A cup of jasmine tea.

Neil and I swung by the neighborhood grocery. Bought a dozen fresh eggs, two detergent bars, and three packs AA batteries.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Second, complete sewing kit delivery arrived.

Clay sculpture materials also arrived, for Aubrey.

Into the last quarter of the year.

Good morning, Cubao!

The wind mediates between the sun and the rain.

Good night, Cubao!

Gnomes migrate to houses with antique furniture they can reside in.

One Message To One Of 212 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: You do not need servants in order to survive unless you are one, lazy bum.

Aubrey cooked spicy tuna in fusilli pasta for dinner.

Dinner with Angelique and Aubrey.

Asked M. to bring some food over to his cafe staff.

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie. 

Neil, Jay, and I transferred more planters from the side balcony to my sister Alice's front porch balcony.

Spent some time in the side porch writing area.

Staggered lunchtimes.

A trip to Farmers Garden with Neil. Bought English ivy for the side porch writing area, a rubber plant for Aubrey's bedroom, an areca palm for Angelique's bedroom, more ferns for the side and front balconies, and twelve pots. Toto drive for us.

Now Neil and Jay are repotting all of the plants we bought.

Good morning, Cubao!

Leaves fly like colorful confetti in the wind.

Good night, Cubao!

Windows of enchanted dollhouses glow at night.

One Message To One Of 212 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: Remember at all times that the planned works better than the unplanned.

Spontaneity is seldom reliable.

Nanungkulan akong 36 taon sa Embahada ng Estados Unidos sa Maynila. Kabilang sa mga gawain ko ang pamamahala sa Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation. Nilakbay ko ang maraming lugar na karaniwang di pinupuntahan ng mga turista sa buong bayan. Ilan sa pinangasiwaan ko ang pagtupad ng National Commission for Culture and Arts at ng National Museum of the Philippines sa pagpaayos ng pabinyagan at dalawang haligi ng Simbahang San Vicente Ferrer, sa Nueva Vizcaya; sa pagpulong ng ICOMOS tungo sa pagpanatili sa Banaue Rice Terraces, sa Ifugao; sa pagpanatili sa Balobok Rock Shelter, sa Tawi-Tawi; sa pagdokumento ng Tabon Caves, sa Lipuun Point, Quezon, Palawan; sa pagpanatili sa Kabayan Mummy Caves, sa Benguet; sa pagpaayos ng dambana at pulpito ng Simbahang Lazi, sa Siquijor; sa pagdokumento ng hudhud at alim ng mga Ifugao; at sa pagsaayos ng mga obra ni Botong sa bulwagan ng Philippine General Hospital.

Minsan, sinamahan ko ang Public Affairs Officer ng Embahada sa isang pagpulong sa Samar hinggil sa pag-alaala ng pag-agaw ng mga Amerikano sa dalawang kampana ng Simbahang Balangiga. Dito ko nalaman ang tungkol sa bandidong pangkat na Pulajanes, na nakilala bilang Tadtad noong lumawak sila at umabot sa Mindanao, at nakilala naman pagkatapos bilang Haring Bakal sa Maynila.

Bago ako nagretiro noong 2015, may nakaibigan ako sa Visayas na nagpakilala sa akin kina Utol J. at Utol L, na naging mga blesser at initiator ko sa Haring Bakal. Naakit ako ng Haring Bakal matapos pag-aralan ang higit 50 sistema ng katutubong mahika. Nasasapian lamang kasi ang Haring Bakal pagkatapos makadanas ng matinding paghirap at sakit sa katawan. Alam ko na kaunti lamang--o wala--sa Friends at Followers ko ang susunod o gagaya sa akin.

.

Sumusunod ang mga pinagdaanan ko:

1) Ang pandong. Nagsindi ang blesser ko ng kandila sa isang altar na kinapapatungan ng mga imaheng Katolika. Ang apoy ng kandila ang nagpahatid sa kaniya kung karapat-dapat akong ma-initiate o hindi. Nang positibo ang tugon ng dilang apoy, ipinatong niya ang mga palad niya sa ulo ko at nagbigkas siya ng oraciones.

2) Pinatayo ako ng blesser. Ginapos ng katulong niya ang mga braso ko sa likod ko. Inutusan akong magpatigas ng tiyan at mga binti.

3) Hinampas ako ng blesser ng talim ng katana. Malakas ang mga hampas. Pitong ulit akong hinampas--tatlo sa tiyan, tigalawa sa bawat binti. (Sa karaniwan, kailangang magbalik ang initiate sa kaniyang blesser taun-taon hanggang makalikom ng 49 hampas.) Masakit ang bawat hampas. Humiyaw ako upang bawasan ang sakit. Nasa isang bahay kami sa tabing-ilog. Walang ibang makarinig sa amin kundi ang asawa ng blesser, na nasa kusina at parang sanay na sa mga gayong pag-iingay. Sa sumunod na dalawang linggo, naging itim at asul ang mga latay sa tiyan at mga binti ko, pagkatapos, naging biyoleta at dilaw. Datapwat, hanggang sa araw na ito, nagtataka pa rin ako kung bakit di ako nahiwa o nasugatan ng talim.

4) Hinandugan ako ng blesser ng niyog na iisa ang mata. Aniya, ito ang magsisilbing ulo ko at dapat pakaingatan. Itinago ko ito sa silid-tulugan ko sa isang lugar na di makikita o mahahawakan ninuman. Maaari ko raw kinisan at barnisan ang niyog ngunit di ko ginawa pagkat nasiyahan ako sa natural nitong anyo. Ipinatong ko ang niyog sa isang estanteng tanso.

5) Hinandugan din ako ng blesser ng bakus, o sinturon, para raw sa proteksiyon ko. Ang blesser mismo ang gumawa sa bakus na iyon.

6) Ipinagakitawala sa akin ang isang paris na tuay-tuay, o buto ng mga tuhod na hinango sa bangkay ng isang batang lalaki. Ayon sa sabi-sabi, kumukuha ang Haring Bakal ng mga tuay-tuay sa mga kampusanto. Dasalan ko raw ang may-ari laging bigyang-galang ang mga ito. Sinilid ko ang mga buto sa dalawang security wallet na naisusuot sa palibot ng mga lulod. Dudulutan daw ako ng mga ito ng liksi at kakayahang di-makita ng ibang tao.

7) Hiniwa ng ikalawang blesser ang mga braso ko at tinamnan ang ang mga iyon ng dalawang mutya ng ___________. Ang ginamit niya, makalawang na Gillette blade. Isinuksok niya ang mga mutya sa kalamnan ko sa pamamagitan ng basyong palitong posporo.

