Slept nine hours last night, and had a wonderful dream.

Inside our small loggia, our gnome hut and Ent greet the month of March.

Good noon, Cubao!

The clouds are glass bowls of desiccated coconut.

The February leaf falls off my planner.

I can't believe that two months in 2018 have passed already!

An effective Liwas-Bala talisman should not only jam pistols or make them miss, it should also jam cameras that are trained on you against your will. Its effect, however, is more commonly metaphorical rather than literal.

The atchay parish priest wonders why everyone agrees with him in his presence then goes off and does the things he doesn't approve of.

You know you've become a serious coffee drinker if you've turned into a civet cat.

Never step in too late. You will only be rejected.

Life is a matter of correct timing.

Marvel at him who keeps his cool even when things get rough.

An item that turns out to be beyond your budget is best not bought.

When two people are waiting and simply doing nothing, one of them must stand up and take the lead.

He makes enemies in the process of making friends.

Save your victory yell for after you are sure you've won.

http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook18.blogspot.com/2018/02/if-your-desk-set-is-made-of-bakelite-or.html

After a party in your house, do not clear away things immediately. Go round the house and sit in different chairs to access what each guest was thinking and feeling. Review the moments of joy that transpired. The house fairies will be there with you.

This is a host's proper closure for a house party.

You can hear even an unconscious victim crying out for help.

He who must win a race must do a lot of running.

After two years, a person is no longer whom you knew him to be.

It is easier to love yourself more than others, yet it is also easily more expensive to do so.

A wise man is hardly ever caught in intellectual traps set by others.

He indulges in sports to attract men, not women.

He loses both the men and the women.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Know what your enemy dislikes most, and manifest it. That way he won't even come near you.

Theatrical ideas are fine, bu they can be both expensive and ephemeral.

A true genius cannot be surpassed.

His former fans dropped him because he tried to be a notch higher than he used to be.

Embassy officers of any country will latch on to a loquacious local with many pretenses and invite him to dinner several times, take note of his juicy gossip and bitchy gripes, and use all of those to try and gain a deeper understanding of where they are.

Study all the Photos and Posts you made that NO ONE Liked or made Comments on. Those are the Photos and Posts that reflect your UPPER HAND. Use them well, so that no one controls you.

Social media stalkers will read everything you Post to determine what it is that thrills you most, and they will use that to manipulate you in their Comments.

Angelique and Aubrey now have two, bare, Pandora charm bracelets. They'll be starting to collect charms. First off, I'm buying them two owl charms, representing Grandpa, two tree-of-life charms representing their Papa, and two orchid charms representing their Mama. The rest, they will have to collect over the years to record their personal histories.

Remember this, that the third month of each quarter this year will be your month of good fortune: March, June, September, December.

You have to stay long enough for me to change your status from acquaintance to friend, and I hardly even do that.

The jewelry you wear determines your fate.

Barely survived February? Worry not. March will be much better and a lot more magical.

An anklet on the right foot does not enslave you. On the contrary, it puts you in control.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is an artist's studio with windows flung open.

Everybody home.

Preparing for another day.

A brief, light, rainfall.

One-hour, afternoon nap while the TV was tuned to the news.

Chito picked up the inflatable swimming pool and air pump for Chevy and Vinci and paid a brief visit to my sister Lourdes, who gave him some chocolates and savories to take home.

An effective psychologist must strip himself of all biases, especially:

--Religion
--Politics
--Preferred entertainment.

A program host with no natural wit will never have it, no matter how much scriptwriting he is given. People will only laugh at him behind his back.

Alkaline water delivery.

Aubrey back from school to have lunch, then leaving to watch a movie and have dinner out with her friends.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are stacked, white porcelain coffee mugs.

Bought an inflatable swimming pool and air pump for Chevy and Vinci. Big enough for four children to soak in, but Chito has to set it up and test it first.

Dinner at home with Aubrey. Now, everybody home. Angelique back from a study session at the coffee shop and dinner out, and Aubrey preparing for the second day of Science week tomorrow.

Gave some food to M.'s cafe staff.

The Wands must continue pointing to the ground.

10:00 PM curfew for minors is being enforced in Sitio Catacutan. Apparently a minor was accosted and detained two nights ago.

Always pray in hiding, but never write in hiding.

At the peak of summer, the sun will be harsher than it was in previous years.

Avoid overeating that is due to the heat of summer.

Do not throw trash at other people's doorsteps, for you will eventually discover that your home will be a home of trash.

The worst graduate school teachers in this world are those whose lessons are heavily colored by their personal biases.

Sophistication is something that even the lowliest worker must have.

New coffee shops are always exciting venues for solitude.

