If you are exclusively a writer or a painter and your work is not supporting you financially, something is very wrong with the life choices you made.

The more one paints, the closer one gets to perfection.

It's called, practice, and practice makes perfect.

Friday, January 31, 2025

Chinese dinner at home with my eldest sister, Lourdes, brother-in-law Manny, and sisters Remi and Alice.

My youngest sister, Sylvia, and brother-in-law Rey recently flew back to Sydney but today, January 30, 2025, an unexpected parcel arrived containing the COMPLETE Judge Dee books, three Charlie Chan books, and pantry goodies as well!

January 29, 2025

Chinsee New Year and my second eldest sister Remi's 84th birthday at M.'s cafe

My cousin Babette sends me oranges on the first day of the Year of the Wooden Snake.

January 29, 2025

Chinsee New Year and my second eldest sister Remi's 84th birthday at M.'s cafe

Chinese New Year

My second eldest sisrer Remi's 84th birthday.

Family, relatives, and friends will be celebrating at M.'s cafe. M. put together a wonderful menu.

More vintage comic books

It is pathetic for an artist to remain someone's protege for too long.

Remembering Kichiro Mayuzumi Miranda, whose birthday is today.

Teach your children not to worship your awards but to go and earn their own.

Otherwise, when they fail, they will seek refuge in religion and will lose the courage to keep on striving.

The Borneo creeper in front of my sister Alice's house is going wild. I've asked Neil to tie the vines neatly along the grilles and do some manicuring.

Everyone insists that we retain the perch of Kokoy, the neighbor's rooster, who has abandoned our neighbor in favor of my sister and now flies to his favorite vine every evening at 6:30 PM, where he stays and sleeps until morning.

Kokoy is also the only rooster on the compound that allows Princess, the cafe baby, to pick him up and stroke him.

Sunday, January 26, 2025

With three of my four sisters at Four Seasons Restaurant Araneta Center.

Family dinner at my sister Alice's house. Brought adobong Kapampangan and kinilaw ba bangus, both of which Jerome cooked. My sister Lourdes ordered 15 buffalo wings with three different flavors from M.'s cafe. Sweet papaya, grapes, and egg pie for dessert.

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Another threesome photo with my sisters Alice and Sylvia

Photo by Neil de Leon

The dust on your Christmas decorations is now so evident.

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Lunch with my eldest sister, Lourdes, brother-in-law Manny, and family at Four Seasons Restaurant Araneta Center.

Accommodations and food are never too expensive if what you are really getting are good memories that last everyone a lifetime.

Back from a pleasant lunch but exhausting day at Araneta Center with family.

1/4 cup Moccona Ristretto.

From the Internet: "A Ristretto is a concentrated espresso shot with a shorter extraction time and less water than a traditional espresso. The name literally translates as restricted, and the idea is that from the same amount of ground coffee, you would get less liquid."

Smooth and silky, but bitter as aspirin. I suspect, can knock out a headache in seconds.

Goodies from Australia

My eldest sister, Lourdes, and brother-in-law Manny arrive from Sydney tomorrow.

I must confess that, during my last few years at university, I often looked around me and silently asked myself, "What the hell am I doing here?"

An egg mayo sandwich at M's cafe.

The cafe baby visited twice.

General house cleaning.

There will always be a sector of society dissatisfied with your work, who will resent the laurels being laid upon your head.

Despite its dim lower chakras (sex, survival, and grounding), a ghost can makes its "footsteps" heard.

M. has been working the night shift as a trainer at a call center in Mandaluyong for the longest time. At 4:30 this morning his co-workers followed him to the cafe to have breakfast. Everyone is now on the videoke.

What is the point in upsetting the entire populace with a prolonged brownout if, when the power comes back on, all you have achieved is to upset the entire populace?

We need to know how Francisco and Jacinta died. Could they have been secretly killed because they were beginning to grow up and come into their own?

Took half a glass of drinking water with ice.

It's way past midnight, but everything is hopping at M.'s cafe. For some reason it seems to be children's dance night, unusual for a Wednesday,. mid-week, night. I can hear the music, their shrieks, and their laughter. It's like listening to the 12 Dancing Princesses who escape every night to dance, in that fairy tale.

Went back to my bedroom with the music still in my ears.

John reported for work today to continue encoding Disyembre on his laptop.

In the meantime I finished proofreading Nobyembre.

You have no idea what a playwright goes through when he proofreads his plays, because he experiences all of the emotions all over again.

Had a ham sandwich at M.'s cafe.

Sunday, January 19, 2025

Family mahjong day.

In the midst of it all I met up at M.'s cafe with a vendor who can provide me with all of the comic books I loved in my childhood. My mother and aunts used to buy them for me at Mom's and Pop's after I sat patiently through a crew haircut.

Was additionally delighted to see that the vendor is Chinese, because I intend to have a lasting relationship with him and, for some reason, all of my most loyal friends are Chinese.

