They may stay at home as long they walk about in their bare feet.

The tackier his figurine, the more potent.

It is not enough to light nine red candles. You should light nine black candles also, the red ones and the black ones arranged in an alternating pattern.

If half of the crowd asks for one thing and the other half asks for its opposite, which half will the dark man favor?

Nothing can counteract lightning. All you have to do is keep out of its way.

An extension will occur under the guise of popular demand.

Your life will return to ease and comfort in February.

The king can have only three princes and should not waste his time on anyone more.

Good noon, Cubao!

The fairies wear blue sky skates to go racing above the city.

Watched Edward Scissorhands on DIVA. Loved it as I did when I first saw it more than a decade ago, especially for its production design.

Interesting to see Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder interacting in it.

M. is now giving the kitchen of his cafe a very thorough cleaning.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi Tony! In my dream, we were flatmates together with a woman whom I don't recognize. It was an old house and there was a fire. I heard you two shouting my name, telling me to get out of the house. You two were waiting for me outside. You said it was caused by a faulty bulb. It was quite distressing. Will you please enlighten me? Thanks"


My reply:

Hello _____!

I am in your dream as a spirit guide; the woman is your feminine side, sometimes referred to as the anima.

Do you still have family in the Philippines? You might hear distressing news from them soon.

Alternatively, are you in some sort of argument with an older relative due to a misjudgment that you made?

Those are the two possible meanings that I can see.

Gradually consuming the leftover grapes in the ref that my granddaughters no longer want. I feel like I'm eating tiny basketballs and volleyballs filled not with air but with grape pulp and grape juice. Afterward I feel like there is one, giant grape snuggled inside my stomach.

Every collector must learn never to be attached to his treasures.

Watched the 2018 The X-Files series on FOX. The episodes are curiously replayed back to back. Still love the opening titles and theme. Glad that David Duchovny isn't doing comic routines, which he tried years ago and which turned me off completely.

Also glad that the aliens are back in commission.

Donations are ephemeral, especially if they are for show. It is what a person does for himself that lasts through the rest of his life.

Whenever there is a liquor ban in public places I like lounging in our den and enjoying a goblet of wine.

I have many childhood memories of riding in the family car with my sister Sylvia, my father at the wheel. They were always at night, after my father came home from work. Tonight I recall that there were only a few buildings in Quezon City then, and that I would crane my neck at every gas station we passed, shining like stars under their bright, fluorescent lights.

I love fluorescent lighting. I paint by it, rather than by indirect sunlight or lamplight. After all, why should I paint like artists of the past, whose studios did not have modern electricity? Fluorescent lighting makes me feel that I see everything, and so I am one painter who will always be grateful for and will always treasure fluorescent lighting. 

I have too often seen overconfidence foil a competitor's overambition.

Centuries from now the footprints of the crowds will be gone and the sound of their shuffling footsteps long forgotten. The buildings will be razed, their ruins will bake in the sun.

A lone archaeologist sits and surveys the surroundings, contemplating how time destroys all. Over there a family takes but a brief tour, unmindful of history. Only the writer will come to access the past with his mind and with his heart, for the middle name of every writer is Memory.

I wish that Cubao would have its own Mardi-Gras-like annual event also. The closest to our house, so far, has been EDSA Day, but that is sometimes militant, charged with ill will, and generally unpleasant.

Thursday Sessions With The Spirit Questors: Asian Divination 101: The Mahjong Oracle

Thursday, December 4, 2017

First, be adept at handling your mahjong tiles the way Western diviners are adept at fanning, shuffling, and arranging cards. Actually playing the mahjong game helps; alternatively, play with the tiles to create toy buildings, stage sets, and figures as you would using toy blocks.

Put together all tiles that have THREE COLORS each. Tiles with THREE COLORS each are said to be PERFECT. When such tiles appear in a reading, they are said to be messages from the gods and goddesses, and are to be paid very special attention. There are only 35 PERFECT tiles.

Now put together all tiles with TWO COLORS each. These tiles are said to be IMPURE. When these tiles appear, they are messages from the Collective Unconscious, comprised of the sensibility of other Asian diviners in the world, wise men, and the diviner himself. There are 65, the most number of color category tiles, in all.

Two wrong tiles do not belong here. Do you see which ones they are?

