Knitting in the small loggia. It is extremely chilly. The sky is as gray as an airplane wing, and it hasn't stopped drizzling since the morning. I prefer to be out here, however, and not in a warm place. I am reminded of my first ferry boat ride to Marinduque, when the weather was also like this out at sea. Sitting on the deck, I felt like I was looking out onto the beginning of time, and conversing with strangers about the mythology of Marinduque made everything a magical experience.

Now it's 2015 all over the world.

Watching the CNN coverage of New Year's Eve in--of course, New Orleans!

It's 1:52 January 1, 2015 in Cubao and 11:52 PM December 31, 2014 in New Orleans!

Happy Birthday, A.!

Here are your messages on this day:

1) When your family demands more than you can give, it is because they have more realistic priorities.
2) A child is in some kind of danger or precarious situation. It primarily feels unloved.
3) Change careers only when you are absolutely sure of the career you are switching to.

It comes closer.

Everyone has been sufficiently alerted.

All Wands must point to the earth.

You need to lay out the protective spread in my blog Magic for Squares 1 all over again.

Now hoping that I am able to sleep early tonight.

The Comebacks (Night of December 31, 2014)

Significant Events of the Day:

I was knitting most of the day.

At the stroke of twelve I went out on the driveway. A male neighbor hugged me. A female neighbor kept looking at me as though she wanted to hug me but was too shy to do so.

Uploaded more photos.

An avalanche of play manuscripts from Singapore came into my e-mail Inbox.


The  Dream:

I am traveling with X, a former female student. We check into a hotel and sleep in the same room. Before going to sleep she reminds me that I promised to give her a book and that I promised to give another book to Y, a former male student. In the dream she gives me the titles of the books but I cannot recall them now.

We go to my house. It is as the house used to look 20 years ago: the library is on the upper floor. Y is there waiting for us. I find the book that X wants. I also find the book that Y wants, but he asks me for another title instead--a title I seem reluctant to give.


My Comments:

Parts of this dream were triggered by the following incidents:

During the ice show at Araneta Coliseum, a strange woman gave me lingering looks. I smiled at her and she smiled back. This, coupled with the female neighbor who I thought wanted to hug me, bridge to X and our sleeping in the same hotel room.

X and Y summarize all of the students I've ever had in the past. There was always the idea that I'd "promised" to give them something, and that they'd always wanted much more than what I gave.

I would consider this dream an astral visitation if not for the triggers and bridges.

I awakened from this dream thinking about X and Y, and how they also summarize my relationships with females and with males.

I awakened also thinking that my New Year dream is probably a warning from my psyche that I should not let former students in magic come near me again.

Drizzly morning in Cubao

Slept intermittently last night; finally rose from bed at 11:00 AM.

It is 2015. I hope, it will be a good year for everyone.

I know, however, that earth changes will be more severe.

12:00 midnight

Happy New Year, Cubao!

ISOTSOMA!

Firecrackers have begun. The collective sound is like a huge, galvanized iron rooftop constantly buckling in the wind. It ripples from all directions.

11:45 PM and very sleepy

Two play manuscripts from Singapore came in before midnight!

At 12 midnight, the winner of the year is he/she whose cash on hand still remains intact.

After you dip out, don't expect a warm reception when you dip back in.

Overheard a conversation between two people as to their having to go back to work January 5, and I was highly elated that it didn't apply to me.

When organizing games for fun, ensure that you have prizes for everyone--winners and losers alike.

If you should eat at all before going to sleep, make it fruit.

I saw that it was actually sucked downward.

Asif, our Indonesian neighbor, passed by the small loggia where I was knitting. He asked me how I am celebrating the New Year. I replied that I don't (ever since my two boys grew up, which was years ago). As for himself, he is going to a friend's house where they will be lighting firecrackers. He is married to a Filipina and has taken on a lot of local customs.

End the year with personal serenity. Do not end it in a state of tension, stress, or overexcitement.

Never hurt children. They have no frames of reference for cruelty and for pain.

Actually, whenever you give, it is wise to count the costs.

If you don't have any fetish and want one, the Beast doll being sold at Araneta Coliseum through January 4 should be a good one. It can pass for a kapre or a tikbalang.

In Philippine magic, the incantations BUM and PHU are not words. They are sounds of emphasis meant to drive spells farther into ether.

There is a Filipino superstition that indicates that your first visitor on January 1 determines the character of your New Year.

In the silence, dead dragon tree leaves falling on the driveway sound like fairy footsteps.

Every color goes with any earth color.

The coordinates conform to the Golden Rectangle.

