Good night, Cubao!

Benjie is working in the house the whole day tomorrow. As for myself, I shall continue cleaning out the walk-in closet and the upstairs storage room.

Back from dinner out with the granddaughters. I decided that we go because Aubrey seemed disappointed we didn't have lunch out. She was all dressed up and ready to go this morning. I know the feeling.

We are working on three special projects that are quite exciting, and I hope that we complete them before mid-December.

Signing Cherry's five copies of my books and stamping them with my signet ring.

My point in posting my works in cyberspace is to make them accessible to the world.

My point in selectively using social media, on the other hand, is to prevent everyone from accessing my self and my private life.

Water ripples because of one of two reasons: the movement of the wind and vibration from beneath.

Now Aubrey is awake and I must take her to M.'s cafe for a late lunch.

Your house is your personal city. The more you stay at home, the more you are likely to make it complete.

Whenever I give my granddaughters their weekly allowance, Kichiro Mayuzumi gets all excited and begs for some money too.

Living eleven months as a hermit now. Out of touch with former co-workers, friends, and acquaintances. In touch only with family and students.

I know nothing about everyone else, everyone else knows nothing about me, and I AM SO LOVING IT!

Your Hangout message:

"My December goal is to be able to document all talismans that I have. My memory is not that good anymore."


My reply:

Actually, your memory is as good as it will ever be. Magical items have a way of making you forget all about them. Upon acquiring such an item--whether a taladro, a panyo, a booklet, or a medallion--I make it a point to record everything about it in my secret blog immediately. Even then I am unable to remember everything and need to refer to the blog frequently.

Lunch with Angelique and her classmate at M.'s cafe. Aubrey decided to go back to sleep.

Angelique and her classmate are editing their survey report.

All of us are having dinner out and finally taking Kichiro Mayuzumi to the pet parlor.

I review my "In my circles " and "Have you in circles" everyday. When I admit someone from the latter into the former and he/she takes me out from the latter, I delete him/her from my circles completely.

Good morning, Cubao!

Slept eight hours after a deep tissue massage.

My day began with simultaneous occurrences. Angelique and a classmate were at Araneta Center buying tickets for Wednesday's game, which, unfortunately, had already sold out. We are all having lunch at home. A woman and her son from _______ buzzed by with lots of quilted stuff for sale--they remind me of the stuff they make at Smokey Mountain--made of varied, Christmas-pattern fabric. I normally turn my nose up at those, except that my karma for the day was that they had one peculiar set in a gorgeous pattern that was really fabulous. I bought it. Then Benjie arrived with a sack of dog food for Kichiro Mayuzumi from Bulacan. Benjie resumes house cleaning work tomorrow. In the meantime both the dust bin man and my masseur want to do house cleaning work for me as well, and I don't know how to handle the situation for now.

Good night, Cubao!

Tomorrow is a Philippine holiday, but I need to take the granddaughters to the center. We are having Kichiro Mayuzumi shorn and manicured, and need to buy home necessities.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Granddaughters arrived this evening. We had dinner at M.'s cafe.

N. visited and bought three potent, favorite talismans that my granddaughters have no interest in. We had green, antioxidant, tea. I gave her two semi-precious stones. She also gave me something that really made my day great: a hardbound TinTin journal!

GUIDELINES FOR THE COMING WEEK (MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30 - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2015) are now on my Google+ page, but visible only to Followers.

At the end of each month, make it a point to celebrate, no matter how simple the activity.

Do not make your neighbor's success a yardstick for yours.

Now at the tail end of the month, ensure that your December takes you to the realization of your main objective for the entire year. If it is not possible to do so, even at this late hour make a list of five, doable tasks. That way you would have accomplished at least five things before the onset of 2016.

The best resource persons are always available, but have the luxury of telling you that they are not.

Spend your time not admiring movie stars but improving your own life, for you are the true protagonist in your life story.

A window is a painting that changes everyday.

It is your acceptance of imperfection that makes you perfect.

The world makes a choice between being at peace with random pockets of war, and being at war with random pockets of peace.

Lunch alone in M.'s cafe, since the granddaughters are at the family reunion.

Ready for 2016. Entering important dates and routine reminders. I learned the hard way that it is safer, handier, and more convenient to mark those in a planner rather than in your cell phone.

As long as your work is on the Internet, it cannot be plagiarized without the whole world knowing it.

Home alone. Granddaughters attending a reunion on Ivy's side of the family.

All men insist on establishing definitions, which is why there is so much misunderstanding in this world.

It is amusing to watch an ageing TV host desperately clinging on to the last possible semblance of fake youthfulness, and equally amusing to watch her go past it into irreversible old age without her ever being aware of it.

She misses the pathetic popularity she used to have, but she will never be popular again.

New wuxias are already showing on GTV. Quite surprising, considering how Romance of the Condor Heroes seemed to take forever before it finally ended.

Solid, dark paint on walls is advisable, but dark-stained wood paneling is not. Elemental images will always show up against the latter.

Ripe mangoes should be sliced the normal way, set on a plate, and then placed inside the freezer for three hours. Eating them is like eating intensely delicious ice cream.

My grandchildren like it when I take them along to buy groceries, because I let them place anything they like in our shopping cart.

One Man's Freedom Is Another Man's Fear

The day I retired was one of the happiest days of my life. I was finally free to enjoy my house 24/7, spend real quality time with my children and grandchildren, and read, write, paint, and knit the whole day if I wanted to. Each day was at my command. I had no more supervisors. I could speak my mind out loud to anyone. I could eat and sleep wherever and whenever I wanted. I became a king, for it is possible to become a king even without enormous riches. It was the perfect passage for a hedonist.

I was surprised, therefore, when an old friend came to me and told me how terrified he was of retirement. He described it as the day when no one would call him or see him again. I tried to convince him that, upon retirement, one's status changes, but the people around one do not change. Still, he continued to feel anxious.

Perhaps other people dread retirement because they are not creative human beings. There are, as a matter of fact, people who do not even understand what being creative is, because one discovers creativity only in solitude, and those with many insecurities fear solitude. I am glad that am able to teach people what all of those truly are in all of my workshops.

Good morning, Cubao!

Went to the Sitio Catacutan Bakery.

B. text-messaged and will drop by later today.

Good night, Cubao!

Now I can go into my bedroom, because Angelique and J. have arrived from Araneta Center.

Looking forward to knitting a few more rows.

I seem to be going through another golden mango period.