Nakamit ko sa ikalawang blesser ang isang pulang pandong at isang pulang tsaleko. Di raw ako tatablan ng bala dahil sa mga ito ("tagnipas" o taga-liwas). (Pero, babanggitin ko rito na, para sa akin, patalinghaga lang ang "di "tatablan ng bala").

Ang payo sa akin ng ikalawang blesser, iwasan ang paggamit ng bakal sa loob ng 49 araw. Nakaligtaan ko ito sa sandaling magbalik ako sa otel. Nag-order ako ng hapunan at kumain ako gamit-gamit ang mga kubyertos na bakal. Noong gabi ring iyon, naranasan ko ang mga sintomas ng tetanus. Pauli-ulit akong nagdumi at nagsuka. Tatlong gabi at tatlong araw akong naratay sa kama, at namaga ang mga braso ko, kung saan isinuksok ang mga mutya, na para bagang mga bolang pang-ping-pong ang nasa loob.

8 ) Nagbalik ako sa Maynilang may dalang tatlong boteng lana, na ang tawag ay Round 7, para sa pagpapagaling sa maysakit at pananggalang sa masamang kulam, at dalawang librong Haring Bakal na nagtataglay ng oraciones, kabilang ang oraciones para sa Round 7.

9) Noong sumunod na dalawang linggo, nakakita ako ng mga anino sa mga sulok-sulok ng bahay. Para bagang sinundan ako ng espiritu mula Visayas. Isang hapon, naaninag ko sa salamin ng aparador ang isang binata sa bandang likuran ko. Naisip ko na siya marahil ang may-ari ng mga tuay-tuay sa pangangalaga ko, na binata na ngayon sa daigdig ng mga espiritu. Pinangalanan ko siyang Diego. Lagi ko siyang ipinagdarasal. Inilagak ko ang mga tuay-tuay sa kolumbaryo namin. Balang araw, ililipat ko ang lahat, kasama ang mga tuay-tuay, sa isang simbahan.

Sa Ubud, Bali, natuklasan ko na ang kahulugan ng salitang "hari" sa Bahasa Indonesia ay "araw", at ang salitang Bahasa para sa Tagalog na "hari" ay "rajah". Maaaring isalin ang "Haring Bakal", kung gayon, bilang "araw na yari sa bakal", isang terminong nagpapaghiwatig na ang Haring Bakal ay pang-lalaki. Naalaaala ko ang mga Essene, na samahan ng kalalakihang kinabilangan ni Juan Bautista, pagkat, kapag may mga kasama akong miyembro ng Haring Bakal, walang nababanggit na anuman tungkol sa mga babae.

Hangad ko rito ang paglalahad ng mga tamang impormasyon tungkol sa Haring Bakal at hindi ang pag-organisa ng isang samahan. Ngayon ko lamang naisagawa ito mula 2015 dahil sa pagiging abala sa iba't ibang bagay.

Di man kapani-paniwala sa iba, naging ligtas ako sa maraming maselang situwasyon mula 2015. Kung dahil ito sa pagiging Chinese Rabbit ko o sa pagsapi ko sa Haring Bakal, hindi ko tiyak na masasabi--pero, pakiramdam ko lagi, protektado ako ng mga mutyang nakabaon sa mga braso ko.

Dinner at home with Angelique; Aubrey still resting upstairs.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie. Watching the old Singaporean movie Army Daze, screenplay by Michael Chiang based on his play of the same title. He wrote the play after I wrote Bombita, and I watched its premiere in Singapore many years ago. Directed by Ong Keng Sen of TheatreWorks. In a subsequent visit TheatreWorks staged my play Trip to the South.

Finally watched Maledicto after endorsing it more than a year ago for its take on misdiagnosing drug addiction and schizophrenia as diabolic possession, on GMA's Mars. The direction, cinematography, and special effects are excellent--except that there are times when the lower third of the screen seems deliberately defocused--but the screenplay is weak, contrived, and derivative of other movies on exorcism, and the dialogue is stilted. Most of the scenes are merely expository and do not push the premise forward. The real movie, as a matter of fact, begins only after 42 minutes. Whenever that is the case, everyone's performance is seriously affected. For one, it was extremely difficult to locate Tom Rodriguez's English in any known culture or subculture.

I am beginning to have problems with horror stories heavily peppered with Catholicism. In the end everything comes across as yin and yang, and it seems that one cannot exist without the other. 

The production design also leaves much to be desired. Most of the blood looks like Chinese hot sauce. Couldn't stand that necklace of thread spools pretending to be vertebrae round Liza Lorena's neck. As a matter of fact couldn't stand her entire Conan the Barbarian ritual outfit either. The scenes with priests make too much effort to appear as though they were in the Vatican--and are ruined by the placement of santos that seem to have been purchased on Evangelista Street. Too many cheap kraft folders were being shuffled around. And that long-haired devil in black sweatshirt and jeans was always trying to look like he just stepped out of Twilight.

The best movie on exorcism I've seen thus far remains The Rite, which stars Anthony Hopkins.

Bertod and Neil walked Keiko Kashigawa, Yukiko Taka, and Cloudy on the compound, and then gave them a bath with lavender-scented anti-flea shampoo,

Cloudy used to be a very dark gray with a completely black face and tail, but her fur is now lightening. She now looks like a brown fruitcake burnt at both ends.

Bertod and Neil are now watering the plants on the roof deck, side balcony, and front balcony gardens.

Pen and paper delivery for Angelique.

Lunch at home alone; Angelique and Aubrey still resting upstairs.

Hunger is a state of being that children and pet animals do not deserve.

Not everything is earth-shaking and life-changing. Most of the time it is all a matter of course, and neither kings nor paupers are moved.

Good morning, Cubao!

Sunlight pours forth golden lances and golden orbs.

Good night, Cubao!

Never fail to wish upon the same star every night.

One Message To One Of 212 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

Your with two syllables in your name: It is all right to push yourself forward, but it is not all right to push yourself over the edge.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

To those who are not easily disturbed, I recommend the Korean horror movie Forgotten. However, you need to pay very close attention to every scene, every shot, and every bit of dialogue, to avoid having to watch it all over again.

M.'s crew is belatedly celebrating Neil's birthday with a drinking party in Neil's unit.

Staggered dinnertimes; Angelique has online classes through 9:30 PM.

The scent of a bonfire at sunset will transport you to wonderful scenes from your past.

The family that enjoys activities together, stays together, with or without praying.

What you see everyday, you actually no longer see.

Develop at least three talents and practice them simultaneously or in rotation.

It is easy to neglect hydrating oneself, as it is easy to neglect hydrating one's pets and plants.

It is the successful businessman who can afford to sit back and enjoy art, more than the starving artist who creates art can.

Getting started with painting is easier than you think. All you have to so is gather your materials on a taboret and then sit in front of your blank canvas.

