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.

Dinner at home alone; Angelique is off to a sleepover at a former classmate's house and Aubrey preparing for her night shift.

A delivery arrived.

An early lunch at home.

Must go back to the neighborhood grocery in a while.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky fairies watch the day progress from their castle parapets.

Good night, Cubao!

The gnomes' water service wagons do their rounds before midnight.

One Message For One Of 500 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with four syllables in your name: Sell the best only to those who can afford it. 

Dinner at home with Angelique; Aubrey preparing for her night shift.

Asked David 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.

Hired Bertod to clean the service passage for us.

A brief cloudburst in Cubao.

Swung by the neighborhood grocery. Bought half a gallon of ice cream and two bottles sugar-free Gatorade.

A delivery arrived.

Brought Aubrey's bed linen to the compound laundry.

Vernissage: Ninth painting for my next exhibit

Staggered lunchtimes.

Good morning, Cubao!

Window screens are the sieves of golden sunlight.

Good night Cubao!

There will always be music round a cozy campfire.

One Message For One Of 500 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with five syllables in your name: Never be swayed by the reputation of your elders. Be yourself, and carve a niche of your own.

Staggered dinnertimes. 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 still on Season 4 of Gotham, while younger son Chito has finished watching all six seasons.

A religious fundamentalist is almost always certainly a political fundamentalist, and vice-versa.

Two-hour, mid-afternoon nap.

Bernard and Bertod wrapped Saint Sebastian. Three paintings are now ready for delivery to and installation at Maryhill School of Theology: The Pauline Letters, Peter Is Called to Ministry and Martyrdom, and Saint Sebastian.

Must work on a Marian painting next.

Back from jalan-jalan at the center. Toto drove for me. Checked out some titles in a book store, then bought art supplies. Thought of dipping into the Cubao Leaky Cauldron for a snack but decided to just go home.

A sunny afternoon.

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

Must go out to buy art supplies in a while.

Bought a kilo and a half of red dragon fruit at the stand across the street.

Good morning, Cubao!

Honeybees also function as pixies' drones.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Good night, Cubao!

Gnomes love observing human beings from open windows.

One Message For One Of 500 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with five syllables in your name: For some people, their craft is your identity. Do not give up yours. 

Staggered dinnertimes.

Slept nine hours last night.

One-hour, early afternoon nap.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Know that, for every enemy you have, you also have five loyal friends.

Lunch at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and Jazz.

The voice of fire will continue to be heard.

A sudden goodbye. Everyone will think it couldn't have happened this soon.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun writes pleasant entries in his gold4en journal.

Good night, Cubao!

Night chores and rituals condition your body for a night of sleep.

One Message For One Of 494 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with four syllables in your name: Avoid being smug. Look around you and see that there are people who are eager to put you down.

Dinner at home alone; Aubrey resting upstairs on her weekend from work.

Angelique and Jazz arrived from an afternoon and evening out.

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.

Never make paintings faster than you can sell them. You have other life matters to attend to.

M.'s friends are taking lunch at the cafe. Music and lots of laughter.

An early lunch at home alone; Angelique resting upstairs and Aubrey asleep after her night shift.

Keiko Kashigawa's dog food delivery arrived.

Slept nine hours last night.

Good morning, Cubao!

Your weekend is always how you make it, not how others make it.

You asked me why you never get to save money, crisis or no crisis.

It's because you spend your money on New Age and Wiccan junk.

Be intelligent, tear up your useless wish lists, and spend money ONLY ON YOURSELF.

Tony Perez's Art of War: When someone presents a threat, lash back by presenting a counter-threat.

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

M. is leaving for the night to work his night-shift part-time job.

Angelique came down to a late dinner in the dining room after her online summer class.

Good night, Cubao!

Every blanket is an astral wall that seals you off from your day.

One Message For One Of 491Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: Do not lend money to others. Do not even tell others that you have money.

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 an online summer class and Aubrey preparing for her night shift.

An early lunch at home.

Angelique came down to lunch in the dining room, Aubrey asleep after her night shift.