Never be afraid to admit that life is sad, for it is, but it is pretty much up to you to bring joy to it--whether to your own life or to someone else's.

If you are sensitive enough, you will notice that certain TV commercials generate negative energy, especially those that use models who live wretched lives. Whenever such a commercial comes on, switch temporarily to another channel or push the energy back into the screen with both hands.

Toonami entertains my Inner Child, though I sometimes feel that it is really for adults or young adults.

Our roof deck garden is now completely inhabited by fairies and pixies.

Gnomes are always on the ground floor.

To avoid frozen shoulder, raise your arms and fold your hands behind your head once in a while, either while seated or while on a bed.

Angelique and J. are ecstatic because their team won.

There is one way to improve the tastelessness of Pepsi Max, which is to squeeze a slice of lemon or two sliced kumquat into your glass.

Actually a tip from Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Now cleaning out the walk-in closet in the guest room. It somehow ended up as storage space. Discovered a lot of children's books I thought had been lost, but I still can't find Bears in the Night.

I recycled my grandchildren's old grade school notebooks, and there are a lot. I discovered that 1/3 - 1/4 of each notebook has blank pages and can still be used for notes. I now have a TALL stack of such notebooks, enough to last me a lifetime. Ergo, no more notebook shopping. I can write notes to my heart's content with all that I have, especially since they can be inserted in my antique, leather notebook covers.

Angelique had a very methodical way of taking and organizing notes when she was in grade school. Everything is neat and written with at least two ink colors. Her illustrations are also stunning--they remind me of my father's old Biology notebook.

Aubrey's notes were looser, but no less thorough.

I am proud of my two granddaughters.

Yellow rules.

Checked out the art supplies at National Book Store Superbranch. Very incomplete as usual. Their pinewood easels are awful.

Road rage, and, I believe, any kind of rage, is really rage against God manifesting as dissatisfaction with Creation.

I observe that men who impatiently bump people in the streets eventually suffer from severe leg diseases.

This is the second time I've been at Araneta Center with people congregating for a basketball tournament. I know nothing about basketball and would rather paint than play or watch it, but I like the bristling energy emanating from the crowds. I can actually tap into it and draw some of it into my magical implements.

Very light drizzle in Cubao. Not enough to refresh the forest of plants on our roof deck, although all of those plants are being trained to survive on their own.

Back from lunch and coffee out with Aubrey. We hunted for items from her two classmates' birthday wish lists but all of them were out of stock. She will just have to hunt for those another day with Angelique.

Bought toiletries, insecticide, mangoes and apples, chips, a Pepsi pack, and a dressed chicken for dinner tonight.

Fully Booked no longer exists in Gateway, it was replaced by a newly-opened, albeit scanty, Gourdo's. I bought my 2016 executive planner from National Book Store.

Still reading a few pages from Gleason's book every night, and only because I am determined to finish reading it. It is quite unfortunate that it was written at a time when pretentious, pseudo-intellectual writing was in vogue, like convoluted art reviews in which neither the art works nor the reviews communicate with high-fidelity--or any kind of fidelity--to the general public.

We study Nature prodigiously with scientific tools, quickly forgetting that Nature is magical, whimsical, and irrational.

There seems to be one sure way to win a competition these days. It is to wear cross pendants and announce to the public that everything you do is for the Christian god.

The longest journey in life is the quest for knowledge of self.

It is discombobulating to me whenever a husband dies and I see his widow's grief interspersed with moments of silent euphoria, as though she were finally glad to be free from him.

Good morning, Cubao!

Planning to have lunch out and do groceries with Aubrey today.

Night Class

Progress on my wuxia scarf.

Progress on the spread I am working on in my adult coloring book.

Good night, Cubao!

Angelique and J. are having dinner out and watching the last full show of a movie. Aubrey had varsity volleyball training and ate out with her friends.

Aubrey and I had fruit shakes at M.'s cafe.

M. and I are planning to install outdoor lamps to hang from the two biggest trees outside the cafe. M. also wants to have the major part of the plantboxes razed to accommodate outdoor seating a la Paris.

Nobody knows anyone else that well. The husband, his wife. The wife, her husband. The parent, their child. The child, their parent. The student, his teacher. The teacher, his student.

That is why life is always full of surprises.

Today's message to me was:

"Inside is a mysterious verse. It will be revealed when the cock crows. Be quick enough to comprehend its crux so as to break open your gateway."

Every Religious Studies professor should be an analyst, not an evangelist.

Cleared more stuff away, and set some aside for B.

All Wands must continue pointing to the earth. If I gave you a stave, however, it should not point to the earth but should lie flat on the floor pointing east.

Actually she has stopped growing. It's the same, sweet, nerdy number each time. You've heard one, you've heard them all.

It is extremely dangerous to cast a dark spell. If it cannot find its target, it will rush back and drop itself like a bomb on you.

When a master teaches you a dark spell, it will work on everyone else but not on him.

A dark spell is unlike a sword or a dagger. It has a mind of its own, which an ordinary weapon does not.

When casting a spell, always light your magic lantern. It is a beacon to the collective unconscious and to your spirit guides.

Late lunch alone in M.'s cafe.

The first thing that occurs to you is usually never the true thing.

I can no longer make up for all the nights I came home late from work to my two sons, because they are both grown up, one has passed away, and the other has his own family and lives in a different house, but I still can to my two granddaughters who are still in school and live with me, by staying home most of the time and always being there for them.

Looking back now, I should have excelled less as an employee and more as a father. It is easy to undo mistakes one does at work, but what one gives and does not give one's family are always irreversible.

I can have as many jobs as I want, but I have only one family.

Placid noon with skies slightly overcast.

A student who insists on having his/her own way must first learn the lesson of humility.

Afterimages

Lights go out, shadows remain
Colors switch to complementaries
Laughter reverberates
Memory reverses
Grief follows death, but then the eye rests
And everything looks the same again

GUIDELINES FOR THE WEEKEND (SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2015) are now on my Google+ page but visible only to Followers.

When a good teacher perceives that you did not learn from an initial lesson, he will not proceed to teach you the next lesson.

Heaven is an environment in which there are always rewards but no punishments, not even a punishment for a reward.

A good student does not ask to plunge directly into a hardcore lesson.

A good student simply wants to be there with with his teacher, and in silence.

It is improper to try to teach a person a lesson, because he has every right not to learn anything from you.

The slave controls, and so the master should be afraid.

It is possible to scry on smoke because such matter is light enough to be formed into images by spirits, as play dough is easy to be formed into images by children.

