Finding my chess style

Now youre picking on my chess game :-(

nah its not aimed at anyone

"... you must choose what openings you will be using. This choice depends on your taste and also on the character and style of your game. If you like to attack and you are not afraid of sacrificing and taking risks choose sharp gambit openings. If you prefer a quiet game, then there are relatively calm openings for you. ..." - Journey to the Chess Kingdom by Yuri Averbakh and Mikhail Beilin

Unless, Kasparov has provided specific instructions, it probably is not worthwhile to undertake a project to determine your style. It is probably just something to keep in mind as you learn more about ways to try to overcome your opponent.

 You don't think a self analysis of our games regardless of the motive would be good for us spongey?

You say you are an attacking player, but that may change as your rating increases, you face ever tougher opponents, and you may find the attacks you got away with against lower rated players don't work anymore -especially in the daily games - and you have to think more strategically and deeply about where you want to attack and how.

I agree though, that you MUST threaten.  Before I read Fred Wilson's book, Simple Attacking Plans, I had an awful, highly-losing record with Black, foolishly thinking that a good defense would cause my opponents to make mistakes.  After reading Wilson's principles, like "Point all your men at your opponent's king and relentlessly attack," I did better: I'm 14W, 8L, and 4D here with Black.  But when I play higher rated players, especially from Eastern Europe, I have to make sure there's not a small flaw in my thinking: lower rated players will miss the flaw but those guys will not.

Consequently, I'm trying to improve by seeing patterns better, knowing tactics better, and understanding how they can be used to implement a strategy.  That means I'm definitely not a swashbuckler!

Didn't mean to indicate that. By all means, do some game analysis, perhaps discovering things that one likes and perhaps discovering things that one will want to change.

true

Hey guys I wanted to say thanks to everyone that contributed. I tried what you guys said and although I am losing allot in live games but I feel I am getting better and understanding the principles and tactics better. the biggest thing that has helped me is to develop a routine checklist before I move so I don't make careless moves. 

I think I am definitely an emotional player as my playing and tactics performance can vary greatly depending on my mood. I am pretty calculating too. Thought I would post a daily I just won so maybe I can show a better view of my style when I am not under time pressure. 

I think that there is a collection of Purdy writings with the title, The Search for Chess Perfection.

I actually have the book, The search for chess perfection II, its a good read. Very practical.  Chapters are more like magazine articles.  Purdy also provides his thought process and a later refined thought process.

This sounds like a good answer. I agree with you. If I am learning for example a sharp opening like the Portuguese Gambit, I am looking for sacrifices, going for the king. But if I go back to my normal Scandi with ...Qd8 it is all about staying solid, not open the position for the bishop pair, etc.  

"... if you feel you’re poor at tactics you can choose a quiet positional opening (trying to hide from your weakness and just play chess), or seek more dynamic openings that engender lots of tactics and sacrifices (this might lead to more losses but, over time, will improve your tactical skills and make you stronger)." - IM Jeremy Silman (January 28, 2016)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/opening-questions-and-a-dream-mate

Can you suggest a book for a player under 1400?

GM Jonathan Rowson : Rapid chess improvement by De La Maza is worth a look.

"Mr. de la Maza ... tells you, over and over and over (page after page after page), what he’s going to do for you without teaching you anything." - IM Jeremy Silman
There are 16 pages before one gets to Chapter One Chess Vision Drills. Here, by the way, are some excerpts from an approximately page-long description of one drill.
"Use [these drills] if you feel that you are missing obvious opportunities or are taking too much time to find simple moves. ... start with the knight on a1 and move it to b1 in the shortest number of moves, ... physically hit the squares that the knight moves to, but do not move the knight itself. Once you have completed the a1-b1 circuit, move the knight from a1 to c1. ... After you have completed all of the circuits that start on a1 and go to all of the other squares on the board ..., move the knight to b1 and repeat the process. ... This drill will take half a day to complete. ... (64*63) pairs of squares ..." - Michael de la Maza
"on page 47 of his book: 'If you do not have access to a computer you should make every effort to get one. New computers can be purchased with a monitor for under $400 and used computers can be purchased with a monitor for under $200. The money you spend will be immediately returned to you when you start winning prizes at tournaments.'" - IM Jeremy Silman
"his sample game (one of his own in which he plays White), where he shows how one should think move by move:
'Opponent’s threat: No significant threats.
 Decide move: 1.e4 of course! 1.e4 c5 Opponent’s threat: No significant threats, but watch out for …Qa5.
 Decide move: No tactics. 2.Nf3 or 2.Nc3 are both reasonable. 2.Nf3 d6 Opponent’s threat: No significant threats.
 Decide move: No tactics. 3.e5 is most shocking. Continue development with 3.Nc3. ...' ..." - IM Jeremy Silman
"... the 16 pages he devotes to reader’s praise. The title of this chapter is 'Success With Rapid Chess Improvement.'” - IM Jeremy Silman
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Rapid-Chess-Improvement-p3511.htm
And here is a GM John Nunn comment:
"... de la Maza ... recommends ... going through a set of 1000 tactcs problems seven times. One might imagine that a suitable set of 1000 positions would then be provided, but no, readers are advised to buy a piece of software ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)

I think i will take GM Rowsons word over Silmans any day seeing that you are fond of quoting authors.  Have you read his book yourself? I have and would recommend it to anyone under 1400.  Infact they are likely to get more from following De La Mazas recommendations than reading Silman for a thousand years. 

De La Maza actually recommends tactical exercises and simply states that computer software is the most convenient for his mehtod citing his use of C.T Art and its completely disingenuous of Nunn to try to make something of the fact.

'Readers praise', something completely lost on Silman seeing that he authored an entire book berating his students.

I think De La Maza is right when telling people to take an app to study tactics. Why take valuable space in a book to bring stuff that an app can do much better? And for a very low price?

"Jeremy Silman's How to Reassess Your Chess is an example of a good book which explains many important ideas in clear terms. ... de la Maza ... quite unfairly attacks competing authors (which in most cases are far superior to his own effort). Jeremy Silman is a particular target." - GM John Nunn (2006)

He is a target, for example by W. Hendriks. 

I have browsed through it. Is there any dispute about the many pages of de la Maza telling the reader what he is going to do and quoting reader praise of de la Maza? What about the quoted game commentary? How many other games are there?