Good night, Cubao!

In the travelers' inn, the young ones go to bed early while the adults work on their laptops inside the room.

One Message For One Of 1,900 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with eight syllables in your name: In order to be an original writer, you have to stop reading other people's works and being influence by them, whether consciously or subconsciously.

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.

Mico drops by to pick up his copy of _Cubao Ilalim: Unang Aklat_. Treated him to a lemon-honey buffalo wings meal at M.'s cafe.

Mico is the only student of mine who gives me Almond Roca, the only candy that exists for me in this world.

Passed on to Mico a framed taladro of _Pagkabuhay._

Back home from dinner at the center hosted by Ryan and Peachie. They used the occasion to introduce me to four of their trainees.

Worked an hour on twenty-first glaze.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are boxes of sugar doughnuts.

Good night, Cubao!

The gnome nurses work overtime watching over the patients in the infirmary.

One Message For One Of 1,900 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with five syllables in your name: Be patient, for I have to catch up on coffee meetings with other Friends. I hope to get together with you soonest.

Aubrey and Roi arrived from dinner out.

Angelique arrived from a Thai dinner out with a childhood friend who is soon leaving for work in Brussels.

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.

Worked half an hour on twentieth glaze.

Roi arrived.

Lunch at home alone.

Worked an hour on nineteenth glaze.

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

Good morning, Cubao!

The day is a long, grocery list.

Good night, Cubao!

Everyone will need double blankets on chilly nights.

One Message For One Of 1,900 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with three syllables in your name: Consider the work you were offered, and whether you trust the man who offered it.

Staggered dinnertimes.

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.

Worked half an hour on eighteenth glaze.

And I thought that I would do nothing all day today.

Gave some Christmas money to Rayven and Leah, the cafe children, who were playing in the driveway.

Quite a few men are walking down the street wearing new shirts that their women evidently bought for them.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

The neighborhood stirs and stretched and slowly comes back to waking life.

Slept ten hours last night.

It must have been the two-hour, deep tissue massage. Or my nightly session of mentally therapeutic online videos: _Bounty Hunter D Fraud Investigations_, _Bounty Hunter D Cheaters_, and Bounty Hunter D Baby Daddy_. I love Bounty Hunter D and Patty Mayo, but they are not for the faint-hearted!

Good morning, Cubao!

It is a day of celebration for some, and a day of rest for others.

Christmas Eve inside my ground-floor bedroom on the compound. A cacophony of music wafts in through my windows from a variety of sources: M.'s cafe; the rice, fruit, and vegetable stall across the street; the security guard's station in front of the admin office; a tenants' party on the north side of the compound; and the cell phones of tenants sitting on the concrete platform between our side porches.

I sleep well to urban noise. I feel safe and secure when I hear signs of life around me. 

Good night, Cubao!

The neighborhood houses shut their doors for the night, but happy, family celebrations continue within.

One Message For One Of 1,900 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with four syllables in your name: Be true to your convictions and to everything you believe in, and you cannot go wrong.

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.

A quiet, Christmas Eve dinner prepared by my granddaughters Angelique and Aubrey. No frills: rib eye steak, pesto pasta with ham and bacon, mashed potatoes in full cream milk, diced potatoes fried with rosemary, pepper, and other spices in olive oil, sweet corn, and a sangria concocted from cabernet, cranberry juice, diced apples, and sliced oranges.  

Two-hour, deep tissue massage. Knocked the December chill off my bones and muscles.

Worked an hour on seventeenth glaze.

Angelique and Aubrey are now cooking our Christmas Eve dinner in the kitchen.

Staggered lunchtimes.

Good morning, Cubao!

The golden bird hovers above the neighborhood.

Good night, Cubao!

The gnomes saddle and spruce up the water rats for their night parade.

One Message For One Of 1,900 Friends, One Every Night Of The Year

You with three syllables in your name: Continue enjoying life with simplicity, and you will find that you are already in heaven on earth.

Angelique and Jazz are watching a movie and having dinner out,.

Dinner at home alone; Aubrey preparing for her night shift.

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.

Worked half an hour on  sixteenth glaze.

I still wonder why, when my play is being rehearsed, the director resents it when I become close with his cast members.

Worked an hour on fifteenth glaze.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Must go out in a while to buy additional ingredients for our Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow.

Good morning, Cubao!