The best students of all are those who are geographically far away.

Do NOT clean your bird cages too often. Birds thrive in them when they are messy--and what looks "dirty" to you.

It is unfortunate that pet shop suppliers create bird cages made of tin and plastic that look good ONLY when they are spanking clean, which really isn't the environment that makes birds happy.

Why does a man in drag always tend to act like a slut rather than like a moral, upright woman?

All too often a person in need of help suddenly calls or text-messages me and says that he/she urgently needs to see me, and immediately. My standard and consistent reply is that I am not available. They all remind me of the social calls of P., who always drops by spontaneously but whom I never let in. Or antique dealers who come without previous appointments.

My house is not a psychic ER. If you want to consult me personally, it will have to be within certain parameters--MY parameters. Otherwise I perceive your impulse as a lack of self-discipline, and what that means to me is that you cannot be helped to help yourself and that I shouldn't even try to.

Good morning, Cubao!

Another fine day.

Some people tend to work hard on a fine day, others, to relax and enjoy the day by simply being grateful.

Good night, Cubao!

Angelique and her classmates are completing their project for their report tomorrow.

People hate it when you have it all because, for some, it makes them lose faith in God with the little that they have.

Pambulag

When casting a spell or performing a magical activity, no other mage can see or sense what you are doing as long as you have a piece of tarnished silver on you.

Poorer by a few thousand pesos. My son Chito, who is renting a room near the mortuary where he works, needed a new shirt and two neckties. We had dinner at M.'s cafe. I also bought him food packs to take home to his room.

Started coloring a spread from my adult coloring book. This one will take more time.

Finished watching Disc 2 of The Curse of the Dragon, possibly the best gift that E2 has ever given me.

Also according to The Curse of the Dragon, Bruce Lee's first students were young, street thugs.

Like my first students, who were young, black magicians.

There are days when all of the dishes in the Sitio Catacutan Food Court are B-O-R-I-N-G. Today was that exceptional day when every stall including M.'s cafe had something the granddaughters and I really like.

According to The Curse of the Dragon, in mid-career Bruce Lee began avoiding and hiding away from most of the students who came to him. He was sure that all they wanted was to take something away from him.

Although I am within a totally different context, that is exactly how I have been feeling since the turn of the century, 2000.

A quiet noon with skies a little overcast.

D.

D. has a sad but interesting life. He was a very close family friend of T., a Muslim antique dealer, the same dealer from whom I purchased my one-meter-tall porcelain Kwan Yin. T. passed away in 2009, after which D. began courting L., T.'s widow. D. faithfully stayed with L. and her children through her stroke, which left her half-paralyzed, and through her rehabilitation.

Unfortunately, T.'s son, T2, became a drug addict after losing his father and became a father himself at the age of 15. Now separated from his girlfriend, T2 has gone through a lot of odd jobs, including waitering and working as a grocery boy. D. loves T2 as though he were his own son. T2 slightly improved but, at the present time, seems to have regressed to his old ways.

D. sells antiques via L.'s former contacts. The items are of good quality. Some of them are from private excavations, plus a few rare talismans (I own and have photographed those that I acquired from him). This morning I gave him a bag for his personal use and two antique paintings to sell for himself, though he insists that he will keep the paintings and hang them on his wall.

It's just quite heartbreaking to see him slowly trudging up and down the streets with his ware.

I should have taken him to lunch at M.'s cafe, but the idea occurred to me only after he'd gone.

D. came with a lot of exquisite, antique glass beads. I really don't need any more, but it was quite evident that he was in desperate need of money. Bought two strands and combined them to make an Ariadne Oliver necklace. There is only one rule of thumb for creating necklaces, which is that they should look good enough to eat.

Passed on the red beads, which look like luscious cherries, and on the blue-and-whites.

Walked to the Sitio Catacutan Laundry and had my two overedged canvases laundered and pressed. Actually I could have simply gone upstairs to do it myself with a water spray canister and our pressing iron, but I can't be bothered to fiddle with such things. Besides, they are charging me only P55 for both pieces.

The projected, double oil portrait will be rolled and sent to Sydney after they are done. That is why I can't have the canvases over stretchers, because items made of wood are not admitted into Australia.

I am being shown a storm, and much destruction occurring. Very strange, because the sun is out and the El Nino flag is supposed to be fluttering above us. Am I seeing a scene that is set elsewhere?

Angelique left for university. She might come home late because her group needs to finish their survey report for tomorrow. Lit joss sticks. Fed and watered the birds. Even while doing so, had a nagging feeling that something wonderful is about to happen. I still do. It's like I'm about to die all over again, and emerge anew.

The strongest messages coming in are from Chuoko Liong, the ________ coming in next. Two students from the remote past have been telepathically calling out to me, but, as of now, I don't know what they really want.

You don't just visit a hermit and expect him to give you the guidance you need. It is the hermit who visits you--first, in your dreams, and then, when he tells you that you may come to him, there follows a long apprenticeship during which he may or may not impart to you the magical secrets and treasures you were hoping for.

This is the kind of morning in which priorities of the day, the month, the year, and my entire life unfold like a scroll before my eyes, and, though I feel that I am very much on top of my world, I have to carefully make important choices.

P. dropped by a few minutes ago, but I couldn't let him in because of morning chores.

I like P., who is a Vietnamese tattoo artist residing in the Philippines, but he spontaneously materializes at the most odd moments. Maybe I should have that tiny tattoo finally done in my ____ chakra area. Perhaps next week?

Never expose your magic associates and apprentices to the public.

Good morning, Cubao!

Bright, sunny, and cool!

Sauntered to the Sitio Catacutan Bakery.

Good night, Cubao!

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Angelique and her classmates had dinner at M.'s cafe. Aubrey and I had dinner at home.

Knitted more rows on my wuxia scarf.

Took a one-hour nap, woke up, tuned in to BBC, and knitted a few more rows on my wuxia scarf.

Text-messaged Angelique asking her what time she and her classmates are arriving. She replied, informing me that they arrived while I was napping and are now upstairs analyzing their survey data.

Quite ironic that I am only a staircase away!

Finished watching Disc 1 of The Curse of the Dragon. I like the featured fight scenes that are shown almost in full from their respective movies. A very insightful documentary.

Waiting for Angelique and her classmates to arrive from university. They are going to analyze their survey data today.

Thank God there is M.'s cafe in case they want to eat, and no matter how often.