Chico grows in Cubao. Don't throw away the seeds. Plant them.

And now, back to my knitting.

It was such a joy watching CNN and Aljazeera. They make their viewers feel so intelligent.

Discovered NCIS: New Orleans on Fox last night. Most of the scenes were shot in the Garden District (the rich district) rather than the French Quarter (where the "poor", the artists, the writers, and the musicians are). I must catch more episodes, hoping to be more inspired in developing my Cubao New Orleans French Quarter house.

Tall walls encourage burglars to enter your house because, once they are inside your house, they cannot be seen from the street.

Good morning, Cubao!

I wake up when I wake up and I sleep when I sleep.

Good night, Cubao!

The show we watched was worth P700 per head, no more and no less, and exactly what we paid for it. Had we bought Lower Box tickets, we would have been on the losing end.

If I have to make a New Year's resolution, it is to go jalan-jalan in Cubao one day a week: exploring heretofore unexplored areas of Cubao, i.e., places people don't frequent, which is what I'd always dreamed of doing since childhood.

Actually, buy fruits with pointed ends, not round ones. The pointed ends signify your defenses against aggressors.

Don't forget mangoes. They are Nature's gold bullions.

It took all of my strength and will power to resist buying the new version of Beast at the kiosk.

I use my Samsung Galaxy as a clock, alarm clock, calendar, calculator, and note pad. I don't use it for text messaging and for calls. I don't even know what its numbers are!

Arrived home from Dare to Dream a.k.a. Magical Ice Festival with sister Alice and granddaughters. Early dinner at Cafe Adriatico and dessert at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, which, as far as I am concerned, makes the best pastries for coffee. We were in the Upper Box Premium Section and, unfortunately, I still haven't learned to use the zoom function in my camera.

Leaving for the commercial center in a while.

Bipolarism is a neurotic development of the defense mechanism reaction-formation. It is a denial of misery, and is a result of great unhappiness in life.

You will witness a feud between strangers and you will feel for both sides.

Google-search an image of Baku, print it out, and place it near your bedroom window. It keeps annoying spirits away and drives off disturbing dreams.

It is not your clothing you should change to face the New Year. It is your money purse.

I need a bigger writing desk. Something as big as a barn door.

Pizza is popular because it can be a salad and a sandwich at the same time.

Everyone has a dragon. Yours manifests in the dragon pictures and figurines you've frequently been seeing.

Supermodel Me: Sirens should get rid of that teaser with Lisa S wearing a fluted, silver lame gown. It looks like a costume study for Candlestick in the next Disney-on-Ice version of Beauty and the Beast.

Religious moronism is the biggest deterrent to democracy.

Good morning, Cubao!

Today is another knitting day!

Tonight I sleep with Beast in my room, looking at me over the headboard.

Good night, Cubao!

The element of the day was water.

Eight participants from the most recent "Writing from The Heart" workshop for Theatreworks Singapore this month are now writing plays for dramaturgy.

Bwahahahahaha! Finally posted something on my blog Tony Perez's Enchanted Knits.

The sun will rise twice before truth comes to the surface.

When at the dentist's or undergoing surgery, calm and center yourself by means of the following:

--Imagine yourself as a tiny grain of sand on a vast beach

OR

--Imagine yourself standing in front of a huge, metropolitan nightscape; look into the tiny windows of the tall buildings and watch other people going about their lives.

When on an airplane and experiencing turbulence, calm and center yourself by means of the following:

--Imagine yourself sitting in the center of a giant lotus flower with a thousand pink petals

OR

--Imagine the giant hands of God cupped below the airplane.

Pieces of jewelry are worn not to attract the opposite sex but to enhance the wearer's sensory abilities. They have aggregate memory and potency, and, like talismans, their history and provenance are of utmost importance.

Never drive nails, staples, or spikes into a tree.

Plant a tree for every member of the family, and ensure that they grow safely and well. Observe the trees from time to time.

Incense is pleasing not to the gods and goddesses but to the person who is lighting it.

Your Hangout Message:

"Hi sir! How can I eliminate negative thoughts, and throw away the negative vibes? Thank you for taking time sir!"


My answer:

Hi _________!

Simply replace them with positive thoughts, which will then attract positive vibes.



You could also switch, however, to Pepsi Max--the drink of psychics. Joke!

There is nothing as amazing as the clarity of a dream.

The more we invent, the more we need.

Good morning, Cubao!

It's another knitting day!

Saw parts of 300 on HBO but my viewing was spoiled because images of Boss Bottled kept crossing my mind. And, when the coins fell, I suddenly thought of The One by Dolce & Gabanna.

