Angelique came home 3:00 AM last night and rose 3:00 PM this afternoon. I took her to lunch in M.'s cafe.

Aubrey came home from her sleepover 2:45 PM and went directly to sleep.

Cooked rice for tonight and a batch of my favorite tocino to include in tonight's dinner.

Also bought bread at the Sitio Catacutan Bakery and tried a new variety for a future tea party.

Re-viewed Dead Man's Folly. More Ariadne Oliver necklaces, country furniture and decor, lush woods and gardens, an emerald ring, a fete with a carousel, a fortune teller's tent, foreign hikers, a folly, a search party, a wonderful tea service in a shop, switched identities, and three murders. As I mentioned after my first viewing I do miss the scene in Amy Folliat's lodge, which, in the book, not only showcased her obsessive-compulsive needlepoint but used it as a reflection of a criminal's obsession-compulsion.

Fear not a person's physical body. Fear his mind.

C., then a Jesuit priest, was our junior high school class instructor in Latin. He never liked me, and I recall at least three instances that support this:

1. G., a classmate, once turned to me from his seat to tell me something, and, even if I did not say anything, C. pounced on me and assigned me to afternoon jug,

2. C. once assigned our class to attend an evening lecture by a sociologist at the Philamlife auditorium and write a paper based on the talk. I went there and saw my classmates with C. but did not mingle with them; they seemed rowdy and inattentive. I sat in the back and diligently took notes, then immediately went home to write a comprehensive paper.

After submitting the paper, C. took me aside and grilled me, accusing me of borrowing a copy of the speaker's lecture from an unknown source and further accusing me that I was not even in the auditorium that evening because he did not see me.

3. During the time that we were translating the Catilinian Battles from Latin, C. assigned the class to write the rebel and conspirator Catiline's rebuttal. I did so.

After submitting my rebuttal he announced to the class that I wrote the best rebuttal, read it out to the class, and said that only a person who had a mind like Catiline could write such a rebuttal.

Unbeknownst to him, I considered these instances as extremely flattering. They convinced me that it is most wonderful to be different from the rest--one often comes as a surprise even to one's self.

The insight derived here, however, is not all about me. It is that a student never forgets an injustice or a flattery, and, perhaps, even more so, a flattering injustice.

Every parent's love must be constant, no matter what.

China is Asia's equivalent of the Roman empire. Like the Middle East and the Vatican, it is in fact the center of a world religion, Buddhism, despite its sociopolitical system, which has the intelligence not to destroy its national treasures. The most breathtaking and magnificent Buddhist temples are located there. Buddhism, however, is low-key and self-effacing, which is why the world hardly sees that it even has a "center". Unfortunately other religions have no penchant for such silence and obscurity.

Four young, male models have already come to me and made me think of doing a series that entails fine anatomy, but I am taking my time and doing things at leisure for now.

Retirement and being a man of leisure are a hedonist's greatest dream.

Note that while envy is one of the deadly sins most frequently committed, it is also the envious who are most frequently punished, and in full view of the envied.

I suspect that sins, like modern, glass windows, are self-cleaning.

Over the years at least six ethnic drums for meditation came to my life. I am gradually passing them on to others. They are hardly used because, rather than take me to altered states of consciousness, they actually physically ground and exhaust me.

Sometimes fantasy is not a springboard to crime, it is the safety valve that prevents it.

Pomp is always transitory and expensive. Real life resumes as soon as it is over.

Good noon, Cubao!

And a solemn Eid-ul-Adha to all my Muslim friends!

Watched the live coverage of the Pope's visit to the U.S.A. on CNN Absolutely, then American Ninja Warrior: Grand Finals on AXN.

When spirits cry out "Help!" and "Help me!" it is not because they are in a state of new, horrible suffering. It is because they were unable to make up for their mistakes and fulfill their karma when they were still alive in their physical bodies, and they are reminding themselves to not do the same in their next incarnation.

Angelique, J., and Angelique's block-mates are at Commerce Night, thankfully a dry night on top of the fact that tomorrow, Eid-ul-Adha, is a holiday. Aubrey is on a sleepover at a classmate's house.

