And now for a cup of tea a la Hercule Poirot.

January, Writing, Painting, Dramaturging. The artist's life I've always wanted!

Worked a full hour on Grikha's portrait. It is small but very detailed.

Very soon--like tomorrow--will have to commence Raul's portrait, and shall be working on two portraits simultaneously. (I have three studio easels and Portrait of Ong Keng Sen is still on one of them.)

Many things lie buried in our past, but they are part of our personal history and do not deserve to be forgotten.

From where I am sitting inside the small loggia the sky is as white as five-star hotel bed sheets.

Under those sheets our heads and our bodies lie in silent anticipation.

Above them many wonders are taking place, wonders that remain invisible to us because the sheets blind our vision.

The wounded and the defeated seek shelter under the wing of religion, and they believe that they should stay there for the rest of their lives.

Only 5% of the contacts you made before retirement are worth retaining as lifelong friends.

Note that we tend to ask for prosperity, which we have too little of, rather than love, which costs nothing.

Ask for Comments ONLY from writers and artists who are more talented than you are.

If you ask for Comments from the general public, all you will get are lame and insincere praises.

Which of the two, though, are you really after?

Sat inside the small loggia after lunch and wrote in my notebook for an hour.

Before retirement your house is always a place to come home to. After retirement your house is where you make things happen.

Sunlight In Cubao: Sunday, December 31, 2017

No vehicles on P. Tuazon Boulevard.

Every day should not be Christmas Day. Every day should be New Year's Day.

I don't make New Year's resolutions. I make New Year's wishes, and I present them to my spirit guides.

Go to the teacher who wants you, not to the teacher who doesn't want you and never will.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is an unprimed canvas, the sun a fully laden palette.

Welcome in, 2018!

I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors!

MAGNAM TIRGAM
JUADARITA
ALAAYA
SARADOC

GEATAO
TE APELLA
GEPARATO
GEPIPO
CHRISTUM PEPUM

BISTE
BANGE
BESTIPO

RECANTAR ITE
BUM
QUE SE DEUS PACTENIT

MOLAI
MALANAI
MOLAO

PETAT MATAT

HARI ANG DADAAN,
HAHAWI KAYONG LAHAT!

MAIGSAC
MAIGMAC
EGOLHUM PETIGSAC

PENIVICCIUM LUXCIRIS SALVAME

Pronunciation guide to GEATAO:

MAGNAM TIRGAM (MAN-yahm TEER-gahm, MAGNAM means GREAT)
JUADARITA (Hoo-WAH-dah-REE-tah)
ALAAYA (Ala-AH-yah)
SARADOC (Sa-rah-DOKK) [These five introductory names of front-line spirits are equivalent to knocking on a door and having it opened] [Question: Can you use this opening for any magical prayer other than GEATAO? Answer: Yes.]
GEATAO (Geh-YAH-tow, rhymes with NOW, name of chief spirit) [It is wrong to pronounce this as YAH-tow]
TE APELLA (Teh Ah-PEH-lah, I appeal to you)
GEPARATO (Geh-pah-RAH-toh, name of lesser spirit)
GEPIPO (Geh-PEE-poh, name of lesser spirit)
CHRISTUM PEPUM (KRIS-toom PEH-poom, name of lesser spirit)
BISTE (BEES-teh, name of lesser spirit)
BANGE (BANG-heh, name of lesser spirit)
BESTIPO (Bes-TEE-poh, name of lesser spirit)
RECANTAR ITE (Re-can-TAHR EE-teh, Go and sing again of this)
BUM (Boom, not a word, but, like PHU in other oraciones, the sound is supposed to kick the previously vibrated passages through ether)
QUE SE DEUS PACTENIT (Ke Seh DEH-yoos Pack-TEH-nit, That God [or the god] may go with you; it is common in oraciones that pidgin Latin and pidgin Spanish are mingled)
MOLAI (Moh-LIGH, rhymes with HIGH, name of lesser spirit)
MALANAI (Mah-lah-NIGH, name of lesser spirit)
MOLAO (Moh-LAO, rhymes with NOW, name of lesser spirit)
PETAT MATAT (PEH-tat MAH-tat, It will be attacked, It will die)
HARI ANG DADAAN, (HARI referring to GEATAO and NOT to the person reciting the oracion) [Note: Do NOT pronounce DADAAN as DARAAN because the former is masculine, the latter, feminine]
HAHAWI KAYONG LAHAT! (Do not substitute HAWI or HUMAWI for HAHAWI)
MAIGSAC (Mah-eeg-SACK, name of lesser spirit)
MAIGMAC (Mah-eeg-MACK, name of lesser spirit)
EGOLHUM PETIGSAC (Eh-GALL-hoom, Also with me, Peh-teeg-SACK, name of lesser spirit)
PENIVICCIUM LUXCIRIS SALVAME (Peh-nee-VEECH-yoom, I desire this, I aim at this, Loox-CHEE-riss, By the light that shines on me, SAHL-vah-meh, Save me, rescue me, or be my salvation. This last line is the llave, susi, or key that finally propels the oracion.)

