Worked an hour on sixth layer.

Lunch at home alone.

When you do not want to go with the flow, ask the flow to go with you.

Home  alone.

Angelique, Aubrey, and Jazz are spending a day at the center.

Good morning, Cubao!

Gnome children ride wind chimes hanging from the branches of the trees.

Good night, Cubao!

The gnome cafe sets up mushroom umbrellas for al fresco dining.

One Message For One Of 1,800 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with seven syllables in your name: Your protector has not forgotten you. You are in his thoughts before he goes to sleep at night.

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.

Staggered dinnertimes. 

Angelique and Jazz arrived from work; Aubrey preparing for her night shift.

Patrick dropped by to pick up his copy of Cubao Ilalim: Unang Aklat before his bus ride home to Vigan. Treated him to a parmesan cheese buffalo wings meal at M.'s cafe.

Worked an hour on fifth layer.

A mug of Vernah's Batangas barako coffee. Possibly the oldest and the most developed coffee in the country.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds drizzle tiny seed pearls on the district.

Good night, Cubao!

Even the garden gnomes come to life on enchanted nights.

One Message For One Of 1,800 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with four syllables in your name: Have faith in your ability to produce art, and graduate to stable media such as oil.

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.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi Pai. How’s your day? I want to ask about something.What would you do if you are interested to make friends or introduce yourself into the other beings if you are in a new place. Would there be elementals,fairies,gnomes or elves around here? There were some things appearing in my mind the last time i when i got here.The images of the forest with some beings that not really clear to me.Hope I am not such a disturbance to you.Have good night there Pai!

"I used to run around the forest during the summer.After i jog,i would go inside of it and will pick berries.Though the feeling is like im being watched,it was peaceful and have a unique quiteness of the nature there."

'My reply:

Hello ________!

--You need to live there a year or two before initiating anything of the sort.
--Wait for the spirits to make the first move.

December 8, 2022

It's an office holiday, and so Gladys visited to pick up her copy of _Cubao Ilalim: Unang Aklat_. She brought me a bag of Batangas barako, a welcome addition to our coffee collection.

Treated her to a parmesan cheese buffalo wings meal at M.'s cafe, and gave her a faux Han Dynasty hairpin I've never worn before: the much-vaunted phoenix hairpin, which, as all wuxia fans will know, is the hairpin reserved for very special persons.

I was painting before she arrived. Note the sweat on my Mountain Dew T-shirt. And, yes, I cropped off my orange Spandex shorts.

Worked half an hour on fourth layer.

A delivery arrived all the way from Cavite. I offered the rider lunch at M.'s cafe, but he declined.

I think, he found it strange.

My nephew Bill sends us a loaf of lasagna and a loaf of rum cake.

Staggered lunchtimes.

Good morning, Cubao!

The gnomes adjust the sundials on roof decks.

Good night, Cubao!

A satisfying day usually causes a gratifying night of sleep.

One Message For One Of 1,800 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with five syllables in your name: Make the most use of your talents. If not, there might come a time when you will doubt that you were even talented at all.

Staggered dinnertimes.

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.

A delivery arrived.

Worked half an hour on third layer.

Worked half an hour on second layer.

Yesterday and today time has been standing still for me. It seems that the clock never advances.

Worked an hour on first layer.

An early lunch at home with Aubrey.

Good morning, Cubao!

The day is a round, custard pie.

Good night, Cubao!

The night creatures are getting ready for a midnight parade.

You with five syllables in your name: Practice what yo preach. Your not doing so is one of the main reasons why you get yourself in trouble.

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

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:

"GOOD evening Mr. Tony.. Just been bother about my dream that keep on flashing several nights. Before, years ago, in my dream I had a something in my tongue that no matter how I get it out it keeps on coming. It's color black.. Sometimes it's blood. Recently I dreamed it again.. This time it's white.. Seems like a cotton.."

My reply:

Hello ________!

