I need to establish some form of discipline, however hard that may be. These exercises are always the first step in my attempts to do that—attempts that normally never get anywhere. And yet I keep on beginning with these exercises, partly because they’re the simplest way to begin. All you need is a ballpoint and a sheet of paper, whereas everything elseeverything else I might want to domeans first carrying out a search for the necessary equipment, which puts me off before I’ve even started. Calligraphical exercises can also be done anywhere, though it’s still not easy to find an appropriate place for them in the new house, since all the possibilities have very serious potential drawbacks. For example, I’m now sitting at my desk in the room next to the first-floor bedroom; this spot can only be used on a day like today, when there’s a cool breeze. Otherwise, the temperature in here is unbearable at almost all hours of the day or night because of a zinc roof that’s lacking the proper insulation. It’s also very small, and there’s no space for my stuff; even as I write, papers and other bits and pieces on the desk are getting in my way, and I can’t put them anywhere else because there’s nowhere else for them and no suitable furniture. I can think of lots of reasons why my handwriting’s so bad today, among them the fact that I haven’t practiced much lately, but I’m also feeling unsettled and obstructed by the untidiness of the desk. Other simple tasks have become nightmarish, because to do them I have to go and get things from the back bedroom, where all the stuff is in precarious piles and the unpleasant climate is very off-putting.

March 18

At last, two days of exercises in a row. I’ve even managed to do a few odd jobs inside and outside the house. The major problem of having nowhere to work hasn’t gone away, though, and this morning the buzzing from the electricity substation next door reached extraordinary volumes. It woke me up and tortured me at great length, until finally I dragged myself out of bed; downstairs, the noise filled the whole house, with the exception of Ignacio’s room. There are no two ways about it: my only option is to move in there until somewhere else has been set up for me. Ignacio doesn’t like the idea, but he’ll have to accept it.