Lunch at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and W.

Now W. is off to buy a lot of stuff at the hardware stores. We love discovering new building gadgets and new materials.

W. reported for work today.

Aubrey and I sauntered to the hawkers' stalls to buy a very late breakfast.

A disposable, surgical mask does not prevent you from being contaminated by others. It prevents YOU from contaminating others. That is why dentists and food servers wear them.

Not only trees but also potted plants have messages to convey, so listen.

People who insist on remaining ignorant are best left alone to their own fate, for your own requires your undivided attention.

A disposable, surgical mask actually prevents you from building up immunity against a lot of things.

Envy always prevents one from fully appreciating the beauty of others.

Tropical flowers rouse themselves from sleep to witness the rising of the sun.

Good morning, Cubao!

Slept ten hours last night.

Two cups of green tea.

Dinner at home with Aubrey.

The January leaves fall off my bound and desk planners.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Finished reading The O'Clock Tales. Now reading The Wishing Chair Collection, also by Enid Blyton.

A one-hour, afternoon nap.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a wizard's gold talisman on the chest of sky.

A cozy night for me.

It's brandy night.

Angelique arrived from college.

Aubrey cooked a second dinner.

Sat with Angelique and Aubrey while they had dinner in the dining room.

Aubrey arrived from university.

Dinner at home alone.

Then we swung by the neighborhood grocery and D.'s store.

Asked Lennoel to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

We are now waiting for Angelique to arrived from college.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Never be too timid to say "No" to others, and never feel guilty about it as well.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Whenever your enemies say or do anything against you, know that they have commensurate night terrors.

You don't see rocks weep, because they do so only when it rains.

Do not store too much Thanatos in your hard drive.

Compassion is ephemeral. That is why it needs to be constantly taught to others.

Chinese checkerboards can be used for divination.

Spirit Questors, the instructions are on the Private Group Page The Spirit Questors.

A scavenger typically rummages for food and is concerned with his survival.

A rag-picker is concerned with finding junk items that he can re-purpose and resell.

Gratitude is a feeling.

Reciprocation is an act.

The two need not always go together.

They do always go together, however, between people who love each other.

Lunch at home with Angelique.

Thinking of spending the afternoon in bed with Enid Blyton.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a sparkling, ballroom ceiling light.

Good night, Cubao!

It is time, once again, to listen to the secrets of the dark.

Aubrey arrived from university and dinner out.

Ordered a deep-fried pork chop with veggies and saffron rice from the cafe for Angelique's dinner.

Angelique arrived from college.

Now waiting for Aubrey.

End of another workday on the downstairs laundry room and the service passage.

Dinner at home alone; Angelique still in college and Aubrey at university.

Asked Jerome to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

The day moves swiftly from afternoon to evening, and so Tuesday is almost at an end.

Already looking forward to a hot shower and to reading in bed.

Saw Angelique off to college.

One-hour, afternoon nap.

Lunch at home with Angelique and W.

Angelique is leaving for college in a while.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi sir tony
"I just dreamt of you. "I was in the mall watching a movie. Then i was in my work place with my collegues but decided to come up the escalator to check and try watch another movie. Apparently i could not use the stamp on my hand for another movie, in this dream stamps was used not tickets. I saw different movie theaters, big small another one has a party hall. Then i noticed now i was in the mall. I went down and saw a famaliar face, a cute girl in high school from my city who is now in manila. I was dropping down the long staircase so fast, it felt like a ride. I was able to stop in an instant when i reached the ground averting passing over the road. Then i decided to take the jeepney to come and see you, the purpose i did knew but i forgot now. There was another passenger who heard me asking about you. He said that they will bring me to your place as he is going there, his bringing the guy with him that needs healing, that guy really has a big stomach. On the way that sick person peed in his pants and it wetted my shoes but i was not wearing them though. I had been bare foot. When we arrived at your place you greeted us and accompanied your other visitors inside the house. You brought me inside the kitchen or dining area. I saw prepared roasted pork and chicken. A lady complained to a child that he mixed 2 different kinds of rice causing it to be undesirable. Then i woke up. Saw that its your sister's bday on fb. Happy birthday to her"

My reply:

Hello ______!

On the whole this dream functions as a wish-fulfillment dream because you are in the Middle East and cannot come and see me as often as you want to.

In dreams, watching movies is a form of detachment. While you are engaged in a movie, you are merely passively watching it but are not in it as an actor or a participant. This has been your attitude since you began living and working in a foreign country.

Your high school friend and I represent the same thing to you: home and a pleasant life at home. Your co-passengers are personifications of yourself. Part of you has a big stomach (making good money, being able to feed yourself) but you perceive this as an "illness" for which you need to be healed. Peeing in one's pants is an indication of anxiety and of a regression to early childhood.