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When your children are at home, stay at home with them.

A lazy marketing director is as bad as a lazy President.

Rejection is the result of the existence of other options, choices, and scenarios.

Never pretend that you do not like someone whom you actually like. He will avoid you like the plague, and whatever friendship there could have been will never happen.

If you have a huge garden with a playground, a pitched tent is a marvelous idea.

Never take in friends who tell you that they are interested in paranormal, occult, or supernatural matters. They have every intention of taking from you rather than giving to you.

Art and literature make you a celebrity. Psychism does not, and never will.

What are spies, after all, but people who want to know if there is something more they should be envious about?

Tony Perez's Art of War: When you leave your enemies alone, your spirit guides take over and wreak vengeance more earth-shaking than you could have ever made.

They are rude to those whom they discover to be fake.

It is the artist who stands alone who is remembered for thousands of years.

Misfortune is usually a groupie of people who over-celebrate.

Responsibility over others implies that you must think of yourself last.

It will always seem, on the surface, that patience does not pay off.

Amazing how many government supervisors throw their weight around when they are still on active duty, then turn into absolute nobodies as soon as they retire.

Learn how to back-stitch your days.

Complete one task, then resume and complete an unfinished task in the past. Repeat this pattern. Very soon you will find that everything will get done. 

Either the day leads you, or you lead the day.

A host falls flat on his face when he is acting a shallow role rather than being himself.

The public does not go to celebrations that are mere disguises for non-celebrations.

Hot summer day.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are piles of unsent love letters.

Where your pets nap and sleep are the coolest spots in your house.

Beginning to appreciate Income Property on fyi,.

Wishing I could check into a hotel with one Spirit Questor for a week to screen and critique all six seasons of Ghost Whisperer.

She then retreats with a lot of hurt pride.

A person with excellent firing aim should be able to draw well.

Rather than directly punishing them, wait for them to punish themselves.

Aubrey cooked our dinner tonight.

Angelique now studying in the dining room.

We are getting ready for Monday.

I love stocking up on professional-grade oil paints. They last forever.

I used to do the same for acrylics a decade ago, when I was still into acrylics, but stocking up on acrylics was a terrible idea for me. The paint turned hard or pebbly even inside tubes that hadn't been opened yet.

Took my oil paint tubes out of my wooden paint box and segregated them by color in empty, chocolate candy tins. It's easier for me to determine what I am running out of and should replenish.

I now have tins for:

--Browns
--Reds and Oranges
--Blues
--Greens
--Yellows
--Blacks
--Whites
--Violets

The Eng Bee Tin mooncake tins are quite stable, stackable, and easily labeled, and so I'll eventually buy more of those.

Being careful to screen out atchays from this new batch of the Spirit Questors, and so, I now say no most of the time and don't admit just anyone.

When he is deliberately indifferent to a guest on camera, the viewers sense that it is that guest whose room he invades at night.

She ingests what I Post, and then uses it to Comment on my own Posts.

Tomorrow, Monday, Science Week begins at Aubrey's university, but she is required to be there the entire week anyway.

Don't tell me that you are seriously into extreme sports if, when you are confronted with choices, you flinch and then pray to God to be given the easiest one.

Great disasters happen when a naturally quiet type makes efforts to be bright and bubbly on camera.

All con artists and scammers are atchays.

They who care, constructively criticize.

Back from a brief errand at the center, then spent some time with my sisters at my sister Alice's house.

Sunday lunch at home with the granddaughters.

A criminal will defend his accomplice no matter what, a gang member will defend his co-member no matter what, and a fraternity member will defend his brothers no matter what, but a gay person is not obliged to defend another gay person if that other gay person is an atchay, is wrong, must be corrected, or deserves to be criticized.

A hot, sweltering noon in Cubao.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a deserted, asphalt highway.

Margo is leaving for Cambodia on Monday to do volunteer work for two months, as part of one of her medical courses. She, Angelique, and J. are spending time hanging out at the center. 

http://www.chineseamericanfamily.com/lantern-festival/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=lantern-festival

Dinner at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and J. Animated conversations.

Everybody home. Angelique and J. just arrived from Angelique's study session at the coffee shop.

We'll have a quiet dinner at home.

Went to the Sitio Catacutan hawkers' center. TV sets were on the news, featuring live broadcasts of activities at EDSA Shrine. More activities tomorrow. Residents asking whether they are planning on going. 

When my son Nelson was still alive, EDSA was the annual festivity closest to Cubao. We simply walked there. It seems, though, to have metamorphosed over the years. EDSA Day is never the same each year. It is always contingent on who the current President is.

Back from lunch at Bellini's Cubao with the family.