Had my two pieces of canvas, each measuring 29" x 17", machine-edged with white thread by someone who makes sports shirts, to prevent the edges from fraying.

An interior design is completely successful if, when he/she says goodbye and leaves the house for good, the residents can go wild rearranging everything they don't like and the interior will still look good, if not better, anyway.

When in danger of falling into a rut or a boring loop:

--Alternate your routine activities with small, creative activities.
--Try doing things in another sequence.
--Wear a piece of clothing of an unusual color.
--Do a tiny act of charity.
--Do a minor rearrangement of furniture or decor.
--Sit down and relax in a different chair or a different corner.
--Adjust your budget so that you can buy yourself a trivial treat each day.
--Begin reading a book you've never read before.

Be faithful primarily to your true self as God meant it to be. Thus are you also faithful to everyone and everything you love.

Do not design your bedroom to be a retreat. Rather, design the entire house to be so.

When the world is at war, ensure lasting peace in your personal life.

I observe that most men who go out of their way to look tough are actually sexually impotent.

Hackers are diehard fans who know that they can never match up to you even if they tried hard enough.

Good morning, Cubao!

A day so clear that everything stands out sharply in all dimensions.

He was eliminated because he should have propitiated the god of fire.

Good night, Cubao!

Knitting some more.

Performing a tuob really soon.

Interior designers should create rooms to look good no matter who are bustling inside it, and, as a matter of fact, should test their designs in such varied situations: with a half-naked resident emerging from the bathroom, with a plumber coming through and carrying his tools, with rowdy neighbors, with a couple yelling at each other.

A room does not have any focal point when there is no one inside the room. It is the person who is the focal point inside any room. If there are more than one person, all of them are double, triple, quadruple, or multiple focal points. That is why a crowd of people is best seen within a bare room.

Note how, when a designer works "a focal point" into any room, the illusion is immediately destroyed whenever someone walks in.

Finally moved the old study desk to the studio office with the help of a neighbor.

Now I have a secretary's desk. Even if I don't have a secretary.

Back from lunch out with sisters and our cousin. As it turns out our cousin's birthday is in December and she decided to make this her treat.

Your e-mail message:

"_____, yesterday, my wife wanted us to drive her to work and pick her up after so we can go to a ______________.

"Sabi ko sa weekend na lang.

"Sabi niya mag-check in na lang kami ng anak ko sa __________ o ________ para hindi na ako magmaneho pauwi at pabalik.  Binanggit niya kung magkano ang rates pareho TO THE LAST CENTAVO, and at these particular motels.  And the way she was saying it, she's familiar of how much it really costs.

"Manong, is she seeing, has been seeing someone else?

"When she was ______ at this ________ during the early part of the year, work ends at _ in the afternoon.

"Nakakauwi siya ____ na ng gabi,  Isang oras lang o mahigit ng kaunti ang biyahe.  Pinabayaan ko ng ilang linggo.  Nung pinansin ko na, umuwi ng maaga ng kaunti, alas ____.  And these times are fairly consistent.

"Mukhang binibilang talaga ang oras.

"  Patapos na ho ba ang pamilya namin?

"Araw-araw na lang ang pagtatalo at pagbibintang.  Pagod na po ako samantalang lalo naman siyang lumalakas sa galit niya."

My reply:

Hello _______,

Your wife is not necessarily unfaithful to you. Some of the possibilities are that she engages in a small-time business to make more money, that she is simply hanging out with friends, or that she is having sessions with a psychological counselor. Those are just examples, do not take me literally. I'm simply illustrating how suspicion without facts can make your mind paranoid. What is to prevent her, after all, from telling you that she is having an affair? And what is to prevent her from plainly telling you to just leave and go elsewhere or back to the Philippines?

If she is being unfaithful behind your back, however, remember that you did that first, and that you may be getting what you deserve.

In your present situation, your wife is the breadwinner and practically the head of the family. A person in that position usually takes liberties in doing things without having to inform others. It is also normal for a person who is gainfully employed and who manages trips, whether long or short, to know hotel and motel rates, and other things, such as transportation costs and other incidental expenses. It is all part of planning.

If she no longer wants you, would she bother to plan such an outing with you?

You should KNOW whether she still loves you or not; you should be able to tell without denial. The question is, do YOU still love her? If so, what positive things are you doing about it on your own, both for her and for yourself?

During the last year of my retirement I intended to stay through my very last day in the office. Early on, however, my psyche began priming me for my post-retirement life, sending me more workshops, painting commissions, writing projects, and other matters than usual. I filed for early retirement a month earlier than scheduled. It was the Christmas break. I slipped away quietly and unobtrusively. When my co-workers came back to work after the holiday, I was no longer there.

Looking back at my last year at work, I see what a different person I was then. Barely eleven months later, I know that I am not that same person. If I had coffee with a co-worker today he/she would surely be terrified to see that I am not what he/she always thought I was.

The brass statue will topple because its artist is displeased.

Thursday, Bloody Thursday

I've become so spoiled in my retirement that I now refuse to have to set my alarm and wake up at a time dictated by someone else.

One of the joys of sleeping is waking up toward sunrise and then drifting back to sleep knowing that you have the luxury of sleeping forever.

It is the mind that interprets, not the mind that analyzes, that is the truly great mind.

Both interpretation and analysis are subjective, but, of the two, it is the former that engages the heart and the spirit.

Good morning, Cubao!

Bright and sunny, and cool!

Saw Angelique off to university this morning.

Lunch out with my sisters later today.

Good night, Cubao!

Now knitting the second panel of my wuxia scarf.

Finished constructing a three-hour workshop syllabus for a husband and wife tandem.

This evening I asked the dust bin man to help me take one of the study desks downstairs to the laundry room. Cleaned it thoroughly.

Will move it to the studio office tomorrow.

I lost this day for myself because I gave it to someone who really needs it. I am only too glad that I was able to help.

Good afternoon Cubao!

Just got back home from a day Spirit Quest with an expatriate.

Now she wants three-hour workshops over three days before she returns to her home abroad.

Good night, Cubao!

So glad I started stocking up on books that I still haven't read, blank canvases, lots of yarn, unusual toys, jewelry, and antiques years ago. I have begun enjoying ALL of them, now that I am retired, and they will probably last me a lifetime.

Our eldest sister Lourdes has also retired, and is glad that she is so. In her own words, "I don't want to wake up one day and realize there is not any more time left to do the things l have always wanted to do."

