OTTILT February

http://ottilt.blogspot.com/2014/02/february.html

(If you didn't notice, I use a fair amount of adverbs.)

Pic a Day - 2/17 to 2/23

Mon. Feb 17, a bit of an overstatement (this is the movie about The Runaways)
OTTILT: an unreasonably merciful Hunger Games opponent

Tues. Feb 18
OTTILT: school "field trips" to Keva Juice

Wed. Feb 19
OTTILT: when a sub cares more about you than your actual teacher

Thurs. Feb 20
OTTILT: being artistic outside of art class

Fri. Feb 21, haven't had a mirror selfie in a while...
OTTILT: an unexpected reward for a good deed

Sat. Feb 22, rocking my new skin
OTTILT: a new look (for Minecraft)

Sun. Feb 23, musical rehearsal (I love the backdrop)
OTTILT: crawling through the maze in the pit

Pic a Day - 2/10 to 2/16

Mon. Feb 10, just your average after-school Monday
OTTILT: hilariously adorable puppet shows

Tues. Feb 11, because you definitely needed an upside-down, black-and-white picture of trees
OTTILT: making that bold, interpretative statement

Wed. Feb 12, going to bed early
OTTILT: people flocking to anyone who has food

Thurs. Feb 13
OTTILT: coming up with dance moves in the shower

Fri. Feb 14, Mr. Figueroa snapped a selfie

 This picture definitely needs explaining. For those of you who go to school with me, this entire story will make perfect sense. So, I was in College Process and all of the teachers were there, and they were performing skits to show us how NOT to act when we go to college fairs. Well, Mr. Figueroa asked if somebody had a phone they could use as a prop, and I was the first one to dive into my backpack and hand them my Galaxy. (And, to be honest, everybody else was acting like they didn't have phones, so, I figured I'd be the model student for once.) While Ms. Thordahl was still setting up and explaining the scenario and asking and answering questions, Mr. Figueroa seemed to be flipping through things on my Galaxy. I was sitting there, skeptically watching, but I guess it's the dream of most teachers to see what items are on a student's phone. I was wondering if he was taking a picture, but didn't get the chance to check right after they performed the skit, which just included Mr. Figueroa acting like a bored kid "texting" (tapping at the screen of the device aimlessly) and Ms. White as his overbearing mother trying to get him interested in the college. When I checked my device later, I found out Mr. Figueroa had taken a selfie and set it as my lock-screen background picture. Weird, but hilarious. My OTTILT for the day was: when you lend someone your phone, and they take a selfie and set it as the background pic

Sat. Feb 15, those eyes
OTTILT: long, lonely, & quiet dirt roads

Sun. Feb 16, pirate selfie
OTTILT: (addictive) simulated reality games

Pic a Day - 2/3 to 2/9

Mon. Feb 3
OTTILT: playing chess with your teacher

Tues. Feb 4
OTTILT: being late to class with a similarly lost/confused peer at your side

Wed. Feb 5
OTTILT: your teacher talking in an indistinguishable eastern-European accent to make everyone laugh

Thurs. Feb 6
OTTILT: beating six-month writer's block

Fri. Feb 7
OTTILT: seeing both sides of a story 

Sat. Feb 8, Shakey and me (taken by Sonal)
OTTILT: running in stride with a dog

Sun. Feb 9, our family congregates on Sunday mornings to listen to NPR's puzzle
OTTILT: playing Minecraft Hunger Games with a friend

Pic a Day - 1/27 to 2/2

If you're new to reading this blog, then black-and-white February is likely also new to you. Basically, during the month of February, I take photos in black and white and/or edit them after taking them so they only show up in my collection in black and white. You can find some of last February's pictures on Instagram under #blackandwhitefebruary.

Mon. Jan 27, my home under the stairs, looking like a cozy cabin
OTTILT: pure-gold, sun-melting sunsets

Tues. Jan 28
OTTILT: twinsies Biden & Boehner (State of the Union address)

Wed. Jan 29, a classic book and a crocheted blanket
OTTILT: teachers helping you make a choice by giving advice and, above all, asking your opinion

Thurs. Jan 30, yep, it's a Thursday, so it's a sunset pic
OTTILT: seeing how others serve the community

Fri. Jan 31, a different angle of me climbing trees
OTTILT: friends imitating you

Sat. Feb 1, sleepy Caturday
OTTILT: Moonrise Kingdom

Sun. Feb 2, 'tis the season for polar bears on Coke cans
OTTILT: Brian Crain's album "Piano & Light"

OTTILT January

For this month (anybody else think that went by insanely fast?):
http://ottilt.blogspot.com/2014/01/january.html

What to Do... Productivity vs. Happiness (6)

... when you know you have to get work done, but you're hanging out with your friend(s) and you're really enjoying yourselves, and you don't want to offend them by telling them to be quiet or go away, and yet at the same time that work really needs to get done. (Y'all know what I'm sayin'?)

((Before we start, I just want to say I am not blaming any of my friends. Not a one. I love you guys, and I love laughing and making jokes and hanging out, and I love having five minutes to relax and not do stressful schoolwork.))

Mostly, this happens to me when I have a free period, and one of my friends also has a free period, so we end up talking and watching YouTube or Vine or whatever else and not really getting our classwork done, though I've known plenty a time where my friends use schoolwork as a way to get out of socializing. Odd.

I started to debate over whether it is more important to be productive or to be happy. Since there is no absolute answer for that, I will list the pros and cons of each.

Why productivity is better:

• Things get done. You're not up for who-knows-how-many hours trying to work on that assignment or complete that project.
• In general, your benefits increase. This can be in terms of how much you money you make at work, or how good your grades get at school.

Why happiness is better:

• Not to speak from personal experience or anything, being down in the dumps sucks. It's not fun to be angry or feel isolated or alone. It's always awesome to laugh with your friends about absolutely nothing, and to make light of even the most awkward situations.
• You'll probably live longer if you're happy than if you're rich or well-off financially.

Why productivity is NOT better:

• You probably end up stressing yourself out to the point of depression or anger issues. There is such a thing as OVERoverachieving.
• Why be so predictable? It's not necessary to be the one who turns everything in on time, plus the extra effort, without missing a point on a test and never making a mistake. It's ridiculous, in fact. Jeez. Lighten up. There's more to life than work.

Why happiness is NOT better:

• There's no way you can be happy all the time. Honestly. If you were happy all the time, happy wouldn't exist. It would just be "normal."
• The world is not a happy place. I often use this as an excuse to not be happy and not enjoy life, but sometimes it makes sense. No sense being happy when kids can't go to school without getting shot, or when a gay couple can't even have the wedding of their dreams, or when people's water gets polluted and everyone's life is in peril. So, seriously. Happiness is, at times, downright inappropriate.

But, if we were really going to compare the two, I think happiness is better by far. A person is so much richer in being happy than in having money. Maybe you have the lowest ranking at your job, but you have the most loving home and family and friends. I think that's what matters. Grades aren't where it's at. It's living a life that is happy. Sadly, that can't always be achieved, but that is why I'm going to make the effort to snag every fragment of joy I can out of life. That will be worth more in the end than acing the test, or getting a participation grade of one-hundred. Seriously? School is awesome and everything, and it does determine many aspects of our lives in the future. Okay, I guess I have to resign myself to saying this is a tie. Happiness and productivity do go hand in hand on occasion. You feel happy when you get an A on the test, right? And you feel like you're achieving something in life when you're having fun, don't you? 

So, take your pick. Which has more influence in your life?