For some people, browsing through a book store is the height of pretension.

Found a talisman that I thought I'd sold off two years ago. It was among my knitting stuff that I'd stowed away.

What a joy to be knitting again! I drool over my yarn stash, in different colors and textures, like assorted candy in a shop!

And this time I don't have to worry about stopping because I need to go to bed and wake up early for work the next day!

No man is an island unless he can truly afford it. In which case, others depend on him rather than the other way around.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Never Reveal Who Your Real Associates Are

Your enemies believe that your friends define who you are. Therefore, never reveal who your real friends are, only your acquaintances.

There will come a time when your enemies will think that you are all alone--when they attack, they will be in for a real surprise.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Show Your Enemies A False Pasture

Mislead your enemies by showing them what pasture you appear to be on. They will covet the same location and jump in while you nimbly hop onto your real, greener pastures.

Examples of how I have done this:

--Appearing to take an interest in child psychology, to the extent of maintaining a column on child psychology in a magazine. During this time a lot of people ventured into the field, investing their time and their efforts in obtaining degrees and afterward getting stuck in school-based, counseling jobs. Little did they know that I was really exploring psychology in the service of creative writing.

--Appearing to take an avid interest in television and the movies. While other people jumped onto the bandwagon of commercial writing, I steadfastly produced literary works, and will continue to do so.

--Appearing to enjoy weekly column writing for a broadsheet. This became hard work after a time and prevented me from doing other, more interesting projects. I did it long enough for others to be attracted to it like moths to a flame. Now that they are churning out ephemera, I can write all the novels I want. As a matter of fact, I can write anything I want whenever I want, without press deadlines.

--Appearing to be obsessed with communicating with spirits. You'll be surprised at the huge number of "psychics" that cropped up. They're spending days and nights with this thankless activity, while I boosted my antique and jewelry collections and renovated my house.

It is useless to ask teenagers what time they are coming home, because they themselves don't know the answer.

I am Eros in the daytime and Thanatos at night, though I do realize that some people live their days and their nights the other way around.

Anything that says I have to be on Katipunan Avenue at any time has got to be a joke.

Watched Help for the Holidays, a Christmas melodrama, on TV last night. It reminded me of the "Writing from The Heart" workshop that I held in one of five drug rehab centers two years ago, where I was so effective that the staff members resented me and didn't want me back.

A young man in your family is planning a change of lifestyle. He expects your full support.

Your children did not have the Christmas they dreamed of.

It is not yet too late to make up for it.

Every year, on or around this time, you find yourself falling into old habits. One of them is doubting the person who loves you.

Step back, observe the pattern, and break it. It is the greatest holiday gift you can ever give yourself.

Something hard to find will come your way and you may or may not purchase or accept it. It will symbolize an opportunity that you have the freedom to take or not take.

Sunny morning with cool breeze in Cubao

The wonderful thing about doing my own projects is that I can begin and end them at leisure.

Night Class (Night of Saturday, December 27, 2014)

Significant Events of the Day:

Laid out the dollhouse furniture and made a dollhouse pattern for hand-knitting. I mapped out the rooms and areas of the house to correspond to dimensions of the human psyche.

Retrieved my hand-knitting materials. I had yet to identify appropriate threads.

The granddaughters and I decided to watch Dare to Dream on Tuesday rather than tomorrow.

Found my two LOTR lunchboxes and gave those to Aubrey, since she already has the Gandalf action figure in a glass vitrine and the framed Legolas poster.


The Dream:

I am teaching a class on creativity on the second floor of the old Bellarmine Hall. My students are comprised of former "Writing from The Heart" participants, former schoolmates, and young people whom I have never seen before.

The lesson for the day is on perspective, which I begin teaching by taking small, three-dimensional models of Renaissance panels: one has one window, the other, two, the last, three. I drape two models at a time and ask the class why only one panel should be exposed each time. No one can answer. N. raises his hand; he is a brilliant director and I know that he will give me an excellent answer. I give the floor to him and ask him to illustrate his answer on the blackboard. He makes a colored-chalk drawing, however, of the cover of a book.

A young woman comes in late. She is dressed wearing a deep-bronze-colored satin dress. She explains that she was in one of the university classes that I taught. I say that I do recognize her, except that she used to dress in denims all the time. She is flustered and embarrassed.

After the class N. offers to give me a ride home. It takes me time to pack my things. I go down the building and see that I am in the front driveway of the Grade School. N. is waiting for me. He asks me where I want to be dropped off. I reply, "You can drop me off anywhere," but I am hoping that he will take me to the front door of my house.