Yes, after working almost every day since I was 18, I am ecstatic to no longer be working.

Life is all about living.

Always pray in your everyday language, because it is the linguistic program of your mind and your heart.

Night Class

Tentatively scheduled to do a five-day Writing from The Heart workshop for adults in the Philippine summer 2016. Constructing a completely new syllabus, one that is just as deeply philosophical and psychological without frightening participants, especially beginners, born-again Christians, and devout Muslims.

I'm changing my props as well.

My Adult Coloring Book: "Vanitas"

Color pencils

Completed Sunday, November 22, 2015

One old study desk is completely clear of stuff, but I'll save the fun of taking it downstairs for tomorrow. It is heavy.

In the meantime I wish that B. would come and take away the cartons of things that I set aside for him.

A lot of former students join magical sites because they happen to see my comments on them. I have to let them know that I merely stumbled upon those sites and couldn't help correcting translations or righting wrong information.

I am not on any sites other than my own.

The first things that get thrown away from storage during house cleaning are old Christmas decorations. They are the worst investments you can ever make.

GUIDELINES FOR THE COMING WEEK (MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23 - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2015) are now posted on my Google+ page but visible only to Followers.

https://plus.google.com/+TonyPerezPhilippines/posts

Do not judge another person's mind from within your personal frames of reference.

They will look to the sky and see something that was not created on this planet.

Because there is wood, there are termites.

Ironically, even conflicting religions not only have their gods and goddesses. They also have their own angels.

A dysfunctional home is the potential breeding place of everything you think is wrong.

An intelligent mind becomes twisted once it is brainwashed to believe that the most intelligent thing to do is abandon all intelligence in the name of God.

Obedience is the weapon that every religion uses to keep its followers in tow.

Spirit Quest scheduled for an expatriate. Taking only one Spirit Questor with me.

Good morning, Cubao!

Bright and sunny!

When, in a dream, things are not in their right places, it is because you subconsciously yearn for a drastic change.

My heart goes out to those who earn daily wages and whose income has been interrupted by the high-alert situations.

The bigger your bedroom, the stronger your preference to sleep under a blanket even in the hottest summer.

Don't gulp it down. Relish it, and slowly. Every snack should be a private celebration.

Everyone is creative, but not everyone knows how to tap the creative unconscious, unleash the energy within, and use it toward productive ends.

You cannot connect the dots because there is more than one figure.

Good night, Cubao!

Tuned to world news again. It will be a long weekend and a long week.

Dinner with Aubrey at home.

Angelique napped three hours and rose to take a late dinner.

Knitting, knitting, knitting.

Evening visit by R. She gave me a bottle of ______________ oil and a strip of Elixir of Life _______.

I am quite saddened that the land of TinTin, the comic-book stalwart of Catholic propaganda, is beset with woes. I hope that Professor Calculus comes to the rescue, as he always does.

The page that Aubrey colored in my adult coloring book is a treasure. Now in her mid-teens, she can color within lines, blend, shade, and combine colors.

Such a milestone from her toddler days, when she messed up Angelique's drawings and smudged her children's coloring book pages with crayons.

War is waged when the enemy prefers to eradicate you from the face of the earth rather than share the earth with you in the context of love, and vice-versa.

Angelique arrived home from university.

While waiting for her I cleared out more stuff from the upstairs storage room and the kitchen. Set side more things for B. Then did some knitting.

Reorganized parts of the house while the world set out reorganizing itself.

More work on the adult coloring book.

I haven't seen any postings by other, normal, people yet, but I know that working on an adult coloring book opens the third eye.

Fine weather in Cubao.

Hoping that it lasts, but fine weather never does.

Neither does foul weather, thankfully.

Good noon, Cubao!

Angelique has classes at university today.

Lunch with Aubrey in M.'s cafe.

However, the word "Central" keeps crossing my mind.

Good night, Cubao!

Watching a melodrama on DIVA for a nocturnal change.

They who worship youth suffer a miserable old age.

Afternoon visit and gifts from E2. Gave him three more books on magic, a necklace of antique beads, and my tall, Ifugao drum that my granddaughters don't want.

GUIDELINES FOR MY GOOGLE+ FOLLOWERS FOR THE WEEKEND (SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21 - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2015) are on my Google+ page but visible only to Followers.

Lunch with the granddaughters at home.

Aubrey cooked fried rice. She wants me to buy a new skillet, though.

Just when we think it is all over, lightning strikes again.

Delicious, upper-case letter acquisitions from Sleepy Hollow: D, F, G, H, M, N, an unusual P, an unusual R, and S.

For the past few nights I have been dreaming of Rene, who lives in Baguio City. In all of those dreams the sun is out and he crosses a small plaza to approach me, as though to consult me about something urgent. In all of those dreams, however, he just looks at me and says nothing. And then I wake up.

I hope, he is fine, though I fear, he is not.

Good noon, Cubao!

Another knitting day.

Two cups of Brendan's Zen tea.

Sometimes, past midnight, I have the urge to go werewolf, and by that I mean going outside and crossing the street to buy two cheeseburgers from the 24-hour stand across our house.

Good night, Cubao!

Aubrey finished coloring her deer picture this evening, and I shall post a photo of it tomorrow. As for myself, I am still working on my page.

While resting from knitting I started clearing out the clutter from the old, now-unused study desks upstairs. Lots of stuff going to the dust bin, but I need my granddaughters' clearance first.

Might take one downstairs to the studio office and place it perpendicular to the faux Sheraton desk. It could serve as an assistant's desk for when one of the Spirit Questors is here to study documents on magic.

Re-viewed, pausing every now and then, my Sleepy Hollow DVD to scrutinize the different varieties of 1700s scribble. Will incorporate letters I like in my Cubao Caribbean penmanship.

A day of knitting.

Aubrey is still coloring a page from my adult coloring book. She chose the picture of the deer. I am glad she hasn't lost her interest in the activity.

The death of a person is neither the end of that person nor of what that person stood for when he was alive. This is what BOTH Cain and Abel should have known even from the beginning, for they live to this very day.

Some of the best painters are not Fine Arts majors in the same way that some of the best singers are not Music majors. When God endows persons with talent, He does not give them the additional requirement of having to spend their money on formal education.

Good morning, Cubao!

Bright and sunny with lots of friendly people in the street. Went to the Sitio Catacutan Bakery.

Aubrey wants to color a page from my adult coloring book. I lent the book and my color pencils to her. She is choosing between the picture of a balloon and the picture of a deer.

