The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sun lances through a water jug with laser beams.

You know there is an elemental in the house if your personal bathroom smells as though someone else has been in it.

It is possible to take away the living room from a house you are downsizing, because it is all right to seat guests at the dining table as though it were a conference table. You may also locate small pockets of two, three, or four small, occasional chairs or armchairs in other places on the ground floor.

Every werewolf has two lairs--one he socializes with other werewolves in, and another he hibernates in that no one else is allowed to enter.

Different wounds heal at different paces.

This morning I bought one sweet-pork pastry from John's townhouse stand, just to try it, because he seems to have those all the time. Wasn't impressed, though; I've tasted better.

There must be something about my energy that encourages other people to think lucidly. Whenever I pass Sitio Catacutan's taong-grasa eating on the pavement he acknowledges my presence and says, "K'ain po tayo". Yesterday I bought him a slice of pork chop and a serving of rice at one of the hawkers' stands. He asked that some sauce from pickled bangus be dribbled on his rice. He is definitely not psychotic by my definition of psychotic.

Must remember to ask him, sometime, why he ended up that way. Should make an interesting story.

Two cups very black, Turkish dark.

Blog without photos. It is the ultimate test of how effective you are as a cyberjournalist who can communicate with only words.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are double-deck tourist buses.

Finally moved our mother-of-pearl inlaid, Maranao mirror from Marawi City to the studio den, which now doubles up as our family game room. Placed fabric flowers from my sister Sylvia in Sydney inside a cloche, and surrounded that with antique, brass bowls my father bought in Korea during World War II. (The brass bowls contain Bingo and mahjong chips.)

Gold is sweet and silver is savoury, that is why it is either one or the other.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sun shines not only to shed light but also to cast shadows.

Strong winds, rain, and rolling thunder in Cubao.

Will the streets get flooded again tonight? Chekovian irony!

Black tea and miniature, glazed porcelain teapot from E.

It is the prose and poetry you post, not your photos or your snapshots, that reflects the true beauty of your mind.

Two cups very black, Turkish dark.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a basket of rambutan with spiky flares. 

Finally bequeathed to Angelique and Aubrey two heirloom tambourine necklaces and an antique, Chinese, silver filigree necklace.

Gave my sister Alice vintage fashion paper doll books for her birthday.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey. Everyone feeling cozy; tomorrow is another holiday.

Your mind is the window to the world within.

The magical-minded celebrate on the eve, on the actual day, and on the day after.

Good day, Cubao!

The sun libates sparkling, white wine on the earth.

Fear not water. Fear earth.

Nancy of HR visited to deliver my service certificate signed by former Secretary of State John Kerry. I will treasure Secretary Kerry's signature forever.

We caught up on everyone we know and the latest for an hour. Then Nancy went shopping for trench coats. She is leaving soon for a one-month vacation in Canada.

Statistics mean nothing if they are determined not by your audience after all but by an administrator whose real intention is to make money.

Two cups very black, Turkish dark.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sky is wiped clean by rags of rain.

Storm watch

Angelique's classes suspended tomorrow.

Everyone at home now.

I love rainy nights. Like nights when I am in bed with fever, they are times I like rereading my favorite TinTin comic books.

"...Para 'di mag-WUU-reeee."

Every spectacle dwindles and fades away into oblivion.

Long after you hear a song or a piece of music, you will discover that it continues to play in your subconscious.

Upgraded our aviary padlock. Now everybody who lives here has to throw away their key and replace it with a new one.

Also bought veggies for my once-a-month, potent, magical salad. I take it at night as a bedtime snack.

I'm not sorry I invested in a lot of antique pieces from Marawi: furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl, trunks, brass gongs, lamps, 100-year-old malongs, jewelry, weapons, and wall hangings. I started doing so 30 years ago, when everyone else was into postmodern art deco, Italianate, indigenous cane, and steampunk.

I fell in love with these pieces because their pattern-on-pattern art and rococo designs remind me of pieces from old Syria and old Morocco.

My antique dealer from Marawi City visited. With lots of horror stories, of course. The marketplace with a lot of antique furniture burned down. So did his shop and everyone else's items in storage. He recently moved to another city in the south.

Wishing I'd bought another likos, that Qin Dynasty, blue-and-white jar with embossed lizards he offered me some time ago, and more trunks inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

Two cups very black, Italian blend.

If the links don't work, it's a scam.

True millennials will be born in 2050, because it takes half a century for a generation to rise to the demands of a new age, create new forms of art, develop a new worldview, and look forward even farther into the future.

What we have today are mere, chronological millennials.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a heavily-laden buffet table.

Now reading up on divination through mahjong tiles--a book I've had for years but never really bothered to read until now.

Quite interesting that you can lay numbers 1-9 of each suit in three layers to form magic squares that add up to 15 horizontally, vertically, diagonally, and laterally on each side.

Also quite interesting that if you number all the tiles of three suits from 1-27, you can also create three layers that form magic squares. 

Organized our DVD and Blu-Ray discs in two antique bookshelves. A major task. It was almost as hard as organizing books, except that the discs aren't so heavy.

Your posting:

"Hi Tony, last Saturday at 4:30, I dreamt of you coming to our place and you went directly to a room near the dining then you put a rectangle bag full pockets on the night latch. Then you passed Jaime as if he was not existing and said the room was the cause of our misfortune! We took coffee and you left"


My reply:

Hi _____!

You attended one of my night classes. The pockets on the rectangle bag contain different solutions to one problem. The room is something you have compartmentalized within you, and this is creating dissonance in your present lifestyle. It does not go with the rest of the house, so to speak. 