And so I walked to M.'s cafe tonight.

There are things that every person usually does not forget, and those are that person's sins. They haunt one as repeatedly as the waves of the ocean rushing to the shore. This happens in order for the person to properly undo them.

Whenever I stand in front of or pray at different altars in churches and houses, I am able to sense which ones have sacred energy and which ones do not. I wonder if others are able to do the same, especially priests.

I like it whenever the guards and compound tenants are conversing at the lighted station between the small loggia and the studio entrance. I wish it would go on and on all night. It makes me feel that I am in the room of a cozy, lively inn.

I could never sleep in quiet surroundings. In 1974, when I was enrolled for an M.A. in Clinical Psychology, I and three students were scheduled by a rich doctor to stay in his beach house in Batangas over a weekend to conduct therapy for his autistic son. A typhoon was due to hit but I made it to Batangas anyway. Unfortunately I was the only one who made it there. Over that weekend I was all alone in the beach house. The power was off, the typhoon raged for days, and the nights were pitch black. I was rescued after the typhoon blew over. I swore to  myself that such a thing would never happen to me again.

Good night, Cubao!

Tomorrow is a holiday for the granddaughters, as everyday is a holiday to me.

He will fall ill in the midst of production.

Anyone who is truly happy and has inner peace will always look beautiful to others.

A lit candle will give you correct answers at this juncture.

The body will always be a mystery because it has a mind of its own, other than the mind of the Self.

It is possible to nip another person's depression in the bud. That is why everyone should have a good, working knowledge of clinical psychology.

Time goes by too quickly whatever I am doing, even when I am doing "nothing".

I've been watching so much CTV that I am certain that Cerefina, in the rear passage--which two of my bedroom doors and a window open onto--and the pet birds, in the small loggia--which a second bedroom window opens onto--can already understand and speak Mandarin.

One of the worst things about cosmetics is that they smell like cosmetics.

Maturity implies that you fully accept human error and that nothing is ideal.

Hopelessly hooked on Poirot. Re-viewed Cards on the Table. More necklaces worn by Ariadne Oliver, the interior of a rich, Syrian collector's house influenced by the Alhambra, Poirot's and Ariadne' Oliver's lovely apartments, a lesbian attraction, and two homosexuals.

It is all right to call your daughter a princess, but do not raise her as one. It is difficult for fragile, sheltered, and dependent women to survive.

Serious needlework opens the third eye.

I am already scheduled to visit the office building in question, which I somewhat dread because I know that the entities there are directly related to a hive of entities in ________________, which two of my Spirit Questors teams and I encountered in 1998.

Sex can always be engineered, but not love.

The Condor and the Eagle are not among the animals of the Chinese zodiac because they were not among the 12 that appeared when Buddha called.

Come to think of it, none of the air and water animals appeared, unless Dragon represents Sky Dragon and Water Dragon aside from Fire Dragon. I also would classify Rooster as an earth animal rather than an air animal--despite its wings, I mean.

Purified water delivery, 20 gallons.

Had a comforter picked up for laundering.

My research on pre-colonial Philippine magic took me to different ethnic communities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. They have no characteristics in common because they have diverse mythologies and languages. Succeeding influences from other cultures show up traces of magic from the ancient Chinese, the ancient Hindus, and the ancient Islamics--cultures that may deny the existence of magic in their history although such practices subconsciously exist even today.

As I go further back in time and analyze the geographic flow on my world map, I see that all of it originated in China. Everything RADIATED from ancient China, all the way round to Manchuria, Russia, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

The Spanish and Latin influences on Philippine magic, heightened by the Mexican Galleon Trade, I classify as modern, not ancient, Philippine magic. I would not even call it indigenous magic, because it is post-colonial.

Good morning, Cubao!

A cup of black, brewed coffee at M.'s cafe jump-started my day.

Good night, Cubao!

A dry spell at last, and just when I don't feel like going to the cafe.

Return of the Condor Heroes and Gong Palace on CTV.