In the Philippines, when a movie director dies, his favorite bit players--those who didn't have real talent anyway--fade away.

Good night, Cubao!

Still glued to world news.

It is tea that will keep you healthy and alive.

Still knitting my wuxia scarf. Yes, this one's for myself.

My Adult Coloring Book: Work In Progress

Still working on a page from the adult coloring book that my sister Alice gave me. As in embroidery, I work only a few portions at a time, and I enjoy it completely. I find that I prefer to go against the usual expectations. This death mask, for example, was designed with a leafy, Green-Man pattern, but I decided to ignore that and flesh it out, pun intended, instead.

I will try to complete this book and keep it as an album.

If you are an artist, color one such book. You can eventually give it as a gift to a special friend.

If you are an art collector, ask your artist friends to color one page each, and perhaps sign their name on their respective pages. You will then have an album-gallery keepsake of their work.

Photographing the granddaughters in their knitted tops in an hour, and I hope they feel up to it.

A brief rain shower before noon.

Good noon, Cubao!

Slept nine hours last night.

Lunch with the granddaughters at home. Still discovering, after all these years. what they like and what they don't like to eat, and I keep forgetting.

Good night, Cubao!

Finished watching the Sleepy Hollow DVD my sister Sylvia gave me. Loved those warm countryscapes interspersed with the indigo-and-black-and-white scenes. I kept the subtitles on; they are always a big help when voices are low and I want to know how names and occasional words are spelled.

Delicious props: quills, the seal and sealing wax, the investigation and autopsy tools, Ichabod Crane's notebook, which the Spirit Questors' notebooks are named after, the wall sconces, the blue-and-white teacup, the iron and tin lanterns, and, of course, the Tree of the Dead, which McFarlane further immortalized. That one, faux amber, fiberglass drinking cup looked very dubious, though. And, surprisingly, there wasn't much jewelry.

This to me is the best Johnny Depp, and is a movie I will watch again and again and again. Thank God I have this and the Pirates series, which to me are the second best Johnny Depps.

He is in a place that begins with the letter C.

There is a house on a hill with an underground passage.

A heaven exists for every human being, but, sometimes, going through hell is the cost to attain it.

Any training program requires funding in millions. This is also true for the Spirit Questors.

In weeding out unwanted books, I find that I readily throw away those that never had any literary value to begin with.

Lunch with Angelique at M.'s cafe.

Aubrey at a classmate's house to do a class project.

Time and progress stop whenever we need to overexplain, that is why I never bother to.

Filipino broadcasters blunder with genders (interchanging "he" and "she") and singulars-plurals (such as interchanging "is" and "are", and "was" and "were").

Other broadcasters blunder with prepositions, usually omitting them or confusing "to", "with", and "for" with one another.

Good morning, Cubao!

Mellow morning sunshine.

Good night, Cubao!

Still tuned to world news. What happens when opposing forces challenge one another and pick up one another's challenge?

Let's hope that Blade Runner is not a precognitive, albeit metaphorical, novel.

When an atchay picks up something that you dropped accidentally, he will not return it to you and will, on the other hand, consider it his own property.

It is not the place that makes you feel you are in heaven, it is the kind of people you are with.

Of the various Philippine magical systems, I believe that Aklat Na Buhay, which is attributed to elementals, can just as easily be attributed to extraterrestrials, based on the alphabet or set of letters or characters it uses and its unique imagery.

Finished rehydrating the canvases, and tacked them on boards. They are now on easels--thank God I have three.

Found myself rotating three activities an hour each during the day: painting the double portraits (work); knitting my wuxia scarf (relaxation), and coloring a page in my adult coloring book (therapy).

Taking a break from world news and focusing on my life and my body.

Good morning, Cubao!

Bright and sunny again!

Good night, Cubao!

Still tuned to BBC.

Sometimes Aubrey decides to skip a meal and does not eat with us, sometimes, Angelique. I allow them to do so, because I was like that when I was young. I believe that your body not only tells you what to eat, but when to eat.

In traditional British and Fil-Hispanic families, long ago, it was a heinous crime to not eat with everyone else in the house. The British cooks would get upset because preparing a meal was a production number. The Fil-Hispanic head of family would get upset because mealtimes were really staff meetings during which important announcements were made and in which everyone reported what they had been doing.

People-traffic in cities has changed all that. Condominium units have kitchens that double up as dining spaces, and, within the safety of narrow walls, chances are that people eat alone, eat in a cafeteria, or not at all.

Egg yolk in milk will soon come back in vogue.

Keep silent. Keep still. Open your eyes and watch without jumping into the melee.

The eagle flies in the direction of the sunrise.

An elderly woman expects something from you, though you have disappointed her once before.

Time was especially slow for me this week, as though I were aware of every second in every minute in every hour.

Soft, afternoon drizzle in Cubao. And then the sun, in its slow decent, cast a bright, golden light on everything.

Like pet dogs that bark at strangers, pet birds screech whenever people they do not know come to your front door.

How could Abraham cast out Hagar and Ishmael away forever, when Ishmael was his own son?

Was that not an equivalent of actually slaying a son?

All the psychology you can ever learn from graduate school is not applicable to all cultures.

The first photo an immigrant will post is himself standing beside his new car in front of his new house.

War is primitive, no matter how sophisticated weapons have become, because the more intelligent human beings grow, the more spiritually and psychologically evolved they also grow.

Angelique left early this morning to join a classmate and complete their marketing survey.

Lunch with Aubrey in M.'s cafe.

In his confusion, he plunged from his personal slavery to social slavery.

Overcast skies and a quiet morning. Will rehydrate the canvases and then do more knitting today.

Good morning, Cubao!

B. arriving this afternoon. I'm giving him three cartons of books for his children. Our books just don't seem to go away no matter how much I've been giving to friends.

Use the chessboard in my cyberspace book Tony Perez's Magic for Squares 1 to shield yourself.

Waiting up for Angelique and J., who are at a music fest organized by J.'s university org.

Magic and psychism have improved by leaps and bounds, but we are not aware of it because we pay more attention to the evolution of science and technology.

Good night, Cubao!

Tuned to BBC, and I may very well be tuned to it the whole night, as I was in January.

Always take Pepsi Max cold. Fill a glass with ice cubes and pour the soda into it. When you drink from the glass and shoot the liquid into your throat, hold your breath. After swallowing, gently inhale, and feel the cold rise from your belly, through your throat, and through the top of your head.

