Lit special joss sticks from Mike at the Chinese altars. The Chinese lamps will be turned on this evening.

An early lunch at home alone; Angelique and Aubrey still resting upstairs.

Went with Angelique to the bank, where she paid for her tuition and textbooks for the second term. Then we bought an orange cake at Bellini's for our Chinese New Year's Eve dinner tonight. Toto, a Grab driver and our next-door neighbor, drove for us.  

Good morning, Cubao!

Learn how to bleach your frustrations and disappointments under the scorching sun.

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 spending some time watching online videos.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

The granddaughters' Torani vanilla syrup delivery arrived.

Worked half an hour on construction lines.

Angelique and Aubrey came down to lunch in the dining room.

Worked an hour on construction lines.

A bundle of long joss sticks arrived. I had to order it online because the Chinese grocery ran out of them.

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

Replenished our soda supply.

Worked an hour on construction lines.

I stop and focus on this moment and tell myself, This is my body, this is my mind, wondering what my last feelings and my last thoughts will be when my time is up and already regretting that I will be unable to record them then.

The only way for artists to have legitimate and profitable careers in the arts is not for legitimate arts industries to exist but for legitimate arts industries to abound.

Sometimes you need to be kind to the living because no one knows what horrible deaths await them.

Adolescent fantasies should not be carried on through the age of 18.

Big breakfast, as in The Color Purple.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is Earth's star, but always follow the sun-star within your heart.

Worked half an hour on construction lines.

This painting begins today, February 9, 2021.

Sorry, no visitors allowed.

Washed six palette knives.

Look, Dick, look!

A new piece of cradled canvas arrives for Painting #22 for Maryhill School of Theology.

I hope to finish this one within the month of February, making it my third for this year's first batch.

Vernissage: The Resurrection

Aubrey came down to lunch in the dining room.

Wet morning in Cubao.

Lunch at home with Angelique; Aubrey has online classes.

Good morning, Cubao!

Like a Chinese philosopher's pavilion, your home should have a garden of rocks and sand that you can gaze on to calm your mind.

Good night, Cubao!

Every once in a while, gaze at the stars and feel your own infinity.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Asked Q 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 spending some time watching online videos.

Swung by the neighborhood grocery. Did minor groceries.

Back from jalan-jalan at the center.

Had money changed and bought a mango cream pie, among other things.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi Sir! Just worried about an aunt who passed away last month. She died alone in a pension home in the States and was discovered only 2 days after, lying on her sofa. She was in her late 80's.

"It is sad that during her later years, she was most of the time bitter and always picked fights with some relatives on social media and private message. "My last contact with her was through messenger last Jamuary. I greeted her happy new year. She greeted back, 'Happy birthday! I love you!' I found it touching as it was only five days before she passed away. "But now I am concerned because her daughter asked for prayers this morning. As she was organizing my aunt's clothes, she was able to smell a strong odor like vomit. It disappeared as she put out my aunt's medicines from the same bag. "Do we need to pray particular prayers? Or is it ok to mentally talk to her to ease her spirit? She may have been sometimes difficult to other people but she remained sweet to me in the past years. "Thank you for interpreting my dream the last time. Have a productive week ahead, Sir!

My reply:

Hello __________!

Prayers and spoken messages are both in order.

It appears that she'd been especially hurt by that daughter for some reason in the past, but all of that is water under the bridge.

Your aunt chose to have this life before she was born, and she is currently making her choice for the next one.

An early lunch at home alone, then Angelique and Aubrey came down to lunch in the dining room.

In the daytime deal only with reality, for your wildest fantasies should stay in your bed until you pick them up at night again.

Good noon, Cubao!

Slept nine hours last night.

The mosquito told his wife and kids that he would be back as soon as possible. Little did they know that the room he went in had an ultraviolet zapper.

Good night, Cubao!

An artist who does not have his own bedroom will never know true solitude.

Asked Q 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 spending some time watching online videos.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

One-hour, afternoon nap.

Then Brian, Neil, and I went up to do some serious work on the roof deck. We are retaining the Kwan Yin shrine, but are transforming the rest of the roof deck to M.'s vegetable garden. The produce will not be for sale but for our own consumption.

Exhausting, but it is quite therapeutic to work in soil and mud.

Watched the sunset from the roof deck. After dusk fell, the halogen lamps on P. Tuazon Boulevard went on, glowing beneath dark clouds and an orange sky. Should have brought my camera. The scape looked like the back of a Bengal tiger.

I detest artists who foam at the mouth just to desperately remain in the public's awareness.

An early lunch at home alone; grandchildren still resting upstairs.

Good morning, Cubao!

Leave no loose ends untied at the end of day.

Good night, Cubao!

Look forward to the night, as you look forward to the day.

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 spending some time watching online videos.

Had a shredded beef salad from M.'s cafe for a bedtime snack.

Dinner at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and Jazz.

Jazz cooks a Korean dinner celebrating his office promotion.

We had Aubrey's water heater and shower head replaced the whole afternoon.

Jazz arrived.

Angelique and Aubrey came down to lunch in the dining room.

An early lunch at home alone; Angelique and Aubrey still resting upstairs.

Good morning, Cubao!

Never linger too long in the sun's ardent embrace.

Two-hour, deep tissue massage. Ended past midnight.

Good night, Cubao!

Count your money in the shelter of the night.

Asked Lennoel 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 spending some time watching online videos.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Every year during Arts Month, instead of mounting exhibits all over the place, make an effort to encourage private institutions to create legitimate arts industries that will ensure employment for all arts graduates.