We have upgraded our cookware to stainless steel. There is nothing quite like it. It does not abrade when scraped with steel wool, it doesn't get dinged or dented, and even a power drill cannot bore a hole thought it.

There is something off about leather dyed blue or yellow. I never choose those for my leather-bound folders and journals.

I do own a red leather folder and a green leather folder, though. The red one is stamped with a dragon design, the green one, with a resplendent, deciduous tree.

Tony Perez's Art of War: If you've tried everything to get rid of a person and nothing worked, deliberately get on his nerves.

It is quite sad to see former coworkers deteriorate.

A cup of tea a day cleanses you.

Everything has a face, including rocks, trees, and flowers. All you have to do is look very closely to see it.

Everything has a voice because everything has a vibration.

Save your money. The abundance of money keeps one young more than any psychological state ever can.

Conversely, the absence of money makes one rapidly age. I have seen persons without money look 20 years older than they actually are.

I love the afternoon sky above Cubao when it is yellow with unfallen rain.

A throw blanket doubles up as a bathrobe/wrap and a body shawl.

The rain comes and goes, but the sun always shines high above it.

A cup of chocolate fudge ice cream, and then jasmine tea in my Captain Haddock mug.

Sat in the small loggia and enjoyed the afternoon warmth.

Distant, rolling thunder.

If your magic works once, it is coincidence.

If it works twice, it is beginner's luck.

If it works thrice, it is serendipity.

If it works more than thrice, it is approval from the gods.

Thus do people become addicted to magic, as they become addicted to prayer.

Lunch at home with Angelique; Aubrey still resting upstairs.

Good morning, Cubao!

Your day begins with a cup of coffee and a glass of sunshine.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

M., Bertod, and I visited the roof deck, side balcony, and front balcony gardens, and rearranged and watered the plants.

Done in time for Angelique's first online class for the day.

An extreme joy that not everyone has discovered is to go shopping and decide not to buy anything--and then go home and see that your money remains intact.

At the end of the day watch the sunset blaze in blended shades of pink, gold, orange, and red.

Good noon, Cubao!

Slept nine hours last night.

Good night, Cubao!

Keep a moon trunk containing objects that make you sleep well at night.

One Message To One Of 212 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: The cake diminishes by slices. Savor and enjoy each mouthful before it is gone completely. However, when all of it has been consumed, all you need to do is buy another.

Yes, you can have one cake after another. There is no law that says you can't.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Staggered dinnertimes.

It is possible that the term "Intsik" originated with the Chinese military name Encik for junior commissioned officers.

Swung by the neighborhood grocery. Bought cartons fresh milk, a box of ice cream, bottles of ketchup, hot sauce, and sweet chili sauce, two sacks washing machine detergent, toiletries, and three floor woven mats.

Staggered lunchtimes on a lazy Sunday.

Good morning, Cubao!

When you think of the seaside, the seaside thinks of you.

Finished watching Part 2 of Ah Boys to Men. Yes, still miss my Singaporean friends, especially since the lead actor looks exactly like one of my workshop participants from a few years back.

Good night, Cubao!

On hot nights, hot soup inside your body will cool you down and make you sleep well.

One Message To One Of 212 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with three syllables in your name: Two types of persons progress: they who dash forward under the rain and they who wait patiently for the rain to stop.

Jazz arrived.

Angelique and Jazz ordered a Korean barbecue dinner for the family.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the days has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Watching _Ah Boys to Men_. Missing my Singaporean friends.

You can make your own holy water for blessing the interior and exterior of your house. Fill a pail with clean water, drop a Saint Benedict medal in it, and pray over the surface of the water. You may use an aspergillum or a twig with fresh leaves from a tree in your garden. 

Good morning, Cubao!

Warriors do their secret exercises from sunrise to midday.

Finished watching two versions of The Yin Yang Master. Chinese superheroes. Loved the second I watched, Dream of Eternity.

Good night, Cubao!

Remember that bright pink is an inadvisable color for bed linen. It will make you unable to sleep.

One Message To One Of 212 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with three syllables in your name: Your body will follow a schedule of its own despite your attempts to control it. Relax and let your body take the lead.

Staggered dinnertimes.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Staggered lunchtimes.

 Antique, Chinese sword box

Good morning, Cubao!

Mix a spoonful of sunshine in your coffee.

Good night, Cubao!

Place fresh, jasmine blossoms in a dish with water on your night stand.

One Message To One Of 212 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: You may not have what others have, but what you have, others don't have. Life is fair and square in the most unseen ways.

Aubrey had an early dinner, and I had an early dinner too. Sat with Angelique while she took her dinner after her last online class. 

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Staggered dinnertimes.

Replenished our soda supply.

Swung by the neighborhood grocery with Neil.

I used to be disturbed by the elimination of C, Q, and LONG N from Kapampangan. Now I like the idea. It brings Kapampangan closer to Bahasa Indonesia and farther away from Spanish.

I used to be disturbed by the elimination of U from Tagalog, as in "katwiran" from "katuwiran". Now I like the idea. It brings the syllabication closer to Chinese and farther away from Spanish. (Ka-twi-ran from ka-tu-wi-ran.)

The best cafes to operate during a pandemic are small ones with a full capacity of 20 patrons. Should all the employees have to be let go of, the owner himself can clean the space, cook food, and serve food alone. 

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Good morning, Cubao!

Daylight always helps you make up your mind.

Now watching Rurouni Kenshin: The Final. Apparently this is a quartet and not a trilogy.

Good night, Cubao!

A clean bedroom always ensures a deep and restful sleep.

One Message To One Of 212 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: When it is dark, one turns on the lights. So must you do when things look bleak and unpromising.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Finished watching the Rurouni Kenshin trilogy. A fabulous trilogy, great fight scenes, brilliant performances. As spectacular as David Lean's Dr. Zhivago.

The contract and editor's suggested changes for Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino's publication of my book Cubao Ilalim: Unang Aklat were sent to my house today. Lots of changes in the way I spell words--I am a playwright and spell words as they are pronounced--but I approved EVERYTHING. The editor did a lot of serious work, and who am I to argue with the Filipino Language Commission? That would be like Albus Dumbledore arguing with the Ministry of Magic. At any rate I am saved from the tedious task of proofreading!

Eve had to carry her cat out of the Garden of Eden. Adam's dog voluntarily followed him.

I find that there is too much theater in Catholic liturgy.

Writing and painting are not obligations. If you don't feel like doing them, don't. It's perfectly all right to do other things instead.

Always look out for available upgrades in everything you use daily.

Even in the tiniest and most backward village there will always be a man who does not think like all the other men.

