Finished Sarah's portrait today at 3:47 PM. Charging my camera battery to take photos later.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017, 3:00 PM

Seventh glaze on gown

When you set an appointment to come see me, come ALONE. Do NOT make the terrible mistake of bringing someone else with you.

Rain clouds scudding like gray ships over Cubao.

Gnomes begin roaming houses and gardens at 6:00 PM.

Only the job itself will tell you when it is done.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Having a bow and arrows is not enough; you also need an advantageous standpoint.

Tony Perez's Art of War: When others criticize you for something, tell them, "You are right, but I want it that way and will have it no other." It immobilizes their minds.

Sometimes it is pointless to wage a battle if both sides believe they are completely correct.

Many people prefer self-sex because they don't have to wait for others to get in the right mood.

Never invest in political risks.

Losers who cannot accept defeat are losers ten times over.

It is not too difficult to gather an audience; all you have to do is put on a noisy performance.

If the pen model is too expensive, buy the ballpoint version rather than the fountain pen version. Ballpoint cartridges are easy to replace; fountain pen nibs, not.

There are elementals on Mars and on Enceladus, among other places in outer space. Hence they always precede the existence of other, living beings.

When elementals come and visit you in your room:

1) You feel insect bites where there are no insects and there are no bites.

2) An unpleasant odor, like the stench of earth or rotting foliage, suddenly becomes present and just as suddenly goes away.

If you could read other people's minds, you would decide to trust no one, decide not to get married to anyone, and live in isolation the rest of your life.

"There is beauty in the bellow of the blast,/
There is grandeur in the growling of the gale,/
There is eloquent outpouring/
When the lion is a-roaring,/
And the tiger is a-lashing of his tail!"

--Gilbert and Sullivan, in The Mikado

Waiting for Aubrey to come home from school. They're on half-day today because of final exams week.

I am poorer by thousands today because I just paid her reservation fee for college.

The February leaf falls off my planner.

This is my "Things To Do" planner. I cross out what I've already done. If there are things that are still left over at the end of the month, I add them to the next one. I know that other people prefer not to cross out stuff, but it helps me to see how far I've gone and how much more I need to do. Crossing out stuff from my planner, to me, is also the equivalent of moving out unwanted energy. It's like getting rid of old, useless memories.

I used to keep diaries and then store them, then gave up and destroyed all of them. This method has so far been the most reliable and the most useful--it actually pushes me to get things going.

Ah, years ago, I thought that I'd no longer need planners after I retired. Now I need them more than ever.

March marches by.

You called my name.

You asked what happiness is, and if anyone can have it.

The sky is a little boy's blue hoodie.

Good morning, Cubao!

It is now time for others to live a life of heaven too.

"But is his sweet expression/
Worth more than my love and affection?/"

Painting like a madman. Someone, stop me.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 6:16 PM

Sixth glaze on gown

Tuesday, February 28, 2017 5:48 PM

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

5:48 PM

Fifth glaze on gown

Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 5:16 PM

Fourth glaze on gown

Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 3:01 PM

Third glaze on gown

A patron may support an artist, but only a fellow-artist knows how to spoil an artist.

And now back to my diamonds.

Two cups black, Robert Timms coffee.

Never envy people who are being loved, for everyone is being loved including you, except that not everyone, including you, can see it.

No person need despair, for even when the rain is absent, the thirstiest of plants can drink from a cloudy sky.

Treat yourself once, and then your loved ones twice.

When people cannot accept the existence of extraterrestrials, it is because they are are afraid to admit that they have always been on the wrong track.

Every person is a prism, but not everyone stands in the light.

The most assuring smile is that which says, "I am your brother", not "I am your lover".

One is sexually attractive because of what he is wearing, never because of what he is not wearing.

Nature dictates your color sense with the colors and color combinations of flowers, birds, and deep-sea fish. Sometimes an artist will choose to defy it, because defiance precedes creation.

The spirit never faints or collapses.

Mastery and time are directly correlated, that is why many fail due to their impatience.

An artist sees remedies that other people don't.

The truly creative person is usually uncelebrated and unknown, because he never bothers to advertise himself.

To know what to improve in your house, always look at it as though you were seeing it for the first time.

Nature is always harsh to an over-sheltered person.