I wish to point out that the ONLY correct Latin words and phrases are MAGNAM, TE APELLA, CHRISTUM, ITE, SE, DEUS, and SALVAME. The rest are a hodgepodge, but we should remind ourselves that local mages at the time were taught neither Latin nor Spanish, and had only texts they could get hold of.

The December 2017 leaf falls off my planner.

New Year's Eve dinner at home with my sister Alice, Angelique, and Aubrey.

An evening of tropical heat. Not the kind of night to wear one of my jackets in. Let's see if it gets any cooler toward midnight, though.

Transition from 2017 to 2018

Above, my 2017 planner

Below, my black 2018 planner, my red workshop syllabus, and my orange art and literature notebook

It just so happened that I liked the design of the 2018 Seattle's Best planner. I hated the 2017 one. The layers of the vinyl straps started peeling and that stupid buckle kept falling off.

Placid, contented pets always complete a languid afternoon.

Everyone would much rather eat, drink, and be merry, unfortunately, but 11:45 PM, toward midnight on New Year's Eve, is the best and the most effective time to perform alternative healing on someone who is ill.

To every home administrator, peace of mind is entering the New Year with nothing short of supply or in need of repair.

If you have access to the night sky later, scry on it at 11:00 PM. Interpret what you see there, whether the shapes are actually there or in your mind. The shapes will give you a series of visions of the major events of the coming year.

In your old age, a very small bedroom serves you better.

John's townhouse hawker's stall will be open tomorrow, January 1, 2018.

Sirens everywhere. There is a big fire somewhere to the far north of Cubao.

Angelique is done screening our Harry Potter DVD collection and likes Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire best. Indeed, that was the "coming of age" episode of the major characters.

I seldom know how to respond when someone tells me that I was one of the characters in his wet dream. I am always afraid that he will think that I sent him that dream.

Sometimes, when I say that something comes from above, what I mean is that it came from extraterrestrials.

Your habits belong to your Shadow, that is why your Ego has difficulty controlling them.

Your Messenger message:

"I know I'm asking a lot but please humor me...
I have restarted my life... If there is anything as such... Oh, and please don't look at my punctuation. How do you see my life??? I'm feeling so depressed, useless & messed up. Is there anything you can share with me, the first step in getting out of this dump? Please do t get offended in my straight forward of asking your advice. Thank you

"Happy New Year

"Thank you for ur advices and words of wisdom... it may not be for me personally but it helped me.
"Thank you. Hopefully soon I could visit you. Much love"

My reply:

Hello ________!

When we wake up every morning, a new life begins. Live it well. In your present situation, live for your children. In them you shall find your fulfillment and your true happiness. That is what our children are there for--not to remind us of our broken dreams, but for us to allow them to take on new dreams and reach them. That is why their failures are even more heartbreaking to us than our own.

Do not keep looking to the past. Awards, trophies, crowns, and celebrations are all meant to give closure to previous accomplishments. They are not to be carried like burdens into our future. All things pass, including beauty and romance.

Finally, stop consulting students I decided to drop long ago. Their expertise is not up to date. If you notice, they still rely on the same old techniques and have no clue as to all the things that I am practicing now.

December 31, 2017: Ready To Meet The New Year

They are superstitions, I know, but, aside from your first, unexpected visitor of the New Year signifying what your coming year will be, what you are doing on that day will also be setting your year's trend. And so, I write and I paint on January 1 every year.