Then put together all the tiles that have ONE COLOR each. These tiles are said to be PURE. When they appear in a reading, they are messages from the diviner's and the subject's ancestors and personal spirit guides. There are only 56 PURE tiles in all.

PERFECT, IMPURE, PURE. Learn to recognize these on sight before we proceed to the next lesson.

Quite perplexing when new Friends from other countries Message me and ask basic questions about me. Don't they read "About"? Everything they need to know about me is there.

One thing facebook has never been able to fix is when a user inadvertently Clicks on a part of the Wall and all the photos and windows turn blue.

I will never place myself in another situation in which I have to share a room or tent, and a bathroom and toilet, with other people.

Now he regrets splurging money on fireworks. The money, he worked hard for. As for the fireworks, they turned to smoke and dust in but moments.

I advised him to think of less primitive ways to celebrate New Year's Eve.

Frazzling morning. Two PLDT technicians came to fix our phone and extension, then my antique dealer from Mindanao came to inform me that my orders from Marawi have arrived. Quite exciting; he also showed me photos of more exotic items to come.

Lunch with Angelique. Then Aubrey woke up and had lunch too.

I need to be alone for some time.

Good day, Cubao!

The clouds are bubbles blown from a  bowl of soap.

Finished rereading Necklace and Calabash.

Must focus on three TheatreWorks plays tomorrow.

He will not succeed as a program host because of his abrasive voice.

People will learn to forego soda. They want to lose weight anyway.

Assembled stems left over from fresh grapes make great, gnarled trees for haunted house models.

Accepted two Filipinos into my Friends List. They were from the distant past and must have stumbled upon my facebook Wall.

No matter how efficient one's servant is, it is not worth keeping him/her.

Take care of your own children. Clean your own house. Cook your own food. Take out your own trash.

Every king must be his own servant.

One uses social media so that people fall in love with one's mind, not one's face or body. Ironically the majority of people use it for the latter.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Opened a Secret Group for my wolf pack.

Do not use calligraphy ink in your fountain pens. It contains shellac, and it will clog your nibs.

We use shot glasses not to minimize the amount we drink but to measure the amount we drink.

The branch manager of Seattle's Best is pressing me to acquire a fourth and a fifth planner. I am willing to consider a fourth, but certainly not a fifth, to use as a notebook for my original, handknitted projects.

While crossing EDSA on my way to the center after lunch, a young man walked ahead of me. My werewolf sense of smell detected patchouli, which I haven't smelled in a long, long time.

China is already in the 22nd century.

The Philippines is still in the Ching Dynasty.

Back from jalan-jalan, and so, I lost a painting day. Paid our electric and cable bills, did minor groceries, and had coffee at Seattle's Best.

The next best day to go jalan-jalan is January 9, when everyone else in Metro Manila will be in Quiapo. Saw something interesting in a shop and I think I want eleven of them.

Do not cast away the previous and past years of your life, for they should remain connected like the links of a chain.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a stainless-steel rice cooker.

This was the third night of the first full moon of the year.

Werewolves don't like:

--alarm clocks
--other people's music
--unexpected visitors
--brightly lighted public places
--crowds.

Watched "Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery" on DIVA. I like this series, as I like Garage Sale Mystery, for their characters, houses, clothes, jewelry, and props. This far into the water, though, Police Lieutenant Smith's consistent refusal to keep Aurora out of unsolved mysteries is no longer logical, nor is it realistic. Love the Real Murders Club.

The only problems I have with Aurora Teagarden remain the same: the women who play Lieutenant Smith, Aurora's journalist friend, and Aurora's mother all have the same facial, Scarlett Johansson, type, and, despite the differences in hairstyle, look like one another in many of the shots; many attempts to look cute are disguised as moments of comedy; and there is too much flirtation.

Night Classes

Night Classes

Dumbledore's and Gandalf's and Judge Dee's and Ming The Magnificent's  robes--I tried them all and couldn't stand being encased in all that cloth, especially having my arms and my legs trapped inside them. Alas, I will NEVER go through my old age looking like the wizard I'd always hoped to look like!

Tony Perez's Art of War; When an enemy cops a victory, what did it really cost him? How much did he sacrifice in order to win, and was it all worth it?

I love the idea of curling up in bed and sleeping while the rest of the world throngs to various events. It makes me sleep very well.