Storage boxes make you forget what you have and what you've put inside them.

Vents may double up as sources of illumination.

The environment always comes to life in the sunlight.

A single person can change an entire community, and then an entire country, and then the entire world, without even being aware of it.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 12:47 NN Second glaze on gown

Second glaze on gown

"Diamonds are forever, they are all I need to please me/
They can stimulate and tease me/
They won't leave in the night/
I've no fear that they might desert me/
Diamonds are forever, hold one up and then caress it/
Touch it, stroke it and undress it/
I can see ev'ry part, nothing hides in the heart to hurt me/
I don't need love, for what good will love do me?/
Diamonds never lie to me/
For when love's gone, they'll lustre on/"

--John Barry

Let us go back briefly to that time in the past when we had no commitments except each other, because that would be a delicious moment of alternative freedom.

People whom you loved and who loved you in the past, and who then left you, and who then came back to you, and who still are with you, are the people who really love you and the people who deserve your love.

The older you get, the more you tend to classify others under two categories--people who matter to you and people who don't matter to you, because one of the secrets to success is to not collect fans but to collect people whom you truly admire for something.

Strange as it sounds, I didn't Unfriend her because I really like her cover photo.

Home alone on a quiet Tuesday.

Hoping to paint diamonds today.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a tube of zinc white paint.

We reincarnate into successive lifetimes because we need all the opportunities we can get, across space and across time, to meet and love all the people we should ever meet and ever love, and one lifetime is most definitely never enough for all that.

Calling it a day for painting. I need to improve those diamonds but can't touch them for now. I have to wait for the glaze to dry--and titanium white takes FOREVER to dry.

Two cups black Robert Timms coffee.

Monday, February 27, 2017, 1:43 PM

First glaze on gown

Monday, February 27, 2017, 1:10 PM

Seventh glaze on face and body

Even now when I've retired from work, I still have a long list of things to do and there just isn't enough time to do all of them. I must have ideas for 50 novels, 15 plays, and 75 paintings, yet find myself having to attend to my family's and my own personal needs.

I thought that retirement would give me the luxury of time. I was wrong. There is never enough time for a creative person, especially when his activities entail creating something out of nothing, not only out of time but also out of space.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a Chinese checkerboard with multicolored marbles.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

One of the ice cubes in my drink had seven rainbows in them.

In 2010 she brought me enough magical items to fill a foot locker. She was selling all of them--because, to her, none of them worked. I bought them because, when I held them in my hands, I immediately sensed that there was magic in all of them.

One year later I brought the items to a "magpipitik" (or "magpapaltik") in Cavite for affirmation. A "magpipitik" is a person who experiences electrical currents through his body while holding a magical item in his hands. All of my items were superb.

Two years later I brought the items to yet another "magpipitik", this one in Zambales, and the results were the same.

"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."

--J.R.R. Tolkien

Angelique has no classes tomorrow and Aubrey is waiting for an announcement from her school as to whether they will have no classes too.

Monday, Monday. As for myself I will have to resume work on my oil painting.

Still on page 70 of the book on Thai magic. This section is on animal spirits and how their power can be harnessed.

Three-hour, deep tissue massage with ventosa.

She always believes that someone is hexing her whenever she has bad luck, because she really has no faith in herself.

The worst atchay of all is the atchay who feels he should be proud to be an atchay.

What your family and loved ones think of you is one thousand times more important than what the world thinks of you.

Time spent extending yourself to other people is time spent away from your family.

Socialization begins with the children's party.

When the sun is out, the magic tree casts shadow puppet plays on the wall.

Many poor men's children are the richest in this world.

The clouds turn ripe and heavy like a nasty cold.

Broadcasters who hold their positions too long eventually believe that they are always right, and that they must always have the last word.

The sprig in a crack in the wall does not care to be uprooted and replanted.

Allow self-important people to believe they always have the upper hand. Since they do not, they will eventually punish and humiliate themselves.

There is nothing more pleasing to me than a rare, expensive, high-quality, smooth, and sturdy fountain pen.

One ring will tighten and make your finger swell whenever you are disloyal and untrue.

Another ring will feel like burning coal.

You build a home to stay in it more than anywhere else, not to have a place to go to once in a while.

When your clutter is comprised of real treasures and not junk, you need not dispose of any of it--nor switch to minimalism.