Then Angelique went to a coffee shop to study, and Aubrey and I did groceries.

It is unwise and is a useless expense to take fundamentalists to another planet. They're going to commit suicide anyway.

The more choices and options the people have, they more they become spiritually enlightened.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are racks of newly-washed dishes.

Divina, a former server at M.'s cafe, visited all the way from Bicol. I have a feeling that M. will take her in again.

Wrong: "Na-sent ko na sa 'yo."

Correct: "Na-send ko na sa 'yo."

The prefix "na" already indicates past tense, while "send" is not an indication of present tense but is, rather, a truncation of the infinitive "to send".

Wrong: "Na-missed kita."

Correct: "Na-miss kita."

Correct: "Na-get ko na."

Wrong: "Hind pa rin kami nawawalan ng loob."

Correct: "Hindi pa rin kami nasisiraan ng loob" or "Hindi pa rin kami nawawalan ng pag-asa".

Only a mage can swat back hatred or conveniently convert it to positive energy.

Whenever I am in another room, the sound of that broadcaster's voice is like the sound of a dog barking.

Ninety-nine percent of all phoned-in questions are from atchays. If you entertain all of them, you will eventually be thinking, reasoning, talking, and behaving like an atchay.

The soles of the feet sweat profusely. It is therefore more hygienic to use house slippers inside your front door rather than walk around in your socks or bare feet.

Devils' traffic doesn't just exist out there. You take it home with you. That is why you need a burden basket outside your door, into which you can throw it, along with other problems of your day, before going inside your house.

Someone on our compound received this and didn't quite know how to respond to it.

My suggestions:

--"Sorry, wrong number. Wala akong anak na atchay."

--"Teka, ano ba ang pangalan MO, at ano ba ang pangalan KO?"

--"Ikaw na ang nandiyan, ikaw na ang mag-abono."

--"Mabuti nga sa 'yo. Hindi ka kasi nag-aral magsulat nang matuwid."

--"Maayos pa naman ang mga daliri mong mag-text. Abutin mo ang pitaka mo at bumili ka ng load."

--"Huwag kayong aalis diyan. Papunta na ang mga kamag-anak nating pulis."

--"Sino ang naghi-hit-and-run? Hindi ba IKAW?"

On the way to each adventure site, he chatters like a nervous old maid.

An impatient person frequently feels sleepy during the day, because it is a form of denial that things are going too slow.

An atchay journalist is ten times more rotten than his worst subject matter.

She provokes underlings to misbehave, hoping they will react the way she wants to and fit into her scenario.

Summer is on, because it decided to catch an early ride.

It is all right to live as though you would never die, as long as you are able to get things done in the soonest possible time.

A horrible supervisor is loathed an entire lifetime.

The more you replay a show, the more viewers will see what is wrong with it.

More feminine expressions:

--Oh
--Gorgeous
--Nice
--My God
--Life-changing

It is your duty to ensure that the children are always safe.

When old values do not work, change them.

They tried to put me down.

Now they are dead.

If I had no family and had no other commitments, I would certainly go on that wild, treasure hunt.

A table laden with food and a well-stocked pantry brings peace, order, security, and happiness to every home.

Having a third eye always compensates for having blind spots.

Your body needs your full attention.

Do not eat while focusing on other things.

Do not shower or take a bath while focusing on other things.

Bought food at the Sitio Catacutan hawkers' center and fresh mangoes at the fruit stand. I observed that the sun beat down mercilessly on everyone, but that everyone seemed completely oblivious to it.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun gives life and gives death. Know how to relate to it.

It is supposed to be a masculine show, but he is always shrieking and giggling like a girl.

He expresses his moments in words that real men would not use.

He sashays when walking beside men who take the lead.

Dinner at home with Aubrey.

Angelique and J. are having dinner out after college.

Angelique's and Aubrey's highlighters in assorted pastel colors arrived this evening. They look good enough to eat.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are camping sites in the blue forest of sky.

Fantastic. Three nights ago I tried to help two group members remember their odu. We had to consult two other persons in order to determine what the odu were. I also could not remember my odu and had to Message a woman I hadn't seen in years, just in case she remembered. She did not. Then, two nights later, she remembered, in a dream, not only my odu but her own and another person's.

She Messaged me my odu, and she was right. I read it all over again and recognized my list of prohibitions.

I love my Friends in Central Asia, where it is still winter transiting to spring.

You are not obliged to offer sympathy to the bereaved who did not offer you sympathy when you were bereaved.

Reject those who reject you. It is well worth it and is very satisfying.

You do not need fans in order to be a star. As a matter of fact you can be an entire constellation without them.

Be considerate to everyone who must work hard, for life is always unfair to them.