The arts are not just all about creativity and self-expression. They should be means of livelihood, profitable businesses, and sources of lifetime security. 

A mug of pure, chamomile tea. Turned on the Turkish lamp on our writing table and the faux Moroccan lamp above our credence table. Sat in the foyer watching compound tenants pass by. Now Lydia is sweeping dead leaves off the driveway and I love the soothing sound, like the sound of waves on a shore. 

Dusk is descending on  Cubao. A peaceful Friday evening.

Took an early lunch alone, then Angelique and Aubrey came down to lunch in the dining room.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sun's warriors wear brass-studded boots.

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 spending some time watching online videos.

Do not wear perfume or cologne at mealtimes. It retards the appetite.

Meet the Chinese New Year with images of Buddha and a dragon and with lit joss sticks at your front door.

We measure time not only by the rising and setting of the sun and the moon but also by births and deaths.

Too many major personalities have been passing away, and there are no writers who are willing to author their biographies.

Make a list of the things you enjoy most in your times of solitude.

Never use superlatives when introducing a young writer. You never know where and what he will be in only a few years' time.

Swung by the neighborhood grocery. One of the bag boys offered to carry our groceries all the way to our house.

One-hour phone conversation with Laurice Guillen.

Yukiko Taka Takes A Thursday Afternoon Walk

Back from jalan-jalan at the center. Had money changed, paid our electric and phone bills, bought new bath towels and face towels for Angelique and Aubrey, and an electric mosquito killer for Angelique's bedroom.

An early lunch at home alone; Angelique is still on term break and Aubrey has online classes.

Must go jalan-jalan in a while.

Good morning, Cubao!

A house has windows to let the blessings of the day come in.

Every protagonist is someone else's antagonist, and every antagonist is someone else's protagonist.

Good night, Cubao!

Gnomes and pets religiously patrol your house three times before sunrise.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Night chores.

My favorite time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then spending some time watching online videos.

It is a bad idea to plod ahead if your family will be left behind.

Heat and cold affect elementals, because they are part of Nature.

Keep your back covered on chilly nights.

Know that there are people who will insist on having their own way against the odds, like birds that keep crashing into clear, glass window panes.

Ensure that you are well-prepared for each day, the night before.

Always be aware of the number of persons who live in your house and how much you need in order for all of you to survive.

Never desire to marry a dreamer, for dreamers live best alone.

Neil reported for work this afternoon. He is now cleaning the living area.

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

We went to the bank, did major groceries, and had lunch out.

Good morning, Cubao!

Each morning, lay the night to rest in your bed.

Good night, Cubao!

The lemon-drop teddy bear prevents you from catching a cold and having night sniffles.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Asked Neil 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 spending some time watching online videos.

I am saddened by the demise of Naty Crame-Rogers, truly a grand lady of Philippine theater. She and her husband, Colonel Joe Rogers, were proactive contacts of the Embassy of the U.S.A. in Manila during the time that I was employed there. Her life turned bleak when Joe passed away some years ago. She had to sell their fabulous house in Barrio Kapitolyo, Pasig--a house I will well remember for its huge, white, Thai spirit house that guests were invited to pour water on, her life-size portrait by a famous Thai artist, their son's wonderful oil paintings, their framed, batik collection, the awesome, rustic, open-air buffet parapet along the side of their dining room, and, of course, the living room where her Sala Theater Group performed a variety of chamber plays.

Before I retired from work I was able to help Naty out by purchasing from her the Thai bed and two side tables that were located in a corner of their master's bedroom and an ornate, brass, Thai cremation urn. In turn she gifted me with her mask collection from Indonesia and Thailand, including a pair of comedy-tragedy masks from New Orleans, a bronze image of the goddess of fire that she instructed me to hang somewhere in the center of our house, a set of hand-painted, clay, katakali dancer statuettes, and a pair of hard-rubber statuettes from Borneo. Most of these were gifts to her by her admirers from Asia. 

I should have visited her, but I thought that she would live forever.

UnFriended more non-interactive Friends.

Now down to 3,053 from 5,000.

UnFriended more non-interactive Friends.

Now down to 3,119 from 5,000.

An early lunch at home alone; Angelique and Aubrey still resting upstairs.

Aubrey's first day of online classes for the second term.

UnFriended more non-interactive Friends.

Now down to 3,262 from 5,000.

Good morning, Cubao!

Place the brightness of the sun in a vase and set it inside the darkest room of your house.

UnFriended more non-interactive Friends.

Now down to 3,322 from 5,000.

UnFriended more non-interactive Friends.

Now down to 3,342 from 5,000.

Good night, Cubao!

Design and arrange your house not only for the day but also for the night.

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 spending some time watching online videos.

Your computer hangs like a sudden leg cramp.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Never bother to explain yourself to enemies who do not understand you. Leave them to figure you out for themselves.

Whenever an ambulance passes by, pray for the speedy restoration to normal health of the sick person inside. It earns you merits and spares you from having to be hospitalized yourself.

Be happy for others' special occasions, but celebrate only your family's and your own.

UnFriended more non-interactive Friends.

Now down to 3,360 from 5,000.

UnFriended more non-interactive Friends.

Now down to 3,373 from 5,000.

UnFriended more non-interactive Friends.

Now down to 3,394 from 5,000.

UnFriended more non-interactive Friends.

Now down to 3,406 from 5,000.