me of lyncanthropes: regular, working people by day, rampaging monsters under the full moon by night in the sun-forsaken BW ladder. So far, the fruit of my efforts ripened up to B-. That's right, folks, I am B-! Even though the B ranks have been somewhat bastardized thanks to the widespread and self-proclaimed A+ rankings, I must say it feels pretty good.

Anyway, I feel the need to fill in a few more details, so here goes. First of all, I find that joining a ladder mid-season isn't necessarily the best time to let the ranks settle themselves out. By this, I mean that sometimes, fighting a C rank player can mean fighting an A- rank player (my 0-4 pvz series vs the korean zerg eunyou). Mainly, I found that climbing up the ranks merely means a more consistent difficulty rather than an upspike in skills. However, I have yet to enter the B rank fray. I will certainly update my progress (if any) as I begin my games tomorrow night. Expect my blog to appear by the end of this week, since I feel my rank will fluctuate between C+ and B- for a while.

It's funny...mass gaming on a ladder like this. I haven't given this much effort to BW for a long time. The last time I remember having this much motivation was after I had played and lost against the one BW player known as a legend around my area. Now, I'm picking myself up again to find how far my skills can reach. Where will this take me? I have no idea. Do I plan on finding out? Absolutely.