Serendipitously, the first cover he showed me was "The Elf Mound" a.k.a. "The Elfin Mound," one of my favorites, since there is an elfin mound on our compound.

Will reread these tonight and conveniently regress to the age of nine!

Friday, January 17 2025

End of another workday. Looking good.

Joel dropped by our dusty construction site to give me four cans Charms Sour Candy Balls.

I now feel very charming. Joke!

But, after these, I'm graduating to sugar-free drops.

Still proofreading Small Toto's printout of Nobyembre for publication,. Quite tedious and a strain on eyesight.

Big Toto reported for work today. Neil and he are working on the side and front of our house.

John also reported for work and is currently still encoding Disyembre on his laptop. He brought us a bag of ensaymada.

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Afternoon sunlight paints abstract images on the wall and floor in my dialysis room.

Taken with Marvin's camera.

Busy day. 

M. claimed a bag of blood for my transfusion, then escorted me to hospital for my nth dialysis session.

Big Toto reported for work today. Neil, Bertod, and he resumed construction work in front of our house.

Jerome's day off from the Chinese restaurant. He cleaned the rear passage and gave the three doggies a shampoo.

Small Toto printed out a copy of Nobyembre that John encoded in his computer shop.

 There can be no peace until justice is served.

Get in character beforer acting.

Offstage, I mean.

To be dandruff-free and rid of the smell of sweaty hair, rub your scalp once a week with a cotton ball and Listerine antiseptic.

Your children's days are thrown off kilter whenever they can't have their morning shower.

Even the proudest will be humbled by illness and death.

Big Toto reported for work today. Neil and he are now buying more materials and will be resuming the reconstruction of our front gate.

John also reported for work this morning. He is now encoding Disyembre on his laptop.

Had a BLTC sandwich at M.'s cafe.

A workday done and I am pleased with the results.

Big Toto reported for work today. Neil and he are now out buying construction materials at hardware stores.

So glad to have work being done on the house again. It's like giving the house a deep tissue massage on a full day at the salon.

You become forgiving of others. young and old alika,  when you remind yourself that they, too, dream.

A second-time Christmas Day occurs January 25.

You cannot clear yourself of a crime by accusing others of the same crime.

Whenever you take your family out, it is all right to be realistic and practical, but, remember that no matter how much you end up spending for them, you are not buying good food and good hotel accommodations but the most wonderful memories that will last everybody a lifetime.

M.'s birthday. He turns 40 today.

I wonder how the cafe plans to celebrate his birthday later today--or tonight.

When both of my sons were still in school, I worked eight hours at the U.S. Embassy in Manila and then proceeded to the taping site of my teleplay for _Lino Brocka Presents_ in some god-forsaken place, where I worked another six hours. I would get home at dawn and have only two hours sleep before rising again to go to the Embassy.

Whenever I walked through mny sons' bedroom at dawn, their radio would be on Veriutas, playing the family rosary being recited by a group.

To this very day, whenever I hear the risary being prayed by a group on Veritas, I think of my sons sleeping cozily in bed and imagine myself lying down and going to sleep myself, safe in the astral arms of the praying groups.

I am now overjoyed to be retired. Never will  I work 14 hours straight again, ever.

https://www.facebook.com/veritaslegazpi/videos/393001060485254

If I ordered a keyboard that had only keys I use and need, the usual keyboard would be reduced in length by half.

Actually they forgot to use the panyo and ritual of Tatlong Batang Nagsayaw Sa Apoy.

It will always be the year to disassociate yourself from everyone who bogs you down.

As a general, rule, spirit guides bless underdogs with longer lives.

The baby will tell you when it wants to sleep.

If news of a revolution comes to you, of all people, that means that its organizers are careless and that it's not going to happen.

But, when it is my turn to die, never say that may I rest in peace, as I never say that of anyone who passes.

Souls NEVER rest in peace--no more than energy does. Souls are continuously alive and proactive, earthbound or not, watching over loved ones, or else reincarnating into new lives.

An inert soul or spirit is inconceivable to me, and is even an insult to Creation.

I suspect that, when people wish souls to "rest in peace," it is because they are afraid of being visited or haunted.

It is all right to look back over the years and wish that you had done things differently.This happens to everyone and is perfectly normnal.

Do not allow such wishes to haunt you like ghosts from the past.

January 9, 2025

My mother's death anniversary

Bought a third set of everyday, drinking goblets--these, champagne-colored--inasmuch as we've been hosting meals every so often.

Love that big-diamond-cut design!

Photo by Neil de Leon

The amber man sent me a photo of another, irresistible piece.

It is quite strange that, whenever the amber man is no longer with me, I cannot remember his face and his voice. He must be some kind of elf.

So unlike my Maranapo antique dealer, I mean, whom I remember vividly, including all of the facial expressions I've ever seen on him.

If you have friends or students whom you like well enough to want to see them often, make them feel, whenever they come to you, as though they've just come home.

