When Friends flatter you, note that it is their way of being in control of you.

When Friends ignore you, note that it is because you exercise effective control over them.

The moment you begin being sexually attracted to a friend, he immediately ceases being a friend.

There is no such thing as a wake-up call if the self and the attenuating circumstances do not change.

When there are no women present, the men take off their shirts in the summer heat.

Remember that when a mage teaches you a hex you cannot use it against him, otherwise it will backfire on you.

He whom they disqualified in the past will in turn disqualify them.

Worked half an hour on sixteenth glaze.

Then the granddaughters arrived from the center and lunch out.

Lunch at home alone. The granddaughters left earlier to renew some documents and then have lunch out.

The clouds are white umbrellas floating in the sky.

Good morning, Cubao!

Slept nine hours last night.

Dinner at home alone.

Angelique and J. arrived from university and work with a take-out dinner, which they had upstairs.

Aubrey and R. arrived from college and dinner out.

Everybody home.

I see now the advantage of double-Posting your Postings as Stories. As Stories, you can see who looked at your Postings even if they did not react to them.

Back from Maryhill School of Theology. Egress of seven pieces from Nightwalker is done. Dhelmar and Art assisted. Bought us pancit, sandwiches, and soda at the cafeteria afterward, then we brought the paintings home. They are now inside the antique, Rosy Cross cabinet.

Lunch at home alone; granddaughters in school.

Now waiting to be picked up and brought to Maryhill School of Theology.

In the 22nd century--if this planet still exists, that is--postmortem examinations will be able to not only dissect a cadaver's brain but also access all the memories its cells contain, pretty much like looking into a computer's hard drive.

I know of religious fundamentalists, but I also know of fundamentalist voters who believe that everyone in their party deserves to be elected--and that no one in other parties deserves to be elected.

Fundamentalists have no sense of balance and have no trust in people who are not of their own kind.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a ceiling of thin ice.

Your intelligence is the wealth that no thief can ever take from you.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

And now, torrential rain.

The Secretary looks like Beep Beep The Road Runner.

Thunder, lightning, and rain in Cubao.

Love the cool breezes coursing through our house.

Back from jalan-jalan at the center. Bought a roll of kraft paper, rolls of masking tape, rolls of packing tape, and four big tubes of oil paint.

I am now VERY SURE that kraft paper is the best material for wrapping paintings. It allows the paint to breathe, it does not adhere to painted surfaces, it can be dusted, and it is environment-friendly.

Took a tricycle home.

There are two kinds of leisurely plunging: one diving into a river's cold embrace, the other drinking a long draft of cold water and thereby embracing the river.

July and I swept the driveway. A centering activity.

Worked an hour on fifteenth glaze.

A cloudy and cool day in Cubao.

Worked half an hour on fourteenth glaze.

Lunch at home alone, granddaughters in school.

Two cups very black barako.

Cleaned our microwave oven and adjusted two things on our altar and ancestral table.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a kitchen cork board filled with yellow note-sheet reminders.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Sometimes you have to value your enemies. Without them, who would be there for you to practice hexes on?

Aubrey arrived from university.

Went to the neighborhood grocery store to buy different kinds of soda.

Dinner at home with Aubrey.

Angelique arrived from college. We'll order food via FDS for her dinner.

Gave the compound security guard, who is a Baptist, a plate of rice, tawilis omelette, a salted egg, and pig's blood. M. and his staff do not eat pig's blood because they are Seventh Day Adventists.

Lydia and I swept the driveway. My Japanese shibui moment.

Worked half an hour on thirteenth glaze.

Opened my door to the back porch and the window to the rear passage. The breeze from the north is cool.

Reread another chapter from The Lacquer Screen.

Worked half an hour on twelfth glaze.

Worked half an hour on eleventh glaze.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun wears his crown of yellow diamonds.

An early dinner at home alone, then Angelique arrived from college with a take-out dinner, then Aubrey arrived from university and dinner out, then J. arrived from work.

Life is not a race, because, if it were, it would surely be a race to meet Death.

In the 1950s we had neighbors called the M. family, who lived a block or two away from our house. They were the most dysfunctional family I'd ever known. All of them--the father, the mother, the sons, and the daughters--were so envious of everyone else in the neighborhood that they always had something negative to say about them. They always looked grumpy and unhappy, too.

I never saw that family again after I graduated from college. I wonder where they are now, and whether any of them ever found contentment.

The sky above Cubao is completely lined with clouds, and the breezes are cool.

Lydia and I swept the driveway.