Amazing. All throughout the holidays I haven't heard a single firecracker in the neighborhood. 

Existential irony: Every person alive can be your karma. But, once he is dead, he is no longer your karma--he has simply fulfilled his own.

Never subscribe or give your e-mail address to sites offering tips and information. Their first few sends may contain what you want to know. After that, all of their sends will be attempts to sell you something, and you have no choice but to unsubscribe.

Two cups black espresso blend mixed with green-bean coffee.

Good day, Cubao!

Woke up 12:00 NN.

The sun is an islet in the sea of outer space.

The table of the year, for me, was the round table in Roald Dahl's study, in which he set five or six selected treasures in a circle.

Into the forest of the night. When I wake up tomorrow it will be the last day of the year. I will be much older, but so will the entire world. Who will pause and care? We are always between birth and death. While we are still there, do we bother to count how many people we loved, and how many loved us? And what about those whom we failed to love, and those whose love we fended off? All of these will be glossed over by history, yet they will always be part of ether, of the air our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will breathe long after we are gone.

My only trusted companions are Judge Dee, Hercule Poirot, and Brother Cadfael. Tonight I continue sleeping with Judge Dee.

Christmas Eve may be traditional, but there is never anything routine about New Year's Eve.

Never read cards or perform scanning for people who invite you to dinner with the intention of making you their after-dinner entertainment. It is undignified and it is a waste of time.

Tony Perez's Rules of Magical Economy:

1. Do not trust all of your magical followers and alleged fans.

2. Live as normal a lifestyle as you can.

3. Huwag magpadala sa simbuyo ng sarili mong katangahan.

Gaano Katanga Ang Minsan?

Your Messenger message:

"ULOL KA. MAMATAY KA NA!!! KAIBIGAN KO IN REAL LIFE. IMPOSTOR KA! KABIBISITA KO SA BAHAY NIYA. PARA MAG DELIVER NG CHRISTMAS GIFT. SPIRITUAL PARENT KO YAN. SANTA MUERTE ANG BAHALA SA YO. SINUWMBOQNG KITA SA KANYA.

"SI ________________, _________________ & __________ ANG MGA PABORITO ESATUDYANTE & APO.

"SPIRIT QUESTO AKO. AUGUST 2011. AKO NA MAGAGASLIT & MURA PARA SA KANYA ANG KAPAL NG MUKHA MO!!!"


My reply:

You are definitely not psychic. How can you be sending messages to an impostor when you are actually sending them to the real person?

Your Messenger message:

"IMPOSTOR KANA HAYUP KA. NASA G+ ANG TOTOO. KASABWAT KA NI ______________ SA PAMIMIRATA NG LIBRO MGA PANIBAGONG KULSM, KUNWARI EDIT ANG ENGKANTO DE DIOS. PATI SA MGA AGIMAT KUNWARI ORASYON NIYA. MAMATAY NA KAYO. SA HARING BAKAL CIA & KILALA CIA NG PAMA NGKIN NG FOUNDER HARING BAKAL. UNG BLOCKED NINYO C ______ . SINUMBONG NA KAYO. KAPAL NG MUKHA NINYO. KAMATAY NA KAYO!"

My reply:

Hello _____!

I am sorry to inform you that this is really me, and that this is my facebook account. If someone has been pretending to be me, it is certainly not me.

I have BOTH a facebook account AND a Google+ account. You are my Google+ Follower but you are NOT in my facebook Friends List.

Encanto de Dios is not an edited version. It is my TRANSLATION.

P.S. It is difficult, if not impossible, for anyone else to write like me. And how could anyone else but me take prolific photos of my house and possessions with my Canon IXUS?

Your Hangout message:

"Hi Sir! 

"I would just like to ask you regarding my dream last night. 

"In my dream I was in a theater production. I was a part of the chorus, I think. The thing is I don’t remember acting on stage. The dream was just about a series of costume changes in the backstage. After each scene, we would hurry putting on an orange skirt and and orange kamisa. The material of the cloth was transparent like tule. The skirt was almost like a petticoat. 

"It was strange that we had to change our costumes often as it just looked the same except the length of the skirt and sleeves. What was stranger was that underneath, we wore our regular clothes (jeans, white shirt) which the transparent garments did not conceal. 

