After you take off the sash, insert the brass figure of the man through the loop round the brass figure of the woman, then wind the rest of the cord around both figures.

It's the feast day of Barangay Kaunlaran, which is right across us. Their patron is Saint Joseph the Worker.

Anticipating a lot of Mardi Gras parades.

This will be a month of extremes: grave disappointments for the unworthy and substantial merits for those who worked hard for and deserve them.

If they can pronounce "PayPal", why can't they pronounce "Nepal"?

Especially, for heaven's sake, the broadcasters who look like they were born in the vicinity and are pretending that they were bred and raised differently.

Good morning, Cubao!

Switched to ceramic mugs for the blackbirds' feed and water vessels. Birdcage vessels are too flimsy.

Good night, Cubao!

I am mastering the art of the small bedtime snack.

The Librarians was not successful because:

--Everyone in the cast was trying to be sexy rather than wholesome, as though all of them were auditioning for future programs.

--You can't really change the public's expectations of what librarians look like and how they behave.

Whenever you announce that you succeeded in the name of your god, people who have other gods will go out of their way to prove that it was otherwise.

Aubrey's knitting lesson resumes. Her current project is to make swatches in the following stitches: stockinette, 2 x 2 ribbing, and garter stitch.

I flinch whenever broadcasters pronounce "Nepal" as "Neh-poll".

If wrong pronunciation cannot be corrected, how much more so wrong information?

It's 2015 and people are still using the overused and pretentious word "robust" in their speeches and reports!

It's one of those days when I can't just sit in quiet--my sisters dropped by to send bananas and mangoes, the guard delivered a package that arrived, my son text-messaged several times...

Still, I believe that it is possible to be a hermit in an urban setting. I just have to keep trying.

A charlatan will be forced to give up his position and his job, and he will die in obscurity.

Good day, Cubao!

Slept eleven hours last night.

Whenever you raucously celebrate in the name of your god, people with different gods raise their eyebrows.

Pray inside your closet, never in public.

Good night, Cubao!

Morbid as it sounds, I'm tuned to crimes and hauntings on Ci and hoping to drowse off to sleep.

One victory, one loss.

The skull is the temple of the body.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit can be interesting while one is knitting, but the formula it often uses makes it too predictable--close to the ending, the perpetrator in each episode launches into a long-winded, Tennessee Williams monologue as the camera moves into extreme close-ups. I suppose the performers themselves consider these as opportunities to showcase their talent, although, most of time, they verge on over-acting. The formula, you see, typically works for theater but not for television.

Sheer madness is when your sister orders something for you on the Internet, it must travel from the U.S. to Australia and then to the Philippines, and the shipping will cost three times as much as the actual item.

Passersby on the driveway have been gawking at my new knitting project. This one's in warm colors of autumn.

Compassion is not complete without compassion for self.

The grandchildren may be fortunate to have a Grandpa who knits, sews, embroiders, does beadwork, draws, paints, and sculpts, but Grandpa is equally fortunate to have gorgeous young models.

When an insect flies away from its drove, it fades and dies.

When a human being detaches himself from the madding crowd, he recuperates.

Good morning, Cubao!

Be in silence for a change, and let the world go by.

Good night, Cubao!

My knitting needles were freed up after I finished Aubrey's pullover. I repaired them again tonight, so that I can commence knitting Angelique's pullover tomorrow.

"Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow describes three of my five grandchildren--except, of course, for the golden hair.

It takes me two months to finish a pullover. Apparently that is my current pace in knitting.

Assembling Aubrey's pullover. A most relaxing and most rewarding phase of the project, and so, I am taking my sweet time.

Love is forever, because human beings are forever.

Sometimes I wish that the day would last. That the sun would never set. That I would be able to gaze at the cerulean sky and have as much time as I could to contemplate everything.

If the day would last, if the sun would never set, I know that I would have all of the answers to all of my questions.

It is possible, therefore, that the day does not last and that the sun will set because we are not meant to have answers to our questions.

You cannot collect pendants and not collect chains to go with each and every one of them.

Home alone again. There have been many moments like this since I retired, just me and the house, and I treasure them.

Good day, Cubao!

Slept eleven hours last night.

Tuned in to "CNN Absolutely".

Good night, Cubao!

Still knitting Aubrey's pullover.

Always, in the past, whenever I dreamt of food--piling it on a tray in a restaurant or in a cafeteria--I actually never get to taste or eat it. Either something happens that compels me to leave the food or I wake up. Like dreams in which someone or something is chasing you.

Last night I dreamt that I was in a restaurant, and that I was actually eating the food on my plate and enjoying it.

I believe that, as one ages, one's worlds merge in one's dreams, and that one eventually gets what he wants.

Re-reading my copy of The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee tonight, only because I love Judge Dee and Robert van Gulik and because it is my only other Judge Dee book, alas! I actually remember it as a depressing read.

Lovers are not meant to sleep in each other's arms
Both soon shift their bodies, love is a dance
It is not static, one stirs while the other keeps still
And keeps still in turn while the other stirs

Even a kiss, no matter how ardent is love
Must cease for lovers to catch their breath
Love is a dance, love always moves
Until the dance is put to end by death

Waking, I see you sleeping against my body
The dream slips back and can no longer be retrieved
I ponder briefly whether it is you who are the dream
For you feel one and the same in my mind's embrace

You have not lived life fully unless you meet a man obsessed with art.

Extraordinarily talented people are, by nature, unpredictable.

Every week I draw up a list of house chores to do. The most delightful thing about it is that no one sets deadlines for me. I simply do what I think I'd enjoy most first, and leisurely go down the line.

Commencing a re-read of another Judge Dee book tonight.

Judge Dee and TinTin are my default escape mechanisms.

Good morning, Cubao!

Almost done knitting Aubrey's pullover.

Angelique went to school extra early today.

In ancient China, the literati always wore caps outdoors and indoors. They took off their caps only before going to bed. This wonderful body signal helped their minds and their bodies prepare themselves to sleep.

Because death surrounds me
When love beckons I am unmoved
You call me yet I hear only the voices of the dying
My vocation is to give to those who will soon be forgotten
At the expense of losing you for my own

In the summer I dream of rain
In the wet season I dream of sunshine
I want you and I do not want you
I love you and I do not love you
We lie together in the night
but I wait for sunrise

The night holds my head against the pillow
I set the day aside, imagining you beside me
What would you be like if you were really here?
What would you say of the pattern of the bedsheet
the scent of my body
the passion in my heart?

Another hacker scam:

DHL Express

To

studioantenor@yahoo.com

Today at 9:49 PM

=D H L=

Dear Customer ,

Your partner in business sent out an enclosed package addressed to you.

Due to usual parcel misplacement that we have experienced in the past,

we now confirm delivery address from receivers before final delivery.

You need to re-confirm your delivery address to ensure smooth delivery.

Failure to verify address might lead to delay in scheduled delivery or loss of important document

Sincerely
DHL Delivery Team.

Reply, Reply All or Forward | More


How tempting to reply:

Dear DHL Delivery Team,

What is my name?

What is the name of the sender of the package? Did he or she not pay you enough to ensure delivery?

And since when did you change your logo?

Your Dear Customer

P.S. How did you get my e-mail address? None of my business partners have it.

Good night, Cubao!

Weaknesses are not excuses to prevent progress.

Don't even bother selling anything to someone who cannot afford to buy it.