Every activity engages your entire body. Be aware of this whenever you are writing, painting, and knitting.

Manifest modesty at work. Supervisors resent it when you look better and have more than they do.

A person who can control a crowd is a true leader.

Don't "go get it" if you feel it isn't right.

The symbol of the Snake will protect you.

There is a unique fountain of youth for every individual.

The priest became comatose because he angered a parent whose high-school son was kicked out due to new rulings. I offered to heal him, knowing that a black magic spell had been cast on him, but his colleagues didn't take me seriously. I even got the sense that they wanted him to remain indisposed, because they said that they would just leave everything "in the hands of God".

Your body parts have separate minds of their own. Listen to them.

Sweep the floor of broken glass at least five times.

The desire to outdo everyone is an early form of dementia.

The old broadcaster finally gets fed up and leaves.

Sages will always embed solutions in their pieces of advice, but it is up to you to see and comprehend them.

Wednesday, Wednesday.

And then Friday all too soon.

Growth between the Ages Of Man is never gradual, for a boy quickly turns into a young man and a man in his prime just as quickly turns into an old man.

Do not invite again a person who stood you up or did not accept your first invitation, because it was your spirit guides, not his, who prevented him from coming.

It is the toothache, not the heartache, that reminds you of mortality.

The smaller the fish tank, the harder to regulate the temperature.

Conversion to someone else's religion is never an upgrade.

It is always a submission to the political movement of that religion.

Afternoon visit by my sisters Lourdes and Remi. I lit the lamps on our family altar and opened our columbarium doors.

Fundamentalists have absolutely no respect for culture and heritage preservation.

First, the missionaries began converting indigenous mountain people and made them get rid of their ancestral objects.

Rather than destroy the objects, the people decided to sell them to antique dealers.

Collectors and home designers then bought these objects from the antique dealers.

Now that they are in different homes, fundamentalists are recommending that the collectors destroy those objects.

I am convinced that the best museums and galleries in the world are those that have no fundamentalists on their staff.

Back from jalan-jalan. Angelique and I dropped by my sister Alice's house briefly to spend some time with my sisters.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi Sir Tony,
"...(H)ihingi ng tulong/payo tungkol sa trabaho. "Nakakaramdam po kasi ako ngayon ng lungkot sa trabaho. Parang nawawalan po ng gana o motivation, dagdag pa nito ang pakiramdan na para akong naiwan sa ere para sa isang malaking proyekto. "Ito pong project na ito ay nagsimula last year pa, pero may ilang deliverables po ang pending pa. Tingin ko naman po ay hindi ako nagkukulang para matapos po ito. Masakit lang po isipin na parang naiwan ako sa proyekto nang mag-isa at lahat ng burden at accountability ay nasakin na lang. "Nakadagdag pa po sa iniisip ko ngayon ay yung mga dati kong kasama sa proyekto at katulong para matapos ito ay biglang hindi na kami ok. Biglang hindi na lang po ako kinakausap o iniwasan ako. Kaya po siguro pakiramdam ko ay naiwan ako sa ere. Hindi ko rin po maintindihan kung saan galing ang ganong pag-iwas. Wala naman po kasi kaming alitan bago pa man nangyari iyon. Ang tanging iniisip ko pong dahilan ay baka may kinalaman sa personal na problema ko, na alam din naman nila. "Isa pa po, hindi ko alam kung praning lang ako sa ilan sa mga katrabaho ko ngayon, pero may pakiramdam na para bang nananabotahe sila ng trabaho. At parang may grupo grupo kung saan may target na taong papasaluhin ng lahat ng burden/mali sa trabaho at mapipilitan na lang umalis. Pwede pong mali ako sa naiisip pero para po kasing may pattern. "Hindi ko rin po maintindihan kung may kadikit na negative energy yung project na tinatapos ko dahil andami pong problemang kadikit. Gusto ko na lang po siyang matapos dahil malapit na rin pong umabot ng isang taon mula nung mag umpisa ang project.

"Gusto ko lang po malaman kung ano pa po ang pwede kong gawin ukol sa mga bagay na ito. Iniisip ko rin po kasi, baka nasakin naman ang problema talaga at wala sa ibang tao. Nang may magawa rin po ako para mapagbuti pa ang bagay bagay. Maraming salamat Sir!"

My reply:

Hello _____________!

Every group project requires teamwork, and the best team members are always those who focus on the project and are able to compartmentalize their personal problems.

Ask yourself: In the group, who is the weakest link? If it is you, then you have to recoup your status and begin pushing forward, rather than bogging down, your group.

Ask yourself: What are your blind spots? No one is perfect, but everyone should be able to identify their blind spots. Look at yourself from the points of view of other people, rather than always from your own.