"I was not able to recognize who my companions were. Actually we were like soldiers or ROTC cadets ordered by the stage manager to go back and forth from the backstage to the stage.

"When I woke up this morning, I felt very tired. 

"Thank you very much for your time and good day., Sir."

My reply:

Hello ______!

You have been trying to please a group of people by catering to their expectations, but failing. Learn to see things from the points of view of others before commencing any kind of action.

The constant change of costume to similar costumes indicates that you are unable to adapt to situations using new strategies.

The best thing to do, of course, is to just be yourself and let others accept you for what you are. If they cannot do that, that is really their problem and not yours. 

The Wands are on storm watch through January 1, 2018.

5:30 PM Saturday, December 30, 2017. The onset of sunset. This is the time when weary workers come home and intend to spend the long weekend in their respective houses, hoping they will survive it and be ready to go back to work again afterward. The man wonders how far the money in his pocket will take him. The wife thinks of all the possible backstops to keep their family happy. The young man wishes his friends will remember him. The young woman plans to make not only each day a joyful one, but each hour of each day a joyful one too. And the children are dreaming of pleasant surprises coming their way.

Fear the day as much as you fear the night, for both hold equal amounts of danger.

A person hopelessly in love with someone should never settle for second or third choice, because the risk of misery is high.

For the past decade now I pee while sitting on the toilet bowl, a lesson in hygiene that I learned from my Muslim brothers. It prevents dribbling on the rim of the bowl or on the floor, splashing, flushing urine from my body like a horse, and expelling urine as though it were te karit.

I also have a secret reason for doing so, which, I am certain, my Muslim brothers were never aware of. When I pee while sitting on the toilet bowl, my body experiences sensations akin to multiple orgasm. The soles of my feet and the palms of my hands first tingle pleasurably, and then the feeling creeps gently toward the center of my body.

It is always light that keeps you alive at night.

http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook18.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-new-years-happiness-raffle.html

When you wake up at noon, sunset is the middle of the day for you.

A healthy tree has resplendent boughs and leaves. A happy tree is a busy metropolis of birds and insects. An enchanted tree sparkles like a lantern at midnight.

When we overspecialize, we make no room for eventual retirement.

He feels a slight fever whenever New Year's Eve approaches.

Fourth cup of black, espresso blend mixed with green-bean coffee.

One lantern for every enchanted forest.

Most men don't notice it, but, after a tooth extraction, they become temporarily impotent--an archetypal carryover from ancient times when wild animals and wild men measured power by the strength of their teeth. During these times they can counter their impotence by performing self-sex, but can exert themselves physically only after the bleeding of their gums has stopped and the wounds have closed.

Nature has a way of preventing men from overexerting their potency. It is from the ages of 25 - 35, the height of their sexual activity, when they need to have their molars extracted--the very teeth that literally and symbolically perform grinding, gnashing, and gritting.

Yes, we all have inborn safety valves, though we may not be aware of them.

The most effective and long-lasting way to get rid of people is to engineer things so that they will want to get rid of you.

You will never feel like wanting to leave the house if you are able to spend an hour in every room and enjoy being there. Your kitchen is a cafe. Your dining room is a restaurant. Your den is a recreation center. Your roof deck or garden is a park.

I really don't want 2017 to end. It was a superb year for me. I also STILL have those three plays to dramaturge and two portraits to finish.

These are the only holiday lanterns I ever want.

Send only telepathic messages that have long shelf lives, because such messages usually kick off at the very moment you no longer want them.

Good day, Cubao!

The sun is a jewel box filled with yellow diamonds.

"Anybody could be that guy/
Night is young and the music's high/
With a bit of rock music, everything is fine/
You're in the mood for a dance/"

Tony Perez's Rules of Magical Economy:

1. Take on only five or six students. More than that are not worth passing on anything to.

2. A mage will take on a very young student because, after his physical death, he will continue to be a spirit guide to that student.

3. Huwag kang sumunod sa sinumang mago na laging walang pera, naghihirap, mahigpit ang pangangailangan, at baon sa utang.

Dinner at home with the granddaughters.

Thinking of retrieving another Judge Dee book to read through the New Year.