To wait for the best until it is available again, or to settle for second best now.

Decisions, decisions.

I think I will wait.

And now, back to "CNN Absolutely".

To heighten your psychic abilities, switch to Pepsi Max.

When the sun shines directly above and the trees cast their shadows on the ground, when men and women walk by laden with bags of vegetables, when children sit in the shade chipping away at halo-halo cups--even if I am in Cubao I feel as though I were in some remote province.

There is something about the Philippine sunlight that encourages contemplation.

At last they have found a convenient excuse to step in.

It is the mind that weeps, never the heart.

CNN hosts say the word "Absolutely" so frequently that it spontaneously comes out of their mouths without their thinking, almost as though they don't mean it at all.

Like "Thank you so much".

I am waiting for, and somewhat dread, the showing of the Asian edition of How Do I Look? This program's success is based on its taking the average American woman off the street and raising her consciousness to tasteful style.

The average Asian--the very target of this program--DOES NOT SPEAK ENGLISH AND DOES NOT THINK IN ENGLISH. As such, I am certain that the program will resort to drawing English-speaking participants from the upper-middle class--mostly literati and perhaps more highly intellectual than its hosts--a drastic change in concept.

GUIDELINES FOR MY GOOGLE+ FOLLOWERS FOR THE COMING WEEK (APRIL 27 - MAY 1, 2015) are now on my Google+ page. To access them, click on my round badge on the right-hand column.

"CNN Absolutely".

Can't they think of another word?

Jewelry goes through cycles. Develop the sensitivity to know when their positive energy peaks.

You know that a teacher is superb if his former students come back to him again and again--even when he drives them away.

Restoration is foolish if a structure has collapsed completely. Time, the earth, the sky, and, perhaps, God Himself took it all away.

Why not just use the funds to cover more pressing needs, such as those of living human beings?

When winter comes to the Philippines, it will share the same seasons that Russia and China have.

Good morning, Cubao!

Tuned in to CNN all night. It's night time here while it's daytime in the U.S., and so the program makes a good, informative bedtime companion.

If the mind is capable of telepathy, the heart is capable of its own. This is one of the foundations of magic.

The bird man keeps text-messaging me, but I'm not inclined to buy his mynas at this time.

There was a time when I kept wishing he would pass by.

Now it is he who wishes that I would ask him to the house.

Life is a series of Chekovian ironies.

Placed my African statues together on two glass shelves inside my captain's cabin bedroom. I hope I didn't miss anything.

Tomorrow I am redoing the alcove and moving its present contents to a new location.

There is a dream I did not bother to record. It was about a statue of Saint Anthony that I used to have but that I sold off 15 years ago, and I can't even remember who bought it. Its head and base were more than 100 years old, its sculptured robe was shellacked in metallic gold, it held a sculptured calla lily in its right hand, and tiny diamonds were encrusted at its feet.

In the dream the statue comes to life and tells me that it has finally awakened and is unleashing its power.

I wish I could remember who owns the statue now.

Good night, Cubao!

Knitting in bed, then reading more pages from Poets and Murder before turning in.

Angelique will have her final exams in arnis next week. So far her grade is high. This evening I gave her my magical, kamagong arnis sticks--not to take to school but to keep in her self-defense arsenal.

There is order in earth changes, in the same way that there is order in chaos.

If you are currently in a relationship, ask yourself if you feel free, satisfied, joyful, complete, and centered. If you do not, you are in the wrong relationship--you have stopped being creative, have reached your ceiling, and have stopped learning new things.

The next will begin with O, and then with P.

Now placing all weird stuff inside my captain's cabin bedroom. All other parts of the house should look normal and attractive to ordinary people.

Whenever I oversleep, I only have half a share of daytime.

The more you watch a commercial, the more you take note of its risible flaws.

Taking a break from Saturday afternoon knitting.

I offered Angelique the option of giving her piece a front closure like a blazer, but she wants it knitted and assembled like Aubrey's.

On TV, frequently repeated trailers and teasers actually, subliminally, make the viewers resistant to the subject matter. The subconscious mind first becomes annoyed by the repetitions, and then becomes highly critical of the subject matter, and then triggers off a dislike for it.

When a repetition comes on, hex it by hopping to another channel and staying there for a few minutes.

Good day, Cubao! Slept eleven hours last night.

Caught the replay of the final episode of the first The Amazing Race Australia. I enjoyed watching this series--I felt like I was traveling with the participants all over the globe.

Should the show come to Metro Manila, here are a few suggested challenges:

1. Travel through Katipunan Avenue and C-5 at 4:00 PM to deliver something in 30 minutes.

2. Buy something at any SM branch, then try to convince an atchay saleslady to search for a better item in the stockroom even if she says, "Ser, all out na po."

3. Go to any branch of National Book Store and ask an atchay employee to search for a book title on the shelves.

Good night, Cubao!

Been having a Law & Order (you name it, SVU, Criminal Intent) overdose the entire week. Good for kids, actually. Raises awareness about crime and perpetrators.

Once the no-longer-a-cafe space is up and running, I will focus on creating a room for bed-spacing for call-center employees in the back of the house.

Don't go on a hunt for blessings.

Give God a chance to send them to you.

As of 12:00 NN today the ground-floor cafe space has been taken--not by the man from Saudi Arabia and his wife but by a woman who owns a shop at Market! Market!.

She was willing to follow my New Orleans French Quarter design requirement for the facade.

Sadly, it won't be a cafe at all.

The heart has a lid that can be opened and closed. Yet, the heart itself is bottomless.

Itching to do a Cubao New Orleans mural on the far wall of the ground-floor cafe, but it all depends on who the lessee will be.

Staying home has opened my eyes to areas of the house that need constant cleaning and maintenance--things that I never saw whenever I went to work in the morning and came home in the evening.

People read Tarot cards because they are responsive to matters of the heart.

I light candles only on our family altar.

If I must light something similar elsewhere in the house--for a specific purpose or simply for atmosphere--I use lamps filled with paraffin oil.

Why are people afraid of Tarot cards? Why are they not afraid of lit candles?

Whenever you light a candle, all kinds of spirits come forth. They are attracted to candle flames. That is why churches are full of them.

GUIDELINES FOR MY GOOGLE+ FOLLOWERS FOR THE WEEKEND (APRIL 25 - 26, 2015) are on my Google+ page. To access them, click on my round badge on the right-hand column.

The Hermit will of course choose a social medium that is not as easy to access as others are.

Good morning, Cubao!

Bright and early on a Friday!

Good night, Cubao!

In bed and watching TV.

Your preference in jewelry arises out of your need for the day:

Crown/headband: Intuition
Earring(s): Clarity of psychic hearing
Choker: Throat chakra, communication
Pendant/Pectoral/Long necklace:Heart chakra
Arm band: Strength, defense
Bracelet/Bangle: Action, aggression
Ring: Feeling chakra, plus further meanings depending on which fingers you place rings on

It is not easy to read one's mind. But, it is easy to read one's heart.

Love falls like rain and burns like sunshine, and should never be given nor received in excess.

Taught Aubrey how to knit and purl.

Because we have the moon and the stars, we were never meant to sleep in total darkness.

Poor men have less fears, because they have less to lose.

God created the world out of love.

Men, in desiring to be like God, wage war in the name of God.

A hermit is usually perceived to live in seclusion and isolation. However, a hermit is never alone. His main relationship is with God, and his constant companions are spirits.