I bring you to the kitchen and dining area and show you the real food that does not cause one's stomach to "get big". Yet, someone (also a part of you) mixed two kinds of rice, making the rice "undesirable". It is possible that, while you remain my student, the "two kinds of rice" are conflicting values that continue to bother you. What do you think they are? Two religions? Two modes of spirituality? Science and magic? Only you can tell and work it out.

W. reported for work this morning.

After more than half a century of production, makers of European chocolate candy still fail to see that chocolate and desiccated coconut do NOT go together and that they should have switched long ago to chocolate and dried mango. If they really want something tropical in their assortment, that is.

Happy Birthday to my sister Remi!

Do not shun all superstitions, for many of them actually work.

Your e-mail message:

"Dear Sir Tony, 

"Its been a while since I last corresponded with you. Hoping you are well. Here's my dream just now:

"I was with my workmates for an out of town business function. when it ended some of my work mates took sometime to finish packing their things so. I decided that i will go first to the hotel. But suddenly, i decided to go to a different hotel. I just can't remember the reason why i suddenly decided to go to that hotel but what i remember is that i brought a plastic purple flower with me intended to place it in somewhere in the second floor of the hotel. I took the elevator and when i reached the second floor i saw people in the area. I scanned the area where i can place the flower secretly but can't find the proper timing to place the flower because i worry that putting the flower will violate some hotel rules. I intended to place the flower somewhere random when nobody will notice that i put it. But i remembered that there might be security cameras that will capture me putting that flower. I took the escalator down and when i saw a large trash bin, i crumpled the flower ang throw it there. I went out of the hotel then i saw a moving open van where my workmates rode  coming from our business meeting and following the van is a car where one of my workmates drove i shouted at them to wait to the hotel reception area (where i should go in the first place). I throw my polo to them. I got lost in finding the hotel where i told them to wait but eventually found the right way. On my way to the right hotel i suddenly had the urge to pee (at this point i am worrying that i might be taking too long to reach the reception area and my work mates might decide to leave without me). On my way to pee i saw one of my closest guy workmate and he accompanied me to pee, he told me he needed to pee as well. We found a place just outside the hotel and we peed. I remember trying to secretly look at his penis while he pees. At first he was discreetly blocking his penis from my view but eventually he decided to remove his hands from the view where i can fully see his penis. Another adult man with a beer belly peed in the same area and i also noticed a chubby gay child peeing in the same area in front of a bucket containing yellow urine like liquid. After we pee, we went to the parking area to meet with our other workmates then he suddenly placed his arm around my shoulder and i put mine around his waist (we never do this gesture in reality) then i told him that i feel some pimple like bumps on his back but he replied that its nothing to worry. Then suddenly i felt danger from the adult man with a beer belly that peed together with us. I just can't remeber if we run in my dreams. I just felt that we are both in danger from that man.

"Regards, 

"_______________"

My reply:

Hello ____________!

This dream is about your being distracted due to resistance to your current responsibilities and obligations. Work recently might have been making more demands on you than you can handle, and you desire, at the present time, freedom from these mental shackles.

The plastic, purple flower is the spirituality you may have been hoping for but have never truly attained, possibly because you chose to walk down paths of "spirituality" recommended to you by fake mentors.

Your psyche is telling you in the peeing episode of your need for cleansing, perhaps emotional overhauling. Your wanting to see the penis of your coworker is not a reflection of homosexuality but, rather, your need to see what lies behind the power and success of other men, what they are doing right and what you are doing wrong. You fear that your penis (or power) is as small and as ineffective as the chubby, gay child's. The man with the beer belly, on the other hand, is your Shadow--what you are in danger of becoming or dwindling down to if you fail to pick yourself up and face your responsibilities and obligations. In the dream your coworker has rashes on his back, meaning that others whom you perceive to be more powerful than yourself are imperfect and have their shortcomings, and that you should perceive yourself with less idealism.

I'd say that you've been biting off more than you can chew: perhaps wanting to take on more work for more money, perhaps feeling that others are more successful than yourself and that the world is passing you by. Just relax and take things in stride, for many other men are going through the same difficulties at this time. 

Good morning, Cubao!

See entire worlds in the shadows cast by the sun.

Back in bed for another enchanted night with Enid Blyton.

Good night, Cubao!

The water rats stand in the gutters and salute steadfast tin soldiers sailing by in paper boats.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Asked Lennoel to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

End of another workday on the downstairs laundry room and service passage.

Angelique and Aubrey arrived from their study session.