If you have your own room, strip yourself naked and have a one-hour air bath from time to time.

Spirits find me and come to me only when I myself am thinking of them. Tonee spent the whole night sitting against the wall of my bedroom. She had many questions and expected me to deliver a lecture on life after death. Her main question was, "Can I stay as a spirit on earth forever, if I want to?"

I asked her to scan the ether within my bedroom for other things, and suggested that she read all of my books (this is possible because time and space on the astral are not the same as time and space on the physical).

This morning, while I was preparing my coffee, she walked into the kitchen to say goodbye. She was in a different dress (yes, spirits can change apparel on the astral by sheer will), looked happy, and said that she had other people to visit.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sky is a stainless-steel cooking pot.

Watched The Danish Girl on HBO. Fabulous, art nouveaux sets and props. Alicia Vikander was the most credible performer in this movie. (Love her studio.) As a result, the audience tends to identify with her rather than with her husband. Eddie Redmayne's performance seemed repetitious and boring to me. Those fluttering eyelids and predictable, sudden smiles were as stagnant as his character development. He actually just managed to look like Karen Black.

At any rate I feel that Anne Heywood made a more stunning job of her role in the 1972 movie I Want What I Want.

Go to the light, Mary Antonnette (Tonee) Zuniga of CATO. I will always cherish the moments we shared at the Octagon.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Dinner at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and J. Still having ice cream for dessert.

It is quite frustrating that I cannot comment and attach photos on live video.

Back from doing groceries at the center. Also bought a really soft hair brush, ten more hanging planters, and vegetables for my night salad.

A sweltering afternoon in Cubao, especially because I was doing brisk walking to get home immediately.

A teenage star's concert ongoing at the coliseum. Passed on a light-up princess crown for Chevy; she would probably be interested in it only for a day.

If you are not a practiced astral traveler, astral-travel in the day or astral-travel in the night, but do not astral-travel while the day sky turns to night or when the night sky turns to day.

Note that my night classes are scheduled at 4:30 AM but end long before sunrise. Each class may feel like hours to you, but that is because time on the physical level and time on the astral level are not the same.

Read my exercises on time contraction and time expansion on http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook19.blogspot.com/.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a catch-all for broken dreams.

Dinner at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and J. Of course we had ice cream for dessert.

Bought one box each of two new ice cream flavors--Ube-Caramelized Sugar and Mango-Dark Chocolate--at the Sitio Catacutan Magnolia Depot. Lots of great offers. Bought a jamon de bola at half-price. Had I bought two I'd have gotten a free wall clock, but I didn't like the wall clock.

Friday, February 24, 2017, 2:10 PM

Sixth glaze on head and body

Your Messenger message:

"Hi sir! I would just like to share: I had this dream fragment that i was with you on a spirit quest along with 3 other people. it seemed that was being documented by a camera and a reporter I was on the side explaining things to a 'guest' The peculiar thing that I explain e was that the three/four questors, including you were in 'baluti' - and literally you were clad in a brass sheet armor-like suit (head and body). I also noted that those in armor had several talismans and were holding one of them.

"Then after the quest I accompanied you to the vehicle which you will ride in (together with the other questors). The outside looked like the exterior of our house in Marikina. Then as you left, I saw what looked like the sun rising somewhere in the northeast direction. It rose, then expanded then imploded. I commented after something along the lines of 'something strange usually occurs when we're with you.' I told this to the one I was talking to earlier, along with another guy."

My reply:

Hello ______________!

In this dream, your psyche is reminding you of your vulnerability. On psychological, emotional, and magical levels, you have been taking things for granted and are now afraid either that you are being left behind or that other people are taking advantage of you.

The expansion and implosion of the sun outside your house is a warning. It is about any one of the following:

1) You have been taking risks and engaging in activities you are unsure of.

2) You have been considering severing ties with your family and living a life of independence, but this you are also unsure of.

3) There will be earth changes in your geographical location.

Friday, February 24, 2017, 1:08 PM

Fifth glaze on head and body

Lunch alone, both granddaughters in school.

Had leftovers in the ref.

Friday, February 25, 2017, 12:17 PM

Fourth glaze on head and body

Every day is a sweet Friday to me.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a round, waffle iron.