A hermit is also never idle. He performs works dictated by spirits--in many cases, works that other people cannot do.

In a relationship, neither party must sit back and remain complacent. Both parties must be productively proactive in order to make the relationship work. Otherwise one party will be on the losing end.

Relationship requires hard work without getting paid for it, and, in a permanent arrangement, there is no such thing as retirement.

Good day, Cubao!

Slept a scandalous eleven hours last night! The only reason I could think of is that I watched World Trade Center on Universal. While I admired the performances, the special effects and set design, and the way that many things were not shown rather than shown, the movie taught me nothing that I already didn't know. It brought back too many sad memories.When I really want to shut the world out, I oversleep.

I WISH THAT 9/11 NEVER HAPPENED.

The world lives with a whole range of animals--in the air, on land, and in the sea. The world lives with a whole range of plants, cultures, food, apparel. The world lives with a whole range of dreams and fantasies.

God Himself made the world that way.

Why can't we see that people who think differently than we do are also entitled to a whole range of happiness?

Good night, Cubao!

Still on Poets and Murder.

Every relationship must be kept in balance--neither too far to the left, neither too far to the right.

When the fashion specialist gets excited, she quacks like Donald Duck.

The event was a fiasco, yet the station continues to promote it--either as a cover-up or in the hope that their next, similar, event picks up.

I learned from Abramelin why a mage must wear a bonnet, cap, or other kind of head cover.

Now that I brew my own coffee, incentive to go to the Cubao Hogwarts Express Station has been very low.

The businessman from Saudi Arabia and his Filipina wife came back this evening. They seem to be still interested in renting our ground-floor cafe space. This time I gave them my e-mail address and cell phone numbers.

They will, of course, eventually find me on the Internet, and discover that they are dealing with The Vampire Marius.

A man who wants to be treated like a king is not, and never will be, a king.

Riffraff make themselves feel important by deliberately making others wait for them.

Try this:

When you are down and out or just feeling bad, go out of your way to make someone happy.

The world is imperfect because of the necessity of cleaning.

A news program is not worth watching if a good percentage of its time is spent promoting its station's gimmicks.

Traditional festivals--those that have been held for hundreds of years--keep a nation together.

New festivals--typically generated by event coordinators--teach people to abandon tradition and spend their time and their money on the ephemeral.

When your time is your own, you may allow yourself to be sidetracked by interesting projects without abandoning your original commitments.

Beautiful penmanship is a reflection of a beautiful inner self.

Watched Text to Kill last night on DIVA. It was well-made, well-performed, and enjoyable, but it used the whodunit template in which the criminal is the most unexpected cast member.

Amazing how, despite leaps and bound in technology, the content of media remains the same, almost as if the human brain--of producers and audiences--cannot function above the same mediocrity that existed since the invention of television.

Good morning, Cubao!

Pleasantly bright and sunny once more, and rainmakers back in storage!

Good night, Cubao!

Will commence Angelique's pullover after I've finished Aubrey's, and then I'll take to the vacuum cleaner and do a thorough cleaning of the entire house.

Something will be sighted and reported within the next two weeks, and it will have something to do with the existence of aliens.

I am so glad that Angelique left school after her last class before the strong rains and the flash floods came on.

We are now safe and sound at home.

Practice magic, but do not network. You will be dismayed to see that the field is full of "practitioners" who are megalomaniacs, paranoid schizophrenics, and fakes.

There was one wrong thing I did after retiring, which was to rush things and attempt to do in less time what I normally could do everyday while I was still employed. For instance, I used to knit four hours on weekends only, and now I have caught myself knitting the whole day every day. If I didn't correct myself in time my mind and my body would be worked more than they were when I was not yet retired.

The day and the night are mine. It should not be the other way around.

Rainmakers work.

However, you need two: a light one to make rain (shaken) and a dark one to stop it (never shaken).

Don't give in to "Update". Just keep closing the box.

Hot but with overcast skies wanting to be ripe enough for rain.

Every night I am reading a chapter from one of my favorite Judge Dee books, Poets and Murder, and I am slowly savoring every exquisite word.

Good morning, Cubao!

The last third of The Book of Abramelin the Mage, which has the seals and what to use them for, is the most interesting, despite the turgid read.

This time I shall practice it alone and will not involve others.

Ivy was discharged from hospital this evening, but will stay in Cavite, where her aunt can take care of her while she recuperates.

My granddaughters are back home after paying the hospital bills.

Once you are retired, you can demand that everyone adjust to you instead of the other way around. If someone does not want to adjust to you, you are very free to walk away.

Synchronicity. Caught an episode of Criminal Minds: Behavioral Analysis Unit set in Miami, Florida. It had elements that I recognized, and I took the episode as some kind of message.

It takes several steps to create an Album on Google+:

First click on "Photos".
Then click on "Photos of You".
Then click on "More".
Then click on "Albums".
Then click on "Upload Photos".

"I love you more today than yesterday/
But not as much as tomorrow/"

Lighted my elf lantern last night. I think I should place it on my magical table. It can help propel spells.

To detect spam or a hacker in your e-mail, make your cursor hover over the return address (e.g. "Yahoo Account!"). The REAL return address will appear on the screen--and it usually belongs to an individual with a name.

For example, I received the following:

U-N

To

studioantenor@yahoo.com

 Apr 19 at 9:29 AM

• Reply, Reply All or Forward | More

I placed my cursor over "U-N" and the following appeared: joanne.mcgowan@bt.net. 

Note: There is usually an attachment, which you should not click on, download, or view.

It was extremely tempting to copy and paste the address in a separate message and say, "Dear Joanne, I know that even low-life has access to the Internet, but don't you really have anything better to do?"

Of course I did not even bother to reply--and neither should you.

A person who has enough on his hands never experiences wanting, waiting, and wasting.

Ci's My Ghost Story On Camera is a nice program I like drowsing off to late at night, but the writer, director, and cameramen and women are so preoccupied with creating horror--even when it shouldn't be there--that I can't help but think that misunderstanding of spirits, rather than understanding of them, is being promoted. Perhaps it targets a gullible and unenlightened audience.

As for the rest of us, we must be informed that:

1. "Spirits" are often mere projections of the living.

2. No spirit can ever be entrapped in a physical locale as though in a repetitious tape loop. God and the angels won't allow it--it is an indication of spiritual neglect. Any "spirit" that keeps re-enacting scenes is a mere memory trace, or an emotional impression on ether. Memory traces do not and cannot interact with living beings, no more than a painting or photograph can interact with its viewers.

3. If spirits want to be photographed, they would appear clearly and distinctly--not as some dinky, blurry, vague spot in a dark corner in the background. A spirit that wants to be seen will hog the limelight and appear in the foreground.

4. It is disrespectful to attribute "ghosts" to previous owners or residents of a house, and their relatives. Their lives are no more tragic than their "ghost"-hunters'. We are equal in birth, we are equal in life, we are equal in death.

5. People who deliberately hunt for ghosts are not brave, courageous, heroic, and admirable. They are typically over-curious, want some thrill in their life, and, if you look closely enough, rude not only to spirits but to the living people who request their assistance.

6. Are not the lives of saints and martyrs, and are not "religious" apparitions and "miraculous" statues made of the same stuff, except that the writers', directors', and camera people's treatment of the material is different?

7. Learn reality from the American playwright Harold Pinter, who created horror out of the simplest relationships and things onstage, such as a steadily leaking roof.