The rain changes raiment from white to silver to gray, all of them embroidered with white silk thread and beaded with crystals and sapphires.

Every magical spell has a duration, a shelf life, and an official expiration date.

Only two tea services exist for me in this world: Chinese and British. It is rather strange, though, that the Chinese produce "British" tea services and the British produce "Chinese" tea services.

 You can make hay even on a cloudy day.

The rain whispers in your ear that it is coming, but you refuse to listen.

Only ghosts and elementals can freely gather during a pandemic.

The lilies of the field neither toil nor spin, but the birds and the spiders in the trees do.

What more man, who needs to build a roof above his head, walls to keep others away, and buy clothes to cover the nakedness that other men teach him to abhor?

 Whenever strangers are friendly to you, it is because they want to take something from you.

Bulky decorations will always give you storage problems.

Your life is extended whenever you put a dead person's belongings to good use.

The scholar spent most of his lifetime studying a single, obscure passage in a foreign language. Now nearing death, he regrets not having lived his life to the fullest.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Good morning, Cubao!

Flowers always turn their heads to smile at the sun.

Laughing at an enemy wins you no points and merely comes across as a bad reflection of you.

Good night, Cubao!

It is not a very good idea to inure your children to sleep in complete silence. As they grow they will find it difficult to sleep in other places, especially in bustling cities.

One Message To One Of 211 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: Work but be happy, like the birds who live in trees.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey. We had silvanas from Dumaguete for dessert. The granddaughters tried the dark chocolate one and didn't like it. I liked the purple yam, though. Will stick to the classic, butter next time.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Am on the second, Rurouni (wandering samurai) Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno, of a trilogy. Finished watching Rurouni Kenshin: Origins last night. Will probably watch Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends tomorrow. I like the script and the direction but find the male lead too androgynous and visually unappealing. When I'm watching a samurai movie I expect the men to look like men.

One-hour, mid-afternoon nap.

Bought two kilos ripe rambutan and two kilos fresh, golden mango.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Watered the plants on the side and front balconies. I never let the rain fool me into thinking that it waters our plants completely. It does not--there are certain potted plants it does not reach, and I always take care to use a spray-mister on all of the leaves and stalks. 

Remember that I said this: That candidate will not win. He will always be surrounded by "supporters" who constantly assure him that he will win. At the same time, he will be urged to shell out more and more money for his campaign--until there is no more money to shell out. In the end, he will be bitter about not having been voted as the salvation of his country, and many of his "supporters" will conveniently disappear in the woodwork.

They did the same thing to Freddie Aguilar and Baby Arenas.

How I wish I could stop him and advise him to save his money. But then again who am I to do so?

 A big breakfast, as in The Color Purple.

Good morning, Cubao!

Make every day the best day you've ever had so far.

Good night, Cubao!

On Mondays the night is a navy blue.

One Message To One Of 211 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: It is unwise to plan moving to a new unit if, deep in your subconscious, you know that you will prefer living where you already are.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Now Angelique has a 7:30 - 9:30 PM online class.

Asked M. to bring some food over to his cafe staff.

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

The classmate you used to put down now soars high, miles above your head. He does not even hear you when you call out to him for help, for the wind takes your voice and hurls it back at you.

Never wait for special occasions to wear your good clothes, for such occasions may never even come. Wear them, instead, whenever you feel like it and wherever you are, even if you are at home.

Wear things mainly for yourself and not for other people and not for the asterisks on your calendar.

Laugh at people who condemn others to hell, for, unbeknownst to them, they themselves are already in hell.

 An autocratic father never wins. He has already lost everyone and everything from Day 1.

It is most satisfying to sit back and think to oneself, "If my enemies could see me now..."

Magic, divination, psychism, and alternative healing become paths to spirituality because no one can really make much money out of them, and their practitioners are doomed to frequent poverty.

It has come to that point where even my coffee and tea mugs match the shirts I am wearing.

It is important to have an astral house as well as a tangible house in the physical realm. This can be achieved through frequent visualization.

Do not go where other people go, unless you want to end up where they end up.

What you decide to do with your money determines whether you become rich or poor.

It is what you do about your situation, not how much you pray, that determines your advancement and your salvation from misery.

I light three fragrant joss sticks in an incense burner before settling down to write.

Perfect stillness cloaks the earth before a rainfall.

Favoritism at work goes both ways. If you are not your supervisor's favored one, remember not to do him any favors now in and the future.

If we are an experimental species implanted on earth by extraterrestrials whose image and likeness we are created after, do extraterrestrials also have foreskins? Do they need to have themselves circumcised for hygienic purposes?

Staggered lunchtimes.

Today is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.

If mooncakes are too expensive (or too weird-tasting) to you, any round cake or batch of round cookies will do.

 When he is in bed he remembers everything he needs to do. Once he rises he forgets what they are.

Good morning, Cubao!

Take your vitamins in the morning rather than at night.

Two-hour, deep tissue massage. Ended 11:45 PM.

Your Messenger message:

"hello po sir Tony. sorry to disturb you at this hour, but i found black candles here at home. wala po kasi bumili sa amin o gumamit ng itim na mga kandila. hindi po namin mawari paano po kami nagkaroon ng mga ito. ano po kaya pwede namin gawin sa mga kandila?

"salamat po"

My reply:

Hello ______!

My initial scanning reveals that someone bought them for himself/herself and accidentally left them there.

However, there is nothing to fear about black candles. Despite their color, they have nothing to do with nor signify black magic. If the candles are locally-produced, you will even see that they are brown and not black, because black wax is extremely difficult to simulate.

Black candles are typically used for the banishing of bad luck, undesirable habits, and nagging problems, and are usually lit during the waning of the moon. Rather than dispose of them, try doing any one of these outdoors:

Alternative A:

1) Dress the candle with extra virgin coconut oil.

2) With a bolline or stylus, carve out what you want to banish on the side of the candle, taking care that your shadow does not fall on the candle.

3) Light the candle INDOORS and then leave it OUTDOORS.

4) Check out the residue the following morning. If there is no wax residue, your spell was successful. If, on the other hand, there is wax residue, determine what the message of the spell is by reading the shape formed by the wax residue.

5) Bury the residue or tie it in a plastic sack and throw the sack in a garbage bin at a crossroads.

Alternative B:

Light the candles in lanterns to decorate the front of your house on the night of Halloween.

Good night, Cubao!

Nap well in the daytime, but also sleep well at night.

One Message To One Of 211 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: It is all right to live in your dreams as long as you have the capability and the initiative to make them reality.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Drizzly morning.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Black coffee on the side porch.

Good morning, Cubao!

On Sundays the sky is a bright yellow.

Good night, Cubao!

Do not go to sleep in a state of hunger, for hunger is a state of discomfort.