There is one thing that every leader must learn to accept, which is that not everyone will follow and believe in him, and that neither may history long after he is dead.

There will always be the aroma of good food in every crowded neighborhood.

Do not resort to waging war whenever you are bored.

A warrior does not mind bearing scars, whether they are physical or emotional.

For many women, a man's usefulness is still measured by his ability to perform.

Whatever your culture, it is still all right to use a deck of Tarot cards as long as you feel a strong connection to it:

--Its art appeals to you.
--You feel a tingle in your hands, arms, face, and body whenever you see or touch it.
--It has scenes you believe you've seen before, in dreams or in previous lifetimes.
--You just know that it is yours, and that you must keep it.
--You respect its author/artists by reading and fully comprehending its manual and the ways its creators originally intended it to be used. (You may do away with the manual afterward, and develop your own reading methods.)
--You are able to read its card spreads intuitively, spontaneously, and without effort.

I myself still have several decks of Tarot card, though I use them only for supplementary, not primary, readings.

Your house is your own, private space. Whatever it looks like, love it and be proud of it.

You know it is summertime when it is so hot that you have to keep the ceiling lights off in the daytime.

There are more depressive persons today because technology has made them spoiled brats who have been conditioned to get what they want, and they become easily offended when they don't get it.

Whenever you destroy someone--whoever or whatever he is--you inflict suffering on those who love him and those he leaves behind, and you will be held accountable for all this when you least expect it.

He fights like a man but has the penmanship of a woman.

Because the god of iron feeds on road accidents.

Oh, ____, here are two notebooks I bought at the Sitio Catacutan novelty stall. I'm using them because my granddaughters don't like glitter and sparkle. Do you see?

To protect your family from road accidents, place:

--seven big, iron brads or the biggest nails you can acquire, on your altar
--or nail a horseshoe above your front door.

Thursday, February 23, 2017, 1:53 PM

Third glaze on head and body

There are only a few things I would like to do in Russia:

--Spend a few days and nights in Siberia and meet existing, contemporary shamans.
--Listen to a balalaika.
--Ride a troika under a fur blanket in the wintertime, that is, if troikas still exist.
--Take photos at the graves of famous writers.
--Adopt a wolf and take it home.
--Visit the Moscow Art Theater and perhaps do a workshop there.

In Cubao, summer heat is on because the frangipani are in full bloom.

Already I am thinking of a hot Easter.

He whom you criticize now, you will adore tomorrow.

It is all right to continue loving someone who will never be yours, as long as you have the intelligence to remain content with that situation.

I have always dreamed of building a magnificent tree house on the dragon tree outside, replete with a bridge to our roof deck, but I know that everyone will want to climb into it and invade my privacy.

Watched a replay of NASA's Unexplained Files on Discovery last night, and felt like taking into my hands my favorite piece of tektite from the batch that Tina gave me. Fell asleep with it.

The cold drives you deep into yourself.

The heat entices you out of yourself. It caresses your skin. You feel it coming from the sun, the air, the wind, and the earth, and from the the day and from the night, and it connects you irreversibly with the universe.

Take a deck of playing cards and segregate all the hearts and all the diamonds in two piles. Place them on your magical altar. Then take the aces and carry them in your wallet or purse.

Listen to the voice of the wind in the trees.

Every act of kindness is an act of love.

Patrick visited yesterday after he went supply-shopping in Marikina. A snack at M.'s cafe. Showed me a photo of a gorgeous, leather bag that I simply must have!

One of the best spirit talking boards I ever saw was from Thailand. It was made of wood, hand painted, round, cut into eight wedges like a pie, and could be disassembled for stowing away.

The way to get housework done is to see it as a respite from creative work, such as writing, painting, and knitting.

It is always summer heat that makes us binge on food as a form of escape.

Two cups very black and very bitter Moccona.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are children's piggy banks stuffed with coins.

When hiring transportation services, do not do three bids in order to go with the lowest bid. Go with the best and the most expensive.

Your life could depend on it.

Please correct your misconception. The color red does not signify protection from spirits. It signifies protection BY ancestors.

I Am The Eye In The Sky

Fiction foreshadows reality. In the U.S.A., _Blade Runner_ is being lived.