One of my whimsical dreams is to pitch a tent on our roof deck and camp there for a night, but, whenever I am about to do so, I think of all the reasons why I should not.

Good morning, Cubao!

It's bright, sunny, and hot!

Last night was hot as well--I had to sleep without any clothes on.

Time is like rich fabric on a table, and all I have to do is decide how to cut it.

The luxury of time allows me to do that only when I want to, and when I feel like it.

The fabric I cut and sew together is either for myself or for others.

Good night, Cubao!

Finished the front and back panels of Aubrey's pullover.

Picking up and working stitches for the right sleeve tomorrow!

Kichiro knows when my granddaughters are one minute away from home. This afternoon Angelique and Aubrey visited Ivy at hospital while I sat knitting inside the small loggia. Much later, a tenant who was passing by alerted me and pointed to the floor above me, exclaiming, "The dog is hanging over the balcony and might fall!" One minute later, my granddaughters arrived in a taxi.

A businessman from Saudi Arabia and his Filipina wife dropped by and inquired about the rental of our front area, the prospective ground-floor cafe. If he takes it on, all of the food will be halal, which is wonderful!

A Mardi Gras parade passes by our house every Sunday afternoon and makes the day more interesting, especially now that we have a Cubao New Orleans French Quarter front balcony.

I once thought of having buntings made for the front grilles but decided that the neighbors would deem it over the edge.

I saw the bird man again. He has a pair of elegant myna birds. This time we exchanged mobile numbers. He is scheduled to come to the house next week.

I forgot one mission that I have from time to time, which is to have a banana split.

While the granddaughters were doing groceries I went to the commercial center to buy bird seed. Despite my resolution to not buy anything else I ended up not only with half a kilo of mixed bird seed but also with:

--A pair of altar candles in bottles
--Three chains for talismans
--A hair garter
--A double-dipper for linseed oil and turpentine
--A fancy butane lighter shaped like an elf lantern

Rich Tagalog

Future-related terms:

Kinabukasan
Hinaharap
Bukas
Bukas-makalawa
Oras na (mangyari)
Pagdating ng araw
Pagdating ng panahon
Mangyari lamang
Kapag nagkataon
Sa susunod
Mamaya
Maya-maya
Sa uulitin
Minsan pa
Isa pa
Makikita mo
Pagputi ng uwak, pag-itim ng tagak (Matalinghagang salita)
Mag-impok
May pinag-iipunan
Naghahanda
Naghihitay
Nag-aantabay
Nakaabang
Umaasa

TONY PEREZ'S GUIDELINES FOR HIS GOOGLE+ FOLLOWERS FOR THE COMING WEEK (APRIL 20 - 24, 2015):

1) Wood is warm, but it can also be hot.
2) Do not compare yourself to others. It will increase your unhappiness.
3) Look beyond what leaders show you.
4) You need to maintain the roof over your head.
5) Ask yourself whether what you love to do most is not merely a defense mechanism to deny what you really love to be most.
6) A small but meaningful gift comes from an acquaintance.
7) Stop running. There is really no race against anything.
8) Honor the goat or the sheep by abstaining from it.
9) If you live with other people, be sensitive to what they need.

Men go to war because they want change for what they think is the better.

Globalization has the same objective.

It is highly sexist to say that a woman's most important day of her life is her wedding day, considering that the same is not said of a man.

Someone in yesterday's workshop approached me and said that one of her gay trainees claimed to have seen a "spirit" following her, and that the gay trainee performed some mumbo-jumbo to "entrap" the spirit inside her ring.

She showed me the ring, and I showed her that the gay trainee was merely a delusional practitioner of "magic".

You cannot "entrap" a spirit in a cheap, fancy ring, especially one that you bought in Divisoria. Spirits will voluntarily reside only in precious and semi-precious stones.

When I was not yet retired, a cup of coffee used to mean a break from work.

Today a cup of coffee is a niche in time in which I am with no one but myself and can be as selfish and introverted as I want.

It is an affirmation that, while all of my time is mine, I should set aside some of it in which I can remind myself how special I am to myself, if to no one else.

It is a respite in which both my body and my mind can relax--or contemplate something highly pleasant and enjoyable.

It is a symbol of security, of sanity, of normalcy, and of the desire to remain wakeful and reflective in life.

A cup of coffee knows no religion, no race, and no gender. In a cup of coffee, no matter what the cup, we are all equal.

Do not stock up on candles. You will tend to forget that you have them, and they will discolor, get covered with dust, and be hard to clean.

Buy candles only as needed. They should be as fresh as bread when you use them.

When pets are treated wrong consistently, they become psychotic.

Always ensure that you are the master of a pet that is not insane.

Hoping against hope that someone would invent welding equipment that would not involve sparks flying all over the place. I know that it's theatrically Hephaestus-like, but, surely, there could be cleaner, safer ways to vulcanize steel.

Sex becomes eventually jading or boring, but love remains constant through all seasons.

The destruction of the planet, if it ever occurs, will come either from without or from within.

A lover's signature is always a bouquet of roses or a box of chocolates, and no other message to you could be clearer. It is any other gift that seems unclear, until you see it as a reflection not of yourself but of the gift-giver.

Love looks at you through a doorway, through a window, or through other apertures. Whichever way, it is framed by what it looks through. Sometimes, you are influenced not by love itself  but by the frame it looks through.

A talisman from any country or culture is a sigil. It can be used as such, and is, therefore, not only worn--it can be placed on magical tablets, on one's head, on a scrying surface, and others, as indicated in all grimoires.

Wands are used to STOP something, not make something manifest.

She laughed at the women whose wedding receptions were held in inexpensive venues. Now all of those women remain happily married while she wallows in misery and self-pity.

J. and M. dropped by. J. took photos of one of my collections, and I gave M. the antique, terracotta bead necklace I promised her.

M. rides back to Baguio tonight.

Good morning, Cubao!

Slept ten hours last night.

The workshop in San Fernando, Pampanga was a big success, and we are scheduling the next one to occur also on a weekend. I desist from taking photos because an entire family and their relatives are among the participants.

Good night, Cubao!

Knitting in bed again.

Watched Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright on HBO, a cartoon take on Phantom of the Opera.

TONY PEREZ'S GUIDELINES FOR HIS GOOGLE+ FOLLOWERS FOR THE WEEKEND (APRIL 18 - 19, 2015):

1) Do not disappoint those who are expecting much of you.
2) Absence does not make the heart grow fonder.
3) The Wands must continue pointing to the ground.
4) Perform an act of charity to someone who deserves it. The good deed will come back to you unexpectedly and when you need it most.
5) Troubles reach a plateau and will now begin a downward slope.
6) Avoid manic speech and behavior.
7) You will find an unexpected stash of money among your belongings.
8) Be steadfast and stick to your principles.
9) An attractive person will sit to your left.

Knitted a few rows this afternoon after rearranging our sales display and putting some books on their right shelves. Hung a bird cage and a fantasy sword as well.

My body tells me when to stop and rest. And, would you believe, it never conforms to the regimen of a Saturday/Sunday weekend.

Probably why people are stressed despite weekends. They don't listen to their bodies.

Arsenic leaves no trace in any substance.

"East Indian Currency"

Significant Events of the Day:

Knitted most of the day. Lent Aubrey a book on knitting, a pair of needles, and some yarn.