At the end of the dream I am all alone, waiting for a bus that will take me to another workshop I am conducting. The sky is overcast, the wind is strong, and I fear that a storm is coming soon.


My Notes:

My psyche is telling me to write more books rather than devote my time completely to conducting workshops.

The three-dimensional models bridge to the dollhouse furniture I was laying out.

From a precognitive point of view (the dream was about perspective after all), it seems that various people from my past will gather for a workshop I shall conduct for them. However, I was indeed conducting a workshop in the astral dimension while the participants were actually with me in their dreaming states.

I also cannot help but feel that there is some kind of warning about the weather, something terrible and unforeseen.

I have two birthstones: bloodstone and aquamarine. The first connects me to the goddess of death, the second, to the goddess of the sea.

I wonder how many people actually disagree with the preaching of the Pope but are afraid to say so.

It has always been a never-ending battle between Peter's exclusiveness and Paul's inclusiveness. Neither one really wins.

There is nothing so disgusting as a nun who insists on having the last word when she very well knows that she is wrong.

A radio playing music in a room is an indication that the housekeeper is cleaning there.

Pseudo-intellectuals write in gibberish. They remind me so much of the writers of pretentious art exhibit catalogues.

There was nothing to watch on TV last night except 47 Ronin on HBO. Actually depressing, but I would never pass on a movie with Keanu Reeves, whose face can be a face of any race on earth.

A wand is neither an extension of your hand nor a representation of your will.

A wand is a deadly weapon.

Let us face it, this Christmas was all about SANTA CLAUS!

Good morning, Cubao!

Four more days for Santa Clauses to drastically lose weight and change to the costumes of Father Time!

Giving people handouts and televising it is NOT my idea of charity.

Ironically, do things slowly if you want the day to go fast.

Stopped listening to music with earphones. It prevents me from thinking. I wonder if that is why it is so popular.

Good night, Cubao!

I love this cozy evening. I've prepared the clothes and jewelry to wear tomorrow, the family is supping in the kitchen, and my knitting materials are all ready for a day of work!

Sometimes the problem with human rights is that the recipient of the rights believes that it is all right to do everything he has been doing all along.

What is the point in watching Jason endure all those tribulations if we all KNOW that he will live, succeed, and triumph anyway?

Little boys light dangerous firecrackers because their fathers--who belong to a generation that took pride in lighting dangerous firecrackers--expect them to. As such, lighting dangerous firecrackers has become a subliminal rite of passage, a sign of masculinity, a challenge, a substitute for shooting down objects of enmity, anger, fear, shame, guilt, frustration, disappointment, rejection, failure, and other aspects of negativity in life.

To work on an effective firecracker ban, work on the FATHERS, the UNCLES, and the GRANDFATHERS, who have the money to buy pyrotechnics but no sufficient knowledge about masculinism.

It may take two more generations before firecrackers are completely relegated to public parks.

In the Philippines, lighting firecrackers has absolutely nothing to do with driving away evil spirits. Besides, even if it did, why are those spirits still present during the coming year?

Retrieved my favorite knitting paraphernalia from my needlework cabinet.

It is sheer bliss to work on projects without deadlines.

I can't accept you as a student because you're a member of dubious organizations and attend dubious gatherings. You thought that you could use those groups as stepping-stones to get to me. Unfortunately they are the very reasons why you are blocked from getting to me.

Similarly, I don't entertain interviewers, researchers, and "seekers"--when they come to me, I deliberately give them wrong information.

Good morning, Cubao!

Oh--it's Saturday. I hadn't really noticed because every day is Saturday to me.

Laying out what I have of the dollhouse furniture tomorrow.

Good night, Cubao!

I think I know why I want to take the family to the Disney ice show. I want to buy my Inner Child a Beast doll at the kiosk (if there are any)!

We are considering watching the Disney ice show at the coliseum. That is one advantage to living in Cubao--while others travel from far and wide to watch something there, we are struck by whim and fancy and simply walk to the venue. And perhaps eat out afterward.

It isn't anywhere on the news, but I could swear that the earth moved last night.

Gifts to Nielsen, Agnes, and Mary Ann

Update on projected workshop for "underprivileged" high school students in Singapore:

Dollhouse furniture almost complete. I need two pieces more.

Bought another vitrine from Aida, to place my Ibong Adarna castle in.

A computer and two gadgets are enough to make me stay in my captain's cabin room the whole day and the whole night.