Angelique and Jazz took a late lunch in the dining room.

Saw Angelique, Aubrey, and Jazz off to the center.

Home alone with W.

Might as well lie in bed with Enid Blyton and feel like I am in Third Grade all over again.

Never check into an antique-style hotel room. It has the DNA of dead people smeared all over it, and that is always a prelude to possession.

Expensive ashtrays, especially the glass and crystal pieces produced in the 1960s, make excellent catchalls.

A haunting is never immediate. It occurs years after, when you think that it never will.

One does not always desire whom one loves and one does not always love whom one desires, that is why it is difficult to find the perfect spouse.

As for myself, I need neither a spouse nor a lover. What I need is a faithful manservant, the way Bruce Wayne needs Alfred and the way Archibald Haddock needs Nestor. End of my simple story.

Nature destroys what man builds, but it also heals his body once he knows how to merge with her.

On a very cloudy day try lying on your rooftop as though on a sandy beach. The sylphs, or air elementals, will play at your feet like waves rushing on the shore. 

I never teach my major lessons to students who are members of other groups or who have groups of their own because I don't believe in magical cross-fertilization.

Never let broadcasters determine how you speak and use language.

Be a passionate artist, but do not create storage problems for yourself because of your art.

An early lunch at home with W.

The granddaughters have no classes today and are still resting upstairs. Later this afternoon, though, they are going to one of their favorite coffee shops to have a study session.

As for myself, I need to stay at home because renovation is ongoing.

W. reported for work this morning.

When a person is socially hyperactive and embraces as many activities as he can--and even more than he really should-- it is because he is terribly, desperately, and hopelessly afraid of death.

Good morning, Cubao!

The trees change to bright raiment in the blazing sunshine.

One of the factors behind men going suicidal is that they imbibe "energy drinks" and "tonic drinks" to keep them awake and alert (such as to study for an exam or to work on a thesis). What they don't realize is that those drinks are really uppers, and that they cause one to crash after a period of four hours. That crash then leads to severe depression.

Glow-in-the dark eventually wears off and becomes so much trash.

Good night, Cubao!

The moon wears a necklace of black onyx and obsidian.

Angelique and Jazz arrived from Angelique's volleyball training and then dinner out.

Dinner at home with Aubrey.

Brought some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

End of another workday on the downstairs laundry room and service passage.

The only pain you can inflict on spirits and elementals is mental and emotional. However, those are also the worst kind of pain you can inflict on fellow human beings, for they drive them to insanity and suicide.

Sat with Angelique and Aubrey while they took their lunch in the dining room.

A hot, sunny day in Cubao.

W. reported for work this morning.

An early lunch with W.

Everything you can do is highly contingent on where you are.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun always has a long checklist for the day.

Raul reports one suicide yesterday and one today, both at commercial malls. I personally feel it's triggered by having no money. The choice of venue is a big clue.

Good night, Cubao!

The sky is a pane of tempered, black glass.

Asked Jerome to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

Dinner at the center with family

Saw Angelique, Aubrey, and Jazz off to the center.

Leaving also in a while. Must fill up our water tank first.

More chocolates from my sister Sylvia

Been reading Enid Blyton's The O'Clock Tales and it's been taking me back to Third Grade once again, a most enjoyable feeling.

Sunday, Sunday.

The granddaughters are going to one of their favorite coffee shops for a long study session.

I need to go jalan-jalan to change dollars into pesos and go shopping.

In the early evening my sisters Alice and Sylvia, my brother-in-law Rey, my granddaughters, and I will converge in a restaurant to have dinner.

Lunch at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and Jazz.

It is the artist who is able to pay his bills who is of truly good moral character.

A true leader does not recruit followers because he can effectively influence others even in his solitude.

Because art criticism is not a profession in this country, "art critics" usually end up teaching in classrooms without knowing what hit them.

Socialization makes one's social network stronger, but what real use is a social network to a strong and self-sufficient person?

Never "decide" that you're an artist and live like one, or else you will end up surviving as a classroom teacher and waiting for commissions to arrive. Instead, devote yourself to a profitable job that will provide you a hefty, monthly pension for life upon your retirement. ONLY THEN should you live as a full-time artist without a care in the world as to whether commissions come to you or not.

The sun always looks forward to an afternoon of pleasant company.

Good noon, Cubao!

The wi-fi men came and fixed our connection. We are back on our home wi-fi. Not bad for three and a half days without wi-fi.

Good night, Cubao!

The sun is a plush blanket that keeps the sky warm.

Sometimes a single tree outside their house is as close to Nature as some city residents can get.

End of another workday on the downstairs laundry room and the service passage.