Prepared a syllabus for a workshop on developing psychic abilities.


The Dream:

Daytime in the Farmers Market area. I am with J. We seem to have been shopping for art supplies, and I am about to suggest that we go back home but he eagerly says,"Cupcake! Cupcake!" In this dream we have been buying and snacking on cupcakes from time to time.

We go to a mobile store a few steps away. I take out a P100 bill, meaning to cover cupcakes for both of us, but it seems that J. has also taken out a P100 bill to pay for his cupcake. The store owner, a stocky East Indian man, gives J. his change in Philippine coins and mine in paper currency. He has an oily manner and I have the feeling that he wants me to think that he deliberately gave me more than what I paid; I see a couple of hundreds in the wad he gives me. I check out the currency. At first I see that one bill is in east Indian currency, and then find out that all the bills are. I confront the man and demand that I get paid in Philippine currency. I am unable to spend Indian currency in the Philippines and have no plans of traveling to India. I ask J. if he actually paid the man anything, and he says that he also gave him a P100 bill. I tell him that my P100 bill was supposed to cover both of us, and he seems abashed.

The mobile store transformsinto a tram, and I get on it. The man, who is driving, makes several stops for passengers. I get impatient. I am afraid that I am getting too far away from J. and that he will worry as to where I'd gone.

We stop at a gas station on P. Tuazon. I confront the man again and tell him that I must get my money back and proceed with my business. I give him a subtle dressing-down. He is now apologetic, and crosses over to the front of a motel, where he first tries to swipe some money at the cashier and later on converses with another man who is his brother. This other man gives him money, which the East Indian man then gives to me. The bills are in Philippine currency, but they seem smaller in size, and I wonder whether they are counterfeit.

I get off the tram and walk back toward the commercial center. I am about two kilometers away from where I left J. I take my mobile from my pocket and attempt to call or text J. but something is wrong with my mobile. The screen is all blurry and I conclude that something in my pocket pressed against a button to make it behave that way. I can only hope that J. will wait for me.

Notes:

I had no intention of recording this dream but, hours later, it continues to play out in my mind.

I have several interpretations of this dream:

1. It is about separation anxiety. However, I am not certain who J. represents in this dream.

2. It is about the absence of clear communication--the wrong change, J. paying for himself, my conversations with the East Indian man, my erratic mobile.

3. It is an actual astral visitation by J., whom I have not seen in a while. My personal concerns (going off on the tram, for example), however, prevent me from focusing on J., who was my student for some time, and possibly on other similar relationships.

Good noon, Cubao!

Bright and sunny once again!

Now preparing a syllabus on "Development of Psychic Abilities" for San Fernando, Pampanga.

I never accept cases that other psychics have already worked on or are currently working on because:

1. I don't like carnival-like atmospheres.
2. The persons asking for help are really acting out of curiosity and are not worth helping.

The last time I measured Aubrey for her pullover she admired the knitted work in progress and asked, "Grandpa, how did you learn how to do that?" She doesn't remember the summer workshops held in our house by Coats Manila Bay in which Ivy, Chito, Angelique, my sister Alice, and some of the Spirit Questors participated. Aubrey must have been barely in pre-school then.

This afternoon I lent her a pair of straight needles, some yarn, and the very same book I learned from. I hope that she will benefit from it.

Good night, Cubao!

Lots of things to do tomorrow:

1. Rearrange our sales display--lots of garage sale mysteries there!
2. Proceed with my knitting.

Many doctors believe that society should adulate them, but, the fact is, it does not, and should not.

The common and overused expression "Oh my God!" is ambiguous--one can never tell who is being addressed.

Discriminating, or even the mere thought of discriminating, is the first clue that a person is not a Christian, without and within.

Sometimes, whom you assume to be un-Christian is ten times more Christ-like than you are.

Jewelry boxes don't work for me--I inevitably forget what I have. A jewelry wall would be more like it.

Memorable Monday
Terrific Tuesday
Wonderful Wednesday
Thrilling Thursday

If you are on a diet and wish to reduce food intake, use a smaller dinner plate, such as a bread plate. It works all the time.

Caught The Conjuring on HBO last night. A spectacular horror movie.

My only criticisms are:

1. I have never met a witch who looks like that, and I am sure that no witches ever looked like that since the beginning of time, and never will. The use of ugliness as a basis for horror is the very reason why people are uncharitable and a lot of people are miserable.

2. Spirits do not creep up on you with bits and pieces gradually leading to a full story. Do you ever do that when introducing yourself to others? Spirits do not value suspense--only screen writers and directors do. They go straight to the point.

3. I don't think the spirits were "conjured." They were already there long before the protagonists arrived.

4. Why was everyone still sleeping in their own beds? Do culture, propriety, and political correctness ever overpower fear of the unknown?

At most, the movie motivated me to further prettify my house for my granddaughters and for normal visitors.

Good noon, Cubao!

Woke up early this morning, saw that it was raining, then remembered how cozy it is to sleep while it was raining and so went back to sleep.

Slept nine hours last night.

Good night, Cubao!

Considering re-reading one of my two remaining Judge Dee books.

How I wish I had two loyal assistants like Judge Dee did, but, then again, they were not privately paid--they were salaried by the ancient Chinese administration!

I am appalled that most of the classmates I admired in grade school and high school have turned out to be marriage failures, alcoholics, and crooks, and are now some of the most uncreative people I have ever known.

Garage Sale Mystery: All That Glitters was all right. I enjoyed it completely, noting the changes in casting. Of course the original cast members may no longer have been available, but the switch came across as a form of deconstruction and metaphysical ensemble acting. Well-written, well-directed, well-performed, an interesting peek into the antiques business, around a cozy mystery and subplots to boot. The protagonist has a refreshing, expressive face, and all of her close-ups are justified.

This time it's the assistant who's wearing the beautiful necklaces. The protagonist was wearing only a dinky, Law & Order pendant on an equally dinky chain. And whatever happened to the nice song for the closing titles?

At any rate, here are two movies-for-TV that I won't hesitate to recommend to my granddaughters at any time because they are safe and wholesome.

Both movies:

--Do not tell you what religion to practice.
--Have no nudity.
--Have romance but have no sex.
--Have no drugs.
--Have no gambling.
--Have no cuss words.
--Do not assume that the viewer is stupid.

Avoid hanging out with people who like only to hang out. They are detriments to your progress.

Good afternoon, Cubao!

Was knitting the whole morning.

Good night, Cubao!

Shamelessly waiting up for Garage Sale Mystery: All That Glitters.

It better be good...

The Ballet Dancer

This happened 30 years ago. I was hanging out at P.'s place in Pasig with one of the Spirit Questors when P.'s phone rang, and she answered it. A hushed conversation followed, which my student and I politely and deliberately chose not to eavesdrop on. After P. put down the receiver, however, she asked me whether I would mind visiting one of her friends, who was having a panic attack, in her neighborhood. Of course I was happy to oblige.

My student and I drove to a huge mansion. It was 10:00 PM. All of the lights were off except from behind some windows on the ground floor. P. assured me, though, that L.--her friend--would be waiting up for us, and so I rang the bell at the gate. Five minutes later a woman emerged from the shadows. I asked for M., and I said that P. sent me to see her. The woman sized me up, thinking, "Here is one of my Mom's weird friends again, and I wonder how much he will hit her for." She grudgingly let us in and showed us the way to L.'s bedroom on the ground floor. She did not bother to go inside with us and introduce us.