Never promote plastic and fiberglass as "all-weather-conditions" materials. They turn brittle and discolor under the sun.

They also seem to be more suited for coffee shops rather than for homes.

How your hair looks like when you wake up in the morning determines the kind of day you are likely to have. Your hair is comprised of filaments that serve as astral antennae.

It is in your power, of course, to proactively change the trend of the day.

I am still seriously considering buying a chaise longue (a real one, not like the ones that are made of plastic). After I do so, I can resume reading Tarot cards for other people.

Greeted Cerefina a Merry Christmas, and of course she understood me.

I miss the bird man. I'd always purchase sparrows from him. He must have moved residence and brought his business elsewhere.

Cubao is under a bright, silver sky, and the flowers in our garden are like lustrous, semi-precious stones!

Writing in my TinTin notebook on the front balcony. Directly across the street is Artery Gallery and Studio, where I often see Arvin and his partner working through their huge windows. They see me writing; I see them painting--Cubao Moulin Rouge!

I love doing nothing so much that I might extend it another year!

Taking photos of my library books is a back-breaking experience, and I think I'll rest from it for a while.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Flaunt Your Successes

Flaunt your successes, and persist in obtaining more. They inflict wounds on your enemies more than actual weapons do.

Three kinds of people regularly visit your blogs:

--Your relatives and friends
--Absolute strangers
--Your most resentful enemies

Be vigilant. It sometimes happens that the closest friend you ever had since high school will turn out to be the very one who envies you, and who is constantly tormented by your success.

You seem to have forgotten that this season was designed for people to be unselfish, not otherwise.

There was nothing on TV. Aside from replays, everything was on the themes of Santa Claus, Christmas romance, and children, all of which I channel-hopped over.

The 64-foot cradled canvas, divided into four, will be installed in a makeshift studio on Grande Island a day before my arrival.

Good morning, Cubao! Packing art supplies for Grande Island. I feel like Paul Gauguin.

I love parks, especially if they are being well-used by the people.

Parks can become idyllic places where everyone is happy and feeling content.

It has become quite clear, over the years, that it is unwise to travel December 24, 25, and 31, and January 1.

If you can whitewash your sepulchers two weeks before or after All Souls Day, why can't you visit your living relatives and friends with a similar timetable?

I wonder how Filipino Muslims feel whenever broadcasters announce how much they've been enjoying their Christmas ham.

Heaven sings; Nature rages.

The sun has set once more, and darkness overcomes Cubao. Tomorrow is the day after Christmas Day, and people will soon be preparing for New Year's Eve. The safest parts of the house are Aubrey's bedroom (below the roof deck) and my captain's cabin bedroom (below Aubrey's bedroom); both have concrete roofing. Need I remind the family that the police precinct and Camp Panopio Compound are just across the street and that the folks out there might get trigger-happy come midnight?

The best part of this holiday is that I am no longer rehearsing for retirement; I am already, actually retired. I no longer panic whenever I need to go to bed because I have to rise at 4:00 AM the next day.

As far as I am concerned, as of December 19, the sun commenced setting and the sun commenced rising for me and me alone.

Good night, Cubao!

It was a sunny morning and I was able to photograph my non-Philippine-magic books, but it's a chilly evening all over again.

More library books to photograph:

--Developing Psychic Abilities
--Shamanism
--Witchcraft
--Divination

The spirit boat has been cleansed and re-programmed, and is no longer a death boat.

Spirits of deceased friends visited me today, Christmas Day. They look exactly their ages when they passed away, whereas I--I look 63 and will soon look 64. That is actually the strangest part of all.

I especially remember, among others, Citas, Augusto my grade school classmate, and my father (again). They wished me Happy Holidays.

I was doing something and I had to explain to them exactly why I was doing it.

Such spirits seldom visit the living because the living believe that, when that happens, they are next to die. The truth is, spirits don't know when everyone else will die.

The world is replete with competitions--in fashion, cooking, and baking, among others. It is fine to aspire to being "the best" for the prize money as long as one realizes that no one really is "the best", especially since judges are subjective.

Award winners should look around them and see that many others are ten notches above them, except that they are the very people who don't need to join competitions.

Home alone!

The family is at a Christmas party this afternoon--which gave me time to re-strand the chevron beads.

Nielsen, Nelson's daughter, is visiting tomorrow.

A nice, e-mail greeting from Alan Holst! He will soon be posted in Beirut!

The last necklace I swore to re-strand: antique, chevron beads from Baguio

A born-again book store owner is inevitably in the wrong business.