Were there red poinsettias by the road? Red poinsettias attract gunfire and tragedy.

A talisman works only if it comes from a real mage.

Use two planners. Switch from one to the other whenever you need to change your luck.

Using two planners also prevents you from feeling like you are in a rut.

When something slips your memory, it snaps back when the right stimulus comes by.

The mind, therefore, is NOT like a computer.

Every step you take should be toward the climax of your existence, and therefore should be progressive, ascendant, and purposeful.

Always walk on the sidewalk side, not the street side, of a gutter grill or manhole. It protects not only you but also your family.

Back from jalan-jalan. Very few shoppers today. December 27 - 30 seems to be the ideal time frame for pleasurable shopping at the center.

Now kera-kera.

It is the badass mage, not the goody-goody mage, who really gets things going.

As early as the age of nine I swore that I would create only "tangible" works of art: writing, which is tangible and available as long as the printed sheets are there, and painting, which is also tangible and available as long as the works of art are on or against a wall. I avoided music, which exists only if someone must play it live for you, or if you conjure it electronically, but which remains invisible, and dance, which, though visible, like music has the same live and electronic constraints (the same goes for acting, acting having the further constraint of physical aging).

With writing and with painting you can have your cake and eat it too.

And to you--yes, you who barely survived a very close shave because you were wearing a cross derivative of this--you whom I have never met before but who I KNOW reads my postings--this is the talisman of the father. I have the missing set of words you do not have, and I will give those words to you so that you can save yourself, but only if you come to me.

You are not a real mage if the elementals do not bow down to you.

All of our Christmas decor has been stowed away, and our New Year decor is now up. (Yes, there is a difference between the two.)

After the tea lights were consumed, we filled the fairy globes with 24 copper coins each to meet the New Year.

This set-up also repels flies and prevents them from entering the house. Try it to believe it.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sky is a white sponge cake with crystal icing.

Every major bus terminal should have an LBC station attached to it. Excess baggage should then be sent through them rather than be forced on or off board.

The only baggage that passengers should be allowed to take on the bus are three hand-carried bags that can fit in an overhead compartment or under their seats, as in airplanes.

For everyone's convenience, anyway.

Tony Perez's Rules of Magical Economy:

1. Delete, unFriend, or Block everyone who thinks you want to recruit him as your student. He is essentially a paranoid schizophrenic who is too full of himself.

2. Do not show your most potent amulets, talismans, and magical implements online.

3. Huwag mong patayin sa sindak ang kalaban. Patayin mo sa inggit.

Loved the episode "Dead Man Calling" from _NCIS: New Orleans_. A 150-year-old ghost story, a murder, a psychic who conducts a seance and communicates with spirits, all for a cozy evening.

You can actually ask the night to lull you to sleep.

That movie set in ancient Greece hexed the careers of everyone who starred in it.

The week is buzzing by too quickly. I wish I could tie a ship's anchor to time and slow it down.

Margo is sleeping over in Angelique's room. They are having a Harry Potter festival with our DVD collection.

After Kichiro arrived from the pet parlor, Angelique, Aubrey, and Margo went to 7-11 beside the Seaoil Gas Station, across the street (EDSA). It's a place where I could very well go to check out goodies every evening, but kera-kera usually takes over.

Now watch the atchays scheming to light illegal fireworks and firecrackers round their houses because, after all is said and done, they have no comprehension of safety, no concern for the environment, no concept of noise pollution, and no penchant for following rules. These are the same persons who thoughtlessly litter in public places.

They have forgotten that rainmakers are wands that can make it rain--and that can stop the rain.

How much you envy others is an index of how much you have failed to elevate yourself.

Do not accept conditional gifts. When someone gives you a gift, he should not expect or ask for anything in return.

Avoid conditional gift-givers at all costs.

Psychology is a tool. It is not a lifestyle.

If you make it your lifestyle, it will drive you crazy.

Then you would need a psychologist.

Kichiro Mayuzumi is off to the pet salon for a puppy cut.

Tony Perez's Rules of Magical Economy:

1. Master one system of magic before moving on to another, as you would also need to master one system of martial arts before moving on to another. Avoid magic smorgasbords.