L.'s bedroom was enormous, approximately half the size of my house. She had her own living and dining room sets. Her walls were lined with shelves, most of which were filled with memorabilia. She said that she was having trouble sleeping and that she was seeing apparitions. She had several altars around, each one of them with lit candles. I remember, in particular, an altar to Saint Therese Lisieux. I suspected that L. had been on medication to help her sleep and that her family was now slowly getting her off it to save money. My student and I stayed long enough only to give her exercises to calm her down. There was nothing else that we could do, and we did not want to overstay.

Aside from the altar of Saint Therese Lisieux there are two other items in that room that I distinctly remember despite the passage of 30 years. One was a framed, fading, black-and-white photograph of L. during her younger years, in ballet costume. It was then that I recognized her as one of six dancers of the ballet group Y. whom I watched in rehearsal when I was in college. Another friend of mine, Luis Layag, took me along to the rehearsal. Later in the day, after the dancers had gone, Luis and a choreographer discussed casting for a major number. They conceded between themselves not to cast L. because she was too languid and didn't have "it." It is possible that L.'s family was never fond of ballet and that, since she did not become a star, they did not give her the recognition and affirmation that every artist needs. She was, in effect, extremely lonely and unwanted.

The third thing I remember is that I was impressed that L. wore her favorite jewelry even when she was at home, something that I myself do to this day. I was particularly attracted to a ruby cabochon ring on her left ring finger. The cabochon was surrounded with lush, fine, gold swirls, like Danish pastry. In the far future I would ask two plateros to create the same with two of my stones, but they both did not turn out the way I wanted them to.

L. is at least ten years older than I, which would place her in her mid-70s at this time, if she is still alive. I hope that she is happy, safe, and well.

So how did I make this mental leap to that night, 30 years ago, on this Tuesday night?

Angelique did groceries after school and brought home, among other things, a bag of strawberry-flavored Dewberry cookies. Each cookie has a circle of glazed, red, strawberry-flavored jam in the center, powdered with sugar crystals. The circle is surrounded with the cookie itself, molded in swirl shapes. Reminding me of L.'s ruby cabochon ring.

Be careful of what you snack on. In this case I was brought back three decades to recall my meeting with a panic-stricken ballerina who never achieved stardom, and a ring setting that no jeweler has ever succeeded in reproducing for me.

This weekend will be the first day of the workshop titled "Development of Psychic Abilities" by the Spirit Questors in San Fernando, Pampanga. The maximum number of participants is 15, and comprised of people who know one another and who are carefully screened and approved by myself..

The workshopp is not open to persons outside this circle. I have learned to keep circles away from one another. Otherwise the lonely schizoids "network" and contaminate others with their dysfunctions.

Make up your mind. You are either improving or you are deteriorating.

“But it's so hot, and everything's so confused. Let's all go to town!”

--The Great Gatsby

There is a dragon for every element. Look to the ancient Chinese, not to the ancient Celts.

After love is gone, hatred and anger do not take its place. Neither does indifference. Neither does emptiness.

After love is gone, openness to others takes its place.

Love and your Inner Child are directly related to each other. Both of them like toys.

Love can say hello without your meeting it in the street.

A day is fully productive only after you've had a good night's sleep.

Life goes on only when you consistently pick up after yourself.

It is saddening to see how movies have become as ephemeral as television. Today's big splash becomes merely an Internet reference tomorrow.

Especially if the splash is artificially generated.

Lock up your house and your treasures to fend off outsiders, not to fend off yourself.

Cleanse your body by eating little, not eating a lot.

Be fearful with your ambitions, for the lesson of the universe is always a lesson in humility.

Christians prefer to follow the words of Paul rather than the words of Jesus himself.

It is the teacher who rejects, rather than recruits, students who is worth learning anything from.

New directors do not kowtow to riffraff producers the way old directors do.

Pregnant and insecure, she became a born-again Christian and ensured that her lover also became one, because she feared that he would fall for someone else.

You cannot sweet-talk, cajole, trick, or lure someone into converting to a religion. In the end, the person will blame you for having done so, and will call you The Devil.

She falls in love with married men because she envies the women they are married to and wants to know what it feels like to be them.

I have yet to meet a Christian who lives by the beatitudes.

When you extend charity or help to another, do not publicize it. Your right hand should not know what your left hand is doing.

Never covet a big house. It becomes a frightful place whenever you are alone.

It is all right to do simultaneous tasking except for things that you enjoy and for things that you do with people whom you love.

Good day, Cubao!

Slept nine hours last night.

Good night, Cubao!

Knitting in bed again!

Saw Wood Job! on RED, a late-coming-of-age film. It ended with the boy going back to the mountain village although, in reality, after one year of immersion elsewhere one is only too glad to be back home where one belongs.

It ended the way it ended because the film is really about how the traditionalist Japanese respect and honor nature, something that we still do in the Cordilleras.

Time has overtaken me again. It seems that I rose from bed but a moment ago. Now the sun is setting in Cubao.

In magic, only a dragon can show the way while imparting its wisdom.

Love owns both the sunrise and the sunset, for it is always the beginning and the end.

My friends, you can stop collecting pop tabs from soda cans for me now. I've already made two necklaces out of them--a high-fashion one and one that looks like an Egyptian pectoral.

This is one of the things I promised to do after my retirement, and, now, I've done it! No more pop tab stashes in my studio!

The department chairperson who did everything to keep promoting herself is no success story. Now she is a shriveled old woman whose works have no passages worth quoting.

In case you missed something on TV, do not fret. Rest assured, it will be replayed over and over again until you get sick.

It is the reason why advertisers and their products make their audiences sick.

It is the reason why television will never control audience time. Because, whatever they need to watch, they can watch another day.

Antagonists will keep trying, and will keep losing.

What is cool in one country is not cool in another.

If a prospective relationship does not work, all you have to do is abandon it.

Good morning, Cubao!

Studio is done, writing room is done, and now to work on the studio office!

Good night, Cubao!

Pathetic as it sounds, I need to learn how to operate the washing machine.

Re-stranding another necklace of antique beads tomorrow.

More and more people are saying "the people that..." and "the person that..." rather than "the people who..." and the person who...".

Whether linguists like it or not, the Internet takes languages out of their hands and transforms them in ways that they can no longer control.

I'm discovering a joy that I know is not available to everyone: the one-hour, afternoon nap. It is sheer bliss!

No wonder the shops in Lucky Chinatown shut down for an hour or two after lunch. They need to have their naps!

The Book of Abramelin the Mage remains an unfinished read. I'll pick it up again tonight now that I've finished reading Herge and the Treasures of Tintin.

Two-hour massage after a month of no massage.

Karate Kids

In 1997, when I was adjunct lecturer at a university, I heard that a high school boy was badly beaten up on campus. Apparently he'd become involved in an argument with a classmate, who quickly challenged him to a fight. Unbeknownst to the boy, the challenger was taking karate lessons and promptly demonstrated all he knew on him.

It was clear to me then and to no one else that the karate student was very much at fault. He'd been watching one tournament too many and was itching to show his peers how much he'd learned. Rule Number One in the martial arts, however, is that you are never to practice your skill on an unskilled person. That would be somewhat like using a sword on a man who doesn't have a sword.

The same is true in the practice of magic. I instruct my students to desist from using any type of magic on innocent persons. The payback is tenfold.

