4/8 (martes)

I drank too much wine yesterday.

I have heartburn, or some type of gastroesophageal reflux disease.

I learned that I shouldn’t drink too much wine.

My head hurts.

There’s a rehearsal today for a skype news conference tomorrow.

I still haven’t settled into a good pace of living.

I can’t immerse myself in creative creation.

I haven’t even made any sketches yet.

But there’s the Sagrada Familia outside my windows. I always get a little shock no matter how many times I see it.

The times of day and the position of the sun are just so different from Japan. 5 o’clock feels more like afternoon than evening.

I go out for a walk. I planned to do some sketches, but all I do is walk.

I have this feeling that I need to do something, but time passes without me doing anything. Time is being eaten by the clock. I should bank it in the sun. What will be will be.

It’s 8:30. At last the day is coming to an end, and it’s looking like evening.

I get on my red bicycle and depend on my shaky memory to get home. My landmark is the Sagrada Familia, so there’s no way I’m not getting there.

I don’t really use the map. Even when I look at it I can’t understand it.

Tomorrow I’ll be connecting with the Spanish Embassy in Azabu over skype for a news conference.

100 push-ups. 50 sit-ups (decreased).

4/9 (miecoles)

The sunrise has gotten earlier.

It’s already bright at 7.

The window next door, and the window next to that one already have laundry hung out to dry.

That wasn’t there last night, so I wonder if they were washed this morning.

I guess these people have late, light dinners, then get up early in the morning.

It might be a good idea to consider how efficiently the time between early morning and lunch can be used. I’ll try it.

110 push-ups. 100 sit-ups.

4/10 (jueves)

I want to face my inner self and let go.

In sum, I haven’t been able to do that. So I’ve been in a situation where the city of Barcelona and the works of Gaudi have been closing in on me. And I’ve been rushing into things like a tourist, such as taking a tour of “must see” attractions.

It’s probably due to the quickly increasing pressure I feel to make things for the exhibition.

To go even further, I think I feel that I need to answer everyone who has helped and made exceptions for me.

I can’t make myself the priority.

If I can create my art, then I can repay them. That’s really all that I can do.

I want to connect with the sun, the earth, and the trees, and turn inwards and let myself go.

I think I’ll lounge around Park Guell for a day.

But. I had just decided earlier that I would follow in the footsteps of Gaudi in the realm of his younger days.

I’m so indecisive.

I’ll go to Park Guell tomorrow.

So, I’m off to see where Gaudi lived from age 24 to 54, after his mother passed away. All I have is an address to depend on — Consell de Cent 370.

I wonder if this five story building is the place. There’s some type of cafe or bar on the first floor, as weel as a delicious looking bakery and a stationary store. It’s probably a different building then what was here over a hundred years ago… I bought a small plain moleskin notebook from the stationary store to use for sketches. The old man at the counter was not very friendly. Of course not all Spaniards are going to be friendly.

I have the impression that it is a rather quiet street.

With nothing else to do, I get on the subway, holding on the to the deep feeling that this is the area where Gaudi spent 30 years of his life.

120 push-ups. 60 sit-ups.

And, surprise, I also ran.

2 kilometers.

Takehiko Inoue