Tania told me about Catalina, an Italian art collector who lives in the Condesa neighbourhood. She came to Mexico City in the seventies. Apparently she has a castle in Italy, an apartment in New York and various other properties elsewhere, but the big house in Condesa is her base. She married a Mexican artist who died in the eighties, and after that she decided to stay in Mexico. ‘Most of all,’ said Tania, ‘she has pots of money and an eclectic collection, with a line that supports young artists. Rumour has it she’s short, partly because she’s shrunk with age and partly because she’s the product of an incestuous relationship between two Italian aristocrats. But I think it gives her character. Plus she’s a force of nature, she’ll be sitting in her Louis XV armchair – her feet don’t even touch the floor – and then all of a sudden she’ll hop down mid-sentence, ring a little bell and a maid will come along to show you out. “I’m fed up with you,” she’ll say to your face, and the maid will escort you to the door. She has the spirit of Alexander the Great, you know what I mean?’ I’d like to meet Catalina.

I’ve been left with a psychological tic. Suddenly I’m scared of death. Suddenly I’m scared that I’ll lie down, go to sleep and everything will be over. I’m scared of the end. Suddenly I’m scared of the dark. Of that being it, with no Shakira songs to wake me. I like being here so much that I don’t want it to end. The time will come, but I like being here. I want to be here. More than that, I love it. I don’t want to know when the end will come and I don’t want to know what tomorrow will bring because I love being here now. It’s strange: when I see things this clearly I stop being scared, because it’s this, this being here, this moment which is happening now, and which begins to fade as soon as I write anything, and which is luckily followed by this one, and this one, and then this other moment that’s as full of life as the next.

Sometimes I sing while I’m doing the washing up. Sometimes I dance while I’m cooking, or in the living room while I’m sweeping the floor. If I put music on, I normally end up singing in the living room. Time to turn this song up, it’s so good.