Good day, Cubao!

The sun is in high fever.

Adversity always fuels my talents.

Calling it a day for painting.

Will resume tomorrow and hope to accomplish more than I did today.

Bedtime snack: a few spoonfuls of menudo. Always reminds me of the chunky version the neighbor fed Catherine Deneuve in Luis Bunuel's  Belle de Jour.

Worked an hour on tenth glaze on my paintings.

One painting has already come alive.

The other needs more glazing in order to do so.

Dinner at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and CatCat.

Worked an hour on ninth glaze on my paintings.

Worked an hour on eighth glaze on my paintings.

Slowly.

Worked an hour on seventh glaze on my paintings.

Lunch at home with Angelique and CatCat. Aubrey at university.

Worked an hour on sixth glaze on my paintings.

Yes, last night was a night of bad dreams reflecting secret anxieties.

Worry not, almost everyone had one.

When I put down my pen, I pick up my brush.

When I put down my brush, I pick up my pen.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is an oval pendant encrusted with marcasite.

Business meeting with M.

He aims to reopen his cafe on Friday. New decor, new furniture, new menu.

Worked an hour on fifth glaze on my paintings.

Calling it a day for painting.

Hoping to hold more glazing sessions tomorrow.

Worked an hour on fourth glaze on my paintings.

"For you and I have a guardian angel/
On high, with nothing to do/"

Worked an hour on third glaze on my paintings.

Worked an hour on second glaze on my paintings.

Worked an hour on first glaze on my paintings.

Lunch with Angelique, Aubrey, and CatCat.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sun is a steaming rice cooker.

No one tells me when summer begins and ends and when the rainy season begins and ends. I go with how I feel, and no one can tell me what to feel.

This day was a flurry of chores and trips to the center--but it ended early for all of us. Everyone is in their respective rooms now. My TV is on, am thinking of reading another chapter from _The Cat Who Said Cheese_ (am halfway through), and am hoping that my paintings dry overnight on this hot, summer night.

Dinner at home with Angelique, Aubrey, CatCat, and J.

Calling it a day for painting.

Washing 20 brushes and four palette knives.

Worked an hour on fifteenth layer on my paintings.

This layer needs to dry completely. If it does, glazing begins tomorrow.

Worked an hour on fourteenth layer on my paintings.

CatCat baking cookies and making pizza in the kitchen.

We are fortunate to live within walking distance of Farmers Market, Arayat Market, and the Castle of Baking and Confectionery.

Worked an hour on thirteenth layer on my paintings.

Blessed Saturday.

A curse is not always an ill wish thought or spoken by another or by more than one person against you. It could be an unbroken, negative habit of yours taking its toll, a consequence resulting from your defilement of Nature, or a subconscious punishment for residual guilt that your Higher Self imposes on you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryvOh6Iu6ug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXt4PoC-9Ps

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BXWIqpgQhQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0sfFII_qW0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdGMs3LNoGU&list=PLC46A2841F71D5638

Worked an hour on twelfth layer on my paintings.

Lunch at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and CatCat.

Now CatCat is about to make Lebanese pizza dough and the granddaughters are going to watch how she does it.

Worked an hour on eleventh layer on my paintings.

I enjoy doing what I do and I wonder why it can't last forever.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a gold medal on the sky's heaving chest.

The more I paint, the faster I paint. But I'm really tired now and am looking forward to bedtime.

Family arrived 9:30 PM and sat down to dinner.

Everybody home.

Dinner alone. Family probably still in Cavite or on their way home.

Worked an hour on tenth layer on my paintings.

Again, this layer needs to dry, and so I am resuming tomorrow.

Rubber shoes reminiscent of the 1950s Marcelo footwear are back in vogue. When I was young they were typical kanto boy shoes.

Tony Perez's Art of War: When a drinking glass accidentally breaks, do not replace it immediately. Just let it be, especially if you have other glasses in reserve.

An accidentally broken drinking glass saves you from others wishing ill on you. If you replace it immediately with a new one, they will continue to wish ill on you all over again.

Gather the broken pieces and smallest shards in a plastic bag, write your enemy's name/enemies' names on a sheet of paper, place it inside the bag, and throw the bag in a public trash bin.

The ill wishes sent you will immediately redound on the sender/senders.

Worked an hour on ninth layer on my paintings.