M. is still recovering from a 14-hour birthday celebration in his care that lasted 7:00 PM yesterday evening through 9:00 AM this morning Jerome was the only waiter last night. I saw him drinking a bottle of beer that the celebrant must have pressed on him this morning Now he is out like a light and will probably wake up after sundown.

The granddaughters took a late lunch while I was at the Net cafe.

Saw Angelique off to college. Jazz and she are attending a party tonight.

Pretentious foreign diplomats end up becoming bipolar because they never find true happiness in any country they are posted in.

Heaping insults on your enemy is only an indication of how powerless, helpless, and desperate you are. in the last analysis you become twice as imperfect as the very enemy you are criticizing.

W. reported for work today.

An early lunch with W.; the granddaughters are still resting upstairs.

Friday, January 23, 2020. Second in-depth workshop for the Spirit Questors in a participant's residence. One of the lessons was on the use of feng shui crystals, crystal cards, and very carefully selected Tarot cards to align the chakras. The Tarot cards, as long as they are chosen well, are most effective.

Been living on the side porches again, bringing the indoors out and the outdoors in, on the threshold of the Philippine summer.

Proud owner of Copy #51 of Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's latest release, Magical Years: Memories and Sketches.

Do not bother to celebrate your birthday if it only means that you will be feeding and entertaining a bunch of hypocrites and moochers.

Every bipolar on the way to healing needs to accept the following:

--Nothing in this world is perfect.
--Things almost never turn out the way we want them to.
--The people we love will always have habits, mannerisms, and personal preferences that turn us off if not disgust us.
--Money doesn't grow on trees. We need to earn it by honest means.
--It is all right to dream as long as we know that not all of those dreams will become reality.
--It's a world of idiots, but you don't have to be one of them.
--Life demands constant learning, and true learning requires patience.
--The simplest joys and pleasures are the best.
--Never go grandiose.
--Never compare yourself to others, because that is the first step to disappointment, envy, and frustration.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi Sir Tony, good morning. Thank you for the message you gave after my father's passing. It was light. It was what I exactly need that time, an I appreciate it. While I benefit from the guidance that your daily posts provide, words of wisdom from the wolf himself on my birthday will be a gift enough for me. I hope to personally meet you someday. Thank you."

My reply:

Happy Birthday, B.!

Your birthday messages:

1) What no longer lives without you, still lives within you.
2) The best thing you can do for your loved ones and yourself is to always try your best.
3) Learn from the brightness of the morning sky.

She retired long before I did and is probably dead by now, but, after I myself retired I thought that should I see here again I would tell her, "I was so glad to have gotten rid of you, you bipolar bitch."

At the age of 40 I learned never to sell anything to collectors, because most of them really don't have cash on hand and are the biggest cheapskates in town.

If you have a tikbalang ally, have images of horses in your house.

Every house has a portal to one's ancestors.

When a psychic loses his abilities, it is usually through his own, subconscious will.

Real estate is always cheap in disaster areas.

It is also a very bad investment, and only suckers fall for the bargain.

How many times has religion actually gotten you into trouble?

Know that the Pentateuch was written for the Mosaic, Hebrew, community, and not for the entire world.

Many people stand by "Go forth and multiply", but I have always believed that "Get rich and multiply" makes more sense.

Know what each employee's strengths are, for they compensate for their weaknesses.

A damaged vessel is best thrown away than mended.

The worst and the most cowardly way to plant the seeds of a revolution is to wreak disaster and suffering on others.

You won't know what a fine day is until you step outside.

Only decadent bureaucrats have deputies.

When the humble choose to brag for even a second, they are immediately punished by their spirit guides.

Consider converting the lowermost drawer of your desk to a trash bag receptacle, to eliminate having a waste basket in sight.

Neglect is the cause of many an urban disaster.

One of the best things about retirement is having the complete freedom to choose what to do with time.

Mango trees send forth flying cocoons like miniature space shuttles.

Fix your house and your spirit guides will fix your body. Note that the parts of your house correspond to the parts of your body.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a golden cart laden with children's dreams.

End of another workday on the service passage.

Dinner at home with Aubrey; Angelique still in college.

Asked Jerome to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi Sir Tony, just want to share something from tonight. I have been in this outdoor facility in _____ for more than 4 years already. I am not oblivious of the different presence here in the center. In fact I have sensed and seen quite a few. But tonight seemed a little different.

"It is my first time to feel an odd feeling from both my feet. I was at the laundry area which is located below our room. When I turned on the lights, a strange feeling already reverberated down my feet but I did not bother it at first. Till I heard banging sounds coming from one of the doors of the restroom located on the same floor. I walked into the CR and checked saw open windows - so I closed it. When I walked back to the washing area, I heard tapping sounds. It sounded several times and the tingling sensation from my feet didn't vanished.