Dusk falls on Cubao once again. If my house had Chinese lanterns on the balconies, this would be the time to light and enjoy them.

Why Can't They Improve The Simplest Things?

I use three kinds of brushes when I'm painting: sable, hog's hair, and the old, reliable nylon. After a day's work these brushes are cleaned with turpentine (some painters I know use paint thinner) and then washed with soap and water. They are used again the following day--hours of laying paint in layers on the canvas--and on succeeding days until the painting is finished, which takes months, even years.

My brushes have been used on hundreds of paintings, and they are still good. I only infrequently need to replace them.

Why can't the same durability be applied to toothbrushes? They are used only with toothpaste, not strong substances such as oil paint, linseed oil, turpentine, and paint thinner, yet, they last only two weeks before the fibers splay and get ragged. Hotel toothbrushes are even worse, because they are good for one use only and their handles snap with pressure.

Are toothbrushes one of the biggest commercial scams in this world? No matter what the brand, I don't seem to get what I pay for.

Scarf looking good. Polished my steel knitting needles. They really look like weapons. They need to fly in the air like daggers, though, rather than be brandished like dirks.

Started knitting a wuxia scarf for myself.

Aubrey had a late, 2:30 PM lunch.

Whenever you forgive, you place the call for justice in the hands of your spirit guides. You then can sit back and relax.

Whenever I hold night classes, the most eager students and those with the strongest psychic abilities come in long before the appointed time. This is because they prepare the longest, and travel non-impulsively.

Regions will be reorganized and reconfigured and will have larger scopes.

Current regions will be known as sub-regions.

You were with me at night class if:

--you saw a boy in a red shirt
--you saw an engaged couple, a man and a woman, in black
--you saw seven latecomers arrive
--you woke up at dawn to adjust your body in a position I prescribed
--you sensed that I gave three simultaneous lessons and heard my voice tripled and lecturing all at the same time.

Your e-mail message:

"Hello Sir,

"Am practicing to channel sekhem energy through my body for inner healing but at some point during the exercise, my body springs up like I have had an electric shock.

"What could this effect be? Is it a bad effect?

"Thank you."

My reply:

Hello _________!

Before doing a sekhem exercise, first ensure that: 

--you are mentally, emotionally, and physically relaxed

--your chakras, or energy centers, are aligned

--you are able to visualize your entire body as a body of light.

What you have experienced is a sign of blockage.

Good day, Cubao!

Oppressive heat--even the pet dogs and the pet birds can feel it.

If you are in Southeast Asia and you have access to the sky right now, look up and see the trail that leads to where I am.

Welcome.

There are many of you, and you will have to work in pairs.

Night Class

I used to think that it is cheaper to raise girls than boys, but that is no longer true. Both boys and girls need the same technology. Moreover, today, ALL shoes, for boys and for girls, are expensive.

It is one's personal relationship with the gods and goddesses that counts, not what and how other people practice to fulfill their devotions.

Good night, Cubao!

Nothing much on TV.

Must stay home tomorrow, rehydrate the two canvases, and do my laundry.

If P. changes his mind and comes to the Philippines, I will take it as a positive, magical sign.

Your privately shared message:

"good day sir, are you still teaching in Ateneo? im hoping to get your booked signed. please please please."


My reply:

Hello __________!

I stopped teaching in 2000, when Doreen Fernandez passed away, at Ateneo, DLSU, and St. Scholastica's. I will be happy to sign your book, perhaps in Cubao? I am often at _________. 

It is also possible for me to sign my cyberspace books: all you need to do is print out the first pages of the books, and I will be happy to sign those also.

Dusk has fallen in Cubao.

As what happens every Friday, the fairies, elves, and gnomes step out of their habitations 6:00 PM onward and roam the spaces of all other creatures.

TONY PEREZ'S GUIDELINES FOR HIS GOOGLE+ FOLLOWERS FOR THE WEEKEND (SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14 - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2015) are now on my Google+ page, but are visible only to Followers.

Never combat an insult with another insult. It will lead everyone nowhere.

Not sorry I bought myself five new shirts. I have learned, over time, that when a man sees and wants a shirt that is for sale, he either buys it immediately or loses it forever.

Haven't seen Myrurgia perfume in the longest time. I remember that our eldest aunt used to have it, and that I was fascinated with the way its name was spelled.

Set up the two canvases in the studio in preparation for a double oil portrait.

How wonderful to be painting again. The only downside is that, whenever I am painting, the studio serves as some kind of psychic magnet that attracts Spirit Questors and students to come to the house.

Never place old wood inside your bedroom. You will be unable to sleep well, for it emits unpleasant, if not painful, memories.

Ice cubes in the summer
Melt faster than time
Water clocks in crystal
Measure how long you've been away
And have not yet come back to me

Gave three packets of candy to a tenant's child. We still have lots of Halloween candy in sealed packets.

Place water in a clear, glass vase and fill it with water plants. Locate it near a window.

After air, fire, and water have spoken, the earth will stand up to be heard.

Second to one's bedroom, one's kitchen is one's safe retreat.

Sitting at the breakfast table with a wedge of triple chocolate cake and two huge glasses of RC, the only soda that, when poured into a lot of ice cubes, stings my throat like a thousand syringe shots of energy. It is true to its original slogan, for it is "the one with the mad, mad taste."

The stupid travel agent is wasting a lot of money on her useless lover. Her greatest fear is to be undesired.

I can tell from a person's energy emissions, when he is at least two feet away from me, whether he:

--has just gone to the toilet, because there are sparkly, sandy, golden grains shimmering in his aura very close to his body.
--has not gone to the toilet, because there is a dark, brown band in his aura very close to his body.

Bought Globe phone cards for the granddaughters...and five new shirts, shamelessly, for myself.

Nine colors exceed the rainbow.

Be kind to children born into poverty, for they never know what hit them.

The journalist is not always right.

There is no such thing as a failure in life, for God did not create such a human being. It is possible that a person has dreams and objectives--that he does not attain them is not an index of being a failure.

Look at your talents and abilities. Though unused, they already mark your success.

Often, one sees oneself a failure only because one does not see what he can really do and where he truly belongs.

When the goddess of the sea is displeased, her husband causes shipwrecks.

When the goddess of the sea is displeased, she sends us poisoned seafood.

She pledged that if only she had a house like that she would always keep it clean and in order. And then, when she finally had such a house, she became just as neglectful.

The child who has little or nothing sees much of everything around him.