One Message To One Of 211 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: Do not indulge in shallow concerns. Explore the heights and the depths of life rather than its breadth.

Staggered dinnertimes; Angelique and Aubrey ordered food from outside for their dinner.

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

Night chores.

My favorite tike of the day as come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

We're having a mango bisque torte as our dessert of the week.

Too much brouhaha about truth not being objective.

It is the PERSON relaying and interpreting the truth who is not objective, not the truth per se.

It's called bias.

It is as subjective as the writing of history, which hinges on who is writing it. 

 

Good morning, Cubao!

Always greet your spirit guides to begin a new day.

Good night, Cubao!

Determine whether there is any particular item inside your bedroom that prevents you from sleeping well at night.

One Message To One Of 211 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with more than three syllables in your name: Do not go into relationships that challenge you to handle emotions like pulling sticks from a Jenga tower.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Asked M. to bring some food over to his cafe staff.

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Brian watered the plants on the side and front balconies, moved all of the pots of dumb cane to the front balcony, moved two rectangular planters from the front balcony to my sister Alice's front porch garden, replanted twelve o'clock sprouts, and adjusted the height of an oil lamp on the side porch writing area.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Good morning, Cubao!

The shadows of trees dance on gray, cinder-block walls.

Good night, Cubao!

Never locate your bed in such a way that your head is pointed at a busy street.

One Message To One Of 210 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with three syllables in your name: Strive to be better, but not someone you are not and can never be.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Gave most of my long-sleeved shirts to Lennoel and M.

Staggered dinnertimes; Angelique has online classes through 9:30 PM.

Heavy downpour. Our garden plants got watered again.

One-hour, afternoon nap.

Swung by the neighborhood grocery.

Staggered lunchtimes.

Since I had an early lunch alone, I had a dish my granddaughters don't care for: two bell peppers stuffed with sweet, ground pork.

I have often been catching broadcasters pronouncing "lockdown" as "lackdown".

I have often been catching broadcasters pronouncing "granular' as "glanural". Perhaps they are fast becoming Chinese?

Happy 43rd Birthday to my younger son Chito!

Sometimes I can't believe that I've lived this long.

Good morning, Cubao! 

Daytime opens your eyes to where you belong in this world.

Good night, Cubao!

Fairy princesses sit at their dressers and take off their jewelry for the night.

One Message To One Of 210 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: Ignore and stay away from one who whines too often. If you pay him attention he will never desist from whining about anything.

Ordered a dozen buttered buffalo wings and a dozen sweet chili buffalo wings from M.'s cafe.

Dinner with Angelique and Aubrey.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in fbed with a Netflix movie.

In horror movies, when someone runs away from a ghost and locks himself up inside his room, why does the ghost rattle the doorknob and bang on the door? Can't he get inside the room supernaturally?

You can serve God and mammon. As a matter of fact you have to, if you expect to:

--pay your bills

--support your family

--build, repair, and renovate your house

--get medicated

--help other people

--get buried properly when you die.

Our antique, hand-carved boxes finally receive a protective layer of clear varnish. They now contain my favorite oracle decks. I used to have a bookcase full of them. Everything else was sold or given away.

Meet Cloudy, the last addition to our household pets. She was born August 24, 2021. Our neighbor wanted to give me two more puppies as well, but my granddaughters think we have three dogs too many. They are the siblings of Yukiko Taka from a second batch.

Bertod and M. walked them on the compound two days ago. We had to truss up Cloudy with plastic twine because she is a fast runner and loves running outside the compound gate. 

Cloudy had her first lavender-scented, anti-flea shampoo. 

Think of the dead as still alive but having been transported to another country on the globe, where you will never see them again because you believe that they no longer exist in the flesh.

Look closely. Three rats desert the sinking ship.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Good morning, Cubao!

The universe is a box within a box within a box within a box.

Good night, Cubao!

Gnome hawkers sell hot, street food until late in the night.

One Message To One Of 210 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: It is all right to be disappointed when something you'd been expecting never comes to you, but it is not all right to be embittered over it.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Your Messenger message:

"hi sir Tony. Kamusta po kayo? Napanaginipan ko po kayo kagabi. Tinuturuan nyo po kami tungkol sa prism and illusions of light. At kung pano po i-manifest na maging totoo ang mula illusion to reality ang prism. Nabanggit nyo sa panaginip na mataas ang aking intuition, at kailangan ko ng higher consciousness to enhance it. nung binanggit ko nagdadalawang isip ako, sinabihan nyo po ako na walang mangyayari sa akin kung matatakot ako. iyon lang po, sir. Maraming salamat po. Keep safe po."

My reply:

Hello _______!

You were in my night class. As a matter of fact, I have that prism. It is triangular on the sides.

Let go of your fear and plunge into your psychic abilites.

Staggered dinnertimes; Angelique has online classes through 9:30 PM.

One-hour, afternoon nap.

Swung by the neighborhood grocery.

Claimed my granddaughters' bed linen at the compound laundry.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun beats down on the weary heads of travelers.

There are certain instances when an adolescent boy grows up to be gay because he was betrothed to and married a female elemental so jealous that she cannot bear to share him with any human female. 

Good night, Cubao!

Down pillows, a thin blanket, and a thick blanket take you in the night's embrace.

One Message To One Of 210 9 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: Just when you think that all is lost and hopeless, the dark clouds part and the sun comes out.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Asked M. to bring some food over to his cafe staff.

My favorite time o the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Bertod and M. walked Keiko Kashigawa, Yukiko Taka, and our new phat puppy Cloudy on the compound this afternoon.

It is the frequent handling of a wand that makes it very potent, that is why it is not advisable for any one person to have multiple wands.

Never embolden atchays to break the rules.

It is adequate comfort, not wealth, that is highly attractive to others.

It takes 15 years to satisfactorily guide and develop a student of magic, that is why I no longer accept students. I am 70 and have no intention of being 85--if I am still alive by then anyway--to see a student through.

When I am painting I am in control of everything. When I am writing plays it is the director who controls the staging.

A person who ceases to be on social media is as good as dead to his followers.

 When you advise a person to "go with the flow" it is whenever things go wrong, not whenever things are going right, for "going with the flow" implies that you be on autopilot and allow your spirit guides to take complete control of your situation.

It is easier to let go of things in cyberspace than in tangible reality.

Trials will be sent your way even in heaven.

I see no good reason why any god should be jealous of other gods. When human beings are jealous of other human beings, the result is sheer ill will.

While the insects we are familiar with grow bigger over time, there will be other insects so small that the human eye will be unable to detect them.

It is Christmas any day of the year whenever you order something for yourself online.

Leaves are shaped like fishermen's boats, and they do float ion billabongs, puddles, and gutter waters.