Bought Arthur & Merlin: The Legend Begins. Interesting. But I was thrown off by the watercolor end titles.

More replays on Ci: The House of Suh (sadly, that male criminal is such a fabulous person!) and I Killed My BFF: Heartland Horror.

I love long necklaces, especially precious-bead necklaces, because they are meant to be touched and fondled rather than just hang round your neck. I also love the way they rustle like voices on my chest whenever I move.

Not everyone has the same definition of having a good time.

There is a northern Chinese community that reminds me so much of the T'boli.

A lot of my money goes to gadgets that my children and grandchildren need. I used to think that such things were luxuries and mere toys. I soon learned that it is not the children who keep the gadgets up to date. It is the gadgets that keep them and other people up to date. (I mean good gadgets, of course, not the common rip-offs.)

The worst thing a decorator can do to a married couple's house is to do it up as though no one who lives in it is married.

"I wanna spread my wings/
But I just can't fly/
As a string of pearls/
The pretty girls go sailin' by/"

--Cliff Richard

Like show business, the broadcast industry has too many stars. Many of them feel undervalued, unappreciated, and neglected.

The difference is that, whereas show business stars cry out loud in public, broadcast industry stars hide away and weep alone at night and in the dark.

It drives her mad that the man she was in love with, and still is in love with, is now not only in love with someone else but also faces a happiness that she will never have.

The replays of his shows make him feel extremely miserable and severely depressed, because they remind him of how old and saggy he has become, something that no gym regimen can ever cure.

Always take note of which sets of clothes make you most attractive. The indications are the way people look at you and their tendency to gravitate toward you.

By the same token, take note of which sets of clothes have the opposite effect, and it is a wise decision on your part to never wear them again.

Never throw away clothes, however. Give them away. What does not look good on you will look good on other people.

A lot of riffraff make a career of survival out of political campaigns. They religiously attend such rallies, hang out and hover round the players long after the crowds have gone, and pretend to be available as volunteer workers for succeeding events in exchange for free meals, free thrills, intermittent allowances, and a false sense of security and importance.

Fast becoming a homely matron, her only fallback is her family, only for her to discover that her family is dysfunctional because she neglected it in the past in favor of her now-fading stardom.

Character is best not tested but simply observed.

Anyone perched on top of a pyramid will try every trick in the book to remain there.

As long as a citizen speaks a national language fluently, intelligently, idiomatically, analytically, and influentially, his mind belongs to his country and is way above his body, no matter where his body came from.

A man in uniform is handsome only to someone who cannot look beyond a uniform.

Good morning, Cubao!

Today is a day of home deliveries.

Good night, Cubao!

Thinking of searching for more episodes with Ariadne Oliver. Alas, I have only six: Dead Man's Folly, Elephants Can Remember, Hallowe'en Party, Third Girl, Mrs. McGinty's Dead, and Cards on the Table.

The goddess of the storm is my mother. She is also the mother of my younger son, Chito, and my eldest granddaughter, Angelique. Of the three of us, however, only I am prohibited from visiting places of death: cemeteries, funeral parlors, hospitals, and chapels.

So far I can see that the goddess of the sweet river is the mother of my daughter-in-law Ivy, my third granddaughter, Aubrey, and my fourth granddaughter, Chevy, and that the god of thunder is the father of my youngest grandchild, Vinci.

Craving an avocado fruit shake at M.'s cafe, but it's still drizzly outside and I don't want to get unnecessarily wet after I'd already taken my evening shower.

This afternoon I placed two special orders with my silversmith. I hope that he gets everything done by the end of the month.

Avoided watching TV today, and felt that I was more in the here and now.

Brief heat rain with gusty wind.

Angelique and J. came home 8:30 PM.

Aubrey still on immersion with the aeta community in Zambales. Wondering whether it is dry where she is.

My younger son, Chito, who lives in Bulacan, is now renting a room in __________ near the mortuary where he works as a mortician. He goes home to Bulacan only on his free day, once a week. This evening I gave him a bed cushion, a pillow, and a blanket. I still need to get him a padlock and an electric fan.