There are two possible interpretations of this recurring dream:

--Your tongue played (whether literally or a metaphorically) in a previous lifetime or lifetimes, and it is the source of your karma through the present lifetime

--Your anxiety lies within the inability to communicate or express yourself.

This is the most that I can see, for your dreams were but fragments and had no narratives.

I no longer greet Friends who are afraid to Post my birthday greetings on their Walls. I consider it a waste of time and energy on my part.

Worked another half-hour on construction lines.

Construction lines are done.

Commencing first layer tomorrow.

If you are a writer or an artist:

--First get a stable job that offers tenure and a substantial annuity, BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE.

--Do not get swayed by "fans" who tell you how amazing you are and how equally amazing your works are. THEY DO NOT MATTER. They do NOT pay your bills.

--Pay all of your debts.

--Your goal is NOT to be a National Artist. Your goal is to have your own house and lot, send your children to school, and make your family live as comfortably as possible.

Do NOT do things the other way around. Otherwise you will end up in dire need and in dire poverty, and you will discover, in addition, that no one really cares whether you are an artist or a writer or not.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi sir tony. A wurstion that has bern bugging me since grade school's tolda. While i dont agree with hugo that drugs are the way, i agree with hugo that ultimately, in everything, it's the money. Im 51 yrs old and still lost. Very very lost."

My reply:

My dear ____________, I have always believed that money is the key to happiness. It can buy everything your heart desires, including love. beauty, and good health.

It has been proven, time and again, that well-meaning persons will preach about love and spirituality as the keys to happiness--yet those very same persons start begging for money when they are sick, when they need to be hospitalized, or when they are simply hungry.

I have also found that the more money I have, the more time I have for spirituality--contrary to what those persons say.

Oh, the joys of connecting with God and with Nature while eating three meals a day, while lounging in a house, while indulging in my favorite hobbies, while paying my bills on time, and while wearing diamonds, emeralds, and rubies on my fingers!

Soon to bid farewell to my 2022 power planner and start using my 2023 power planner.

Glad to have found one just in time, because they sold out at the National Book Store Superbranch. They are usually out November 15, but I got mine only yesterday, and the last five planners were at National Book Store Farmers Plaza.

Worked half an hour on construction lines.

Worked an hour on construction lines.

A delivery for Aubrey arrived.

I love it whenever I order an item online--an item that I can actually live without--and I inquire whether I can have it cash-on-delivery. When the vendor says I can't, I congratulate myself for saving my money.

I consider those moments as moments of salvation. My spirit guides usually tell me that I will need the money for something else, if not something better.

He who has the money, rules.

Staggered lunchtimes.

Despite what others say, there are only two, auspicious color combinations for the year 2023: blue and white, and green and black.

Avoid shades of red.

Good morning, Cubao!

Sunshine  is filtered through the leaves of trees and shoots like golden lances into the ground.

Good night, Cubao!

Weekday nights are not exempt from being magical.

One Message For One Of 1,800 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with two syllables in your name: You are always standing on the verge of everything and feeling safe from the hazards of taking risks. Take a step forward, albeit carefully. Otherwise you will remain exactly where you are for the rest of your life.

Staggered dinnertimes; Angelique has an online class and Aubrey preparing for her night shift.

Night chores.

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

Two-hour, late afternoon nap.

Worked an hour on construction lines.

I thank Lito Bauza and the other officers of the jubilee alumni association for this, but I detest reunions and I never go to them.

A late lunch at home alone. 

An exhausting morning. Bought lunch food, went to the bank, changed dollars to pesos, paid our electric and phone bills, and sent some money to my younger son Chito.

Lost half a painting day, but family obligations always come first.

Good morning, Cubao!

The day is a grocery list and a checklist of chores.

Once a writer, always a writer.

Once a painter, always a painter,.

Until death in the present lifetime.

Staggered dinnertimes.

Angelique, Aubrey, and Jazz arrived from the center.

Worked a third hour on construction lines.

Worked another hour on construction lines.

Worked an hour on construction lines.

Angelique, Aubrey, and Jazz are spending an afternoon at the center.