Then John came with two orders of his wife's deep-fried pork, which I paid for.

I know it will not rain because the sheets of clouds are white rather than gray.

True practitioners of Philippine magic delight in others' belief that oraciones are sheer gibberish, if not balderash derived from Latin, Spanish, Hebrew, and Greek. This disbelief is precious because it reinforces the exclusivity of Philippine magic, which must never be accessible to the general public.

The oraciones, collectively known as Aklat Na Buhay, were authored not by human beings but by cafres, who have always had the propensity to mimic the speech, behavior, and appearance (manifesting as doppelgangers) of humans. If you weed out all the words apparently derived from Latin, Spanish, Hebrew, and Greek, you will be left with names and words from the language of cafres, sounding to the unenlightened like verbal nonsense. The fact is, though, that many animals, insects, plants, and flowers were given nomenclature by cafres and eventually accepted as names designated by humans.

It is easiest for me to tend to potted plants and water plants in vases if they are located in places I frequent, such as my writing desks.

Mike sends me a box of dragon's blood cone incense via Grab delivery.

Your Messenger message:

"Good day sir tony,,, Sir tony may kwento ako sayo nanaginip ako somewhere sa ________ yun dati lugar na tinitirahan namin, it start na gusto kong magpagupit ng buhok sabi ko sa asawa ko samahan mo ako magpapagupit ako ng buhok then nung naglalakad kami nakita ka namin at sabi mo sa akin hoy ____ saan ka pupunta with smile sabi ko magpapagupit ako ng buhok hehehe then sabi mo...ako nalang magugupit sayo hahahaha then sabi ko sige salamat, pumunta tayo dun sa lugar na medyo madilim which is nakinatatakutan namin nung bata pa kami lagi sinasabi namin may multo dyan hehehehe,, habang ginugupitan mo ako nag tanong ako sayo Sir Tony maybroon ba ditong multo at sagot mo meron tanong ko naman saan hehehe sabi mo nandyan sa tabi mo babae at sabi mo hayaan na papunta sayo nakita ko yung babae paunta sya sa akin then niyakap nya ako at hinalikan hahahaha dun na natapos hahahaha Sir Tony na miss kita tuloy hahaha lalo na yung dialogue mo na...hahaha"

My reply:

Hello ____!

While this is quite amusing, it is all about taboos and what you fear in life. Hair is a sensual image. On the way to have a haircut you are with your wife, yet, another woman, albeit a ghost, materializes beside you, embraces you, and kisses you. I am the guide who makes you aware of both your wife and the female ghost.

Have you been bored lately? Have you been tempted to play hanky-panky just for fun?

Always think twice about the consequences of your decisions and your actions.

Two cups very black barako.

Good morning, Cubao!

The cloud fairies are packing boxes of raindrops.

Aubrey arrived home. The granddaughters are now in their rooms upstairs.

It was a long day for me. Moving that huge cabinet from the truck to the driveway to the foyer to the studio area was a production number. I'm glad that Chito, M2, the truck driver, and his son were there to do it.

Now having a bout with gout in my left knee because of all that mustard I took with my burger when Chito, M2, and I went out to lunch.

I think I'll declare this my brandy night.

Note how each and every one of your rivals has immense blessings in aspects that are so different from yours.

Always be content and happy with yours.

Went to the neighborhood grocery and bought four kinds of soda.

Dinner at home alone. Angelique and J. cleaning Keiko Kashigawa's kennel upstairs and Aubrey and R. having dinner out.

The compound security guard washed and returned the blue plate that I gave him food on last night.

Laugh when it is apparent that your social media administrator thinks, acts, and reacts like a Victorian old maid.

No other relationship can match up to the loving bond between family members.

Sometimes you need to look back and realize that your bitchiest friends were the only ones who really made sense.

No service is free if it eventually aims to take money from you.

Do not overvalue the ephemeral.

Choose to do something because you want to, not because others want you to.

Time is what you make of it, not what it makes of you, for, while one man will spend it partying with his friends, another will spend it writing the first chapter of his new novel.

Your Messenger message:

"Dear Sir Tony, hindi ko na po matiis na hingin ang inyong saloobin at opinyon sa aking sitwasyon ngayon. I look up to you po pagdating sa karanasan at kakayahan sa larangan ng pag-ibig kaya naman may tiwala ako sa inyo kesa sa nararamdaman ko ngayon.

