All in all, you played well. Everyone misses a great play from time to time. On the plus side, you were able to recover from a couple of tight spots so give yourself some credit. I teach chess (six classes in the school system and privately) and often my students will be so fixated on one part of the board or a specific position, that they miss another position that would have gained them important material. Go through the game a few times, play out a corrective move and you'll be fine. Thanks for the posting!
I am such a freakin' moron (1500)
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Thanks all for your feedback.
@Andy, you are right - I do find myself concentraing more and paying harder when I think I have a better shot at winning, someone who's a little higher but not so much higher. This just proves that I need to pay close attention to every game, since even the higher guys make mistakes too!
@Hugh - I have certain experienced the feeling of calculating so much over one little tactic or pawn area that I completely miss an abvious queen skewer on the other corner of the board. Learning this game is a slow process, I guess.
@Paul - many thanks for taking the time to analyse. You're right about the trading when a pawn down. I guess I'm used to playing other 1500s where losing a pawn doesn't matter quite as much because I'm still fully expecting a major blunder down the road which I can capitalize on!
But it wasn't blunder, in that exchange white still remains 2 points up + that pawn you lost after move 28. With no light piece to accompany the queen, there was nothing much to do.
normaly when i play an oponent rated 300+, in the back of my mind i always have this-'anyway i lose' attitude and i risk a lot.. Don't take much effort to calculate.. But rarely when they make an error or miscalculation.. I just get super motivated... And play my best!! :D
and funnnily... When i play a weaker opponent i get this-'anyway i win' attitude!! Lol..
Am i missing some thing here : 24. Qxe4? ... Qd7 wins a rook because 25. QxR... RxQ 26. RxR... QxR leaves black a piece ahead. The queen cannot retreat and protect the rook at E1.
If your opponent was so smart, he shouldn't have played into the book trap 8. Ba4.
He only avoided the piece loss by retreating the Kt to g1(If 10. Ne5 Qd4), which you failed to capitalize on. After 10. Ng1, more violence against the White King is necessary, taking advantage of the stranded Bishop by 10...Qd4 11. Bb3 Bc5 and castle ASAP. Poor White has nothing developed and threatens nothing.
When your opponent stumbles, you need to push the knife in and finish him off. Bd7 just gets in the way and protects a protected pawn. 
Just lost this game against someone about 400 pts higher than me, and deservedly so. It looks like, on the critical blunder he made, from which I could have been up a rook, I made instead the *worst* possible counter. The one door that opened for me in the whole game, and I filled it with cement and drank some battery fluid for good measure! D'oh!!!