December

1: Matthew Hussey videos
2: NaNo withdrawal symptoms
3: cool banjo/folk mixes
4: being able to prove a teacher wrong
5: when only five kids show up to class, so you get to watch Hulu
6: the parody songs in the Rutles movie
7: dramatic History Channel specials
8: The Iron Giant
9: way too much awesomeness for the public to handle
10: "Troika"
11: taste-test reviewing
12: Gene Wilder in "The Young Frankenstein"
13: drawing the little Jason Voorhees mask next to the date on Friday the 13th
14: rereading books from your childhood
15: young trees that tower over you
16: last-minute creativity
17: being everyone's Secret Santa
18: studying with the smart kids
19: crocheting craze
20: Hermes/aviator slippers
21: setting up luminaria
22: chill, bowling-alley parties
23: actively trying to NOT be a procrastinator
24: weird Christmas movie traditions
25: the good, the bad, and the wonderful on Christmas
26: light & fluffy German chocolate
27: "Eleanor & Park"
28: lessons from a bad movie
29: seeing a plane fly into the clouds
30: IMing friends about a school dance
31: "French Kiss"

November

1: midnight start on NaNo(WriMo)
2: the music video for "El Verdadero Amor Perdona"
3: going outside
4: wearing my coyote/armadillo hat while reading Romeo & Juliet
5: an adventurer speaking of their travels
6: winning some, losing some
7: the under-the-stairs mini office
8: University of Puget Sound
9: Swedish films
10: yarmulke-style hats
11: getting away with being a (stylish) rebel
12: friends interested in your private writing projects
13: being called "sweet" (especially if you're a little demon)
14: a bat sock-puppet
15: being able to have both opinions
16: skills passed down for generations
17: NaNo plot advice
18: fitting yourself into artwork
19: teachers letting you work alone
20: hand binoculars
21: Eric Whitacre's virtual choir
22: clever Pictionary interpretations
23: your half birthday
24: snow melting
25: friendly, generic counselor-student talks
26: spy missions
27: things to make you smile
28: moms that make awesome Thanksgiving food
29: overdosing on cuteness
30: conversation days

October

1: giving (successful) directions
2: strongly emotional short stories
3: Arilus cristatus
4: The Avett Bros' energy
5: restoring energy through juggling
6: the equivalent to school, in someone else's house
7: laughing comfortably with a customer service representative
8: gourmet-flavor Oreos
9: "turn off the lights" pranks
10: morning Starbucks fix
11: creamy bruschetta
12: driving fast
13: Amy Poehler on Parks & Rec
14: kitchen models at Lowe's
15: juice-box days
16: start-of-winter cold
17: climbing a tree, especially when you know you probably shouldn't be
18: the warmth from the sun bestowed upon you like a lord's blessing
19: Professor Bhaer from Little Women
20: spoiling the hell out of a friend for a birthday
21: vegan Pirate Booty
22: finding songs that pique livelihood
23: adorable microscopic creatures
24: homemade Butterfingers (my friend's)
25: science shows that show crazy stuff happening to/in the body
26: pulling out pumpkin innards with your hand
27: the interactions with others at birthday parties
28: the total childlike innocence of a person sleeping
29: forest fairy/hippie aunt sweaters
30: diligently researching and taking notes for a fiction work
31: ADHD hyperness

September

1: cool story plot ideas
2: finally finishing long & drawn-out books
3: lifting weights
4: learning to play a song from just hearing it
5: someone speaking up for you
6: Rosalind Franklin
7: corny '90s horror books
8: cheering on Serena Williams
9: intermittent rain sprinkling
10: origami creations
11: someone remembering & paying attention to you
12: chilly, drizzly days
13: friends' accomplishments
14: so many Netflix choices!
15: a happily-ever-after Nicholas Sparks movie
16: transportable study havens
17: Yoko Ono on Twitter
18: mediocre auditions
19: grandparents
20: dark, creepy roads
21: "This Empty Northern Hemisphere"
22: family history stories
23: grandparents + friends
24: suppressing coughs
25: friendly acquaintanceship
26: rain sounds for sleep
27: cliche fortunes
28: experiencing the universe
29: memories & flashbacks
30: science pick-up lines