As soon as the moon rises, the old scavenger ties a white tarpaulin across the concrete platform between our two side porches. It shields him from the view of passersby and from the rain. I pretend that the space is the interior of a gypsy wagon parked beside a brook in Captain Haddock's Marlinspike. The smoke from a lit mosquito coil finds its way through my bedroom window, and the trusty dog, Camille, barks at strangers in her sleep. All the setting needs are six, bottled candles in one of my bronze braziers that could pass for a bonfire to keep man and dog warm, cinders rising in the air like orange fireflies and gaudy sequins blazing in the firelight. Perhaps a deck of Spanish cards as well, and a guitar, and a tambourine, all under the purple-yam sky. 

Every man has his castle bedroom, and the old scavenger's is behind that white tarpaulin. 

Good morning, Cubao!

The week's closure occurs as early as noon, after which the weekend begins.

Good night, Cubao!

A bowl on your window sill catches enchanted moon dust.

One Message For One Of 488 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: Never let anyone take advantage of you again. It does not pay to be kind to everyone.

Asked David 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.

Dinner at home with Angelique; Aubrey preparing for her night shift.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Know how to say NO. It makes you rich.

Back from, jalan-jalan at the center with Angelique and Aubrey. Toto drove for us. Withdrew money at the bank, changed dollars to pesos, bought a bottle of varnish for oil paint and a tube of black paint, did major groceries, sent some money to my younger son Chito, and had lunch out.

A rainy day.

I cannot understand why Facebook insists on Notifying me in Tagalog yet underlines Philippine nouns in red as misspelt. 

Good morning, Cubao!

Lead a treasure hunt not in the mountains and forests but within your heart.

Good night, Cubao!

When asleep, we sail on ether as though in rowboats on a river.

One Message For One Of 488 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with four syllables in your name: Do not allow your art to intersect your love life. There is zero correlation between the two.

Staggered dinnertimes. Angelique came down to a late dinner in the dining room; Aubrey prepared for her night shift.

Asked David 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:

"Sir hello!

"I just want to share and would like to hear of your insight about it...I've dreamt of a big tree. The texture of the trunk is somewhat similar to this you posted...I went inside the 'front door' of the tree. The tree was huge! The door was huge and very high...it was an entrance to a wonderful urbanized city inside the tree(?). "I was just amazed, looking around...with my jaw open in awe. It's color was silverish grey inside...and so with almost everything in it....there were stairs built on the insides of the trunk....you look straight ahead...it lead to somewhere 'deeper' into the city... "It wasn't a long dream. But it felt real and as if I visited that place for real. I wonder if it was real. "Woke up with mixed feelings. "Thank you, sir Tony for your reading my message "

My reply:

Hello ______!

You did astral travel to our dragon tree. If you have a ficus tree, a peepal tree, or both near you house, these helped you make it possible.

One-hour, mid-afternoon nap.

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

Painted fourth cradle side of Saint Sebastian black. When this dries, it will be ready for delivery to and installation at Maryhill School of Theology.

A delivery arrived.

Still on the third season of Gotham, but my younger son Chito is already on the fourth.

Good morning, Cubao!

A day of new adventures, a day of new feelings.

Good night, Cubao!

We can choose to be as small as a gnome or as big as a giant in the astral realm.

One Message For One Of 484 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with six syllables in your name: Do not lead a double life. It will always get in the way not only of your personal affairs but also of your art.

Jazz arrived.

Dinner at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and Jazz.

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.

It is perfectly all right to do a servant's work in your own house.

Twilight descends during a heavy rainfall, even at noon.

Always spoil your daughters and your granddaughters. They will settle for no less than husbands who will love them and spoil them more than you do, If they find no such men, they will take on magnificent careers in order to be able to spoil themselves.

When Filipinos are required to make a photocopy of something, they make three more.

Darjeeling tea in Jimmy's golden thermos mug.

David and Bertod rotated the _Saint Sebastian_ painting 180 degrees on the easel for me.