Sorry, I don't do oracle festivals anymore, and I wonder why some people still do. They seem to be terribly fixated in the 1990s.

Temporarily switched to using refined turpentine. I love its odor; it brings me back decades to the Arts Club, which I belonged to in grade school.

Worked an hour on eighth layer on my paintings.

To explain what is happening:

You Deleted my Friend Request as Benjamin Zamora Silva and reported it as Spam. That is why you can no longer see an "Add-Friend" toggle on my Profile.

And, no, I will not send you another Friend Request. Why should I?

Angelique, Aubrey, CatCat, and J. are off to visit CatCat's house in Cavite.

Home alone.

Your Messenger message:

"Sir Tony good afternoon po do you do regression po ba?"


My reply:

Only to my closest students, sorry.

Almost in her 50s, she still believes that she is bound for stardom. Instead, life will give her a P.O. Box (P.O. = Poverty and Obscurity).

Finally, Angelique and J. were able to buy a sack of dog food for Kichiro Mayuzumi.

Worked an hour on seventh layer on my paintings.

I am sure, the British are laughing at him.

Life disarranges, art arranges.

Never go with a student whose delusion is being greater than his teacher. That student will sooner or later fall flat on his face and never be able to get up.

He ended his TV career because he showed the viewers which side he was on.

Two cups very black, espresso blend.

When you are quoting someone, give full credit to that person's name.

Never say, "As a friend of mine said", "As a teacher of mine said", or "As a writer I know of said". What that means is:

--You are taking the credit for yourself.

--You are quoting but liberally paraphrasing

--You do not want people to know who the friend/teacher/writer is, for selfish reasons. 

Back from the center. Bought my son Chito his supplement and two packs of sausages, then we had lunch out.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a golden chalice.

Whenever you speak ill of others, people will speak worse of you.

Write what you like, not what other people tell you to.

Paint what you like, not what other people tell you to.

Exercise the greatest freedom you can ever have as an artist.

Income is more important than outcome.

Everything you write and paint is an index of your maturity or immaturity.

Why do death and disaster have to be the greatest news makers of all?

Is it because it makes the people who want to be in the lead appear as messiahs?

Every person has at least one talent that he/she can be fully appreciated for.

Enjoying painting as I have never done when I was still working in an office.

Before I retired I could paint only at night, late into the night, and on weekends. Now I paint in the daytime, as though I were doing work hours, and I can sleep to my heart's content every night.

Worked an hour on sixth layer on my paintings.

This layer needs to dry.

Calling it a day for painting. Resuming tomorrow.

When I was a graduate student of Clinical Psychology, many years ago, I had access to a list of high-anxiety situations.

The first was death of spouse.

The second was moving house.

Your Messenger message:

"hi Sir Tony ,... . Sir may I ask the meaning of my dream . In my dream I saw my dead fiance na kakalibing lang po last Tuesday .
"My dream: "I saw him na parang malungkot siya at ang payat niya . He walked towards me and hugged me. Tinanong ko sya kung may sakit ba sya and kinausap niya po ako about sa plano niya .. Sabi po niya sakin na 'wag mong sasabihin kina nanay. umalis ako sa academy kasi magpapalakas ulit ako. pero khit anong mangyari babalik ako ng akademya' gaya po ng dati nakita ko nnman po ang determinasyon sa mata niya. sinabihan ko po sya na susuportahan ko sya sa plano niya. . "Sir ang namatay ko po fiance ay nagaral sa _____. Pangarap niya po mkatapos pero hindi na natuloy. Thank you Sir Tony. Godspeed"

My reply:

Hello ______!

Your fiancee intends to reincarnate. That is what he means by going back to the academy he was enrolled in.

When he does so, he will be born into one of his relatives' family, not yours. In the meantime he seeks to tie up a lot of loose ends on his own. Allow him to do so without your interference.

A family of four, tenants of my nephew, moved out today. They stacked their belongings at the second security guards' outpost beside the small loggia of my house while waiting for their pick-up.

My nephew's tenants move out usually because they are unable to pay their rent. It always gives me a sad feeling. The little girl could not comprehend why they were packing up and leaving. I wish that every head of family would have the intelligence and the sense of responsibility to provide adequate shelter for his family without getting into debt.

The werewolf crossed the street to buy a guyabano shake.