"What really disturbed me was the fact that the sensation still lingered even if I went up to my room already.
"does it have something to do with the current status of the earth? Knowing the center is right across Mt. _______ and having the presence of ____ here."

My reply:

Hello _____!

The elementals are warning you of things to come, and I am certain it is related to the earth changes we have been experiencing.

There is indeed a strange thing happening to young and old psychics in this country at this time, and it has to do with their feet, as if their feet are seeking to be un-grounded in order to allow them to astral-travel to places where they are needed. One needs to be especially un-grounded when visiting the elemental kingdoms.

Since the end of November last year, psychics' feet have always been feeling cold even in hot weather, and there are tingling sensations, sometimes like brief, electric shocks, in their toes and inside their very feet. The feeling is most uncomfortable and annoying. The best recommendation I give them is to wear thermal socks when in bed and pay attention to their dreams.

My advice to you is to wait and see. You may dream of a clear message. In the last analysis, we cannot prevent earth changes from happening; we can only ensure our safety by taking the proper precautions, whether we are near the mountains, near the sea, or in the lowlands.

W. reported for work today.

Cement work continues.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky fairies sit on the edges of clouds and watch the earth below.

Spaghetti and an orange soda at M.'s cafe.

Then finished reading Duma Key. A good read, but too long for a reread. Horror novels should never be the main course. They should always be desserts.

Spotted only one, real typo.

Commencing my fourth Charlie Bone tomorrow.

Good night, Cubao!

The gnomes are hosting festive get-togethers inside the dragon trees.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Asked Jerome to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

Back from jalan-jalan,

Angelique and Jazz went to the center and are not back yet.

When I arrived home my sister Alice informed me that my sister Sylvia and brother-in-law Rey uneventfully flew in yesterday from Sydney and checked into their condo unit a few blocks away from our house. I'm glad they missed the flight delays caused by volcanic ash fall.

In bed, reading tail end of Duma Key.

Must pass this on afterward either to Rommel or to Paulo, because it's about a man who makes enchanted drawings and paintings.

Never be deluded by hundreds of Likes on any of your Postings. They are indications of passive friendship, and none of them ever go past Facebook into real life. If you expect those hundreds of Likers to show up where you want them to be, they just won't be there.

Lunch at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and Jazz.

Stopped at page 588 of Duma Key last night before drifting off to sleep. Characters are dying. Strange how the previous century's concept of horror for many writers is that people must die, and that nothing else seems to scare average readers.

Good morning, Cubao!

The mansion of the sun is enclosed with golden fences.

I teach magic and the development of psychic abilities only to students with high IQs. The rest, I conveniently turn away.

Keiko Kashigawa howled. Three minutes later, Angelique and Jazz arrived from college and dinner out.

Locked up for the night.

Almost at the end of Duma Key. Edgar opened a successful exhibit but Elizabeth passed away. I hope no one else dies.

Good night, Cubao!

The clouds are gray cacti in the black desert of sky.

Aubrey arrived from the family dentist's with her take-home dinner and took her medication. Gave her another Nestle's Crunch bar.

Dinner at home alone; Angelique still in college and Aubrey at the family dentist's.

Asked Jerome to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

W. reported for work this morning.

We've gutted the ceilings of the laundry room  and service passage, reconfigured the plumbing and electrical wiring and placed everything in neatly-arranged and squared pipes to eliminate the necessity of placing decorative ceilings and crown moldings. Cement work is now in progress.

Lunch at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and W.

B. arrived for another one-to-one session with me. He's Christine Bellen Ang's and my anak-anakan. I asked him to request Christine to buy him a deck of Tarot cards (actually two decks because all of my students are required to have a light deck and a dark deck; the only deck that fulfills being light and dark at the same time is STILL the Rider-Waite deck) while she is in Jong King. He will join us during my next workshop for the Spirit Questors sometime the following week.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are white blankets on the blue bed sheets of sky.

I didn't mark myself safe because I am a dangerous man.

A cup of green tea.

Keiko Kashigawa started howling, and I knew that Angelique would arrive from college and dinner out in three minutes. She did.

Locked up for the night.

Friday, Friday.

Good night, Cubao!

The starlight and the street lamps weave halos round the heads of weary fathers trudging home from work. 

End of another workday on the service passage.

Dinner at home alone; Angelique still in college; Aubrey ordered dinner from outside and is having it upstairs.

It's Aubrey's fourth day on medication. One of them tastes so bad that I have to make her eat a bar of Nestle's Crunch immediately after ("Just a spoonful of sugar/ Helps the medicine go down...").