August 5 - 31

Aug 5: priceless faces
Aug 6: good tofu dogs
Aug 7: glimpses of the world
Aug 8: castle houses
Aug 9: avocado-spinach paninis
Aug 10: "The Long and Winding Road"
Aug 11: traditional church
Aug 12: random, hilarious movies
Aug 13: playing with stuffed animals
Aug 14: Christopher Eccleston as Ben Jago
Aug 15: overcoming nerves
Aug 16: second days of school
Aug 17: CinemaSins
Aug 18: "Hear Me Lord"
Aug 19: reliving the old times with friends
Aug 20: second impressions of people
Aug 21: drawing bar graphs
Aug 22: the Island
Aug 23: exercise bikes
Aug 24: the backyard wilderness
Aug 25: Disney movie marathons
Aug 26: ebullient excitement
Aug 27: "Barrio sin luz"
Aug 28: a new friend
Aug 29: "Spork," the movie
Aug 30: being missed by some of the Mainlanders
Aug 31: personalized understanding of science concepts

One Year of One Thing That I Love Today!

One whole year! One whole year of optimistic ends to my days. One whole year of appreciating the little things individually. One whole year where I did something new and unexpected and different and stuck with it. (Not that I'm not motivated - I can be. When I feel like it.)

Since I don't want to flood this blog with over-frequent posts (though too much love is never a bad thing), I will hold off on posting here as frequently as before. Hopefully, I will add my daily OTTILTs as the subtitles for my daily photographs on crayzinormal.blogspot.com. I'll still post here, but not twice a week as before. Maybe once every two weeks or something like that.

But, here are the OTTILTs for August 5, 2012 and August 5, 2013:

when you're in-between halfway and done with a book

priceless faces

Thanks to everyone who ever glanced at this blog! I hope maybe it got you thinking to yourself, "Dude! The smile of a guy you've gotten over is wonderful!" or maybe, "What in the world is bike-swimming?" or even, "What's so great about breakfast with Dad?" This might be a little out there, a little too hopeful, but maybe you even said to yourself, "What's one thing that I love for today?" Because that, my friends, is what gets you on the track to more positive thinking and living.

Signing off, and I hope I might see you on Twitter (@vinylgirl73 or #OTTILT)!

August 3 & 4

being at a rally

TEA

July 29 - August 2

the opportunity to be like an adult

smooth gear transitions

confidence

mango lassi

capturing ANY picture of lightning

July 27 & 28

breakfast with Dad

movie days

July 22 - 26

making movies with dolls

TV people losing their train of thought

bike-swimming

a new park

Hemingway humor

July 20 & 21

finding cool clothes in your drawer

wearing an eyepatch

July 15 - 19

interactive soap operas

silliness for photos

people knowing you

family outings to the library

feeling psychic

Get daily OTTILT updates by following @vinylgirl73 on Twitter!

July 13 &14

rune divination

adorable kids' TV shows

July 8 - 12

successful phone-app drawings

the comfort of an adventure story

new things reminiscent of old

remembering the good times

commemorating those lost

July 6 & 7

modern films in black and white

authors who can shatter your heart

July 1 - 5

kindness from strangers

first-year anniversaries

experiencing the brunt of a rainstorm

creativity with cardboard and duct tape

walking through the rain at night

June 29 & 30

hanging your head out the car window

acing your own exam

June 24 - 28

super bike adventures

books+music+room

delicious TV treats

funny, crazy goons

underground super rebels

June 22 & 23

free parties

lunch with a friend

June 17 - 21

decent sketches

convincing disguises

rescuing spiders

scientific miracles

day-by-day plans

June 15 & 16

modernized Shakespeare

feedback on your work

June 10 - 14

experiencing the legend

leftovers mash-ups

when guys got beards

blasting music from a parked car

doctor's approval

June 8 & 9

hearing your favorite music at the store

heading in a new direction

June 3 - 7

books bringing you to tears

"The Taming of the Shrew"

cuties in movies

gold-to-red sunsets

making yourself a quick-and-easy meal

June 1 & 2

up-to-date grandparents

how everyone disappears when it rains

May 27-31

exciting, horizon-broadening prospects

cliché lion nature shows

response from the tiny pets

your friends becoming everyone's friends

Shakespeare humor

May 25 & 26

new languages

too-good-to-be-true book characters

May 20 - 24

old poems

map-making

cleaning out the junk

mailed letters from old friends

feeling the breeze on your head

May 18 & 19

recordando un poco de una lengua (rembering a little bit of a language)

success in puzzles

May 13 - 17

the solace after the crowd

understanding a new perspective of life

finding a lost item

yearbooks

the sentimentality of goodbyes

May 11 & 12

sneaking around

finding baby birds

May 6 - 10

film flubs caught on camera

collective growth

quiet, dutiful work

trying to hide someone trying to hide their laughter

unconventional inspiration

May 4 & 5

honest books

learning lines (for a script)