Primary colors will take a back seat over the next 12 months.

Religion trains us to see the blue sky above us as heaven but not the dark, outer space beyond it.

Leaves turn yellow on your tree, but many of them will cling to the branches despite the rain.

Cherish routine because it grounds you. On the other hand, it is frequent diversion from routine that keeps your third eye open.

Learn how to read stories on the seasoned surfaces of well-traveled roads.

Rain washes ink off a writer's manuscript, and his recorded thoughts, memories, and experiences along with it.

Hungry children look at the world through orbs of teardrops on their eyelashes.

Rain cleanses the city of its dirt and grime, while the desperate cling to their excess baggage.

Everyone is a ghost in cyberspace. They are intangible, they can choose to be visible or invisible, and they come and go at will.

Sneezing is an organ reset. It happens because your body needs it.

Children are impartial to cherry and orange because they all too well remember them as the flavors of cough syrup.

It is unwise to purchase an expensive item that  you will be unable to clean and maintain.

Do not trust interior designers who do not incorporate waste baskets, trash cans, and electric fans in their illustrations.

It is not the absence of love but the absence of food that makes one truly lonely.

 What was the first thing the rain told you when you woke up this morning?

Learn how to have fun without being in the company of anyone.

Never be what you are because of what your lovers think.

Never be what you are because of what your friends think.

Never be what you are because of what your neighbors think.

Never be what you are because of what your enemies think.

Love and death come when least expected.

Ridiculous as it may sound, your favorite mug should look great on you whenever you are holding it.

Your spirit guides will advise you to rest even at the most unlikely times.

TONY PEREZ'S GUIDELINES FOR HIS FACEBOOK FRIENDS FOR THE COMING WEEK (MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2021)

1) Develop more ways to be methodical.

2) Make a list of things you cannot live without.

3) Whenever you can, be at least ten steps ahead of yourself.

4) Never join teams with members you dislike.

5) Favor fabric that is sensuous to the touch.

6) Buy only items you won't likely outgrow.

7) Keep your prospects in focus for the last third of the year. 

8) Consider upward lighting.

9) There are times when agreement and disagreement are of no importance.

10) Chilled fruit juice will refresh you at any time.

11) Sounds and silence must occur in alternation.

12) Learn from history, because history repeats itself.

13) Be sensitive to the sound of running water.

14) Take measures against infection.

15) What is beyond repair must be tidily disposed of.

Yakult delivery.

Still decluttering. If you knit and would like to have my old knitting magazines with knitting patterns, I have one bag full of them to give away.

Paranoia can make a hypochondriac out of everyone.

Over the years that I've been conducting color exercises in my workshops, I observed that violet and orange are the least liked by my young students, as though some archetypal instinct within them alert them to violet as the color of high spirituality and astral age and orange the color of sex energy and lust.

Men who have younger sisters will tend to understand their daughters and granddaughters better.

Whenever I am sitting in the small loggia in front of our driveway, I sometimes rest and close my eyes. Human beings passing by manifest as shadows as seen through my closed eyelids; spirits passing by manifest as clusters of tiny lights like those on holiday sparklers.

Never allow evangelists to trick you into feeding them free meals and giving them cash allowances. Leave those tasks to their god.

A spoonful of honey--not sugar--helps the medicine go down.

Make the most of your jackets, sweaters, scarves, and caps during rainy weather. Remember that your most vulnerable points during this time are the top of your head, your throat, and your back.

Always wipe off dirt in a counterclockwise direction.

One of our flaws is believing that we should adjust to foreigners, whereas it is the foreigners who should adjust to us.

Beauty is never exclusive to youth.

The cat has nine lives because it naps.

When trying on pieces of clothing, look at yourself in the mirror before buying them. I've had jackets that looked stunning on hangers but unbecoming to me when I wore them. On the other hand I've also had jackets that look horrible on hangers but great on me.

Mario reported for work this afternoon. He's doing house cleaning again.

Staggered lunchtimes.

Thinking Of Narda Capuyan On A Rainy Morning

I have, sadly, only five items of remembrance from the late Baguio fiber artist Narda Capuyan: two neck scarves (violet and orange) embellished with leather straps, a red poncho also embellished with leather straps, a camisa made from embroidered Indian fabric, and a rectangle of exquisite fabric she obtained from Japan--she took my measurements and, without executing any cuts in the fabric, cleverly folded it like origami and sewed it in strategic places to create a collar and two sleeves with cuffs.  

Good morning, Cubao!

Every leaf in your tree is a memory from your life.

Good night, Cubao!

Sapphires of different colors are fairy gemstones.

One Message To One Of 209 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: Your spirit guides will always remind you what you can and cannot do. Listen to them.

Dinner at home with Angelique; Aubrey is having an online dinner with a friend later.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

You can control your sleeping cycle. Begin by believing that you can. Give your bedroom a thorough cleaning. Pick up an interest in new bed linen.

An unloved possession will always look for another owner.

Charity should be extended not only to human beings but to animals as well.

The real devils in this world are they who see devils in everyone and in everything, for what they see are projections of their Shadow Selves.

Gave my ventosa kit to the neighborhood hilot.

Brian is now varnishing the red cedar boxes.

Staggered lunchtimes.

Good morning, Cubao!

Candlelight shows the way where sunlight does not.

Good night, Cubao!

Gnomes keep the secrets of the earth.

One Message To One Of 209 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: As long as you are in the right, what you think is more important than what other people think. It is a manifestation of self-respect.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie. Watched Singapore's Ghost Lab. Loved it.

Disaster occurs in slow motion. It mesmerizes us and renders us also slow to move away.

Staggered dinnertimes; Angelique has online classes through 9:30 PM.

Two More Antique Boxes From Syria

Brian and Bertod sandpaper and brush these two, antique, handcarved boxes from Syria prior to varnishing. They are inlaid with brass. I think I'll have one in ebony and the other in walnut.

Brian rewired one of our table lamps.

He is now off to buy fine sandpaper to clean and brush a red cedar trunk in preparation for varnishing.

 They who make it appear that they do not look at you can see you very well.

The blackest black is the blood my dragon fountain pen bleeds.

Clothes being hung out to dry should always be screened from view.

When a director dies, his ensemble, his crew, and his retinue become absolute nobodies. 

Only when you are surrounded with trees can you ever enjoy dappled sunlight.

I have everything an artist could ever want: annuity for life, a loving family, a well-appointed house, good food on the table, adequate sleep and rest, and purchasing power. Fame, acclaim, and friends are but frills compared to them.

Shun mediocre teachers.

How many people did you make happy today?

If you're not expecting guests, refrain from sweeping off spider webs and cobwebs. They function like Nature's dream catchers, entrapping negative energy that attempts to circulate in your house.