It's raining in the northern part of Metro Manila. Chito, Chevy, and Vinci are postponing their Christmas visit to Sunday.

Quite often, it is not your duty to enlighten the unenlightened, because enlightenment can come only from within, while what comes from without is always propaganda.

In the last analysis, no one can hex you.

Every person has a spiritual defense mechanism--some know this as guardian angels, spirit guides, the Higher Self.

Therefore, no one can hex you--but you can hex yourself.

Unable to find my nylon twine. Must buy some, but will have to wait until tomorrow because the shops are closed today.

Hangout Overflow

Tried listening to radio music via earphones last night, hoping it would be one way to elicit ideas from my psyche. Unfortunately it had the opposite effect--my mind kept focusing on the quality of the vocals and instrumentals. It was a grounding experience.

Getting my act together to commence a 64-foot mural on Grande Island. Edgar and Francis will apprentice for me.

Asked Dio and JR if they could assist for a day, but no response from them.

I hope to find the right models on the island itself.

Slept through the midnight hour.

This time around I bought a Samsung.

I disliked Blackberry for drastically reducing the number of photos I could take.

Good morning, Cubao!

It is a mistake for ageing divas to attempt to look like what they used to. They should, on the contrary, experiment with varieties of old-age chic.

He will get married only when he finds a woman who is willing to stay home and keep his house and family, not a woman who loves having fun.

My masseur is available on Christmas Eve. Evidently he doesn't have anything planned this day too.

Found my antique, silver anklet. Making an effort to wear it everyday.

Wearing a sweater I never dared wear outside.

A cold virus will be doing rounds before New Year's Eve.

Keep warm and dry, eat lots of fruit, take lots of water.

If you are up to it, eat a lot of deep-fried garlic.

Slept nine hours last night. Would have risen sooner, but the soothing percussion of the rain outside was heavenly.

Whenever it rains, all you have to do is:

1) Switch to a wet-day wardrobe and jewelry, which you should always be keeping handy because, in the Philippines, season clothing should be ready to use and not stowed way.
2) Switch to a wet-day menu and snacks.
3) Switch yo your favorite, wet-day activities
4) Engage with your favorite, wet-day friends.

Napped through a NatGeo program and dreamt that winter had come to Cubao.

In my dream, I deliberated switching the sliding door panels to double-pane, insulated panels already.

Now, whenever it rains, I don't have to worry about going to work without getting wet.

Life is a Pavlovian experiment: traffic and floods are constantly associated with going to work and going to school.

Good morning, Cubao!

Weather for ducks!

It rains on Christmas Eve as it did on All Saints Day.

Good night, Cubao!

Aubrey claimed my Gandalf action figure and my Chinese prayer wheel.

I think, I'll overhaul the contents of the roll-top desk inside my bedroom tomorrow.

The biggest achievement of religion on the face of the earth is to civilize people and encourage them to exercise compassion, yet it doesn't even do those anymore.

I see clover-leaf overpasses where Taft Avenue crosses EDSA, but I cannot pinpoint the time frame.

The live stream on traffic "P. Tuazon - EDSA" used to be a cause of worry for me. Now, when I see it on TV, all I can feel is sympathy for those caught up in traffic.

I see a white coffin trimmed with gold.

Retirement is exactly as I thought it would be: gently waking up in bed after a good night's sleep, exercising in my room, enjoying a long breakfast, enjoying a long lunch, enjoying a long supper. Whenever I turn on the TV or log on to the computer I see plenty of evidence that the youth and the middle-aged are engaged in battles in the world outside. It's their turn to fight--I've had my day, and am all the wiser for it.

I light scented candles whenever I write with my favorite pens. I rearrange my things at leisure--giving or throwing stuff away, for The Hermit refuses to leave mysterious items in his wake after he dies.

One thing was totally unexpected, though: I enjoy being well-dressed at home, rotating my clothes and my jewelry.

Retirement, I guess, is no excuse to look like a slob.

Don't get stuck on party leftovers. It's quite unhealthy.

Cook a fresh soup like sinigang.

Called A., and I'm glad I did. She is going home to Cavite and so her shop will be closed. However, she did set aside a vitrine for my Ibong Adarna castle. I'm picking it up after Christmas.

Finally renewed my passport before the holidays.

One must renew one's passport even if one isn't planning to travel.

A passport is possibly the best ID one can have.

Intelligence is not an offshoot of bipolarism, and vice-versa.

Ninety-percent of broadcasting is pure speculation.

"It Starts With You" (I hope you still remember that.)

If your home is dysfunctional, so will your neighborhood be. So will your community be. So will your district be. So will your city be. So will your country be.