"_____________ linggo na po ang lumipas noong huli kaming magkasama ng aking kasintahan, Sunday po iyon at sabay kaming nagsimba. Hindi ko po alam na sumama pala ang loob nya dahil naiwan sya ng bus na sasakyan namin, nauna akong sumakay sa harap ng bus (pambabae) at hindi sya nakasakay sa likod (panlalaki) at inisip nya na iniwan ko sya kaya sa simbahan pa lang masama na ang loob nya sa akin, iritable at hindi ako kinikibo.

"After ___ days na ulit sya nagparamdam sa pamamagitan ng text, humingi ng pasensya dahil iritable sya noong araw na iyon, sinabi nya rina ng dahilan kuing bakit, at ang sabi nya ay iniwan ko sya na hindi man lang ako nagsabi o nagsignal na sasakay kami, ang dahilan ko naman kung bakit nagmamadali akong sumakay sa unahan ay para tanungin ang nagmamaneho kung dadaan ba ng simbahan, noong nilingon ko sya sa likod at nakitang hindi pa apla sya nakasakay, dali dali kong pinindot ang pintuan para bumaba pero pilit na itong nagsara at umandar na kaya ko sya naiwan. Nagtaxi na lang sya noon at nagkita kami sa simbahan.

"Gusto ko pong hingin ang inyong saloobin, after _____ days na nagparamdam sya mula nang magalit, nagreply ako nang hindi maayos, sinabi ko sa kanya lahat ng sama ng loob ko, ang hindi paghatid at pagsundo sa akin sa _________, ang hindi pag alala sa aming monthsary, at ang hindi sinsadyang maiwan sya. Pagkatapos po noon ay hindi na sya nagreply o pumunta sa bahay ng weekend

"Easter Sunday, ____ days mula noong huling mensahe ko, nagmessage ulit ako sa kanya para sabihing ' ok lang na pinadama mo sa aking ayaw mo na' at para ihatid ang mga damit nya na naiwan sa bahay. Easter sunday nung iniwan ko sa bahay nya ang mga damit nya nang wala sya doon.

"inanfriend ko rin po sya dito sa facebook at inanfriend rin po nya ang aking mga kapatid.

"Ngayon Sir tony hinahanap hanap ko sya at namimiss pero hindi ko alam kung ayaw na ba talaga nya, inunahan ko sya magdesisyon pero wala syang sagot pero may mga gamit pa po ako sa bahay nya. Magkikita po dapat kami kahapon para magusap pero hindi sya nagpakita, tinawagan ko rin ng isang beses pero hindi sumagot. Ngayon kailangan ko na po ba syang tuluyang kalimutan?"


My reply:

Hello _____________!

The man you are in love with seems full of himself and has bipolar tendencies. It is obvious that you love him more than he loves you, and that you will always be on the losing, emotional, end. The long and the short of it is that you are better off with someone else who is not prone to mood swings and overreaction.

On one hand, if he really loves you, he should be open to listening to your gripes without abruptly cutting off communication between you. On the other, if you really love him, why could you not accept him for everything he is, including his shortcomings? Were you sensitive only to what you were feeling and not to what he was feeling?

In real life, the Beast never turns into a handsome prince. A Beast remains a Beast forever. Know that you cannot change people unless they themselves desire that change.

What you are experiencing now is transient loneliness. It is what every woman who believes she is not complete without a man goes through, and there are consequences to this. One is that, if you patiently wait for him to come back, you will feel "complete" again but must pussyfoot round his temperament. The other is that, if he does not come back, you will fall in love with someone of the same type and will relive your doomed fairy tale all over again.

In the end, consider whether he actually outgrew you.

Could you also possibly outgrow him?

Take a long vacation from love and romance. You might even be better off alone.

This is the first and last time I am replying to this issue. My advice is for you to seek counsel from an older person of your own gender. I do not handle cases such as yours. Neither do they interest me, as I am quite appalled and revolted whenever I see people who are lost in love.

Reread more chapters from The Lacquer Screen, then took a one-hour, afternoon nap.

Another hot day, but it's dry heat, not humid, because Cubao is quite far from the sea.

Angelique and J. ordered food from outside and are taking their lunch now in the dining room.

Aubrey and R. are having lunch out with R.'s family.

My spirit guides keep sending me antiques, and not always through antique dealers.

Our altar and ancestral table is an antique, priest's cupboard known as a komoda. It now has its elder brother, an antique, sacristy cabinet also made of narra, awaiting relocation to the studio once I clear it up a bit. This is one of the items my younger son Chito and his coworker M2 delivered this morning. Its carvings are images of the Rosy Cross. I will eventually have a marble slab cut for its top to match the altar table.