Another Mardi Gras parade passed by again this evening, this one right under our Cubao New Orleans French Quarter front balcony. I couldn't be bothered to run upstairs and take photos, though, because I was knitting and because that was by no means the last Mardi Gras parade that will ever pass in front of our house.

Wait until May, when the number of parades will escalate.

Everyone has an equal share of troubles, and so you need not worry that you are getting the raw deal.

I took up karate in the 1970s, when I was pursuing a master's degree in Clinical Psychology. Our instructor always ensured that our fingers were kept together so that our hands would form spades. Quite interesting that in Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do his fingers are always splayed like dragon's claws.

It is easy to provide guidelines and predictions for your Followers. All you have to do is tap into the collective Higher Self of everyone in your Circle of Followers, and look at the trends. That is why the guidelines and predictions are applicable only to those Followers, and to no one else.

Always learn something new from every person you meet. If you learn nothing from someone, make it a point to never see him again.

A foolish trickster's objective is to try and make people see how clever he is.

You may trick a stupid person into believing that you are intelligent, but a really intelligent person will come up soon enough and correct that impression.

Whenever you are surrounded by persons of a certain type, you eventually believe that the whole world is comprised of them.

Whenever a little accident or mistake happens to you during the day, say a prayer.

The needlework woman, a compound tenant, passed by again while I was knitting inside the small loggia. She showed me her favorite crochet book. She asked to buy a home economics book from our sales display but I decided to give it to her for free. I sold her five knitting magazines from my collection at P1 each.

Volunteer work should not entail your shelling out money at any time.

Do not advertise expensive things to people who cannot afford them.

Time is money. If you choose to spend it in bad company, you will never enrich yourself.

On a date, the more quickly you are able to go past physical appearance and clever conversation, the more you will get to like each other.

You have no right to take care of anyone if you cannot even take care of yourself.

A pretentious reader must prevent herself from being a writer. She will only produce trash while everyone else advances.

Watched the replay of 300, followed by the replay of 300: Rise of an Empire, on HBO last night. The latter was a good clone of the former, meaning that contemporary screen direction may not be as easily trademarked as in the days of Alfred Hitchcock. I saw the former on the big screen, I have the hardbound comic book, and I have the lunchbox.

The visuals in both films remain mesmerizing, like music videos minus the music. I still don't like the Persian king's and queen's Beyond Thunderdome wardrobes, though. It seems that, when production designers get overexcited about villains, they forget everything about period costume and go Christopher Street. It doesn't help that the queen also speaks with a New York accent and doesn't move and act in the "classical" manner--disturbing, because everyone else does--coming across as a character study from a future Van Helsing.

All of that blood splashing across the screen never fails to make me feel that the characters badly needed breaks and took red Nestea plunges.

Finally, the one flaw that runs through both movies: how can one give an emotional, Marc Antony speech (a.k.a. pep talk) to hundreds or thousands of soldiers spread out over a field or shore and be heard without a microphone?

Good morning, Cubao!

Slept nine hours last night.

Lazy Sunday.

Good night, Cubao!

I'll finish reading Herge and the Treasures of TinTin tonight!

Before I retired I pledged to myself that I would read all of the Harry Potter books from beginning to end without interruption, but, with all my ongoing creative projects, I don't think that will ever happen! My personal challenge, though, was to read it using my own imagination and without my mind being tainted by images from the movies.

People leave the country and migrate not because of better employment but because they naturally go where they feel needed.

A pair of nunchaku is one wand. The chain provides the continuity between the two sticks.

One-hour consultation with the hermit is over. The result is that we are scheduling a five-weekend workshop on the development of psychic abilities in San Fernando, Pampanga. The participants are a family whose members have psychic abilities in various degrees, and my task is to teach them how to harness them properly.

The biggest mistake of everyone who has a crush on someone is believing that the feeling is mutual.

What is felt in the east is felt in the west.

Good morning, Cubao!

Two people are scheduled to consult the hermit today.

Good night, Cubao!

Knitting in bed while watching the news!

King Kong falls from the tallest tower.

The runner can go forward and backward but cannot ever run away from himself.

When the rains come I plan to walk the night as I did when I was in high school.

The mediocre historian wallows in bottomless loneliness and questions her true worth to the country and to herself.

Since I retired I am no longer stressed by work, people at work, traffic, public transportation, and crowds. I feel blessed and spoiled. I just hope I don't get too comfy and unable to adapt to the same environment when I have to be out for long periods of time.

Every time I do cleaning I sell, throw, or give something away, something I haven't used in ages and that someone else might appreciate.

Already the house is clearing up, though I still have too many things.

It's 5:00 PM and dusk is already rearing its head. Time went by so quickly today, which is quite unusual in my case because I savor every minute of the day.

The Wands must point to the earth once more.

Went up to the roof deck to see if I could transfer four studio chairs there. I can't. Nothing more can be feasibly added to the roof deck.

When I see Pilar Pilapil again I shall make it a point to paint her a second portrait. I remain unsatisfied with the one I did for her years ago.

Knitting in the small loggia. The woman who stopped to watch me knitting the ground plan for a dollhouse stopped and watched me knitting Aubrey's pullover again. She asked about the dollhouse project, and I said that not only was it done, it also traveled to Singapore, where I used it in a workshop.

She crochets, and actually crochets and shares shawl patterns with my sister Remi.

For a moment there I envisioned a neighborhood knitting circle, but, on second thought, the hermit enjoys knitting alone.

Apathy is not the inability to feel. It is the conscious decision to not feel.

Love does not surprise you like a monster in the dark.

Love does not grow like plants and flowers.

Love does not develop like celluloid film or a project.

Love does not knock on your door like a visitor--death may do so, but love does not.

Love simply is.

I became rich immediately after I gave up groups.

Unearthed A LOT of stuff I bought years ago, telling myself then, "I'll make use of this after I retire." Time to make good use--and some--of all those wonderful things!

Frankly, it is all right for you to fall in love with an idealized illusion AS LONG AS it makes you a better person.

The only test that love can be subjected to is the test of time.

When someone gives in to being forced to convert to a religion, he does not fear God. He fears man.

Indifference is absence during presence.

Slowly gathering momentum before resuming work on the studio.

Love attempts to initiate conversations of wisdom with you, but, often, you are too engrossed with other things to notice.

The less you know about a person, the more you think you do.

The gay doctor thought that he got himself a good deal, but what he really got is a disaster.

There is only one, effective way to keep your bathroom spanking clean, and that is to clean it each time of dust and dirt every time you use it.

I observe that other people's problem is that they are too caught up with "mall mentality" and "public rest room mentality"--after using a bathroom they assume that a janitor will come and clean up, and they run away from it as quickly as they can.

Overpopulation can mean that there are worthier friends out there whom you have not yet discovered.

Every relationship is never the same the second time around.

Good morning, Cubao!

Technology is like religion. It comes from a foreign country and it absorbs everything in its path.

The gauge of personal contentment is being able to sleep at will.

Good night, Cubao!

Need to finish up clearing the studio tomorrow so that all of the canvases can fit inside.

In the meantime I just finished cleaning my bathroom. I believe that a bathroom should be so clean that you can lie down and sleep in it. Which is why I don't allow non-family members to use it.

Micromanaging is a form of slavery.

If animals and not human beings are indigenous to Earth, they should also be indigenous to other, living planets as well, and it seems that they are not.

