Better late...

I'm aware that I said I'd update on Thursday, and that it's now Saturday morning, but life in NYC has a habit of overtaking one at times.

So the structuralism presentation on Wednesday I had to do for class went well enough - Derrida, signs, signifiers and signified and all that guff. I managed to work in the phrase "pretentious French nonsense", though, so it's all good. But funnily enough I really enjoyed it - I think I might be cut out for this teaching business.

Only problem was, Wednesday night we had another episode from the whackjob next door who just blew his top completely - pulling his new favourite trick of arguing loudly on the phone late at night. He wouldn't keep it down despite being repeatedly asked and eventually ran out of his room through the corridors of the floor and down the stairs then out into the street, ranting all the time. Security was called, again, and said that there was nothing they could do so long as UAH was aware of the situation.

Obviously, I went down to UAH on Thursday morning, unfortunately not for the first time. The guy I spoke to, Ross, is well aware of the situation but doesn't have the power to kick him out - it has to be referred to the GSAS, who have already spoken to him, and I can't get any guarantee that they'll take any effective action. I'm deeply unimpressed with this - the guy is mentally ill, and while I didn't think before he was dangerous, now I'm not so sure. I don't want to find out what he's going to do for an encore.

Anyway, irritation with my room and general surroundings has a cure. As of Thursday, I have been accepted into the PhD program at Columbia and will be stepping up from MA to PhD this autumn. Which means a better apartment, maybe even one to myself, as all PhD candidates are guaranteed housing. It also means I get fully funded, so money won't be quite so pressing as they were.

I've actually known that I was going to be accepted for quite some time, but for obvious reasons couldn't go and plaster it all over the net. It's a payoff for working my arse off last semester, I suppose, and it means that in a few years I'll be Dr. Robert Tuck, MA (Oxon), MA, PhD (Columbia). All those letters after my name - makes me quite giddy.

That night there was a reception in honour of Donald Keene, whose Anthology of Japanese Literature reached its 50th anniversary. It was held in the library, and with copious amounts of free champagne plus licence from Prof. Shirane to, and I quote, "get smashed", I got a little merry. The Don is still, despite being 83, at the top of his game...he upstaged everyone at the end with a deft and witty little speech about how he's still very much alive and kicking. An honour to study with him.

And yesterday I went with K to the International Photography Centre downtown after work. To my surprise, Viggo Mortensen (of Aragorn of LOTR fame) was signing books there, though I wasn't one of the hundred or so people outside queueing - we just went straight on in. It's not quite on the scale of the Met or the MOMA, but worth a visit anyway.

There's always something going on...