The day elves pay afternoon calls to kind neighbors.

Been following my Russian athlete friends' advice for three months now. They go skinny-dipping in the snow and soak in tubs filled with ice. I don't go to such extremes, of course, but I've stopped using the water heater and have been showering with cold water. It reduced the amount of leg cramps I used to have in bed by 90%.

Good night, Cubao!

What is the perfect fairy tale for you to reread tonight?

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

You with three syllables in your name: Fun naturally tapers off when you get a job and seriously save up for the future, not only for yourself but also for your family.

Bertod fried ham in butter to add to our dinner.

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

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.

Swung by the neighborhood grocery. Bought a bag full of groceries for my sister Alice.

Worked an hour on fourteenth glaze.

Two deliveries arrived for Angelique.

Good morning, Cubao!

The day has wings. It flies, and it stops to rest.

I am always working on a huge painting in December, as though I subconsciously want it to be the climactic event of my year. 

Good night, Cubao!

The youngest in the group will be the first to see it.

When someone informs you that he is planning to leave you, he practically has gone already.

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

You with nine syllables in your name: Nothing is really the same after a long separation, so be prepared to adjust to changes.

Staggered dinnertimes. 

Brought some food over to M.'s cafe staff.

Night chores.

My favorit6e time of the day has come again: an evening shower, and then snuggling in bed with a Netflix movie.

Worked half an hour on thirteenth glaze.

Asked Bertod to pay our water bill at the center.

A ream of ziggurats from D.'s store.

Worked half an hour on twelfth glaze.

Many do not have visions of the future because they are sparing themselves from having visions of suffering.

Be happy. Want, but do not desire.

Worked an hour on eleventh glaze.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi sir Tony, magtatanong lang po! Bilang isang myembro ng LGBT at bagamat may matagal nang partner, ako po'y nakakaramdam ng pagkabahala sa kinabukasan ko paminsan-minsan gaya ngayong kapaskuhan. Masyado lang po kaya akong nag-alalala?"

My reply:

Hello _______!

Walang kinalaman ang pagkabahala mo sa pagiging miyembro ng LGBT, sa pagkakaroon ng parner, at sa Pasko--kundi sa kawalan mo ng sapat na seguridad--sariling bahay, trabahong patuloy na magsusustento sa 'yo di lamang ngayon kundi maging pagkatapos mong magretiro.

Kasi, magbago ka man ng kasarian, iwan ka man ng partner mo, o may mangyari man sa trabaho mo--kung mayro'n kang sapat na seguridad, wala kang dapat ikabahala.

Lunch at home with Aubrey.

The envy of others is always a flattering gift of inconvenience.

Good morning, Cubao!

The holiday djinns start making their rounds.

Holiday party going on somewhere in the neighborhood with lots of singing on a mike. Sounds like it's at PNP Station 7, on Camp Panopio Compound, diagonally across the street from us..

Good night, Cubao!

The students who decided to stay with their teacher over the holidays spend their evenings poring through his magic books.

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

You with six syllables in your name: Especially this season, do not compare yourself with others. Neither should you compare what you receive with what others receive.

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

Staggered dinnertimes.

Worked two hours on tenth glaze.

Aubrey and Roi are having lunch out.

Ceaseless barking from the doggies woke me up this morning. Apparently the air-conditioner service men arrived.

Afterward, Roi arrived.

Good morning, Cubao!

Gentle morning drizzles spruce up the garden plants.

Your Messenger message:

"Good Morning Tony, do you mind if i ask again kung ano ang vibration mo regarding sa pag sabi ko sa mother ng anak ko its better na maging friend na lang kami ? We have plan ng getting married ng childhood GF , at maging smooth kaya pag sasama namin as husband & wife.Thanks again"

My reply:

Hello _______!

I take it that you are not married to the mother of your child and you are free to get married to another woman, your childhood sweetheart. You owe the mother of your child the truth, and she should respect your feelings and wish for your happiness--UNLESS you are living together and she is still in love with you, in which case you would be causing her much grief and she will feel that she was being used.

Exercise judgment with caution and with much thought. Only you will know what to do because only you know both women. Your current desire won't be worth it if you will only reap much karma in the end.

In cases like this, do not ask others for their opinion--whether they are parents, counselors, religious persons, or psychics--because you would only place the responsibility on others' shoulders...and then blame them for giving you advice when things go wrong. 