2. Know where the astral portals in your house are located.

3. Ang tanggapin mo lang, taong mag-aalaga sa iyo, hindi taong ikaw pa ang mag-aalaga.

Resolve to do only things you really want to do, not things that will make you feel sad, depressed, miserable, or burdened. 

A beginning-of-the-year set of resolutions must be augmented with an end-of-the-year review and reflection, because resolutions are carried out not only by the will but even more so by attenuating circumstances that are out of your control.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is encrusted with white opal cabochons.

Hopping from 47 Ronin to Public Enemies, both of which I am watching for the nth time. If TV stations keep replaying the same movies through 2018, then it will not be a New Year for television.

Night Classes

Night Classes

http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook18.blogspot.com/2017/12/write-without-guilt.html

Do everything to give your children peace of mind, even during the times when you have none.

Make a list of all the times you were a winner the entire year. You'll be surprised at how long your list will become.

Physical revenge is always inadvisable, because your psyche will most likely make you punish yourself.

Sometimes, even when the truth comes out, a bigger truth eventually emerges and reorients it.

When watching TV I like looking at the people in the background and reading their faces.

Expensive perfume does not wear off easily.

Consider oversleeping and napping rather than going out and exhausting yourself.

Devils' traffic exists because people do not like walking.

People do not like walking because sidewalks are designed not for walking but for trekking.

As I mentioned a long time ago in one of my electronic diaries, when someone tells you, "Tumaba ka", what it means is, "Once upon a time you were gorgeous, but now, you no longer are."

So, yes, it is meant to be insulting. But the person making the remark has every right to decide who is gorgeous to him and who is not.

If you feel offended, it is you who are remiss in not keeping yourself in shape. Vanity is never exclusively for oneself but also for The Other.

That being said, if you wish to lash back, here are a few suggestions:

--"At ikaw, hanggang ngayon, pangit pa rin."

--"Bakit ako mangangayayat, e lagi naman akong mayaman?"

--"E ano, asawa ba kita?"

--"Ano ang mas masahol, ang mataba o ang makapal ang mukha?"

--"Kesa ba naman sa iyo, na mataba ang _____?"

Oh, and make sure that EVERYBODY hears you.

You always have the option of falling in love with someone--and the option not to.

Even when at home or in your bedroom, wear your best jewelry on New Year's Eve.

A werewolf wears cologne not to attract others but to mask his own, predatory smell.

When a werewolf looks at a person, he is capable of seeing that person naked.

A writer and a painter, even while seated and in a state of relaxation, has the power to turn his wrist with a pen or a brush and roil the ether than surrounds the world.

In the year 2018, dolls will function like talismans. Choose your dolls well.

The werewolf must continually maintain a balance between dark and light, especially on the night of the full moon.

A parent always snacks on the ref contents his children like least.

Tony Perez's Art of War: You cannot heal your enemy, because one cannot heal someone he does not like, and it would be terribly hypocritical of him to say that he likes everyone.

She made a fool of herself more than once on TV.  Now no one wants to see her again.

Expenses come and go like the waves of the sea on the shore. Sometimes they surge. Sometimes they rise and ebb.

Whenever you crave a view without irksome human beings, look at the sky.

If Christmas incites within you feelings you are unable to sustain the whole year round, you are better off doing nothing and waiting for the feeling to pass. Otherwise you will only end up being one, inconsistent person.

Corruption begins not with greed but with witnessing others' inability to follow simple rules.

Why do some people tell other people to go to hell when they clearly are both in it already?

Nature moisturizes the earth and cleanses it with fire and wind to keep it beautiful but, sometimes, its concept of beauty is the absence of people and their artificial structures.

The hermit is alive in the daytime, the werewolf is alive at night.

Barely the 26th of December and not quite the New Year, I feel the creative force mounting inside me again, and I know that it must soon be unleashed.

"A rose among thorns" has always been, to me, an inept idiom. The thorns belong to the rose. They are part of the rose. They are the rose's defense system, which means that no one should attempt to pick the rose from its bush.

Never put down your wife or your daughters. Allow them to blossom to their fullest.

At the same time, teach them how to fight.

Painting always remembers what writing forgets.

Tasting Baguio's five-year-old coffee wine in an Embassy shot glass, one of the few things I retained from before I retired.

Coffee wine is one of the best wines that Baguio produces. It tastes like black coffee with a slight acidity.