Sweep them off only before company arrives.

If your house is the castle, where is the village and who lives in it? If your house is in the village, where is the castle and who lives in it?

You will never be bored with daily routine once you learn to incorporate something pleasurable in it or replace an unnecessary detail with something new and relevant.

Make a list of songs you used to hear on the radio when you were a child. Play them again; you should be able to find them on YouTube. You will remember everything you want to remember from your childhood--pleasant and unpleasant--without the aid of hypnotism.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

At last, a sunny day.

Good morning, Cubao!

Sunshine slides down the slopes of reed hats.

Good night, Cubao!

Nomad gnomes with unusual magic travel from city to city.

One Message To One Of 209 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: When the day does not start right, the rest of the day will be fine, if not superb.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie. Currently watching the Chinese horror movie The House That Never Dies, and I love the production design.

It is the people surrounding a candidate who function as a Greek chorus, making him believe of a sure win, the way carnival shills egg players on to keep shelling out money on rigged games.

The weather person is ill and knows it.

The eye of the storm is a space of tranquility where time stands still, and there lives the the poet who writes about life and Nature.

One-hour, late afternoon nap.

I will be an artist through the end of my life, but, ever since I retired from work, I swore that nothing would ever distract me from my family and from my greatest, personal pleasures again.

That is why I gave up using a mobile, and I never open my e-mail.

Aubrey's chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Rainy, rainy, rainy day in Cubao.

Went to D.'s store and bought a ream of ziggurats. Should tide me over Typhoon Jolina's/Conson's duration in Metro Manila in case anything happens.

Lit tea lights in three lanterns on our side porch.

Gave a handful of rock candy to M.'s cafe crew.

Staggered lunchtimes.

Checked in on M.'s cafe crew. Everyone is fine and doing well.

I cannot accept as reality photos and videos of UFOs, aliens, and ghosts that are defocused, blurred, and obscured, and PRACTICALLY ALL OF THEM ARE. Why does our photography suddenly go bad when taking them, anyway?

Yesterday bought two kilos fresh, golden mango. Today bought two kilos ripe rambutan.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is Hephaestus' enchanted forest.

Checked M.'s cafe crew. Four of them currently have fever after their second Moderna shot yesterday.

Aubrey made mango float refrigerator cake in a crystal pan and prepared to bake chocolate chip cookies for our week's dessert.

Staggered dinnertimes; Angelique has an online class through 9:30 PM.

Are booster shots necessary or can the two administered shots be boosted by oral medication?

After the rain stopped, two deliveries arrived for me.

The Maria Cafra birds in Cubao do not fear human beings and animals. They love flying and hopping daringly close to them. They are as rude and as disrespectul as the pigeons of New York City. They are noisy and love eating up garden flowers. The males have a white border of feathers round their tail, the females, none.

Your plants are always an index of how happy and content you really are.

Give, but always be conscientious enough to count the cost, because money does not grow on trees.

They whose job is to retrieve cadavers become inured to death and dying.

An enchanted, underground river runs beneath Cubao.

When the day is dark and gloomy, light scented candles for yourself and for others.

That others are alone and homeless is bad enough, but that they have to scavenge for food and in the rain is more than too much.

The rain tells colorful stories about people in lands far away.

A traveling bulul in one's bedroom encourages astral projection.

Anyone who challenges death is both a fool and a loser.

The summer's fruits are finally out of season, and the fruits of the last quarter of the year are coming in.

He who cannot sit and spend an hour or two with a cup of tea has no real comfort in life.

Tony Perez's Art of War: A friend in need is not only a friend indeed. He is also a potential, bitter enemy.

Tony Perez's Art of War: When someone's relative dies and sympathizers say, "Call me anytime in case you need anything," do NOT believe them. They will resent being called at anytime and they also will give you nothing.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Remember this, that your most faithful follower is he who envies you the most.

It is wonderful to have the best of both worlds, but even more wonderful to have the best of three or more worlds.

Humility is taking what is in broad daylight away from sight and taking what is in shadows into daylight.

Weather for ducks in Cubao.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Good morning, Cubao!

A circle of sunlight falls on the playground of the Inner Child.

Good night, Cubao!

Night gnomes organize dawn poetry readings through sunrise.

There are bullies because, in every movie set in schools, there are bullies to make the conflict more interesting.

One Message To One Of 209 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with three syllables in your name: Despite the wonders of geology, sunshine and rain are unpredictable. So, then, are love and its sudden absence.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snugglng in bed with a Netflix movie.

Laid out our last offering for the year for Hungry Friends at our driveway entrance: a sealed bottle of candies, drinking water in a decanter with a stopper, six tea lights, and nine camphor joss sticks.

Ways Of Looking At The Infinito Medallion 1

When the medallion is viewed sideways, the cave in which Infinito is encased resembles the diagram of the human brain. The thalamus corresponds to the monstrance in Infinito's left hand. It is that central part of the brain responsible for "relaying sensory and motor signals, and regulating consciousness and alertness".

The tip of the frontal lobe has wings, suggesting the ability to do astral travel.

Infinito's right finger is inserted for baptism between the frontal lobe and the temporal lobes. The frontal lobe covers movement, language and other executive functions such as "the capacity to plan, organise, initiate, self-monitor and control one's responses in order to achieve a goal". The temporal lobes, on the other hand, are "associated with processing auditory information, the encoding of memory. They are also believed to play an important role in...visual perception". Magic, then, is projected to the outside from within between the frontal and temporal lobes.

Infinito's crown is located at the tip of the corpus callosum, which connects the left-brain hemisphere with the right-brain hemisphere and "ensures that ensures both sides of the brain can communicate and send signals to each other".

Infinito's feet straddle the cerebellum, which "helps with the coordination and movement related to motor skills, especially involving the hands and feet, and helps maintain posture, balance, and equilibrium", and the parietal lobe, which "controls sensory perception and integration, including the management of taste, hearing, sight, touch, and smell, and is home to the brain's primary sensory area, a region where the brain interprets input from other areas of the body".

These, then, are the parts of the brain that are engaged in the performance of magic.

(Passages in quotation marks were Google-searched for functions of the parts of the brain.)

A brief, heavy downpour in Cubao. Our garden plants got watered again.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Also monitoring how M.s' cafe crew members are doing after their second Moderna shot. 

Be rich and enjoy life. You don't even have to be popular or circulate in elite groups to be so.

Relieved and grateful once again. Thank you, Mayor Joy and Quezon City Hall! My sister Alice and her household, M. and his cafe crew, and D.'s convenience store crew just arrived after having received their second Moderna shot and their laminated vaccination cards.

September 6, 2021: Last Day of Hungry Ghosts Month this year.