Commencing tenth glaze tomorrow.

Started Painting #14 December 2 and it's December 19 already, making it 18 days so far with 13 layers and nine glazes. This is one of the most difficult paintings I've ever done and I wonder how much of it I can cover through the end of the year.

Native North Americans place burden baskets at the entrances to their homes, so that one can unload his mental and emotional burdens into the basket before entering.

Place a burden basket outside your bedroom door in order to have a good night's sleep. You will even find that the night elves sometimes take the burdens away.

Your Messenger message:

"Sir Tony, good evening. Pwede pong magpatulong sa inyo? Desperate na po talaga ako at hindi ko na alam ang gagawin.

"Is there a way po ba na maclose ang specific skill? Simula pagkabata ko po, nakikita ko na ang mga living being dead before pa sila mamatay few hours or a few days before. Masakit po ang skill na ito, nakakaguilty kasi wala akong magawa. Hindi ko alam kung paano sila mamamatay. Wala akong magagawa at wala akong masabihan. Desperate lang po talaga ako. Salamat po sa inyo."

My reply:

Hello _______!

Any of the psychic senses can be shut down at will--the way you can shut down your physical sight and your physical hearing via sensory deprivation, or by closing your eyes and covering your ears. The same goes for overthinking; you can actually shut it down. It is only in Hollywood and in horror movies that characters are not able to shut them down--because, if they did, there would be no story, and audiences would complain that they did not get what they paid for.

Other methods to shut psychic senses down are:

--via distraction, such as watching TV or listening to music.  
--via focusing on other activities and other matters, such as hobbies, sports, or art. 
--via grounding, such as drinking cups of tea, preferably oolong.
--via wearing light-colored clothes.
--via sheer willpower: say "No" to whatever you see coming. It's like saying "No" to a persistent suitor you don't like.

Remember, only you can shut these senses down. Running to a psychic, shaman, or mage for them to do so for you is another Hollywood and another horror movie strategy. While it may seem dramatic and spectacular, it really does not make sense. It's like buying a piece of cake and asking someone to eat it for you, because you want to eat it.

If all else fails, I suggest that you consult an older counselor of your own gender.

Good night, Cubao!

The paintings stir and come to life come midnight.

You with six syllables in your name: Do not be dampened by your losses. Better things are coming your way, for you are still destined to be great.

Asked Raven 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 arrived home from an on-site exam.

Worked half an hour on ninth glaze.

Worked an hour on eighth glaze.

Worked an hour on seventh glaze.

Aubrey came down to a late lunch in the dining room.

Slept nine hours last night.

Good morning, Cubao!

The day is an easy chair on a balcony.

My younger son Chito, Roger, and John Paul arrived at their respective homes in Occidental Mindoro.

My younger son Chito, Roger, and John Paul have arrived in Occidental Mindoro and are now traveling on land.

Good night, Cubao!

Darkness lays his hand on your forehead to take your mental burdens away.

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

You with eight syllables in your name: You may feel that being an artist is your true calling, but be serious about your craft and always seek to develop it--simply because there are already two artists in every square inch of this country.

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 and Jazz; Aubrey still resting upstairs.

Aubrey arrived before the sun set.

My younger son Chito, Roger, and John Paul are still two and a half hours away from Occidental Mindoro, but their phones have signal now.

Asked Bertod to gut and deep-fry three fresh bangus that Angelique, Aubrey, and Jazz brought home from Bulacan yesterday. 

Am craving bagnet from the Christmas bazaar, though.

Worked half an hour on sixth glaze.

Worked half an hour on fifth glaze.

Worked half an hour on fourth glaze.

Worked half an hour on third glaze.

Staggered lunchtimes.

Every religion will insist that their God is the only one, true God.

My sister Alice sends us Christmas gifts. I do the same, I just give people cash. I am not a man for others and I can't be bothered to do shopping for them.

It is always a Merry Christmas and it is always a Happy New Year for those who are profitably retired and can do only what they like and what gives them the greatest pleasure.

Aubrey is off to a baptismal event and my younger son Chito, Roger, and John Paul are, I hope, already on a ferry on their way to occidental Mindoro.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun strews golden coins on the surface of the sea.

And so to bed. I cannot believe this day is done.

Resuming glazing tomorrow.