I'M GOING TO.....ESPAGNA!

Every so often I get a speaking invitation that has me hoping the end of the world isn't coming just yet. One such invite just got pinned down this week. I'm going to Spain in May!

Spain seems like a place that is off the radar mostly. Everybody talks about going to Paris, London and of course, Roma (!!!), but you just don't hear that much about people going to Madrid, Lison and Barcelona. But all that is about to be remedied.

I'll be speaking at a conference at the Catholic University of Valencia from May 13-15. Started through a papal bull in 1247, the university was the passion project of St. Vincent Ferrer. Valencia is on the south eastern coast of Spain right on the Mediterranean. Ordinarily, I turn down all speaking engagements during the months of Act One programs, but, as my Assistant put it, "Barb, SPAIN!" "You're right," I said with growing conviction. "Jesus would want this." So, we're squeezing it in.

Anyway, the Pontifical Council for Culture is sponsoring a conference on Cinema and the Moral Imagination (Or something European sounding like that...Europeans LOVE getting just the right title, although then they always seem to be indifferent to whether the speakers match the title. I've learned to go with it.) I haven't come up with a title of my talk yet, but it will probably be a version of the usual schtick -- only this time backgrounded by fiestas!