Dried and salted watermelon seeds make a very good appetizer, except that it is inconceivable as an appetizer to many.

Chinese take-out dinner at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and J. We had two kinds of ice cream for dessert.

My special Friend in Ukraine lives near the Eastern border, where a war is ongoing. I pray for my Friend's safety.

Been wanting to have a bahay kubo rest hut built on our roof deck, screened and for sleeping at night or for siestas, but I am being charged P45,000 for it and I wonder if it is worth it, it being a fire hazard, among other things,

Always have food available, whether your children will eat it or not.

A plant that looks dead is not necessarily dead but may only be in hibernation.

Learn from the tree whose branches and roots strive for symmetry.

A pendant announces what kind of lover you wish to have.

A ring announces your identity, your status, and your belief system.

An earring amplifies psychic hearing, or clairaudience.

A necklace announces what your religion or values are, or else is a mere accessory meant to enhance the clothes you are wearing, especially if it is only a dinky chain or a strand of small beads.

An arm band, a bracelet, or a bangle is an indication of your defense mechanisms. They are archetypal carryovers from gauntlets.

An anklet announces that you are enslaved to someone or something.

No one can purchase anyone and expect complete ownership.

Covetousness is never contingent on gender.

Maturity is a function not only of time but also of breadth of observation and experience.

People can see you very well when they are pretending not to look at you.

I would never live in a condominium unit. It is usually incomplete, has only one of everything, and, whatever it is, it is even too small for my comfort.

Every bedroom in our house has a bathroom and toilet, because staying forever in one's toilet is one of the luxuries that not everyone else has.

Most laughter is really nervous laughter, and nervous laughter is an indication of fear.

Chito visited yesterday, then Angelique and Aubrey did groceries. Was home alone the whole afternoon and able to paint some.

This afternoon I did my second head and body glaze on Sarah's portrait. Afterward Patrick arrived. We snacked at M's cafe. He showed me a photo of a gorgeous, leather bag that I simply must have.

There are small stalls selling interesting novelty items in Sitio Catacutan. I usually go there after dark. I like browsing through their ware. So far I've bought two notebooks, one covered with laminated gold dust, the other covered with laminated silver dust. Could these be elfin stalls?

I think that I'll be going back for more stuff.

Time stands still whenever you contemplate life while sitting under trees.

It flies by when you are in an urban setting, surrounded by skyscrapers.

Wednesday, February 22, 2:02 PM

Second glaze on head and body

Wednesday, February 22, 2017, 1:30 PM

First glaze on head

Actually there is really no excuse to be dysfunctional. Because, even if you have bad parents, the cosmos always sends you good persons in their place.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a golden dragon.

Watched The Brothers Grimsby on HBO. Enjoyed it.

I Have The Night

This is my favorite part of the night, when all of the family members are in their rooms upstairs and I have the ground floor all to myself. I go to the kitchen and have a slow, bedtime snack. There are times when I cross the street to the burger stand or go to M.'s cafe, but I am still craving ripe mangoes and we have lots of them in the ref. I afterward loll in bed and read a book (usually a Judge Dee, but tonight I am still carefully reading the book on Thai magic that my sister Sylvia sent me). And then I let the TV take over and lull me to sleep with world news.

I am happy that I am unmarried and have no partner that I would have to converse with or constantly adjust to. I speak only for myself, of course. I have always liked doing things alone and without relying on anyone else, which is probably why I am a writer and a painter, the kind of writer and the kind of painter that can live without regularly having sex with or touching someone who is always beside him.

This, I think, is what makes me different from my colleagues.

I have the night, and, whenever I do, I feel that I am everyone I have ever wanted to be and that, because I feel that I have everything, I could not desire anything more.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017, 5:57 PM

Brought out eight sweaters last week and wore them in rotation, but now I am about to stow them away again.

Oh, and this is my Virginia Woolf writing tablet, ____. Antique dealer Gerry Esposo had it made for me years ago. As you can see it has an ink bottle holder and a pair of inkwells for dip pens, but I am, at the moment, using one of my Sheaffer fountain pens. 😃

Loss of power is never a threat to them whose power emanates from within.

Damage, defects, and imperfections are part of an object's history and existence. They make the object so much more interesting, with many lessons to impart to you and to others.