A defective fountain pen can be used as is as a dip pen, or can be refashioned as one.

Actually he looks like Xavier Cugat.

Give your most frequently used magical weapon an appropriate name.

Angelique is having dinner out with former university classmates.

Dinner at home with Aubrey. We had cheeseburgers and Korean black bean noodles. One must have an acquired taste for the latter. Aubrey and I prefer the Korean Sam Yang spicy noodles (we've already tried three: original, twice as spicy, and spicy cheese), which is what you serve people who are always complaining that hot food isn't hot enough. These will send you diving into the nearest swimming pool.

We are so fortunate to be able to just walk to the Farmers Wet Market, which has two, wonderful, Korean food stores. Name it, they have it--including Melona popsicles!

How well you paint reflects how well you write, and vice-versa.

You feel nauseous because of excessive eyestrain.

The pet puppy you buy this year will be your live talisman.

Everyone has grown tired of watching that old infomercial.

The Horse will help you through the year.

It is water that heals you.

Whenever my family members leave the house, Channarong escorts them.

A writer or a painter is prolific not because he churns out one work after another but because he produces one MAJOR work after another. 

Never rush work for an exhibit. It will look precisely like that, that you rushed it for an exhibit.

One must truly love the sea in order to live and survive beside it.

The Serpent will slither round the globe and show itself again.

Superstitions are useful as long as they provide the ego psychological security and confidence.

One has much to offer simply because one has much to give.

Almost done rereading Necklace and Calabash. My psyche always deletes my reading and rereading of Judge Dee novels so that, when I choose to reread any one of them, it is as though I am reading it for the very first time.

The students come close to the mage because magic is transferred through astral osmosis.

He who deliberately seeks immortality needs to know that it is the person least likely to become immortal who actually becomes immortal.

Sentimental value is a valid index of appraisal, and is a show of respect for historicity.

Talent never deteriorates.

Today you plant seeds. Tomorrow you sweep away dead leaves.

Today you plant seeds. Tomorrow you sweep away dead leaves.

There ARE elves, and they help you with your work at night.

"Which coins will the fountain bless?/"

With or without China the country has already been operating like the Forbidden City, replete with all its intrigues.

Walking-out is a sign of defeat disguised as haughtiness.

Some people never upgrade because they like superstitiously holding on to trash.

Atchays who are paid regular salaries to render service stop rendering service whenever they feel like it.

Things started hopping when I started using my red planner.

Worked another hour on Grikha's portrait. Added more details to the side borders. I feel like I am embroidering a small tapestry.

Things go wrong when people who have little or nothing start believing that they are privileged to break rules.

Honor The Twins and receive blessings in pairs.

Otherwise you might observe that troubles also come in pairs.

In Cubao, the wind rises and swells like the waves of the sea.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sun is a red, Shouzan stone fetish.

If you're feeling pain in your throat it's because you should be wearing a scarf round your neck, especially to sleep, even if you cannot feel the cold. Your throat constricts below your threshold of consciousness. When it gets exhausted doing that, it causes pain. 

When I listen to local news, I withhold my judgment until I also hear what the elementals are saying.

The holidays are over. Aubrey has a slight fever, as though her body is now telling her to stop and rest, though she is intent on going with her friends to Enchanted Kingdom and then to Tagaytay some time this week. As for Angelique, she has a dinner date with former university classmates also this week.

Grandpa is working on two oil portraits tomorrow.

Met Asiff while walking back home from one of the convenience stores. My long-standing order of a jewelry box from India never arrived.

Asiff now works in Subic.

New Year's Day dinner with my sister Alice, Angelique, and Aubrey.

Your physical ailments are always symbolic of your psychological issues.

It is not true that nothing is for free, but, the truth is, only very few things are.

Life-sustaining talismans are best located under your bed.

Left the paraffin oil lamps inside the small loggia burning through the night, safely in glass lanterns, but the vessels were still half-full and the flames were still alive this morning. It pays to have bigger, rather than smaller, oil lamps. Small lamps need to be constantly refilled.

Listen to the birds now. They are discussing everything that is happening in the world.

Home alone. The granddaughters are at the salon.

Been reading Necklace and Calabash every night, and savoring it.

A year without Judge Dee is inconceivable to me.