April 29 - May 3

hearing late-night goodbyes between friends

double kite-flying

mystery in conversation

showing friends your hang-out places

fitting in with the old crowd

April 27 & 28

homemade ginger snaps

finishing Moby-Dick (the book)

April 22 - 26

being in a mentoring position

honesty in surveys

young kids loving books

not letting the anger show

appreciation for stereo hearing

April 20 & 21

pets doing their thing

breaking from the pattern of seriousness

April 15 - 19

book coves

a nice walk with a nice person (by your side)

self-mentoring

partially understood one-sided language communication

grandma's-house-smelling clothes

April 13 & 14

survivors who inspire

semi-awkward encounters with old friends

April 8 - 12

how imagined images can be viewed simultaneously with real life

treasures hidden in plain sight

unseen birds of a feather

three people equally represented

a brief late-evening nap

April 6 & 7

recording mediocre (daily) events

a beautiful, captivating movie

April 1 - April 5

loopholes in pranks

being commended by a stranger

unexpectedly meditative niches

riding in deserted shopping carts

apologizing for what you feel bad about

March 30 & 31

taking part in a ceremonial blessing

privileges in the elite class

March 25 - 29

those funny anecdotes

preying on unsuspecting isolated by-standers for interviews

the sympathetic side of people

taking part in the culture in a language class

sneakily chase-following someone through the store

March 23 & 24

playing guitar by candlelight

playing all matter of instruments for a song

March 18 - 22

being able to start a seed of juicy gossip

white sky mornings

the overcast blue-gray of almost-night

talking with the headmaster as an equal

just "pigging out"

March 16 & 17

listening to LP after LP (with headphones)

wanting to coax book characters to the right decisions

March 11 - 15

being the new kid

challenging (but addicting) logic games

acts of heroism in dreams

random outbursts of hilarity

dogs that strain their leashes to meet you

March 9 & 10

baking tons of treats... for no apparent reason

good old-fashioned walking

March 4 - 8

Condescending Wonka

the simultaneous warmth and cold of an early March morning

finding your own zen

snazzy sunglasses on rollerblades

treasures of trash

March 2 & 3

seeing the inner workings

crying at a movie after someone had forewarned it

February 25 - March 1

feeling that those departed haven't really left us

the glory of watching a moon rise

music therapy

super-small class sizes

intensive, life-like fantasies and imaginations

February 23 & 24

finding different things that collaborate with others (in work)

sarcastically witty Hollywood stars

February 18 - 22

being a little (successful) part of something bigger

devouring Shakespeare plays

the epiphany that everything is alive

reading something you don't remember writing (& liking it)

my first pit orchestra performance

February 16 & 17

ridiculously silly brothers

first introducing someone to Instagram

February 11 - 15

Target and junk food runs

cute and sassy actors

making new jokes with new people

getting back (gratitude) when you give

being able to be silly and independent

February 9 & 10

making jokes your parents don't get

Instagram publicity

February 4 - 8

becoming well-acquainted with your sibling's friends

milking the most out of being (briefly) sick

get-well replies from teachers

dates that are also song titles

sick teachers getting better

February 2 & 3

custom orders at fast-food restaurants

picking your butt up and jogging

January 28 - February 1

famous YouTubers that live in your not-so-famous hometown

"not needing practice" on some musical numbers

cursing someone out in your head

the earnestness in everyone's eyes

the nice teacher after the joking teacher flipped out

January 26 & 27

sleeping eleven hours

playing outside for the first time in three years

January 21 - 25

weekends that feel eternal

finally understanding a music reference made months upon months ago

when bunches of teachers (not even yours) talk to you

finding one good thing in a movie you dislike

days that feel like Monday but are, luckily, Friday

January 19 & 20

learning to play several songs by the same artist

ideas for Minecraft cities

January 14 - 18

hugs in the snow

cold-air headaches/brain freezes

getting released early two classes in a row

crazy running and jumping stunts

working math problems on the board (as class work)

January 12 & 13

survival mode on Minecraft

crossing everything off a "to-do" list

January 7 - 11

the smell of corn chips

watching YouTube in math class

spotting a very cute potential couple

a teacher's homemade brownies

when an acquaintance classmate says goodbye to you

January 5 & 6

salty, salty chips and salsa

"El Tucanazo" by Los Tucanes de Tijuana

January 1 - January 4

Happy New Year!

finding and wearing a hat with earflaps (all day)

when your hands smell like oranges

overloading on dairy products

approval of a book you're reading by an anonymous passer-by