If a train is crowded, don't gripe. Simply don't take it.

If a bus is then also crowded, you have a choice between taking a crowded train and a crowded bus.

It is neither the fault of the train nor of the bus.

In either case, you exercise your free will.

Everything costs something.

If you want an upgrade or an improvement, you need to pay more.

Or expect a gradual deterioration.

Good morning, Cubao!

I need to keep a very important appointment today.

Last night I dreamt of two things that have been missing for a week now, and where to find them.

I found them this morning.

Waiting for something to arrive--the Christmas gift I am giving myself, actually.

Watched Beyond Magic with DMC: Burning Man on NatGeo, which was a confusing fusion between traditional witchcraft and modern illusionism.

House is an unusual program. Its shot angles and shot composition seem to simulate those of comic book strips.

As of last night, I was on the tenth chapter of The Book of Abramelin the Mage.

Have you ever tried jotting down notes at the kitchen table? It seems to be one, magical location where ideas flow abundantly.

The Queen mistakenly thought that she could destroy the King.

It is always a challenge even for a seasoned performer to manipulate sci-fi gadgets on camera. Though coupled with dialogue, many performers look like they are merely pretending to understand what they are doing, and others as though they were handling amusing toys.

Watched Pacific Rim on HBO and enjoyed it, but movies like this can be too metaphorical for my comfort.

It really uses the Godzilla template albeit not set in small-pond Tokyo but in the international big pond.

Retirement is a big blessing if you maintained a good name for yourself the whole time you were employed.

Leaving in two hours to visit my artist friend and take photos of my oil portrait in progress.

It may not snow in the Philippines, but this is surely the season in which a lot of people need a lot of ice cubes.

Sometimes I feel that social media applications are venues that allow frustrated readers to gawk at you and then rue what they do not have. They then plagiarize your posts and make untrue statements about themselves, wishing that they be true.

At the moment I still need a living room set, a kitchen set, and a toilet and bathtub for my dollhouse therapy kit. The scale is of utmost importance.

The kit will be used for underprivileged, high-school workshop participants in March 2015.

There are only three business categories that are certain to make money: food, shelter, and clothing.
Should you venture into any one of these, however, never shortchange your clients. They are the categories that garner the most complaints.

Holding joyous parties with live bodies is more effective than lighting firecrackers in driving out negative energy amassed during the year.

Good morning, Cubao!

It's a Sunday without feeling that tomorrow is a Monday!

Good night, Cubao!

M. is arriving in the morning with the books from O.

In the meantime R. moved his appointment to 3:00 PM.

Always control your computer. Do not allow it to control you.

Never permit your computer to have access to your history and browsing data.

The biggest mistake of any priest is to think, talk, and act like a social climber.

Anger Management is the prequel to Red Dragon. It features Hannibal Lecter's first job.

Joke!

Because of the traffic, very few employees are willing to hold their office posts over the holidays. It is an excessive and unrealistic demand.

In countries where it snows, people light candles in their rooms to get warm.

In tropical countries, people light them for atmosphere.

Never make a painting using house paint--the pigments will eventually fade.

Remember, even a house needs to be repainted after several years.

Re-organized my Rolodex and pasted on the calling cards I still value. Calling cards inevitably end up in a Rolodex--ironically, they should be made of paper and not board.

Furthermore, it is not advisable:

1) to print calling cards that are bigger than standard size or have unusual shapes; and
2) to print only one's name on the front of a calling card and the rest of the information on the back. One of the two has to make way in order to be attached to a Rolodex.

Two cups of coffee and a very light lunch

Four sets of guests today: Ivy's friends (front balcony), Angelique's friends (roof deck), Aubrey's friends (family room), and senior citizens (former dining room).

When people are busy cooking in the kitchen for four simultaneous house parties, I am smart enough to stay away.

The Secret Passage (Night of December 19, 2014)

Memories of the Day:

It was supposed to be my last day at the office before my retirement, but I'd filed leave the day before and therefore stayed home.

General housecleaning for the following day's simultaneous tea parties.

Two of Aubrey's classmates stayed over to avoid having to deal with the traffic.


The Dream:

In this dream, set in the old main house, I am approximately 27, my father, approximately in his early 40s.

The main house is located not where it used to be but across EDSA.

I need to take a shower and get dressed for an appointment. My companions, presumably my colleagues who practice magic, are in the garage.

I enter my father's room; he has a guest, a Philippine Armed Forces crony, who is about to leave. I ask my father whether I may use his bathroom to take a shower. I have my bath things in my hands.