When offering food to elementals, ensure that there is no salt in it, or they will feel very slighted.

Everything has a voice, including silence.

What comes naturally is always so much better than what comes contrived.

There are loud sirens only when the rain stops.

Perhaps the sound of the rain on the rooftops makes you deaf to the sounds of disaster.

Rather than do everything on the left and then do everything on the right, move regularly from one to the other.

First, you lose it. Then you miss it.

Creativity is always there, but it naturally springs forth and flows. You cannot attempt to squeeze it out like old paint from a tube.

Now is the time for water turnips dipped in vinegar, salt, and pepper. Totally non-fattening.

Plan your career and your talent instead of venturing forth by trial and error.

A good life is a simple life, yet we choose to complicate it merely in order to be unique.

Hang a circle on your bedroom wall and contemplate it, and see how much positive change this brings to your life.

It is the man who dares, who leads.

There are things you dream of that could easily be reality, but you've become too comfortable just dreaming.

Wondering why the weather in Central Asia never makes it to world news.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017, 2:15 PM

Tuesday, February 21, 2017, 1:50 PM

Done with face and hair, but will go back to every detail after the entire painting is done.

So much for the brief, 12-day, Cubao springtime.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is an emergency light.

I am completely well and, because whenever I have the flu I take care to coddle myself like a baby and treat myself like a king, I do not have post-flu depression.

I hope my spiritual brother across the sea also doesn't have post-flu depression. But he is employed as opposed to retired and I am certain he will hate going back to work for a while.

Will have to resume my exercise regimen tomorrow lest all that ice cream take their toll on me.

Had a root beer while Angelique and J. had dinner at M.'s cafe.

Then bought fresh mangoes at the fruit stall across the street.

Had fresh mango a la mode--with Mango Classic ice cream.

Dinner with Aubrey. Now waiting for Angelique and M., who are coming from an org meeting at university.

Tedious as it sounds, try to collect eight, small, identical bottles and place them on a tray near your front door in order to protect your home. The bottles should contain:

Earth:

-- garden soil
-- sand

Air:

-- nothing
-- incense dust (may be obtained for free from Chinese temples)

Fire:

-- ashes
-- coal dust

Water:

-- alkaline water or mineral water
-- rain water, sea water, or well water

Bought two more boxes of ice cream. I still haven't come upon a flavor I don't like.

Back from the center. Paid our water bill and bought stuff for our hanging gardens.

Also bought my third box of _____!

Now it is as hot as the height of summer in Cubao.

Tony Perez's Art of War: When a person criticizes you for something you accomplished, it is because you hit a raw nerve in his being, aroused the memory of a traumatic experience from his childhood, or reminded him of his own inability to achieve.

Braggadocio and hubris are the millstones round his neck.

Wishing I had life-size Bruce Lee statues, but I have learned from sculpture that the bigger the piece, the more glaring its artificiality.

Now it is the co-host's turn to face the music, because he is even more remiss on many counts.

A facebook Friend had the flu the same time I did, and I am not surprised. We seem to be connected in many ways.

Two cups very black and very bitter Moccona.

The sky is a gold-bordered rice bowl.

Good morning, Cubao!

Home alone. Thinking of having lunch out.

Off-rad and glad.

Whenever I am alone in the house and Cerefina is around, I think aloud to myself. Cerefina follows me wherever I go, looks at me, listens to what I say, and reacts to what I say, pretty much like what Snowy does with TinTin.

Never accept any job that will endanger your family directly or indirectly--physically, psychologically, or emotionally. Such a job will take you to spiritual poverty.

"To Russia I flew/
But there and then/
I suddenly knew/
You'd care again/"

I sit inside the small loggia every afternoon. Cerefina likes lying on the floor beside me and watching people saunter along the driveway.

This is the antique, writing slope I use. I bought it from Sam Fiorella of Iowa City years ago. It is made from the top of an old and obsolete classroom desk. It originally had students' graffiti all over, but a friend once offered to revarnish it and thoughtlessly sanded off the graffiti.

When we hear birds cry we assume that they are mating calls. Sometimes, though, they are messages intended to warn humans of impending danger.

A tree is a residence of enchanted beings if its big, main branches splay out from only one, central spot rather than from several spots along its trunk. That one, central spot is called a crossroads.

