This is Ottavia Paluch and youāre reading Things You Otter Know.
Quick one today because Iām on the train, but weāll get to that.
This post is mainly to tell you that Iām sorry for not posting for the last, what, two weeks? I really thought I could crank at least one out but these things take too long to write and I have two papers due this weekend.
In the meantime, though, some news on Significant Otters, my monthly interview series:
My interview with Tejashree Murugan goes live Monday morning!
Tejashree is the author of the chapbook Science Fiction which came out earlier this year from Yavanika Press. Please tell your significant writer friends about this and tell them to subscribe to TYOK! Actually, I will stick a little button here just for fun:
Youād be surprised, even in the age of social media, word of mouth helps this silly little blog out a lot. Iāve recently gotten a lot of really sweet messages about people telling me that they tell their friends to read the blog, and it makes my entire life. Thank you for sending me those, whoever you were.
Thatās actually all I wanted to say.
Like, Iām SUPPOSED to end it here, but if you have some time to kill, well, I also have some time to kill, so I think Iāll just rant for a bit (because yāall deserve it) until I hit Union.
Writing on the train feels veryā¦whatās the wordā¦aesthetic to me? Itās SO much smoother than the bus and way less chaotic than the subway, though toady the train is a little packed because thereās a Blue Jays game today. (For those of who are unaware the Blue Jays are our pro baseball team and theyāre extremely mid.) Itās 3pm right now as I type this, first pitch isnāt until 7:07, but whatever. I guess thatās what you do here to beat the rush of people.
I wonder what these people are thinking of me right now, typing this in front of them. Either they perceive me as a very studious student or a total weridoĀ The good news is I am already both.
Maybe not right now, because writing this is so much more fun than the two papers I have to write for uni this weekend. One of them is a very, very long paper on the Liberal Party of Canada, thatās for my political science course on Canadian politics. I think Iāve tweeted about my prof for that course once or twice. He is a hilarious man, smart as a (majority) whip, and I swear he looks a hell of a lot like Sting. Like,Ā the āEvery Breath You Takeā guy, but make him half as pretentious.
Our senses of humour have gelled very well together. Last week he was telling me about how he likes chess and I said āoh thatās interesting sir, you strike me more as a connect four person.ā Joke of the goddamned year. I think I can retire now.
The other paperā¦I havenāt decided on what to write on yet, because it has to be about a reading we did in my philosophy-disguised-as-an-English-class. A requirement for all English majors here, otherwise I wouldnāt touch it with a ten-foot-pole. The other day we talked about Derrida for three hours and I didnāt understand a thing. It was borderline humbling. My prof would be explaining stuff and then I wouldnāt understand a word of what he said, either. I think this is my welcome-to-university moment.
If I was more disciplined Iād be writing one of them right now but I figured Iād send something quick out before my interview with Tejashree goes live on Monday. Enough about school. I want to puke thinking about it. Which is why I am on a train right now literally running away from my problems.
OMG! A lake! There is one (1) singular yellow conoe (or kayak or whatever it is, I know nothing about that stuff) paddling across with two people in it. I couldnāt do that.Ā Must be an arm-workout for the ages. My friend Kevin always jokes about how he has spaghetti noodles for arms.Ā Imagine him out there. I wouldnāt stop laughing the entire time.
You can tell weāre getting closer to the downtown core because the buildings are increasing in number and also getting taller. Just puling into Exhibition as I type this. Lots of construction happening so it doesnāt look super cool but once you get off itās a fun area. Toronto FC, the soccer team that absolutely stinks, they play hereā¦Coca-Cola Coliseum, where the Marlies play hockey and K-pop boy bands not named BTS, play concerts, we just passed that. I swear thereās other stuff too but I canāt remember. I was in the area few months ago with my friends for a scene show. Thatās a story for another time.
I should probably tell you why Iām here in the first place.
Iām meeting up with June today!
You may recall when I spoke to June last year for Significant Otters. June is in Toronto this summer for an internship. So now is the perfect time to hug her and get dinner and, I donāt know, gossip??? Whatever it is friends do.
Itās weird, up until today I hadnāt met any writer friends of mien in-person, so this is a very exciting day for me. Iāll probably tell you about it later. Depends what June says.
WAIT! Sheās almost done work for the day at the time Iām writing this. Maybe sheāll read this post on the subway here! Omg. IMAGINE.
Okay! That was close to a thousand words in 45 minutes? I am so proud of myself right now. I swear I am normally not this fast. I think the adrenaline just got to me.
Union was an absolute labyrinth and full of people but I eventually made my way to the St. George subway station and now Iām at UofTās notorious Robarts Library right now typing this sentence out. And also this one. And also thāok, for now Iāll shut up.
Stay in school and see you Monday.
š¦¦ āOā š¦¦
> I swear he looks a hell of a lot like Sting. Like, the āEvery Breath You Takeā guy, but make him half as pretentious.
As someone who's written a blog post, multiple drafts, and probably will write a thesis about Sting, these are fighting words