Asked Jerico to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

Watered my pathetic, dead or dying orchids. Added chunks of coal to the coconut-shell cradles two nights ago and I'm still waiting to see what happens.

An otherwise uneventful day. Looking forward to a hot shower and to snuggling back in bed with Duma Point. I'm more than halfway through it.

You have to adjust to the volcano, because the volcano will not adjust to you.

Lunch at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and W.

Rather than get rid of human scum, we should try to raise them to the highest levels they are able to bring themselves to.

Every serious collector will always choose to live in a real house rather than in a die-cut condo unit.

School systems should prevent themselves from becoming decadent and fossilized. For starters, they should overhaul their tired language and terms, such as "culminating activity".

W. reported for work this morning.

If our homes were by the sea and a tsunami ravaged them, or if our homes were on a mountainside and a landslide destroyed them, we should MOVE to safer places permanently rather than rebuild on our former sites. Yes, it is easier said than done, but IT HAS TO BE DONE. We first of all need to convince ourselves to just get moving.

Good morning, Cubao!

Bolts of lightning are the Snakes, shafts of sunlight are the Ladders.

Quite amusing that, whenever someone arrives from Nueva Ecija and hands you a bag of tupig, he always has to say, "O--tupig," as though he were pretty sure that you don't know what tupig is and might not appreciate it.

Angelique arrived from college and dinner out.

So to bed--and back to Duma Key.

Good night, Cubao!

The clouds are gray nets stretched out to catch falling stars.

Dinner at home alone; Angelique still in college and Aubrey already resting upstairs.

Asked Jerico to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

Aubrey arrived from university.

End of another workday on the service passage.

If shampoo--herbal or synthetic--is still giving you itchy scalp, nape, and shoulders, wash your hair with conditioner ONLY. You should be fine after a month of doing that.

The sounds of house renovation are music to my ears.

Saw Angelique off to college and Aubrey to university, then took a one-hour, afternoon nap.

Now halfway through Duma Key.

Lunch at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and W.

The granddaughters are leaving for their respective schools in a while.

W. reported for work this morning.

Painting is a more overt piece of evidence of an artist's imagination than creative writing is, or can ever be.

A heavy breakfast followed by a one-hour, morning nap.

Not yet halfway through Duma Key, but then again I read a few pages only to go to sleep. It's a good read because it's "well-written", but I have no plans of rereading it; it has too many sad and tragic episodes.

Amazing how you look at a painting and decide whether you like it or not in a split-second--and how you need to plod through a thick novel before deciding the same. Amazing because both the painting and the novel took the same amount of lengthy time for their artists to conceive and create them.

Conversing on Messenger with painter Raul Arellano, who has a to-die-for property with a studio cabin a la Roald Dahl in Calaca, Batangas. He decided to stay there rather than come to Metro Manila from Day 1 of the volcanic eruption. As a result he has a lot of stunning photos of the eruption and its aftermath. I suggested that he open a photo-journal of the event from his point of view. Glad to know that he still has drinking water and food stocks and is fine. 

Sometimes, when relationships and friendships hang by mere threads, it is just as well to cut those threads to streamline your life.

Good morning, Cubao!

Dreamers gather seashells from the ocean of the sky.

Brandy night.

Looking back at the day, I have to say that today was quite unusual. When I went out to buy food and then go to the neighborhood grocery, I read the mind of every person I met in the streets. ALL OF THEM were in dire need of huge amounts of money for some reason or other.

Good night, Cubao!

The night is an oasis of lighted windows in the dark.

Angelique arrived from college.

Dinner at home alone; Angelique still in college and Aubrey already resting upstairs.

Asked Jerome to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

End of another workday on service passage.

Swung by the neighborhood grocery. Bought cartons of non-fat milk and chocolate milk plus a Nestle's Crunch candy bar that Aubrey can eat after taking her medicine.

And a bottle of brandy for me.

An early lunch with W.

Then sat with the granddaughters while they took their lunch.

Saw Angelique off to college.

Now more than 1/3 through Duma Key.

W. reported for work this morning.

Do not struggle to understand.

Wait for everything to dawn on you like a glorious sunrise.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a batch of tapioca pudding.

Good night, Cubao!

The trees are ruffles of black, Spanish lace against the violet sky.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Asked Jerico to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

Wondering why everyone is using the term "face mask". The correct term is "dust mask".

Here is what a face mask is:

Back home from jalan-jalan.

Bought medicine for Aubrey.

Also found another Charlie Bone book.

Lunch at home with the granddaughters.

Angelique leaving soon for a study session at her favorite coffee shop.