Yes, I also tried adding some black coffee.

Lunch at home with Angelique. Aubrey still in bed.

Angelique just received their professor's assignment on-line, and she is back to school mode.

Art and literature come to a standstill during the holidays, because the children are at home. When they go back to school, solitude revisits, and I can create to my heart's content once more.

After shopping in stores and eating in restaurants gaily decorated and overdecorated for Christmas, it is sheer relief to come to a home that is not done up for the season.

You never dress for yourself, you dress for other people, including the people who will never see you.

Brainwashing begins in school, where you wear a uniform not for yourself but for the school administration.

A wet, drizzly day in Cubao.

The drizzle is so fine, walking in it is like walking in mist.

Definitely a trench-coat day, but I'd rather do kera-kera than jalan-jalan.

Wearing Chanel No. 5.

Whenever I do, even passing acquaintances come closer to me.

The Sitio Catacutan hawkers' center is now fully open once again.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a white towel drying on a rack.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi po. Ano po ang ibig sabihin na nabungian ka, na atanggal lahat ng ngipin mo?"


My reply:

Hello ___________!

You need to give me the entire narrative. A dream always has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

However, when a man dreams of losing his teeth, it usually means that:

--He has become temporarily impotent, most probably due to stress or being overworked.
--He has recently experienced some form of defeat among his peers.

In every mage there is a warrior waiting to emerge with the right weapons at the right time.

Aubrey is making everyone a midnight snack of grilled-cheese sandwiches.

Watched _Passengers_ on HBO. An unusual love story. Riveting despite the minimal number of characters.

Dinner at home with Aubrey. Then Angelique and J. arrived from shopping and dinner out.

Everybody home.

Loved the Tiny House episode in which John and Zach do a tiny room for a Filipino toddler on fyi,--which presumably happened during their History visit to the Philippines.

I would have preferred seeing them being given a bigger room, or a suite of rooms, but their work was restricted to two days.

Darkness falls. Take one more look at the night.

Outrageous as it may sound, instead of lighting fireworks, consider bedecking your house with vases filled with fresh flowers.

A piece of iron, as I said before. Place a piece of iron at the entrance to your house, for the god of iron is also the god of technology--which you frequently use without gratitude--and he feeds on road accidents.

Tony Perez's Art of War: In your blue notebook of curses, make a list of everyone who was judgmental to you. Remember to not be available to them during the times when they need you.

On the first day of the New Year, place a red, plastic fly swatter by your front door.

His shortcomings are real, but his accomplishments are also real.

Refrain from scratching itchy eyelids. The dust that caused the itch will abrade your eyelids and cause infection. Instead, wipe or wash your eyelids with distilled water.

Tony Perez's Rules of Magical Economy:

1. You cannot pass on anything to someone you are not intimate with.

2. Like honey and wine, truly magical potions are not perishable.

3. Ilagas mo ang pinakamahina mong estudyante.

Tony Perez's Rules of Magical Economy:

1. Do not give the mediocre any access to your knowedge.

2. Discard all ritual items that are useless to you.

3. Wala kang pinagkakautangan sa sinumang traydor.

When doing spontaneous astral travel, allow yourself to float without controlling yourself and without fear. Trust your psyche to take you in the right direction and to the right place.

On this last week of the Old Year, do you have the time and the opportunity to make things up to everyone you've hurt or offended? If not, know that what you have between you will be a burden carried through to 2018 for both of you.

If, to you, the year 2017 was a year of wannabes, copycats, and derivatives, let us hope that 2018 brings to the world something completely different.

Never fall in love with a face or a body that cannot feed you in your times of hunger.

http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook18.blogspot.com/2017/12/write-and-paint-on-first-day-of-new.html

http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook18.blogspot.com/2017/12/write-and-paint-on-first-day-of-new.html

Try doing this even if you are not a writer:

http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook18.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-writers-year-end-exercise.html

They who count down to Christmas Day make that day the chronological climax of the year, and New Year's Eve the chronological denouement. As such they tend to splurge on Christmas Day and have little to spare on New Year's Eve.

Learn to count down to the New Year instead.

I admire people who make do with available materials and craft ideas to make their homes interesting. I know that, when they finally come into money, they will create the most beautiful and tasteful homes we will have ever seen.