Re-viewed Third Girl, which I like better on DVD than on paper. Yes, this one has Ariadne Oliver and more of her necklaces as well. Portraits, an artist's studio, and a flamboyant ending. In this episode Poirot's sitting room upholstery is of a different, bold, color!

Sauntered to the Sitio Catacutan Bakery and tried two more varieties of their bread. So far I have two favorites that I want for a tea party. I'm thinking of two scone towers--one with salty bread varieties and another with sweet pastries.

Sometimes a dark cloud will cross your personal sky. You will wonder why you cannot see the sun in the daytime and the moon at night, and you will feel as though the whole world has abandoned you.

Know that all things pass, and that that your ancestors and spirit guides send such a cloud because you may have become too complacent.

Met M.C. and briefly re-discussed a possible book club for out-of-school youth. However, I made it clear that I refuse to hold sessions in my house.

Bought our lunch at the Sitio Catacutan Food Court before noon: ox tripe kari with traditional fish paste, pork nilaga, and afritada. Had we bought the ingredients for those and cooked them ourselves, it would have taken us forever--to go to market, to prepare, to place in three, separate vessels and set three, separate cooking times, and to clean up afterward.

With the present situation, all I have to do is set the table and wash dishes afterward.

I call this "jukebox dining"--I have three favorite stalls (one offering 15 dishes everyday, another ten, and yet another eight). And then, of course, there is M.'s cafe, which also offers eight.

There is a secondary gain to this: one is always kept abreast with community news, for Sitio Catacutan has its share of male and female Jane Marples.

Your e-mail message:

"Hello Sir,

"I come to you yet again for advice. For many years now I dream engaging in sex. Most of the time it has been someone in my past with whom I have a child or someone I don't know. However, recently I got the same kind of dream but with someone I just separated with. I have been told that these are manifestations of spiritual husbands controlling my sex and love life...and it is the reason why my relationships don't last.
Sometimes I dream being in love with a men who don't exist in real life.

"Do u have  any advice for me or a way you can help me get rid of these spirits?

"Thanks

"_______________"

My reply:

Hello _______________!

It is normal to have dreams of engaging in the sexual act. They are expressions of what you usually repress in waking life. In waking life, as a matter of fact, when it is not possible to engage in sex with a particular person due to your circumstances, the desire enters the realm of fantasy, whether conscious or subconscious, and then your dream world.

Your dreams about the men in your life and men whom you have never met are mere manifestations of your wish to remain sexually active. Such dreams as those you mentioned, therefore, are wish-fulfillment dreams.

Know that no man can ever control your sex and love life, because you have free will. If you feel that someone or other "controls" your sex and love life, it is because you have subconsciously allowed them to, and even more subconsciously want them to. Thus, when a relationship does not last, it has no supernatural cause. It is, rather, the result of two, combined free wills--yours and the other person's.

Note that the same process occurs in "diabolic possession". In the end, it is only the victim who can exorcise himself/herself.

There is really no way to "get rid" of such things. Suppression will only result in a rebellion of the psyche, as it does in the case of dysfunctional people who eventually become sociopaths. The only constructive activities I can suggest are channeling your excess energy into your work, being proactive in addressing social concerns, and getting to know members of the opposite sex primarily as persons rather than sex objects.

Good morning, Cubao!

Lolled in bed an hour upon waking up. It was like lingering in the arms of Night before rising to meet Day.

Good night, Cubao!

It was back-to-back Return of the Condor Heroes and Gong Palace on GTV this evening.

Actually Gong Palace isn't Gong Palace at all. I just call it that because I can't read Chinese titles, and the only performer I recognize is Feng Shaofeng, who may not be Feng Shaofeng at all and who may have never starred in Gong Palace!

Where people can afford it, they will hang huge tapestries on walls with a 2"-gap behind them. These will function as insulators and keep rooms warm on cold nights and cool on hot nights.

This day went by so quickly, which was surprising because all I wanted to do today was lie in bed and watch TV, a most luxurious feeling and my sweet revenge on all the Mondays I had to go to school and to work.