Worked an hour on fifth layer on my paintings.

Worked an hour on fourth layer on my paintings.

I hope they also get down to rehabilitating Baguio very soon. The water there has amoeba. I note that a lot of houses on the edges of cliffs have no proper sewage systems--the waste just drops off the cliffs into the earth below.

Third cup of very black, espresso blend.

Worked an hour on third layer on my paintings.

Lunch at home with Angelique and CatCat. Aubrey at university.

The worst line a corrupt person ever tells his children: "I did it all for you."

Tony Perez's Art of War: Even when an aggrieved person dies, his spirit is able to stay on and wreak vengeance on his enemies.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sun wears a golden anklet on his right foreleg.

A workshop I am supposed to conduct was scheduled in April, was postponed to May, and then to June, and then to July. Reworking the syllabus now.

Dinner with Aubrey and CatCat, then Angelique arrived from college.

Worked an hour on second layer on my paintings.

This evening, cool breezes in Cubao.

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

Read another chapter from The Cat Who Said Cheese in bed.

One-hour, afternoon nap.

Back from jalan-jalan and an afternoon of cold drinks at The Cubao Leaky Cauldron with a new friend, who taught me stuff about kuman thong, back tattoos, and ethnic talking boards. Afterward we went to NBS Araneta Center, where I bought tubes of oil paint in unusual colors.

Tony Perez's Art of War: When a person is trying to avoid extending his support, gives you roundabout information, and ends his message with "I hope this is helpful to you", reply with, "No. That was NOT helpful at all".

Your Messenger message:

"Hello Sir Tony. Saw your posts regarding dream interpretations. I had a dream po 2-3 weeks ago that has been bothering me because it’s super weird kaya po I’d like to know its meaning po sana. Kung hindi po kayo busy gusto ko po sanang ipa-interpret yung dream ko. Thank you po!

"Yung dream ko po, me and my 2 friends are on summer vacation. Sa beach house po na pinagsstay-an namin, sumilip daw po ako sa window then nakita ko na umuulan pero sa isang area lang po yung ulan. Sinabi ko raw po na nag-iiba yung electromagnetic field ng Earth. Pinapasilip ko raw po sila pero ayaw nila maniwala. Kinukulit ko raw sila nang kinukulit, finally yung isang friend ko naconvince kong sumilip, nakita niya rin yung ulan and naweirduhan din po siya. Kinoconvince na naming dalawa yung isang friend namin na sumilip pero ayaw pa rin maniwala.

"Second time po na sumilip ako, yung wave daw po ng dagat pabaliktad. Nagpanic na raw po ako nun and yun na po yung time na sinasabi ko na we need to go na. Naniwala lang daw po yung friend ko nung may nagsabing guy (di ko na po maalala kung sino pero kilala namin siya) na totoo po yung sinasabi ko, sumilip na siya then nag-agree lahat na kailangan ng umalis, pero medyo late na kasi yung wave daw po pumasok na sa bahay namin (clear po yung waves nito) tumakbo na raw kami palabas then nagulat kami na paglabas namin, may wall daw po na made of water. Nag-iisip pa raw kami pano aakyat dun. Hanggang sa nag-wave na po ulit, this time yung wave po may parang dried sea weeds na kasama. Nag-iisip pa rin daw kami ng plan pano makakakyat sa wall. Aftern nun, nagising na po ako.

"Although parang apocalyptic po, ang sunny po nung dream. Golden sand daw po yung beach, ang happy ng vibe kaya di ako natakot pagkagising. Super weird lang po. Tsaka sobrang bihira ko pong managinip ng ganito kaweird kaya nabbother po talaga ako. Maraming salamat po! "

My reply:

Hello _______!

Rain, the sea, waves--all of the element water, which, in dreams, represent uncontrollable emotions, the psychological realm of Poseidon.

Your dream indicates to me that an off-beat relationship is going on (or existed in the past, because seaweed, like dried leaves in a forest, are symbols of sad memories) and you are terribly unsure of its social consequences.

I suggest that you take up some hobby that will serve as an avenue to self-expression and dream therapy. Also read upon lucid dreaming, which will enable you to author the endings and the resolutions in your dreams. Through lucid dreaming, for example, you could have overcome the wall of water without much difficulty.

Worked an hour on first layer of the other painting.