Still reading Duma Key. Plodded through the first 77 pages, which were replete with the protagonist's depressive thoughts and schizoid episodes--not my idea of horror at all, but the idea of horror, perhaps, of Americans who live and feel that, even if they are with other people, they are all alone.

Finally, on page 78, something paranormal happens, and I think I might enjoy this novel all the way through the end.

Good morning, Cubao!

When the sun lights cone incense, a volcano erupts.

Good night, Cubao!

The sky is a velvet-lined jewelry box containing diamonds and sapphires.

The werewolf crossed the street to buy mangoes and bananas from the fruit stand.

W. and I had dinner in the dining room.

End of another workday on the service passage.

Angelique ordered food to be delivered from outside for Aubrey and herself. Aubrey is running a fever and is sleeping in Angelique's bedroom tonight. Both granddaughters have no school tomorrow, thank God.

Bought medicine and Gatorade for Aubrey.

Asked Michael to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

Now locking up for the night.

Some of my "face masks"

An early lunch with W.

Such fun discussing our future construction projects!

Clean scarves and shawls are more exotic than "face masks". That's what they wear in places where there are sandstorms.

If you walk around wearing those cheap, dispensable "face masks", you will only manage to look like a pretentious Chinese tourist who cannot stand the smell of Philippine streets.

Or a manikurista taking a break from an atchay beauty parlor.

Or an underpaid food server subcontracted by a stingy caterer.

Or a hardware-store paint mixer.

Or a lab extra in a B-grade Godzilla movie.

Two cups very black coffee.

Granddaughters still resting upstairs.

Edwin reported for work this morning.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun smiles over mountaintops in children's drawings.

Good night, Cubao!

The moon is a giant, white Pearl of Great Price.

Walked to and from the neighborhood grocery, which is open 24/7 again. The streets were deserted. Didn't see any signs of volcanic ash fall, but then again it was dark.

In 2013 one of my spirit guides instructed me to have the exterior of our house wrapped all around with steel balconies and frosted, glass sliding doors, and I thought it was because we would have snow very soon. As it turns out the glass doors protect us from wind, rain, insects--and volcanic ash falls.  

Dinner at home alone.

Angelique arrived from a study session at her favorite coffee shop with a take-home dinner for Aubrey and herself.

Asked Michael to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

Brought some food over to the compound security guard.

The water service man came to disassemble and clean our kitchen water dispenser.

Started reading Stephen King's Duma Key. I bought a copy despite its cover design, which looks like it was lifted off the series The Curse of Oak Island--because it's set in Florida, because it's about a man who takes up painting, and because I want to read a really scary novel for a change. So far I'm just wading through a lot of the protagonist's personal frustrations and woes in life, combined with even more, unnecessary Americanisms, the kind of padding Stephen King's fat turkeys are usually overstuffed with.

At any rate it succeeded in making me take a two-hour, afternoon nap. When I woke up all the lights inside the house were turned off; the granddaughters must have gone somewhere while I was sleeping.

Lit afternoon joss sticks to the kuman thong and a tea light in our soapstone holder.

The sun begins to set in Cubao.

Whatever is your truth will always have its own consequence.

Frankly, there is not much mystery about your choice or acceptance of lifestyle.

If you are a materialistic person, the gods and goddesses and your psyche will give you the means, and even more, to satisfy your needs and wants.

If you are not a materialistic person, they will give you a lifestyle of simplicity and even poverty, and you don't even have to denounce materialism to settle for that kind of happiness.  

Would have finished _The Golden Fleece_ last night, but felt drowsy and had to set it aside to sleep (the objective of my reading in bed).

Fascinated by the cones of thread that Ariadne showed Theseus (one into the labyrinth and one out of it). Whenever I come upon thread in any myth I cannot help but think of knitting and of friends who knit or handle yarn or thread. Thread in myths seems to be an archetype of salvation, of escape, of freedom, of life, and of death, and I am happy that I actually use it to knit artworks.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is sprinkled with white, confectioner's sugar.

Good night, Cubao!

The sky is a piece of toast bread spread with purple yam jam.

So to bed--and back to the ancient Greeks. Am now on the episode about Theseus and the Minotaur.

M.'s birthday. Bought cheeseburgers for him and his crew.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Bought a foot-long hot dog sandwich for Aubrey.

Dinner at home alone; Aubrey had a heavy snack and Angelique and J. going out to dinner.

Asked Michael to bring some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

Back from jalan-jalan and minor shopping.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi sir Tony..had a dream of my kindest uncle in our house who passed away 9 years ago and he wants to.sleep in our old home. Whats the meaning of that dream? Thanks again."