What do you actually mean when you say that you want justice?

An uneducated parent's fuse is short whenever he or she is short of cash.

Every sacred object is an archetype. Its power is not in and of itself, but is the collective power of all other objects like it, from the beginning of time.

Now watching Ancient Aliens on History Channel.

But can't wait until Tuesday, when Garage Sale Mystery: All That Glitters shows on DIVA. Based on the trailer, the protagonist is no longer wearing beautiful necklaces!

My nocturnal therapy, though, is comprised of Animation Domination's "American Dad," "Family Guy," and "The Simpsons" on FOX.

4:10 PM. Angelique and Aubrey went to visit Ivy at hospital.

"I've seen places, faces, and smiled for a moment/
But oh, you haunted me so/
Still my tongue tied, young pride/
Would not let my love for you show/
In case you say no/"

"To Russia I flew but there and then/
I suddenly knew you'd care again/"

To my many blog readers in Russia:

I have always been an Anton Chekov fan.

When my play Biyaheng Timog was premiered at the Cultural Center of the Philippines two decades ago, the artistic director of the Moscow Art Theatre and his staff attended. They gave me many gifts, including a paperweight with the reliefs of Konstantin Stanislavskii and Anton Chekov.

I asked them to give me a Russian playwright pen-pal--alas, they said that such a thing was forbidden!

Thank you so much for reading my blogs!

To Russia, with love.

Vernah is asking for my old pencil sketches. I'm giving them to her--I need to decongest the house anyway--bwahahahahaha!

3:20 PM. AT LAST the 12 cradled canvases for Grande Island arrived. The studio got crowded again, though, because each one of the canvases is 3 feet x 3 feet.

I'd already hunted for another canvas maker and actually found an old friend who owns a frame shop on EDSA, but, when the old canvas maker and his wife arrived, they were so apologetic and so pleasant, and they promised never ever to make a late delivery again. They are also dirt poor--they deserve to be employed, and why not, indeed?

Vangie wants me to do "Writing from The Heart" for Saint Louis University in Baguio City, but I need to know what the arrangements are.

Good morning, Cubao!

Good night, Cubao!

The canvas maker text-messaged me and said that he shall deliver the 12 cradled canvases we ordered tomorrow morning. I hope that he does. His original deadline was March 2, and he is more than a month off.

Your worldview should be based not only on how you think the world can become but also on how it cannot become because it is imperfect.

Worked on studio. Fifty percent done.

Ivy has been quite ill again, and this afternoon Angelique, Aubrey, Bill, and Arlene rushed her to hospital.

Most women's diseases seem blood-related. The men get everything else: muscles, bones, organs, and whatnot.

It's taking me time to realize that I now own time. I often catch myself hurrying or rushing.

Two dots are independent of each other.

A line connecting both dots indicates a relationship.

On Google+, there is a way to check whether anyone in your Circles is on-line or not. Click on Hangouts. Everyone who is currently on-line will have a green dot below their badges.

A traveler must be fully appreciative of his experiences. Otherwise travel won't be appreciative of him.

The king was not waiting, but the prince arrived.

Ibong Adarna

The Manchurian Candidate is being replayed once again on HBO. I saw it on the big screen when it opened years ago, and I enjoyed it. It is a moviefied, airplane novel, the type that is two inches thick and should cover you for a long flight.

On the downside:

--The title is forgettable.
--You can tell that the director imposed on his performers what to do and how to do it, all in the service of shot composition, a method that does not allow the performers to act out of their personal truth.

Good morning, Cubao!

Good night, Cubao!

Finished fixing up the studio lounge!

Thinking of doing the studio tomorrow.

Friendship has many definitions, but love can never be defined.

Whenever a new student comes to you, scare him off by giving him an overload of work or frightening him with your personality. This is equivalent to a martial arts teacher who ensures that his student knows how it feels to get hurt.

If he comes back to you, he is yours forever.

You have vertigo because you use a metal scraper to clean your ears and it bruised the interior of an ear. Now you have to use ear drops.

Never use metal or plastic ear scrapers. Buy one that is made of warm wood--they can be bought off the sidewalks in Chinatown.

The heart is a lantern. Only love can make it shine from within.

A bright and sunny morning in Cubao.

I have a long list of things to do on the ground floor.

Good morning, Cubao!

Angelique is back to school today.

I will not answer you because you are not in any of my Circles.

I will not answer you because your page has no photos, no biographic information, and no postings!

You should go to Settings and change your view format to single-column.

True love and patience go together, like complementary colors.

Anyone who is afraid to be loved will run away. Naturally.

Your e-mail message:

"Hi Boy

"Could you please open your bible and read  Genesis-chapter 4 verse 11-15.  I know that you have a masters degree in theology.  Am l right in understanding that Cain who killed his brother  Abel is still alive and a nomad ?

"Thanks

"_______"

My reply:

Genesis should not be taken as a factual account. Its meanings are not literal. The passage you indicate is about the justice of God--He will not execute criminals because they are also His children, but the criminals become outcasts and in effect punish themselves by living away from the rest of society.

Most stories in Genesis simply illustrate that there is really only one sin, the sin of disobedience.

It is quite unfortunate that most Christians read the Bible in translation and not in their original form (Hebrew for the Old Testament and koine Greek for the New Testament), and have no interest in the writing conventions of the ancient Jews.

That Cain wandered the earth as a nomad was a Hebrew writer's way of saying that he married, had children, and lived on through his descendants.

Figuratively, of course, Cain lives on because there are many who continue to kill their brothers to the present day, i.e. there is a "Cain" within each one of us.

[To the unenlightened: People who knew me since childhood and who know me in my neighborhood still call me by my childhood nicknames "Boy" and "Bojie". Hence, whenever my high school and college classmates called me on our home phone and asked for "Tony" and it was not I who answered the phone, they were immediately told, "Sorry, wrong number."]

Yes, you are thinking of setting up a dry aquarium.

You can send telepathic messages through your computer screen, as long as the person on the receiving end is also on-line.

The Vampire Marius claims the night once again.

Batman is Batman with or without Robin.

It is possible to love without touching, but it is touching that takes love from fantasy to reality.

When love speaks, it is the heart that hears.

Good night, Cubao!

Did a little of everything today, and it was, indeed, a full day!

A retired person never panics whenever his sleeping schedule shifts. All he has to do is rise earlier or later accordingly.

I have observed that panic over sleeping schedules causes others anxiety and pushes them to take antihistamine as a last resort.If you happen to lose sleep, simply make up for it later.

Don't take antihistamine. Remember that everything has a side effect.

As long as you are sure of yourself, you already have it all even if everyone else abandons you.

Romance and its expectations are like flames. They can be easily doused.

Committed companionship is the solid rock that you should stand on. None of the elements can destroy it.

Every act of creation arises from the desire to justify one's birth.

The artist has the last say.

Everything in a mirror is in reverse, but your mind should be capable of un-reversing anything.

My objectives for this month are to:

1. Finish knitting pullovers for Angelique and Aubrey and posting their photos on my "Enchanted Knits" blog.

2. Finish writing a full screenplay for an indie film.

3. Finish fixing up 3/4 of the ground-floor area of the house (writing room, studio office, studio lounge, writing room).

I have 24 days to do all of this!

It is all right to let an institution be a part of your life.

It is not all right for you to be part of an institution in the sense that it becomes your identity and eventually swallows you like The Blob.