In a group, there are only two things that you should never allow others to pressure you on:

--Religion

--Economic status

No matter how normal you were all the way from childhood through the time that you were working, your "eccentricities" and "quirks" come to the surface and manifest after you retire. They are, however, actually personal preferences and personal choices.

Must go jalan-jalan, meaning that I lose another painting day. I have to be at home the entire day in order to feel like picking up my brushes and painting.

It is easy to emulate a productive person, but it is not easy to emulate a prolific person.

Lunch alone, Angelique still asleep. Had some of the oyster cake left over from yesterday. As it turned out, no one else liked it.

Remember this, that, after you retire, it is you who calls the shots.

Never favor only the sunrise or only the sunset because, like yin and yang, both are very much a part of our lives.

Whenever an appointment is not kept, move on and never go back to the same place.

If the canvas is small, have patience and work with small brushes.

Slept eleven hours last night.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a mountain road with multiple curves and bends.

Only if you are able should you take the lead.

The actor in that movie is no longer the person he used to be.

Every night, before going to bed, give symbolic closure to your day.

It is the person who casually overhears what you say who is the quickest to judge you.

Suspense exists even in the life of someone who is in full control.

She outspokenly criticizes everything that she secretly envies.

Ensure that, on your deathbed, you won't resent not having had any fun.

An obstacle is either a deterrent or a challenge.

Know that a week is a very short measure of time.

"A wandering minstrel I —/
A thing of shreds and patches/
Of ballads, songs and snatches/
And dreamy lullaby!/
My catalogue is long/
Through every passion ranging/
And to your humours changing/
I tune my supple song!/"

Your Messenger message:

"Hi, sir Tony. Kumusta po? Something came up today and as a person I trust so much, I feel the need to seek advice from you on this matter. While I’m working here in _____ now, I received confirmation of a scholarship offer for me to take up Law. The scholarship offer came from a company (________________________________________) who has been helped by my father (_____________ before his ______________) being their suki land ________ for their properties that time. They have been sponsoring the _________ education of my _______________ and has committed to shoulder her ________ education as well. The condition will be that after my graduation, I will be serving as legal counsel for their firm. Right now I am still confused on whether to take the offer, since I’ve always wanted this since elementary—being a lawyer, or stay where I am now in _____, the latter being the safer choice since there is little to no risk at all. Hoping for enlightenment, sir. I am really confused. Thank you so much for the time spent reading this."


My reply:

Hello ______!

I see you having a better future as a lawyer. You can be a full-time time student during your first two years in law school, then seek a part-time job during the rest of your studies, unless your sponsor provides you a substantial allowance through the time that you pass the bar.

They ride through devils' traffic to and from the church, thereby serving their god once and the devils twice.

I'm sorry, if we have no Mutual Friends and you have No Friends To Show, I will not take you in.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are clustered strands of white pearls.

Two shots vodka.

I committed to developing my psychic abilities when I was 15. That is the age I take my students in, so  that they are adepts by the time they are 18 and masters by the time they are 21.

My sister is planning a trip to Lucky Chinatown.

Two cups very black espresso blend.

_Return of the Condor Lovers_ a.k.a. _Return of the Condor Heroes_ (the December 2014 - 2015 version starring Chen Xiao and Michelle Chen) was the wuxia that changed my life forever right before I retired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adF_ULRCF1Q

Theme music from my favorite Han Dong wuxia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN_wBDsbqWQ

Do you really want to know?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAAlDoAtV7Y

My Thai basketball team

The Pendant Of The Gamma Wolf

The werewolf crossed the street to buy a chocolate ice cream cone.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Never try to reconcile with your enemies, because it is tiresome enough to reconcile with your friends.

They strike against the people, not knowing that the people can strike against them.

His tricks are interesting, but he looks like a creep.

He lost so much more than he gloatingly took away.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a yellow delivery van.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

They are now reviewing for their midterms in the dining room.

Two-hour, late afternoon nap. Slept like a baby.

When you are enslaved by work, you do not have complete freedom to make choices.

When he is content, he is arrogant and aloof. When he is in need, he is friendly and eager to socialize, yet he wonders why others keep him at bay.

He who is high and dry is safe from disaster.

When neighbors pry, do not give them what they want.

Patience serves you twice as much as aggression does.

Tony Perez's Art of War: When someone cannot accept your honest critique, leave him to plummet to his own doom.

Tony Perez's Art of War: If someone rejected you in the past, reject him in return when he needs you most, and relish it.

Aim for success and not for victory. Those are two different things altogether.

You cannot write well unless your mind is relaxed.

Worked an hour on Grikha's portrait.