Sleep in warmth--not bundled up, but in a room slightly but adequately heated.

Happy Birthday to my youngest sister, Sylvia!

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

New Year's Eve lunch with my youngest sister, Sylvia, and brother-in-law Rey

Angelique did an early check-in for us at Novotel, where we proceeded immediately after lunch.

That same evening, Sylvia and Rey flew back to Sydney.

The best candidates for unFriending are those who "highlight comments for you to read," those who "mention you in a comment with other followers," and those who "invite you to like..."

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

First breakfast of the year

Good friends will always come by unexpectedly.

Old post:

TONY PEREZ\S GUIDELINES FOR HIS FACEBOOK FRIENDS FOR THE COMING WEEK (MONDAY, JULY 29 - FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2024):

1) Remember the heat and how it was unkind to you.

2) Live to the fullest without having to wait for any big break.

3) It is unwuse to rely only on your memory.

4) Do not be generous to a fault.

5) There will always be a work-related inconvenience.

6) Focus on your own concerns before focusing on those of your co-workers.

7) Give only in reciprocation.

8 ) Do not feel obliged to give in to relatives outside your immediate family.

9) The arrogant skeptic ends up with nothing.

10) Sherbet is a dessert for all seasons.

11) Long trips are a bad idea at this time.

12) Do not force yourself to attend a function if you are not feeling well.

13) A former classmate says goodbye.

14) Ensure that you have good finances. 

15) Supervisors will praise you only to a certain extent.

16) Do not ingest too much potassium.

17) A long-lost acquaintance surfaces.

18) Something red on your bed will protect you from roaming spirits.

Good morning, Cubao! The day serves a slice of chill pie.

Say "I wish" into the sunlight and nothing more.

Someone will leave a house somewhere south of Quezon City, and will never come back.

The amber man insisted on having our photo taken. That's the nth time someone wanted a photo with me over the past months. They make me feel like they're post-mortem photos, i.e. photos to show others and say of me, "He was still alive at the time."

I think, Joel started it when he had our photo taken after his photo session for The Magician in a professional photographer's studio. He hasn't released that photo yet, and I believe he will only after I die.

Morbid.

Shared from M.

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Early birds at their dinner table for the New Year's Eve countdown 

in the ballroom of Novotel Araneta Center.

After the waiter took our photo,  the crowds filed in.

My New Year's resolution is, after having retired in 2015 and having successfully become an urban hermit, to now live in hibernation and in social isolation.

Do not ask me to interpret your dreams.

Do not pull a poem and a novel out of your pocket and ask me to read and comment on them.

Do not request oracle and card readings from me.

Do not ask me for birthday messages and predictions.

Do not ask me to sell you a bottle of gayuma.

Do not ask me to check out the ghosts in your house and neighborhood.

Do not ask me to regress you to a previous lifetime.

Do not ask me whether to pull or not pull the plug on someone's respirator.

Thank you.

Go to sleep with the four elements:

--the soothing effect of a glass of drinking water

--the caress of air, with a brief air bath by an electric fan

--the spectacle of fire, by lighting a scented, bottled candle at your windowsill

--the feel of earth, with a deep tissue massage

Thought this would finally be a post-holiday, lazy Sunday with nothing but our family mahjong session and dinner, but today was the only day I could schedule my amber jeweler's visit. He is not in my Friends List and has no idea that I've been undergoing dialysis. For the past few months he'd been sending me photos of amber necklaces and bracelets, none of which, thankfully, appealed to me. Our relationship has been long and strange. He is a relative of a very popular movie and TV actor. Whenever I buy something from him, he showers me with freebies. He also tried his hand at oil painting, gave up, and gifted me with an entire sack of unopened oil paint tubes--these are the tubes I used for my latest painting titled _Descent of the Holy Spirit_.

And then...

Last week he sent me a photo of an exquisite  piece I could not resist.

M.'s cafe's new menu additions

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

All of us at the entrance to the ballroom for the countdown dinner, Novotel Araneta Center

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

At the entrance to the ballroom for the countdown dinner, Novotel Araneta Center

With my sisters Remi and Alice

They turned back time to the dance music of the 80s and the 90s.

Be careful when scamming the general public. A witch, a wizard, and a mage will always strike back, and you will lose ten times more than  what you made.

Do not render services to others when you are ill, and do not even heroically try to do so.

The university is a dream existence. It is not real life.

"The fountain pen cannot write by itself."

--Brahmachari

Democracy and human rights do not exist in academic institutions, that is why they also do not exist in society.

 
"You can love them all, and when you're through/
Maybe that'll make a man out of you/"

A lesbian is finally fed up with her butch lover's multiple women lovers.

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

At the entrance to the ballroom for the countdown dinner, Novotel Araneta Center

With my granddaughters Angelique and Aubrey

Wearing the Dumbledore beanie that Joel brought me from London

Love is the creation of good memories.

Love your family. All other blessings will then come into your life.