The cabinet has two hangers but no shelves and is ideal for containing stretched canvases.

The day began on a high note. Rose at 8:30 AM and did a morning, house admin round. My younger son Chito and his coworker M2 arrived with two men in a covered truck to deliver an antique armoire, a glass table, two vintage bird cages, and an iron vase. M2's dad, a UST Fine Arts major,  passed away two years ago, and M2 and his aunt are now remodeling their house, modernizing it, and selling off a lot of stuff.

We had a very early lunch at the center after.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun and his sons wear golden helmets on their motorcycles

End of Saturday.

Tomorrow will be a hectic day.

Dinner at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and J.

Been moving round the house with a Chinese fan, like Judge Dee. Except that I'm wearing a T-shirt and can't slip it inside my sleeve like he does.

Reread two chapters from The Lacquer Screen, then took a one-hour, afternoon nap.

Lunch at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and R.

A day as hot as an overworked vulcanizing machine.

Good morning, Cubao!

At the end of every sunbeam is a pouch of gold.

You are a terrific success when your own administrator envies you and begrudges you everything you ask for.

Aubrey and R. arrived from minor groceries and dinner out.

Bought two kilos of fresh mango. Now Aubrey and R. are making refrigerator cake.

Angelique and J. arrived with their take-out dinner, which they are now having upstairs.

Swung by the neighborhood grocery to buy a few things.

Finished rereading The Phantom of the Temple. Retrieved The Lacquer Screen for rereading.

On Thursdays the Spirit Questors begin studying and reading up on magic after dusk, the way students do under their masters in Judge Dee novels. The master lights lamps within the study room, symbolic of the brightness of enlightenment within the students' minds. In the novels the students reside with their master in a wing of his house. My reality entails that I send them off, no matter how much longer they wish to stay, after the session. I need to devote myself to my family.

Spent the late hours of the afternoon and the early evening writing on the studio porch.

Set a llanera of fresh milk beside MauMau but he turned up his nose and ran away.

Now darkness has fallen and the night guard has entered his outpost, turned on the lights, and opened his log book. We can see each other from across the driveway. I feel some kind of kinship with him in this moment; we are neighbors inside our respective, tiny houses, and the night has greeted us both.

One broadcaster induces the other to cackle, and the other gives in. When they cackle together, they look like a couple of nodding, wayang golek puppets from Indonesia.

Worked half an hour on tenth glaze.

Reread another chapter from _The Phantom of the Temple_.

Aubrey is now meeting up with R. to buy ingredients for a refrigerator cake.

Lydia and I swept the driveway. It's one of my favorite physical exercises.

Lunch at home alone.

Worked half an hour on ninth glaze.

A mage's first step toward right discernment is to be able to tell between those who mean sober business with him and those who are out only to flirt with him.

The former have a chance of establishing long-term relations with me. The latter go straight to the trash bin.

The week buzzed by, and now it's Friday again. Very soon it will be the end of May.

The way to every mage's heart is through his mind, not through his stomach, and most especially not through his sex machine.

Two cups very black barako.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is made of milky-white panna cotta.

The religious person suffered a stroke so that his right hand could not tell what his left hand was doing.

Night drizzle in Cubao.

Finished watching this week's episode of NCIS: New Orleans. Really love the design of Tru Tone Bar.

Dinner at home with Angelique. Aubrey went straight to bed upon arriving from university.

And now Aubrey is home from university.

"Sandali lang (Isang dali lang)" literally means "Wait just a second".

"Hintay" implies a longer wait.

"Teka (Te ka)" is a truncation of "Hintay ka".

Angelique home early from college. Their professor postponed their class to tomorrow.

Lit the aromatherapy lamps under the staircase and on the staircase landing for the evening.

Watched the local news on TV, read one more chapter from The Phantom of the Temple, then took forty winks.

When a god or a goddess has been in love with you since your youth, no human being can ever cast a love spell on you.

Back from jalan-jalan. Paid our electric and phone bills, then had a spinach and mushroom omelette and a sparkling soda at the Cubao Leaky Cauldron.

I can hear Joey sweeping the driveway.

The gods and goddesses will always send a rainfall in the month of May.

Slept nine hours last night.

It must have been the cloudburst, which made me think of cozy, incandescent lamps and portable fire pits all over again.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is the smile of approval on your favorite teacher's face. 

A late dinner with Angelique and J. in the dining room.

L. visited.

J. arrived. Everybody home.

Read a few more chapters from The Phantom of the Temple.

Took a one-hour, afternoon nap.