A lazy Sunday in Sitio Catacutan.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a new list of things to do.

In unbearable heat, snack on a fresh fruit rather than drink soda.

Never act as your supervisor's accomplice to get rid of a co-employee. You will find, to your own chagrin, that it is you who will eventually lose your job.

You know that summer has its foot in the door when the Sitio Catacutan fruit vendor is already selling water turnips.

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The werewolf crossed the street to buy a mango fruit shake.

Jalan-jalan Saturday. Paid our water bill, then did something I hadn't done for years: took a slow and leisurely walk round the center the way I used to when I was in high school and college. It was quite exhausting. Gave my body a one-hour nap as soon as I got home.

Worked an hour on Grikha's portrait after lunch today.

It is always the person who receives nothing from you who vociferously accuses you of not being a giving person.

A belated but completely unexpected Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year's Day gift from Kathryn to the werewolf.

The werewolf crossed the street to buy a chocolate ice cream cone.

When your lover keeps his eyes closed, he is thinking of someone else.

The best student to take in is one who has no dysfunctions, no hang-ups, no delusions, and no pretensions.

A married life is an epic. An affair is a mere episode.

The people who seriously advise others to move out of the congested city are the very same people who refuse to leave and who wish that others would, so that they can have the city all to themselves.

Hope, but never discount the probability of terrible disappointment.

A person who has been consistently individualistic all his life is not affected by sweeping trends, energy shifts, and cosmic movements.

Yes, individuality is a type of immunity.

Nothing is too safe, nothing is too sound.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are strips of sylphs' convenience stores.

Krasavchik

Back from jalan-jalan and still recovering from a long walk, I have decided never to schedule two appointments or events within the same day ever again.

The enchanted blessings will begin to descend at 9:00 PM. Ensure that your lights are on.

All of his female guests are plain and deliberately not seductive.

An unreliable person never changes to become reliable, because he will always be too selfish to undergo that change.

At least once a week, sit down with someone you love and talk about nothing in particular.

"Oh, my goodness!", "My gosh!", and "That was an amazing experience!" are all feminine expletives.

When fantasy crosses over to reality, it becomes a cheap pack of lies.

Time will not stop for you, but you can stop for time at anytime.

A gallery owner has no right to be more arrogant than an accomplished artist.

It is the non-essential employee who has a life of his own, who indulges in creative hobbies, who is able to commune with Nature, and whose leisure time is always at his command.

Be proud to be one.

A person who knows hunger remains steadfast, patient, and sweet.

A person who has never known hunger and faces it for the first time becomes irritable and hotheaded.

Why should I do an oracle reading for P1,000 if I can very well sell a painting for P100,000?

Don't be here, there, and everywhere.

You'll get sick.

I am cutting down on books the way a diabetic is cutting down on sugar.

Back home from the Cubao Leaky Cauldron.

Very late lunch with Angelique and J.

Good day, Cubao!

The sun is a spangled, dancing dragon.

Tomorrow takes me away from painting once again. Meeting a curator in the afternoon and hanging out with a special friend in the evening.

The former, to have coffee.

The latter, to drink first-class lambanog.

Since I graduated from college I'd always wanted to check into a hotel in Lucky Chinatown covering Chinese New Year's Eve, Chinese New Year, and the day after. My plan was to roam the streets at night and have fun.

It never happened, and it never will. I know that I would feel very uncomfortable not being able to speak Hokkien.

Sky Cable has been losing some of the best channels. The latest seems to be Lifetime.

Teach NOTHING to a student who signs up to every possible teacher, hoping to compare them with one another and get the best of everything.

If a team member has no useful abilities, get rid of him immediately.

If a team member steals from you, get rid of him immediately.

If a team member breaks things accidentally too often, get rid of him immediately.

If a team member belongs to another team, get rid of him immediately.

A Chinese burner is more practical to use than a cauldron.

You watch a replay to see things you missed the first time around.

A tree is a metropolis of insects and other tiny creatures, but so is an expanse of grass.

Consult this oracle tomorrow:

http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook4.blogspot.com/2013/06/welcome-to-my-fourth-cyberspace-book.html

The werewolf crossed the street to buy a mango fruit shake.

Worked an hour on Grikha's portrait.

Avoid purchasing cheap decor. They are a bad investment. You might as well spend your money on fresh fruit and sweetmeats.

The lilies of the field fade and die. As for ourselves, we are required to wear different clothes for different occasions, and are free to shed our raiment only in the privacy of our bedrooms.

Danny Pino is a fine performer who deserves all the roles he can get. It was only in Law & Order: SVU, however, where he achieved great depth of character, perhaps due to skilled writers, directors, and camerapersons. Other shows seem to treat him merely as a supporting actor left to fend for himself, and he often falls back on tired mannerisms. Someone should care enough to direct him.

