The "Annual Reject"

The other day, I had a new experience that while odd, seemed to make some sense within the general purview of graduate school.  I received a letter from Columbia's Council for European Studies rejecting a grant application that I never submitted in the first place.   I was wondering what might have prompted this seemingly odd rejection, and I came up with a few possible explanations:

1) The CES targets people randomly for rejection to boost the prestige of the fellowship (the more rejections, the more competitive and hence prestigious the fellowship appears).

2) The CES mixed up last year's and this year's applications, in which case I deeply pity the poor reviewers who most certainly lost a good deal of z's having to review double the amount of applications.

3) Or most likely, the CES is mean-spirited and takes pleasure in repeatedly rejecting people.  I imagine the subtext of the letter reading something like this: "In case you were beginning to forget that we rejected yo' ass last year, we gonna reject yo' ass again this year.  And you better watch out 'cause we just might reject yo' ass again next year, and there ain't nothin' yo' ass (nor any other part of your body for that matter) can do about it!!" 

So if you ever have in mind to apply for a CES fellowship, just beware of the possibility that you may become, like me, one of their "annual rejects." 

Only in Barcelona

S is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. He's a true Catalan, born and raised in Girona. We met one evening at a reform synagogue here in BCN. He's not Jewish, but he has Jewish ancestors who converted to Christianity during the Inquisition, and he's decided to try and learn about his family's roots. A few weeks ago, I hung out with S and his partner, R, a soft-spoken muscular American who mentioned that he was a movie director. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to ask what type of director on that occasion - the conversation just seemed to drift toward other things I guess. At any rate, this evening I met up with S and R at R's apartment in Barrio Gotico, one of the most beautiful and interesting sections of the old part of BCN. WOW was this an apartment! 240 sq meters, hard wood floors, chic furniture, a luxury guest room, zebra skin rugs and pillows, original paintings and sculptures from all over the world... Yes, R is one of the world's most famous gay pornographers. He shoots movies in multiple continents and obviously does quite well for himself. He told me a bit about the 'ins and outs' of the gay porn industry, quite a fascinating world of its own. Sounds like his job comes with its share of 'stiff' challenges, but seeing his apartment made me question whether I was in the right business -- if only there was as much demand for scholarly works on immigration as there is for...

Sun and Calçots in Tarragona!!!

These have to be the most fun food I have ever eaten. It's so nice when the typical fiesta food happens to be vegetarian (which is often not the case here in Spain).

Language mishaps

Note to self and others of you who plan to jog in Spain someday: Don't tell people you're going for a short "corrida," especially when you live on a street like San Ramón with so many friendly women, lest they get the wrong impression...

Small gestures that go a long way...

After a long day of airport frustrations last week, it was so nice to come home to a welcome note and a big plate of salad containing fresh strawberries and mangoes, among other things . It's gestures like these that make life just that much more bearable. I wish I had captured Gemma's salad on film as well, but alas, I was far too hungry...

A rare moment in politics...

It's election season here in Spain, and immigration has become one of the focal points of this year's political debate. Last night, I attended a panel discussion between politicians from each of the major political parties here in Catalunya concerning immigration. I submitted a question concerning the lack of a principal mosque for Muslims in Catalunya, tension surrounding the establishment of prayer rooms, and what each party intended to do about the situation. Most of the answers were pretty much the same old story, which I won't bore you with.

Montserrat Nebrada of the Popular Party (the main conservative party), however, remarked that Spain is a fundamentally Christian society from a "civilizational perspective." Christians, she argued, have constructed the Europe of today by initiatiting the separation of church and state, and by establishing the fundamental values of liberty and solidarity as the bases for modern democracy.

In a rare political moment, a debate then ensued about Spain and Europe's philosophical roots. Lidia Santos of the socialist party referenced Spinoza (a Jewish philosopher) and his influence on political thought in Spain. Nebrada then countered with Leibnitz (a German philosopher who defended Christian orthodoxy in the face of Spinoza's critiques). They were prepared to go on, but the moderator interrupted to bring them back to more 'concrete' matters. Oh well, it was interesting while it lasted...

All roads may lead to Rome, but once you're there, then what?

Seth Shames in our phat penthouse suite in Hotel Tirreno

Somehow Seth and I always manage to lose our way into finding amazing things. It is a pleasure getting lost with Seth - in fact, I don't think there's anyone with whom I'd rather be lost.