Two cups espresso blend mixed with green-bean coffee.

It rained early this morning, but now the day is as hot as a sparkling soldering rod.

Good morning, Cubao!

Slept nine hours last night.

Know when to stop eating.

It is impossible for an insane person to pretend that he is sane, and for a sane person to pretend that he is insane.

http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook18.blogspot.com/2017/12/every-story-has-beginning-middle-and-end.html

Where were you, and in what kind of lifetime, on December 25, 1817?

Eat a fresh, white onion once a week to improve your complexion.

Expose your magical implements for three hours under the light of the first full moon of January 2018.

Being truly universal, Greek gods and goddesses resonate like inner bells within the Asian psyche, but Asians should familiarize themselves with the Asian gods and goddesses.

The Shadow is best confronted in your dreams on happy nights like Christmas night and the night of the New Year.

Anger does not ever give you strength.

Learn not to stow away your treasures but to enjoy them now.

There is never an appropriate time for despair. The following day always brings pleasant surprises, the awakening from a bad dream, a helping hand, unexpected fortune, and heartwarming smiles.

Do not involve netizens in personal problems you need to solve yourself.

There is never a valid excuse for bad service.

Lit the lanterns and the hanging lamps inside the small loggia again.

Christmas dinner with my sister Alice, Angelique, Aubrey, and J.

Then sent food to Dennis, who is now repainting portions of M.'s cafe.

It is the duty of everyone on top to know everything that is going on below.

A fire prankster is always punished by fire.

Do not play atchay games.

Death will cast its shadow on scheming supervisors.

At least one person, near or far, truly loves you, and so, you must never feel that you are unloved.

In the Philippines the leaves do not turn into the colors of autumn, but I note that more leaves than usual fall from the trees onto the ground.

https://tonyperezphilippinesenchantedknits.blogspot.com/

Animals celebrate no holidays, yet they are as blessed or even more blessed than we are.

Do not bother to put together a task force for something that you can do not only alone but also efficiently and well.

A happy home is the best gift you can ever have, because only then can you feel that everyday is Christmas.

The true danger of the holidays is taking five meals a day and snacks in between.

When you are unable to do a certain task, it is because your psyche is telling you to do and finish another task before that one. Yet, you mistakenly think that you are simply "not in the mood."

I phased out all of my credit cards when I was 59. I wanted to be completely credit-free at 60.

Ever since then I felt that I became very rich.

A truly religious person is always open to all religions.

Full maturity is achieved when one finally accepts that, while he may be in love with someone, that person will not necessarily be in love with him.

I have the TV tuned to local news, but everything is a tragedy, a disaster, or an unsavory testimony either to humanity or to the lack of it.

On Christmas morning one of the compound toddlers knocked untiringly on my bedroom's emergency exit facing the doorway. He kept calling, "Kling-kling!", simulating the sound of a bell.

By the time I rose to give him a little toy and some candy, the enterprising little boy had gone.

I find it quite embarrassing when other parents have to remind their children to say "Thank you".

I have told only other men this, that I feel un-secure on Christmas Day and other holidays when the bank is closed, in case anything untoward happens. I feel re-secure again the following day.

Every task is subconsciously associated with an appealing image or a pleasant memory. Learn how to use recall in conjuring the image or the memory while undertaking any task.

Discover your kismet, not your karma.

House gnomes emerge only at sunset. They are incommunicado from sunrise to the next sunset.

http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook18.blogspot.com/2017/12/write-as-though-your-life-and-other.html

Two cups espresso blend mixed with green-bean coffee.

A quiet day. The night will also be another, silent one, though not necessarily holy.

Angelique and J. are going jalan-jalan. Am staying home, though. I go to the center only when all the shops are open.

I know that I must paint two portraits and dramaturge three plays, but I just don't feel like doing anything at all. 

Night Rider dolls are effective golems.

Sunlight In Cubao: Monday, December 25, 2017

Good noon, Cubao!

Sept ten hours last night.

And now, in Cubao, it is a truly silent night.

M. is doing a general cleaning of the cafe. Sent him dinner.

2017 Christmas Eve dinner. Just two of my granddaughters, my sister Alice, and I.