Have fresh flowers inside your house as often as you like within the year. That way you won't salivate over them on Valentine's Day and All Souls Day.

You cannot be halfhearted and non-committal about magic, because you cannot be the same about anything.

Friends can knit together, but they cannot paint together.

Have your fill of something before you get tired of it, before moving on to something else.

He who owns a bakery never wants for bread.

It is the painting, not the exhibit, that counts the most.

Never spend money on promoting yourself, for the results of such attempts are always transient and ephemeral.

The laundry person knows your body's deepest secrets.

No matter what gender you choose for yourself, always respect your physical body's realities and limitations. Otherwise you will end up looking like a costumed caricature.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a flaming sword waiting to be quenched in oil.

Gave the Spirit Questors a lot of stuff I no longer want and need.

B., a former classmate in grade school, high school, and college, visited me today. There was something he needed from me. This was the first time I saw him in maybe 25 or 30 years. I thought that I would be annoyed because he was taking time I should have been spending painting, but, I was wrong. I enjoyed his company immensely. It was like having my own brother come over. We had a pleasant conversation, during which I felt comfortable just being myself and not having to explain anything to him.

A true star never thinks and behaves like one.

A piece of coal may look dead, but it still smolders.

J. arrived with his Valentine's Day sunflower for Angelique, which we placed on the family altar. Angelique's professor cancelled their class this evening, and so Angelique and J. are off to have dinner out and watch a movie.

Later the flower man buzzed by with white flowers for Shiva.

2018 Valentine's Day Tuob

A Happy Valentine's Day to my Friends!

Sometimes my messages in bottles remain inside the bottles and are discovered not in this lifetime but in the next one, and the next one, and the next one, by people who haven't been born yet and people I will never, personally know, but they will be people who will fall in love with me and wonder who I really was, how I looked like, and how I lived.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are bushels of sweet corn.

Staying home tomorrow. Don't want to get caught up in the Valentine's Day stampede.

It's just as well. The Spirit Questors are conducting a double tuob in the afternoon.

Caught "A War Is Never Over" on The X-Files. Interesting.

True defeat is seeing that others are happy and successful in their simplicity and in their complexity, while you yourself have no clue as to how you can improve your life.

Humility is the full acceptance that others can do very well what you cannot even begin to try to do.

Magic works for you, but you have to work for it too.

It is the writer who always keeps a notebook open in front of him who becomes the most prolific writer of all.

Be thankful that you have little children, and, when they are all grown up, be thankful that you no longer have little children.

Iron cannot disguise itself as stainless steel.

Some people choose to suffer in secret to spare others from having to share their suffering.

Worked an hour on Grikha's portrait. Took off the Slavic, god-of-the-wolves costume and decided to have his body only in a loincloth. He is quite muscular anyway.

I hope to finish his face and body tomorrow.

Human love is gentle. It is never rough, even if for sport.

He has an abrasive voice, his mouth is too big, and his eyes consistently tell you that he is putting on an act. What is he hiding?

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are steel easels with upright, blank canvases.

Always call spirits by their right names.

More possessions by devils in devils' traffic.

One thing is for sure: Do not consult, hire, or seek help from any of my rejects. You will discover that it will only be a waste of time and energy on your part.

The Ilonggo woman sells "mami" at her hawker's stand, but it is really authentic batchoy. When I asked her why she sells her batchoy as mami, she replied that Sitio Catacutan denizens are unfamiliar with  the term "batchoy".

I love sitting inside the small loggia past mid-afternoon, just as neighbors start coming back from work and from school and pass along the driveway. I read their faces and see how their day went.

Clearing out an old desk in a corner of the studio. Found more notebooks for recycling and more diaries for shredding.

Will resume clearing out more stuff tomorrow.

Always search for the bridges between what was and what it changed to.

Whenever you are feeling blue over an extended period of time, live by every 12 hours rather than by the day, without looking to the past or looking to the future.

When you set your mind completely on work on Mondays, you tend to shut out love.

His bills and his expenses are the real ghosts that lurk in the shadows and haunt his life.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a big cartload of native sweetmeats.

Dinner at home with the granddaughters.

Tomorrow is a normal day in school for them.

I find Ellen's Game of Games interesting from a psychoanalytical point of view. Most of the games end up with people being pulled up, hung, dropped, squirted on, smeared, spun, and subjected to mechanisms that seem to represent giant penises or the giant arms of overwhelming parents. A very Freudian show, actually. Even the collective squeals of the audience come across to me as having a covertly sexual, sadomasochistic tone.