Aubrey came down to join Angelique and Jazz for a late lunch.

Vanessa's review of Cubao Ilalim: Unang Aklat is coming out in the _Philippine Daily Inquirer_ tomorrow:

Cubao Ilalim is where Ibong Adarna continues to captivate us Tony Perez's newest trilogy reimagines our most famous epic poem as a modern fantasy mystery ------ The premise of Cubao Ilalim is highly intriguing: what if the characters in Ibong Adarna, the classic we all know, were real, immortal and still holding court in a world parallel to ours? What if the kingdom of Berbanya existed “below” Cubao and directly influenced events happening “above”? The saga of its kings, princes, and princesses continuing to this day, to be resolved by their current descendants – could this be possible? Tony Perez – fictionist, playwright, visual artist, and founder of the psychic group called The Spirit Questors – makes it easy for us to believe it. In Cubao Ilalim: Unang Aklat (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 139 pages, 2021), he introduces us to his alter ago, Mang Jony, a writer and expert on magic, who investigates the mysterious disappearance of young men who all have a distinct birthmark appearing when they turn 21. He finds out that they are claimed by Rey Morales, the incarnation of Ibong Adarna’s Haring Salermo. He gathers friends and uses his knowledge of Philippine magic to mount a rescue operation. Along the way, he meets and is aided by Prinsipe Juan, Princesa Maria Blanca, and other members of the court of Berbanya. All these events take place in Araneta Center, Broadway, P. Tuazon, Ermin Garcia Street, and other places anyone who’s been to Cubao would know. The familiarity of the setting and Tony Perez's effortless, evocative writing allows readers to lose themselves in the story. The everyday-ness of the language makes this a highly accessible book: young adults unused to reading in Filipino will enjoy it, too. Cubao Ilalim: Unang Aklat, originally an online novel, was included in Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino’s recent efforts to “create a library for citizens that promotes and highlights Filipino language competency as well as native language as a language of development and discovery.” That a novel written in colloquial Filipino nevertheless meets the agency’s high standards is no surprise: Tony Perez’s Tatlong Paglalakbay trilogy of plays (Bombita, Biyaheng Timog, and Sa North Diversion Road) have made his stature as one of our great playwrights permanent. What’s interesting is that the Cubao Ilalim novels were intended to be adapted for television. As Perez notes in his personal blog: “The work is a trilogy, and this is its first part. It is the complete antithesis of my earlier novel Cubao Crossing, which is an experimentation in 100% characterization. I think that it is safe for me to say that Cubao Ilalim is an experimentation in 100% plot. The minimal characterization was originally to allow for flexibility in casting, and the swift series of events originally designed to avoid dragging and over-interpolated episodes. Unang Aklat, as a matter of fact, is good for 30 episodes, or two full seasons.” In this, Tony Perez overachieves. The action is non-stop and leaves readers in high anticipation of the next book which is currently being printed by KWF Publications. It tempts one to re-read the original and find out what happens next in Ibong Adarna. That Perez, a master of Philippine magic, has reanimated this classic to help us understand society today is magical, indeed. Cubao Ilalim: Unang Aklat is available at Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino

A late lunch at home with Angelique and Jazz; Aubrey sleeping after her night shift.

Good morning, Cubao!

The dragon  tree ruffles its sun-kissed leaves in the breeze.

Good night, Cubao!

Dewdrops embellish the garden flowers with moonstone cabochons.

One Message For One Of 1,800 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with three syllables in your name: It is all right to leave a home you are extremely unhappy in, as long as you can take care of yourself and do not resort to illegal or immoral means to support yourself.

The werewolf asked Bertod to cross the street to the burger stand. Bought foot-long hot dogs for M.'s cafe crew and myself, and two bottles soda.

Took my dog and two sodas in front of my work in progress.

Resisted the temptation to do more construction lines, I usually stop painting after 6:00 PM.

Staggered dinnertimes; Angelique and Jazz attending Jazz's father's birthday dinner, Aubrey preparing for her night shift.