He who can afford much of something does not mind being wasteful.

Your headboard should be a symbol of your mind at rest.

Good noon, Cubao!

Slept nine hours last night.

Wishing I had the time to read up on Russian mythology, Chinese mythology, and Australian mythology.

So far I can see how, in folk tales, the Russian firebird became the Chinese nightingale and then the Philippine adarna, but am wondering how, during the downward flow to the south, it became serpentine in Australia. Unless the Australian serpent had wings, like the Indo-Hindu naga.

Must put together yarn for a wuxia-inspired scarf that I want to knit for myself, and two identical sheets of canvas for oil portraits I would like to commence after all these months.

Good night, Cubao!

Feel like going shopping again tomorrow. I have only three stickers so far on my coffee card.

Also saw some shirts I want to come back for. I believe that old men should always be well dressed and look good, but I'm not sure if I am using age as an excuse to buy the shirts or using the shirts as an excuse for my age.

Dinner at home with the granddaughters. Angelique and I went to D.'s store to put together a hygiene kit which she needs to bring to university tomorrow as a donation to some cause.

J. arrived much later.

Angelique and J. conversing in the upstairs family room, Aubrey in her bedroom, M. and his staff in the cafe with music playing, guards at both stations, and I on my computer in my captain's cabin bedroom. A cozy Thursday night.

When we finally have CCTV cameras installed, it should be fun watching the people on the driveway and on the street.

When I came back home from the Sitio Catacutan Market, I thought that there was nobody else in the house. Apparently the granddaughters arrived before I did. Angelique was sleeping in her bedroom and Aubrey was on her laptop in her own bedroom.

Back from the Sitio Catacutan Market. Spent most of the day outside.

Cooking dinner tonight.

Good day, Cubao!

Back from groceries. Had lunch at the Sitio Catacutan Leaky Cauldron: sausage and mushroom omelette with cinnamon toast and an iced strawberry tea.

Good night, Cubao!

Four months as a single grandparent now. Second to food, our biggest, daily household expense seems to be laundry detergent.

Green mango shake at M.'s cafe, and lots of drinking water.

My body has been craving ice and water.

"The void is that which stands right in the middle of  'this' and 'that'. The void is all-inclusive, having no opposite--there is nothing which it excludes or opposes. It is a living void, because all forms come out of it and whoever realizes the void is filled with life and power and the love of all things."

--Bruce Lee, in The Tao of Jeet Kune Do

Question: What does one do after an afternoon of knitting?
Answer: Continue watching one's Bruce Lee DVD.

Watched Bruce Lee: Forever Light on my second Bruce Lee DVD, another documentary of his life from his childhood through his death.

It has three chapters:

--Chapter 1: In Search of Destiny
--Chapter 2: A Dragon Comes Home
--Chapter 3: The Art of the Dragon
--Chapter 4: Walk On!

Made me want to collect his early films, such as My Son Ah Cheung, Boys on the Street, Blackboard Jungle, and The Orphan, all of which reminded me so much of Luis Bunuel, and Thunderstorm and Longstreet. Some of them already had prolonged fight scenes.

I especially like one training scene in this documentary in which a stick must be shot through an iron ring to snare a metal ball on twine. I should try that someday.

His movies were shown in sequence: The Big Boss, shot in Thailand, which made him a star; Fist of Fury a.k.a Chinese Connection, the first appearance of nunchucks; Way of the Dragon, wrote and directed be Bruce Lee himself and shot in Rome; Enter the Dragon; and Game of Death.

There were passages from The Art of Kung Fu, the first book Bruce Lee ever wrote.

This is also the first documentary I have that mentions that Bruce Lee died on the bed of actress Betty Ting Pei, followed by much discussion.

I watched everything, including the end titles, which were superimposed on takes edited out from the actual movies.

There is no such thing as a no-magic zone, for ether is a mesh-like weave that interconnects everything, and, like well-knitted fabric, it is a weave that has no gaping holes.

After a Spirit Quest I need to sleep for hours and hours. Even after I wake up, I feel the urge to nap in the morning and in the afternoon.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Aubrey's knitted top is finished. The shirred bodice may be worn either as the front or as the back.

Will take photos of my two granddaughters in their knitted tops on Sunday, probably on the roof deck. Then I can move on to another project.

Both tops took me so long to complete because they were made of single-strand, mercerized cotton on slim needles to simulate fine fabric.

Take your family on a weekend away from the city. Nature will grieve with you there. When you come back home, you will do so with a complete understanding of life, death, and destiny.

"Oh, Wednesday morning, Wednesday morning couldn't guarantee/
That Wednesday evening you would still be here with me./"

Good noon, Cubao!

Lunch at M.'s cafe.

My Cousin Freddie

My cousin Freddie had to give up many things in life, since his parents were not affluent. He was a policeman until he retired, and is now a bodyguard for a politician. He must be close to 70 now.

When I was 12, Freddie was well into his mid-teens. He was a quiet boy, and unassuming, though under normal circumstances he should have been very spoiled, since he was the youngest of two male siblings and a female sibling. We often spent the long school break in our ancestral house in San Fernando, Pampanga. He was, like his brothers, interested in boxing and self-defense, which I was not into at the time. Once, though, he surprised me with his creativity, something I have never forgotten all my life, since I am sitting in front of the computer and writing about it now.

It was a boring summer vacation. Either nothing appealing was showing in the downtown movie theaters or we were not allowed to go out of the house. To keep ourselves occupied, Freddie took an old shoe box, cut out a rectangle in its middle, and created a scroll attached to two pegs above and below the rectangular hole. He then cut out figures from a comic book and pasted them onto the scroll. With the aid of a flashlight he managed to turn the shoe box into a theater, cranked the scroll, and told an interesting story that matched the comic book figures on the scroll.

I am certain that Freddie has forgotten this episode from our boyhood, but I have not, and I never will. It was partly responsible for my decision to write my first play when I was in fourth year high school.

Quite interesting how my cousin the policeman and bodyguard unconsciously made a playwright of me.

Waiting for the water tank to fill up.

Good night, Cubao!

More things to buy tomorrow, while the granddaughters are in school.

Dinner alone at M.'s cafe.

Angelique and J. are having their once-a-month dinner out, and Aubrey is eating out with her co-players after their varsity volleyball training.

Deleted five people from my Google+ Circles, since I am not in their Circles.

Angelique and J. arrived from university 5:30 PM.

Spirit Quest in Old Pasig (Tuesday, November 10, 2015)