Still wondering when I'll get down to finishing Aubrey's knitted top, after which, I believe, I'll make my second painting for the year.

For the past two days I have been hearing an unusual, alarming, loud rushing in the air. It isn't the rain, it isn't the wind, it isn't vehicles in the streets.

I wonder if others have been hearing it too.

I have a bronze, two-candelabra chandelier that people have told me is either Rosicrucian or Masonic. It has a cross with figures of the four evangelists at the tips and two, two-headed birds, apparently falcons, hanging at the bottom. My personal interpretation of the two birds however, is that they represent the Condor (Left) and the Eagle (Right), the Condor being the Shadow of the Eagle.

An afternoon so humid that all I had to do was step outside in order for my shirt to be completely drenched with sweat.

Skipping lunch will always make you feel like a melting candle.

It is wrong to assume that anyone does not know how to follow his/her heart. What follows next is that you become judgmental toward that person.

There is a person whom I found in cyberspace and whom I wish to rescue, but the physical distance between us is too far and the photographs show me that it is way too late for me to be able to do anything.

Politics is full of shills. They are apparently innocent-looking people who surround you, pretending to be your supporters, and urge you to keep spending your money on campaigning because "you will win", "the people want you", "the people need you", "you are our only hope", and so on. They are exactly like the con artists in gambling dens who hover round you and urge you to lay your bets "one more time" because they "strongly feel" that you are "sure to win and make lots of money".

When the going starts to get rough, all of these shills conveniently disappear.

It is true that one has many enemies in politics, but the safest assumption of all is that one has NO FRIENDS.
.

They will stick with the empire until the empire collapses, after which they will move on to the next best thing.

Two cups Lipton's Forest Fruit tea.

It rained in Cubao while I was watching Return of the Condor Heroes on GTV. I thought the rain would never stop.

Whenever you tell a person what to wear and how he/she should look like, you impose your taste and your values on that person. It presumes that you are a better artist than that person is. It is the subtlest form of anti-human rights I have ever known.

Watched The Voice of China on GTV last night even if I couldn't understand a single word. I loved all of the songs, though. They are real songs with real melodies. There was no attempt to outdo refrains by means of screeching, yelling, howling, hooting, "Yoo-hoo, this is my bravura!", and other vocal acrobatics that actually ruin singing by pushing it to the realm of cheerleading.

I now have ASEAN associates who practice Vietnamese ngai, Thai barang, Japanese modern shugendo, and Tibetan old bon. I really must go way, way back to the time before the Spaniards colonized the Philippines. The use of Catholic imagery and Latin in oraciones is not ancient enough for me.

I should stop saying "ASEAN" and start saying "regional".

The more you have time on your hands, the more you have choices.

A person who is constantly preoccupied has no choices at all.

Little bits of vengeance do not amount to one, big vengeance.

Aubrey on immersion with her class in an aeta community in Zambales. Lots of fun for Aubrey, who likes interacting with other people.

Had I been in her place, I would have hated it but would have come up with a hefty novel anyway.

Yes, it is possible and acceptable for a Filipino to be in a foreign country and practice the indigenous magic of that particular country.

Good morning, Cubao!

Re-discovered the Sitio Catacutan Bakery.

Night classes, 4:30 AM, with or without rain.

Topic: The correct practice of indigenous magic in three ASEAN countries.

Good night, Cubao!

A productive day. I was able to do everything I planned to.

Long before man landed on the moon, when I was seven years old, someone bought me a tin, Made-In-China, mechanical astronaut. It was operated by two batteries in its backpack and had a nifty light in its helmet. It was my favorite toy for a long time. I kept it through 2004, then finally placed it up for sale in our Elvencraft shop since none of my children and grandchildren wanted it. My spiritual son F. eventually bought it.

I recall that, when I was seven, I turned the toy on and set it loose under the bed every night, and that was what I went to sleep by. It always made me feel that I was safe and well-protected, with an elementary roaming the floor below me.

There are times when a good dessert is the solution.

Do not be impressed by someone whose knowledge is merely copied from that of others.