Marvin, Brian, and Noel came into the studio area to see the construction lines I've laid down over the past two days on the cradled canvas for Painting #14 for my next exhibit.

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 snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

We value education only to live in a hell heavily populated with an uneducated majority.

Worked another half-hour on construction lines.

I never buy stuff online from:

--artists who overprice their works

--dealers who try to make a killing on every item, big or small

especially if I am an artist myself and I would rather buy stuff directly from their source rather than through a third party. 

Why should I pay for their monthly rent, their groceries, their bills, and their children's tuition for something I don't really need anyway?

I also never buy stuff online from:

--vendors who insist on getting paid first rather than agree to a cash-on-delivery basis

--riders who won't accept landline numbers and insist on being given a cell phone number 

First of all, I am the one with the money and the one who is paying in cash, and so I will shop only on my own terms, whether offline or online.

Secondly, with all that technology (Wayz, GPS, Messenger, tracking maps, et cetera), why does an atchay rider have to call me to hear my voice and ask me, "Ser, saan po kayo banda?" Is a buyer not real to them if they do not hear his voice?

I would rather keep my money, and, thankfully, I often do.

Worked an hour on construction lines.

Worked half an hour on construction lines.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Someone will fall off a zipline.

Your Messenger message:

"Hello po sir tony, magandang araw po sa inyo ,sir nag hahanap po ako ng makakapag turo po sa akin tungkol sa po sa mundo ng ispiritual ,ang pakay ko po ay kaalam para magamit sa kabutihanat ma develop ang sarili ko po kung ano man gift binigay po sa akin .,at maka tulong po sa iba .,"

My reply:

You have to look for an elder of your own gender.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a red-hot welding rod.

Good night, Cubao!

Moonlight decorates the neighborhood houses with silver bunting.

One Message For One Of 1,800 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with ten syllables in your name: Only you can give confidence to yourself. Do not rely on outside factors. Do not wait for signs. Believe in yourself and be confident.

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.

Staggered dinnertimes; Angelique resting after work and Aubrey preparing for her night shift.

If you are a realist painter:

--Do not compose your works as though you were composing photographs.

--Do not use photographic techniques on your paintings (cropping, defocusing, disproportioning limbs due to lens distortion, details running out of frame, and the like)

--Paint the background first, especially if it is architectural. Then paint the figure or figures next, for the figures will adjust to the background, but not the other way around.

--When painting portraits, do not make the background a hodgepodge of excess paint. Either paint a concrete background with appropriate details or use a completely new color mixture altogether. The background of a portrait should never be an afterthought. And remember that the background should respond to lighting, as the human figure does.

  

Worked another half hour on construction lines.

We paint simply because we desire all of life to be eternal.

Worked half an hour on construction lines.

This painting begins today, December 2, 2022.

Sorry, no visitors allowed.

Never write or paint to "express yourself". That is the typical excuse used by K-12 teachers of their students, and by mediocre artists.

You secretly fear those whom you admire and envy.

To find out if you are a world-class writer, draw or paint. Your drawing or your painting will give you the definitive answer.

To find out if you are a world-class artist, write. Your writing will give you the definitive answer.

I love wearing dust masks in public. Aside from protecting me and rendering me anonymous, they allow me to utter spells while walking in the street. Sometimes I can be heard by those near me, but, when they turn their heads to see where the sounds are coming from, I assume an innocent, bewildered expression, so that they have no clue that I was the source of the sounds.

Staggered lunchtimes.

I do not write for a living. Neither do I paint for a living.

But, nothing in this world can stop me from writing and painting.

Good morning, Cubao!

A perfect day for a backyard barbecue.

Good night, Cubao!

Night gnomes collect water from the first rainfall of the month.

One Message For One Of 1,800 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with five syllables in your name: Stick to your firm convictions, never give in to group pressure, and do not be swayed by others.

Staggered dinnertimes; Angelique resting upstairs, Aubrey preparing for her night shift.

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.

Evening drizzle on Cubao.

Brian and Noel are now installing string lights inside the small loggia.