A mentor waits for you to love him before teaching you everything he knows. And he can always tell if you do not love him.

Two cups black Robert Timms.

Yesterday evening while I was writing in the small loggia a neighbor walked up to me and asked my advice on obtaining a fiancee visa. It occurred to me then that one's pre-retirement job can come back to bug one from time to time.

It is never boring for me to provide food, wash the dishes, and clean the house somewhat everyday because all of these are things I do for myself and my family, not for some office I probably couldn't care less about.

Bought two boxes of ice cream yesterday, and possibly buying more tomorrow.

Tony Perez's Art of War: A student or friend who was disloyal to you once will be disloyal to you over and over again.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Never extend an invitation to an enemy to join you in heaven. Wherever you are, it will immediately stop being heaven.

Knowing his paint colors but not knowing his brushes is every artist's blind spot.

He came to visit me because he wanted to see me in person. When he finally did I sensed that he was terribly afraid of me, and everything I said to him increased that fear.

Maybe the moon was full? Maybe I was in werewolf mode?

Two cups very black and very bitter Moccona.

Good morning, Cubao!

Slept eight hours last night.

The sky is a clean sheet off a sketch pad.

My sister and my brother-in-law arrived safely in Sydney this morning.

Still craving ripe mangoes. Thankfully, all I have to do is cross the street and buy some.

Wet day in Cubao, and probably wet night. The birds in the dragon tree were happy, though. They were singing, whistling, and warbling all day long.

The other piece of good news is that our planters are hanging from the balcony grills round our house, and so our plants got watered.

Cubao rain.

I'm not going jalan-jalan at the center after all.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a segment of pale pomelo.

Now I have a Russian Friend surnamed Chekov. I'm certainly going to ask him if he is a descendant of the Moscow Art Theatre playwright Anton Chekov!

Fresh mango overdose.

No one believes me when I say that I no longer have a mobile. I didn't buy a new one after the last one went out of order.

I have survived without a mobile for more than three months now and I actually like it that way. My life is more peaceful. I noted that, when I had a mobile, people got in touch with me because they needed something from me, never the other way around.

I have a Russian Friend surnamed Rasputin but I haven't had the courage to ask him whether that is his real name and, if it is, whether he is a descendant of sorts of THE Rasputin (Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin).

Will resume Sarah's portrait on Monday. The glazes need to dry anyway.

I had the flu because:

--I had a three-hour, deep tissue massage and then wallowed in the cold air outside.
--My sister and brother-in-law arrived from Oz and I had to go out with them and my family several times, some of these entailing waking up early.
--I had to wake up early on the 14th to go to a TV interview, which is always stressful for me.
--Rectified turpentine fumes make me weak.

My idea of a restful existence now is to be alone, to sleep through each morning, to do only the things I like doing, and to avoid appointments, consultations, and interviews.

Mix potions only when you are at the peak of health and feeling great.

If I live to be 70 I will probably hire a caregiver who will function mostly as an assistant and a secretary for myself. It is most difficult to find a person like that, however, and I will also probably not have one at all because I suspect that I will end up taking care of him rather than the other way around.

Sleep mends the body.

Art mends the soul.

Sometimes it rains, without raindrops.

Consider that people go to coffee shops not to socialize but to be alone.

We are finally getting rid of the weather-worn gnome house on our roof deck. I purchased it in Tayabas, Quezon in 2014. I wonder if I shall ever see anything like it again, and if I will want to buy it when I do.

One of my most relaxing moments is sitting inside our small loggia and writing in a notebook while hearing sounds of traffic coming from the highway. It always makes me feel that I have arrived, and that I no longer need to travel to and from work.

It is the paranoid schizophrenic who demands extreme loyalty of everyone.

Tony Perez's Art of War: They who shun you will eventually need you and come back to you, and then it should be your turn to shun them.

Getting well after a fever is a form of resurrection.

Fourth cup of very black and very bitter Moccona.

The sky is a white bedsheet tented over Cubao.

The bear hibernates. The wolf does not.

You are way ahead if all others are still trying to catch up with you.

It is unwise to fall in love only with body parts.

It is also unwise to fall out of love only because of body parts.

And this baby atlas moth insists on residing inside our antique, Maranao bell.

Phat Doog On An Afternoon Walk