Useless knowledge is always a byproduct of cheap entertainment.

There will never come a time when you can sit back and say that your house is done and needs no more fixing.

My daughter-in-law Ivy's death anniversary (2015). Lit candles on our family altar.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Good morning, Cubao!

A day of unexpected blessings.

Sat in the dining room with Angelique and Aubrey while they took their dinner and told me all about their weekend on Boracay Island.

Good night, Cubao!

The night makes up for the anxieties of the day.

One Message For One Of 482 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with four syllables in your name: Do not seek friendship based on fantasy. You need to know a person well before he can be your friend.

The granddaughters arrived home 9:00 PM and are waiting for their Grab food delivery to arrive.

Sent 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.

Dinner at home alone.

The granddaughters landed 7:17 PM and they're now waiting for a Grab car to take them home.

Fed and watered Keiko Kashigawa, Yukiko Taka, and Cloudy.

The granddaughters' flight back home is being delayed by two hours.

Lunch at home alone.

Then the Selecta man buzzed by with his cart playing its haunting, music-box melody. It always brings me back to my days in the U.S. Embassy, when I would hear it all the way from the octagon.  

Bought a Twin Pops, a Kimy Tongue, and a KitKat drumstick. I seem to like drumsticks for their cones, but they always make me thirsty afterward, as though, once ingested, they absorb every ounce of water in my body.

Jay and Bertod sat beside the small loggia. Jay just arrived from his night shift.

Good morning, Cubao!

Be prepared to face a day of subtle changes.

Good night, Cubao!

Behind the garden bushes are the gnomes' midnight pizzerias.

One Message For One Of 480 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with six syllables in your name: Be proud of yourself. Do not seek to hide behind anonymity, for that is a sign of insecurity and inadequacy.

Dinner at home alone.

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.

Painted three cradle sides black.

Good morning, Cubao!

The writer seeks the mysteries of the day.

Good night, Cubao!

Fairies wear their most colorful jewelry at night.

Dinner at home alone.

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.

One Message For One Of 479 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with ten syllables in your name: Things are not what they seem. Neither are many of the things you think about yourself. Have a reality check every once in a while.

Home alone! 

Angelique and Aubrey are off on a plane trip for a weekend vacation. Thought of inviting over two single and unattached Spirit Questors who live in Cubao, but decided I need some time alone to do sketches for my next painting.

A very early lunch. Fat shrimp and several servings of kinilaw (milkfish sashimi, probably introduced to Filipinos by Japanese soldiers during WWII) made of Dagupan bangus.

Now some hot, steaming, black coffee in Jimmy's golden thermos mug.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are servings of blueberry pie a la mode.

Good night, Cubao!

There are winding staircases within the trunk and branches of every tree. 

One Message For One Of 477 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with seven syllables in your name: Do not allow your peculiar interests to go between you and your children. They are unable to appreciate the things you go out of your way to pursue.

The Thomasites arrived in the Philippines in the 1900s. Most of them were from teacher-training institutions in Maryland. They introduced the song "Maryland, My Maryland" to the Filipinos. The lyrics were later changed to "Philippines, My Philippines". 

"The despot's heel is on thy shore/

Maryland, my Maryland/

His torches at thy temple door/

Maryland, my Maryland/

"Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore
And be the battle queen of yore
Maryland, my Maryland

"Thou wilt not cower in the dust
Maryland, my Maryland
Thy beaming sword shall never rust
Maryland, my Maryland

"Remember Carroll's sacred trust
Remember Howard's warlike thrust
And though thy slumberers with the just
Maryland, my Maryland

"Dear mother, burst the tyrant's chain
Maryland, my Maryland
Virginia should not call in vain
Maryland, my Maryland

"She meets her sisters on the plain
'Sic semper' 'tis the proud refrain
That baffle's minions back o'Maine
Maryland, my Maryland

"Arise, arise in majesty again
Maryland, Maryland, my Maryland"

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.

Dinner at home with Angelique; Aubrey still asleep upstairs.