My reply:

Hello ______!

You failed to record the dream NARRATIVE, which should have a beginning, middle, and end. Interpreting your dream would be like reviewing a movie based on only one sequence.

The closest interpretation I can give is that your uncle is one of your spirit guides and that you should acknowledge this by placing a framed photo of him on your altar--a variation of the way Chinese martial arts students keep a photo of their master on their receiving-room wall. He will then be more proactive in guiding you, for the deceased like being remembered fondly.

The hero's life is made complete only by adventure.

Lunch at home alone; granddaughters still resting upstairs.

Going jalan-jalan in a while.

Worse than stress is the combination of stress and distress. It is what makes you lose your physical beauty on top of everything else.

Good morning, Cubao!

Sunlight, like water, creeps into the deepest crevices. When water does, we see despair. When sunlight does, we see hope.

"8M"

Solo Ojo Ring Encircled By The 8 Ms

MATAM
MITAM
MICAM
MACMAMITAM
MAEMPOMAEM
MALAMUROC
MILAM
MOMOMOM

Each one of these is the name of a spirit. All eight are spirits of time periods, i.e., each spirit rules a three-hour period within 24 hours, ensuring protection all day and all night.

One invokes the names when rising in the morning and before going to bed at night.

Sterling silver. The stone in the center is a black star sapphire, indigenous to Bali, Indonesia, where it is frequently used in magical jewelry.

I still insist--as I have since I was in freshman high school--that it's AD GLORIAM MAJOREM DEI.

Still reading The Golden Fleece. This book gives clear delineations between Olympians; Titans; gods and goddesses; immortals and mortals; heroes and heroines; kings and queens; sorcerers and sorceresses; the gold, silver, bronze, and iron generations; and nymphs, monsters, and other creatures.

M.'s cafe in full swing. I can hear carousing.

Just want to go to bed now. Jason already has the Golden Fleece.

Dinner at home with Aubrey.

Angelique arrived from college and dinner out.

Asked Jerico to bring some food over to M.'s cafe.

Saw Angelique off to college.

Languid afternoon. I'll just lie in bed and continue reading The Golden Fleece.

The sun came out at 2:00 PM, after the starships passed by safely and unseen, and the sheet of clouds receded. They are now hovering above the mountains in the east.

http://www.chineseamericanfamily.com/chinese-new-year/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=chinese-new-year&mc_cid=ac29ca5260&mc_eid=b29e5b905b

Slept ten hours last night.

Lunch at home with the granddaughters.

Aubrey's first day of the second semester was pushed back to January 20.

Started reading The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles. Wonderfully detailed and an excellent review of Greek mythology, with exquisite illustrations too. 

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a complex of workshops of enchanted leather makers.

Your Messenger message:

"Hello sir. I would like to ask if there is a prayer/mantra to find a lost cat. My cat ______ has been missing for 24 hours. He is still a kitten and may not know how to get back. I hope I am right in intuiting he's with our next-door neighbor (used a pendulum). But my other neighbor suspects ______ was taken by kids/lured away from our apartment.

"It's ok sir if this question remains unanswered. I am just worried sick.

"Thank you sir. Hope to meet you one day."

My reply:

Hello _________!

In my own time I owned lots of kittens and cats. Some of them went missing, a few came back months later.

Kittens and cats will go where they think they will be happiest, if that is any consolation to you. Should your kitten eventually decide that it was better off with you, it will manage to escape from where it is and come back to you.

Try a novena to Saint Anthony of Padua, keeping in mind that after he gives you what you've lost, he will take something else from you.

If that does not work, consider that your spirit guides may be teaching you a lesson in detachment.

W. worked overtime on electrical wiring. I asked him to take his dinner here.

End of another workday on the service passage.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Brought some food over to the compound security guard.

Now Aubrey is off again, this time to the family dentist's.

W. bought materials at the Sitio Catacutan hardware store again.

Angelique and Aubrey arrived from their afternoon out.

Swung by the neighborhood grocery.

Lunch at home with W.

Power temporarily out in the kitchen because W. is working on the electrical wiring in the service passage. 

Angelique and Aubrey off to groceries, hair trims, and lunch out.

W. reported for work this morning.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a slab of white jade.

Aubrey arrived from dinner out with her friends.

Finished reading the second Charlie Bone book. Not bad at all. I love Jenny Nimmo's imagination.

The wonderful thing about retirement pensions is that they are always great blessings to persons with talent as well as to persons without talent. 

Received an increase in my monthly pension, thank God and my spirit guides. This happens every January without fail.

I do foresee, though, that expenses will also increase.

Still, I prefer blessings like these to romantic love. At any time and forever.