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?

Translations - LFE

Okay, as per request, I will translate my posts and allow all of you readers to click a link at the end of the post to access the rough English translation. I say rough because it won't be a word-for-word translation. And, hopefully, I'll just be posting YouTube videos and ranting about how awesome they are, so, there's a hint for the future posts.

Anyway. Here's a link to the translated "Billy y las Botas" post: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xJbr3Ok_35vO2gYd6hzs5IEPAHfhG9b2x_EHRfV0zkY/edit?usp=sharing

And for the tiny bits of Spanish in my first post:

Bueno; vamos a tener una introducción antes de empezar.

All right; we'll have an introduction before we begin.

Gracias, y espero que eso vaya a ser un éxito!

Thanks, and I hope this will be a success!

Pic a Day - 1/20 to 1/26

Mon. Jan 20, just another three-day-weekend Monday...
OTTILT: remembering things in real life in reference to what you were doing/where you were in Minecraft at that moment

Tues. Jan 21, you will probably see a sunset photo every Tuesday and/or Thursday for the next few weeks
OTTILT: successfully getting things done when the computer screen graphics are upside down

Wed. Jan 22, my biggest weakness
OTTILT: not being the only one whose stomach growls incessantly at the worst of times

Thurs. Jan 23, both my friend and I drew this, even though he claimed that Billy la Bufanda was stupid
OTTILT: Billy la Bufanda

Fri. Jan 24, scarf swirl
OTTILT: Hugh Jackman in Oklahoma! (1999) 

Sat. Jan 25, singing songs from Oklahoma! while waiting in the car
OTTILT: bowl after bowl of Corn Pops

Sun. Jan 26, to be honest, this is probably the only time I've learned something interesting from my history reading
OTTILT: "Isn't She Lovely?" by Lauren Layne

Billy y las Botas - LFE

Ustedes tienen suerte! Es que, para mi primer aporte de LFE (la filosofía española), yo voy a darles un video. Y, tienen más suerte, porque el video tiene subtitulados - en inglés!

Este video es uno del maestro de español, Sr. Wooly. Él hace videos muy cómicos en español - y no es español complicado; es muy elemental. A mí me gusta muchísima porque: 1) es de dibujos animados; 2) es en YouTube, y es de dibujos animados; 3) la historia en el video es cómico, lindo, y triste a la vez; 4) la canción es muy pegajosa. Probablemente tengo otros razones, pero ahora, éso es bastante.

Bueno; espero que les guste este video! (Si no podían ver ustedes, es mi video favorito de Sr. Wooly, y de videos musicales en dibujos animados, creo.)

La Filosofía Española

Bueno; vamos a tener una introducción antes de empezar.

Just to tell you now, these posts will be in Spanish. And, to be honest, it's not really any sort of "philosophy;" mainly it's just me ranting about something in my life or a certain way of life, which could be construed as philosophy, in a sense.

Half of this is just me ranting, and in another language so it's not as (directly) offensive or controversial. However, it is also an opportunity for me to practice my Spanish in a more direct and personal context.

If you check out this blog in Chrome, it might want to automatically translate these posts for you, and that's cool. If you view the site in other browsers, you can pop the post into Google Translate and see how it comes out. If you don't trust that translation - don't worry; I don't blame you - you can always comment and request for me to give a rough translation.

Gracias, y espero que eso vaya a ser un éxito!

Pic a Day - 1/13 to 1/19

Mon. Jan 13, writing assignment in English class
OTTILT: getting surprisingly good grades

Tues. Jan 14, trees & sunrise
OTTILT: when your band teacher arranges a round for scales, and lets everyone choose which group, and you're the only one to pick the first group

Wed. Jan 15, I can be a birder through a window (it's a lot more stealthy)
OTTILT: watching birds out the library window

Thurs. Jan 16, tree & sunset
OTTILT: enjoying all aspects of the day

Fri. Jan 17, skin on milk
OTTILT: turning gross things into scientific learning opportunities

Sat. Jan 18, I don't want to pick favorites at the ranch, but, seriously, I love this girl
OTTILT: responding to a dog's quirks & the dog responding to yours

Sun. Jan 19, oh, no, back to Minecraft...
OTTILT: building a horse ranch on Minecraft