After the officer leaves, my father confides in me that he is embarrassed that he neglected to give his friend a gift for Christmas. I console him, saying that, sometimes, there is no need for friends to give each other material gifts. I remember saying, "Okey lang, kaibigan mo naman iyon, eh."

The door to my father's bathroom in this dream is the door to his built-in wardrobe which, as a child, I believed to contain many treasures and mysteries, including, of course, my father's military weapons. The door opens out onto a dark passage: to the left is the door to the bathroom and toilet, to the right, a hidden street that leads out to the center of Cubao.

After I shower, I take the barrel bolt off the door that leads to my father's room. I tell my father that he should keep the bolt so that no one on the other side can lock him in. My father turns to me with a set of toiletries and asks me if they are mine; they are not. Among them, however, is a copper bolt with a chipped end. I take this; I later discover that it is made of amber.

I go out into the dark passage once again, deciding to explore it, and lock the door behind me with a key. I decide that I want to have my father's bedroom when he dies, though I want him to live a long life.

I walk down the hidden street toward the center of Cubao. To my left is a row of cypress trees, beyond which is EDSA. To my right are mostly residential apartments. I remember my father saying, before I went out, that this passage existed long before our house was built. I am rather disappointed because it means that our house was not the first house to have risen in the district.


My Comments:

I dream about my father every time Christmas Day approaches.

The images of showering and toiletries denote rebirth, an emergence from amniotic fluid. I need to be re-born into my father's persona not only as head of family but head of Self; I now have the barrel bolt, albeit made of amber, and the key. One end of the amber bolt is chipped, representing past pain.

The secret passage that leads to the center of Cubao is a passage to the Unconscious or the Collective Unconscious. I venture to explore it, thus exploring Ocean, whence all things came into being.

A gift is what it is--the material it is made of and how much it costs. No amount of disguise will ever change that.

Giving leather belts with unusual brass buckles and wallets with money to the compound security guards and hands.

One can't be too creative with gifts.

If you bother to ask poor people what kind of house they would like to have built had they the money, you will be surprised that they have very impressive taste. That is because they continually and thoroughly dream and cogitate on the matter.

It snowed briefly across my computer screen when I was on yahoo mail earlier this morning.

The best and the fastest way to ensure film continuity is to set up five, identical cameras all at the same time.

I know what heaven is. It is a place where no one needs to go to work, languish in heavy traffic, be at the mercy of criminals, and follow the whims of supervisors.

When I still wasn't in retirement, every holiday and vacation was spoiled by the thought of having to go back to work afterward. Now, I completely own and enjoy each day.

The purpose of dessert is to reset your tongue and palate at the conclusion of a satisfying meal.

The way a house is arranged must conform to the preferences and needs of all of ts residents.

Air holds up and dispels water despite the force of gravity, as it does with wet clothes hanging from a line in the wind.

I am deeply touched whenever Muslim workshop participants wistfully inquire whether I am Muslim.

The objective of the practice of magic is not to establish a new theology but to source out new, creative mindsets.

Good morning, Cubao!

Waiting for a fabulous delivery today.

Night classes

3:00 AM

Chilly night in Cubao.

Confusion arises whenever the government uses lower upper class standards on itself while the general public expects it to use upper lower class standards, and vice-versa.

Sleep and time are luxuries I love lavishing myself with.

I have four students of magic now. We meet only once a week. They are required to spend an hour reading the books in my library of magic, and then master one magical system.

The less it has contractual employees, the more dignified a country is.

The more a company has contractual employees, the more it will have to deal with disloyalty and vengeance.

I really should be lighting bottled candles on the front balcony to light the way for people walking to and from the dawn Masses, but my captain's cabin bedroom is located on the ground floor on the opposite end of the house.

Good morning, Cubao!

Slept eight hours last night.

We are doing a general house cleaning in preparation for four simultaneous tea parties, to occur in four separate areas of the house (roof deck, front balcony, family room, kitchen and former dining room), tomorrow.

Good night, Cubao!

A very good friend did me a self-sacrificial favor today.

Nielsen's candles are still being lit at our family altar every evening at 6:00 PM.

Souvenirs temporarily located in kitchen. Not in picture: yellow and white.

New Bilibid Prison should be renamed Arkham Asylum.

I thought that none of my granddaughters would want the black-and-white, karate kids quilt, but Angelique did. It is now in her bedroom.

There were four quilts to choose from, the three others quite colorful, but this was the only one that had fine stitches.

Good evening, Cubao!

The life of The Hermit begins.