Kindness costs you no capital, yet it gives you great returns.

Artist Brenda Fajardo had an elder brother--I forget his name--who himself taught art when I was in third grade. I recall one of his lessons, which was to render a round vase with charcoal on drawing paper. It was really a lesson in tone, shadows, turning edges, highlights, and bounced lighting. I remember that I did a lousy job and managed only to get my hands and fingers terribly smudged with charcoal. I also remember that he held up the work of one of my classmates--I also forget who it was--and praised it to high heaven. I thought that I would like my work to be as good as my classmate's someday. To this day, though, I have tried different types of media and I detest charcoal most.

Laws are needed wherever discrimination lies.

Too much ambition always translates to a miserable life.

Feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes

Rams have been coming my way lately.

Finally wrapped Raul's portrait and stowed it away.

Placed Grikha's portrait-in-progress back on my easel, and I hope to be able to resume working on it tomorrow.

Never let your children down.

Back from jalan-jalan.

A balmy afternoon. Looks like rain later, in the evening.

A dying person will always yearn for the company of past friends.

Tony Perez's Art of War: I forgive you, but I don't call the shots. My spirit guides do. And so, while it is really so easy to forgive, all are subject to the laws of the cosmos and the laws of karma.

It is hilarious how, under every new administration, equally new "consultants" crop up to be hired by various agencies and companies, and equally hilarious how, when the administration changes, they all quickly disappear into the woodwork and are never heard of again.

Dust always rises in the absence of rain.

No amount of music can alleviate genuine grief.

Men resent it when they cannot make use of their fellow men.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are shores, the sky an ocean.

Watched Loving Vincent, which my sister Sylvia brought me from Australia. The title is derived from "Your loving Vincent", by which Van Gogh signed his letters. It is a 100% "handpainted" movie, with flashbacks in black and white.

A year after Van Gogh's death the postmaster Roulin sends his son Armand to deliver an undelivered letter Van Gogh had written to his brother Theo, not to Theo, who in the movie has also passed away, but to Theo's widow. Armand searches for the most trustworthy person to send the letter overseas, in the process interviewing the people who surrounded Vincent during his final days and indirectly investigating the circumstances of his death.

The movie suffers from a weak point of attack and a weak premise. Armand is as much a protagonist as Van Gogh is, yet he undergoes no dramatic change at the end of the movie. Moreover, the end titles are accompanied by American Pie's "Starry Starry Night"--sung not by a man but by a woman, which somehow made me think that this song was the original inspiration for the conception of the movie.

During my viewing I encountered the following visual problems:

--The painted flashbacks are like grisailles, which van Gogh never employed in his paintings, and they are executed with softer brushwork, sometimes seemingly simulating charcoal drawings, quite un-Van-Gogh-like and making them come across, at times, as illustrations for the old Ideals magazine.
--Despite the simulation of some of Van Gogh's interiors and exteriors, the composition of the shots is for the movie screen rather than for the canvas, using extreme close-ups, high angles, and low angles.
--The movie was evidently shot with real characters against real sets and afterward "painted over", resulting in being artistically unimpressive. As a matter of fact, there are moments when the photography rather than the brushwork dominates.

The only reason I could fully appreciate this movie and stayed through its end was that I actually have the huge book Vincent by Himself: A Selection of Van Gogh's Paintings and Drawings Together with Extracts from His Letters (edited by Bruce Bernard) and had watched, a few years back, the 1956 movie Lust for Life by Vincente Minnelli, which explored the very same characters and scenes (and which I felt was more difficult to execute yet was more successful despite the fact that it employed a lot less artists). Over all, Loving Vincent is too much about loneliness, and could be difficult viewing for the average person, especially since the heavy impasto becomes tedious after the first half of the movie.

I have always preferred writing to directing. Directing is stressful, especially if one has to deal with atchay producers and production members, and there are sure to be some of them all the time.

http://www.chineseamericanfamily.com/lions-head-meatballs/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=lions-head

Your Messenger message:

"Good afternoon, Sir Tony. I am sorry if I am bothering you with my personal issue. If it is okay, I want to ask for your advice as I am to make a major life decision. I recently got a job offer to which I am really excited to apply for. But of course, not without any compromise. Both of my parents are against it. They want me to finish law school but my heart is not in it. I realized that since early last year but I kept going as I do not know, personally, which way to go in the professional field. Also, I do not want to disappoint my parents time and again. As for the moment, I am just waiting for the employer's reply to my message. Thank you for your time. God bless."


My reply:

Hello __________!

Try to finish the semester, then talk with your parents. Tell them that you would like to have a change by having some work experience, and that you will go back to your law studies when you are ready to enroll again. And, you will be.