Present Imperfect

The Rain in Spain | March 18, 2004

I was going to kick off this post with a quote from Maureen Dowd's latest op-ed piece regarding the Republican stance on the Spanish elections. But I just can't. I couldn't discuss it last night with Eric and I can't do it now. I don't want my little corner of cyberspace to be darkened by the all-too-likely prospect of a totalitarian United States, in which gays can't marry, freedom of speech is trampled by the Conservative Christian elite, millions have no access to health care, Roe v. Wade is rolled back and our president feels free to invade countries as he and his checkbook see fit. Frankly, this country is making me sick to my stomach, and I can't bear sharing that right now. Well, not anymore than I just have, anyway.

So, if you think this blog is just one person's attempt to stick her fingers in her ears and sing "LALALALALALALALA!" until the monsters go away, well, that's just fine. Right now, that's the best I can manage. I'm mentally hamstrung from fear and it's only going to get worse over the next eight months (and possibly beyond).

Elsewhere in the world, things don't seem so bleak. I'm talking about Spain. Not because of the elections or the public reaction to last week's bombings, but because of Forum Barcelona 2004. The official Forum Web site says that "Three main themes define the Forum: Cultural diversity, sustainable development and conditions for peace," and it will feature "dialogues" covering these three themes between the public and speakers, according to the NYT travel profile, from "superstars like Mikhail S. Gorbachev, Bill Clinton (whose attendance was still pending), Bono and Noam Chomsky to New York-area heroes like Cora Weiss, the 1960's New York peace advocate, and the urbanist Jane Jacobs, who will appear on video."

But beyond that, the Forum will also feature musical performances (from Britten's War Requiem to Norah Jones), theater (Camus's "Caligula") and art exhibits ("Picasso: War and Peace" and the Warriors of Xian), all situated around the city's spectacular architecture, some of which is being erected especially for the Forum.

Plus, tapas!

Let's go!