Good morning, Cubao!

Blazing sunshine drapes like a thick cloak on one's shoulders.

Good night, Cubao!

Lanterns serve as beacons to those who have lost their way.

One Message To One Of 209 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with one syllable in your name: You first have to be a queen before you can spoil yourself like a princess.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Swung by the neighborhood grocery with Neil. Did minor groceries, bought grilled food at a hawker's stand, then bought fruit tea drinks at the neighborhood teahouse.

Glowering skies above Cubao. If it rains--as it usually does in the evening--our garden plants will be generously watered one again.

A heavy breakfast, as in The Color Purple.

Two separate, morning naps.

Staggered lunchtimes.

Mario reported for work at noon.

Cloudy whined briefly at 4:30 AM, but settled down to sleep again because she had Yukiko Taka for company.

A heavy breakfast, as in _The Color Purple_.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun grows his hair of orange fire.

Good night, Cubao!

The planets are scoops of spicy ice cream.

One Message To One Of 209 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with one syllable in your name: A good parent will unconditionally give you what you ask for and what you need. If you have to beg your parent for anything, you are better off purchasing things for yourself on your own, striving to achieve your own success, and having your parent bear witness to your triumph.

Staggered dinnertimes. Angelique and Aubrey ordered take-out food for their dinner.

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

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed wth a Netflix movie.

Finished watching all nine episodes of The Assassination of Gianni Versace last night. A wonderful series, well-written, well-directed, well-performed, and well-filmed. I love the treatment involving parallelisms in time and space.

Back to watching Indonesian and Thai horror movies.

Bertod, Yukiko Taka, and I visited Yukiko Taka's mother and her new litter in the neighborhood. The owner always gives me the puppy he likes least, but I am once again challenged to raise an unwanted puppy into a beautiful doog. This one's as gray as smoke, but I won't name her because my granddaughters will do that.

M. and Bertod walked Keiko Kashigawa and Yukiko Taka on the compound. Then M. gave the two bigger dogs a bath and a lavender-scented, anti-flea shampoo.

Back in my bedroom in time for the evening news.

Stumbled upon this Page that mentions my grandfather on my mother's side, Isabelo de Sila, as Senior Warden of the Masonic Lodge in Pampanga in the mid-1900s. A Senior Warden "is the second Officer within the Masonic Blue Lodge. He presides over the Craft during the hours of labor. The Senior Warden's primary duty is to assist the Worshipful Master in opening and closing the Lodge. In the absence of the Worshipful Master, the Senior Warden presides over the Lodge."

https://grandlodge.ph/lodges/pampanga-masonic

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

A delivery arrived for Angelique

Angelique is now preparing for an afternoon, online class.

Another sunny day.

Good morning, Cubao!

The heat of the sun releases the fragrance of the earth.

"Apres moi, le deluge (After me, destruction)"

--Andrew Cunanan's slogan in his school yearbook, in Episode 8, "Creator/Destroyer", The Assassination of Gianni Versace

"If someobody offers you a million dollars to write a book, take it. Otherwise, no."

--Modesto Cunanan to young Andrew Cunanan in Episode 8,  "Creator.Destroyer", The Assassination of Gianni Versace

Good night, Cubao!

Gnome sentinels are stationed at strategic corners of every house.

One Message To One Of 209 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: Be a giant, but only because you are and not because others say you are.

Trust only yourself. Do not trust others who want to make you more than what you really are.

Night rain.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Spent the rest of the afternoon with Brian and Jay. We moved more planters from the roof deck to my sister Alice's front porch garden.

Back from jalan-jalan at the center with Angelique and Aubrey. Toto drove for us.

Went to the bank, paid our electric and phone bills, and sent some money to my younger son Chito. Angelique bought more textbooks. Did major groceries, and then bought a take-out lunch.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun casts cowrie shells on a  divination board.

Good night, Cubao!

Stay-at-home gnomes play weekly games with miniature mahjong sets in the neighborhood.

One Message To One Of 209 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with three syllables in your name: Losing things is part of life. Do not even bother to make a list of everything you lost. Everything will come back to you in different forms--if not in this lifetime, in succeeding ones.

Yes, you CAN take it wth you.

Asked M. to bring some food over to his cafe staff.

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Staggered dinnertimes; Angelique has electronic classes through 9:30 PM.

Granddaughters' bottle of Torani vanilla syrup arrived.

One-hour, evening nap.

I am overthrilled to stay at home, though I know that others detest having to do so. I find that I am able to save loads of money that way, despite the ever-present temptation of buying things online.

Every night after the curfew hour, M.'s crew members sit on the concrete platform between our side porches to converse, play electronic games on their cell phones, and smoke ziggurats. They linger through the midnight hour. On the north side of my bedroom, I also hear the security guard and his companions conversing outside the compound office, a unit beyond my sister Alice's apartment.

I love lying in bed to the sound of voices outside my bedroom. It gives me a nice, cozy feeling, one of peace and security, knowing that others are mindful of the night while I gently drift off to sleep.

His detractors now know exactly how to get back at him and eventually tear him down.

Try being still, like a day on a mountain, and simply wait for the sunset.

Rotini traps sauce well within its spirals; fusilli traps chunkier ingredients within its own.

Garden birds will always be nosy gossips. If only everyone knew everything they announce to the world!

A cup of tea wlll never fail to center you on a disturbing day.

People forget that it cannot rain on a cloudless day.

When you are alone in your room, induce sneezing. It is a form of exorcism.

"Nothing comes from nothing/

Nothing ever could/"

--"Something Good"

Ways Of Looking At The Infinito Medallion 1

One way of looking at the traditional Infinito medallion is to superimpose the inverted triangle on the Back on the image of Infinito inside the cave, keeping the base of the triangle at Infinito's chest level. You will find that both images, seen together, suggest the visualization of the merkabah.

Staggered lunchtimes.

Since you don't have a dragon of your own, you cannot fight against the dragons the world sends your way.

Good morning, Cubao!

The seamstresses of the sun replenish their supply of golden thread.

Good night, Cubao!

The princess doll in the nursery castle has an extensive wardrobe.

One Message To One Of 209 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with one syllable in your name: The world is an apple, but it is not always yours for the picking.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

An evening cloudburst.

Asked M. to bring some food over to his cafe staff.

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Delivery of a sans rival bisque torte from Mary Grace, our dessert of the week. This is our favorite sans rival, which we call a "dry" sans rival. We detest sans rival swimming in cheap, commercial butter (unless the bakers use salted Danish butter or Australian Brun, which of course they don't and they won't).

A boring Wednesday afternoon.

Bought myself a blueberry fruit tea with nata de coco at the neighborhood teahouse.

Five more days to the end of Hungry Ghosts month.