Some examples of compartmentalized, dissonant values/beliefs in an individual's life are as follows:

--Practicing magic and at the same time practicing a religion that demonizes it.
--Being gay or lesbian and at the same time being married to a heterosexual spouse.
--Insisting on making grandiose plans and at the same time not having the resources or the means to support it.
--Being a Caucasian and at the same time wanting to live the life of an Asian.
--Desiring to be famous and at the same time being unwilling to do the hard work to be so.

The yang of the bag with many pockets is that it contains many creative things you can draw from. The yin of the bag is that it is itself a symbol of compartmentalization, one of the 25 defense mechanisms that leads to schizoid syndromes.

Determine all the things you have compartmentalized in your present life, and throw out what doesn't work for your happiness and well-being.

Finally bought a set of cloches for cupcakes.

Or for fresh roses for my granddaughters.

Thursday, Thursday

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a bottle of blue glitter dust.

One-hour business meeting with M. He plans to reopen next week with his new menu.

The ancestral spirits, B.L., and the K.T. told me this: If you ordinarily light three joss sticks in each burner, during Hungry Ghost Month you should light only two in each burner.

Rolling thunder is the Sky Dragon's roar.

A trailer home permanently installed in one's back yard makes a clever, spare bedroom or a convenient, magical sanctuary.

To live beside the sea is to be like Andromeda waiting for the kraken to emerge and swallow her alive.

Live on the ground--never between the earth and the sky.

Mortality is what makes true love precious.

An elemental in love with a human being will always disguise itself as a human being--somewhat like an earth version of Hans Christian Andersen's little mermaid except that, instead of legs, the elemental temporarily takes on human form.

At a cost to itself.

Every curb in every journey is a point of no return.

Note that everyone is really so much better off where they are now than in their previous places of employment.

Illusionists rely pretty much on their hands and fingers. Mages rely pretty much on the hands and fingers of their spirit guides.

Once in a while step outside your house and observe everything from the outside looking in. What are the things that are visible and what are the things that are not visible? What kind of family would an outsider think lives in that house based on what can and cannot be seen?

Good noon, Cubao!

The clouds are silver, joss stick burners on the ancestral table of the sky.

We desire to be rich primarily to afford to live and secondarily to afford to die.

Homelessness is not only the state of having nowhere to live, it is also the state of having no one to turn to.

Go only for universal or international standard sizes, especially with kitchen equipment.

It is always a bad idea to invest in cheap paper.

Don't just nail it. Sand and varnish it or frame it under glass as well.

Always rise from the ashes.

First day of Hungry Ghost Month.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Classes in Manila were suspended at dawn today.

Good day, Cubao!

The sun is a swordsmith's forge fire.

This is the Eve.

Cleaning our lamps tomorrow.

Now that Kristin Kneedler has departed the Philippines for another post, I can write about her. She was the Cultural Affairs Officer at the time I retired, and I was very fortunate to have a CAO whom I liked and who liked me back while I was in the process of doing an exit. She was very supportive of the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation, the American Studies Program, and the creativity and creative writing workshops I conducted for underserved audiences, especially those in Mindanao.

Kristin and I both love cinnamon-based perfume. Psychic phenomena make her uncomfortable; I once began to read her inside a car, and she made me stop. I will never forget her Jacqueline Kennedy aura and wardrobe.

Before I left, Kristin told me that she wanted my replacement to be, above all things, a writer. She said, "If Tony wrote it, I know that it's okay. I don't have to worry about having to revise it. That's the kind of Cultural Affairs Specialist I want." I wonder if the person who eventually replaced me is a writer, though.

Kristin, God bless you always wherever you are! 

Some members of The Wands met at C.'s house for the annual oiling of Wands. Another meeting is scheduled next week, this time at E.'s house.

Never be ashamed of living in a Third World country. I have visited First World countries and found there citizens wanting in wisdom and genuine sophistication, and I look around me and find some of the greatest minds and talents I have ever known.

Never time a festival right smack into the first semester of a school year. No one will be in the mood to attend it.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is an expanse of Bermuda grass under a thousand sprinklers.

When your children or grandchildren send you a Messenger message, you have to stay at your computer no matter what, go with the flow of the conversation, and find out exactly what they want.

You grieve because the dark cloud rains misfortunes on the people. They are like sharp nails and blades that fall on the unwary. Look round you, though. Others acquire deeper wounds than you do. Comfort those who are in greater need.

The beauty of the mind will always transcend the beauty of the body.

The sun beats on a giant kettle drum.

Good day, Cubao!

Lunch at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and J.

One-hour business meeting with M. We waited for the rain to let up. We are meeting again on Wednesday.

M.'s cafe is in the process of rebranding. Closed for a month and reopening in mid-September with a completely new menu with mostly sizzling dishes.

Met the flower vendor in the street. Bought a strand of white flowers for the shivalingam.

If you can be stoked, you can also be doused.

Humans are not originally of Earth because they are the only creatures who have to wipe their asses and change their clothes in order to stay clean.

Fire stops speaking, and earth begins to speak.

It is not much fun to travel to an exotic place only to have to focus on work there anyway.

Timeless architecture and home decor are those you did not copy from someone else.

Men will be overtly critical of something they cannot have.

Six-inch rulers make nifty bookmarks. That is why I saved all of my granddaughters' grade-school rulers.

A cool drizzle in Cubao.

Dipped out to buy food at the hawkers' center.

One of the stands is operated by three middle-aged women who call me "Daddy" and are rather flirtatious. Sometimes they truncate the name to "Dee". As in Judge Dee?

Godspeed to Kristian Sendon Cordero, who departs the Philippines to participate in the 2017 International Writing Program in Iowa.

Two cups very black, Turkish dark.

For one, brief moment at the department store I mentally regressed to my childhood and yearned to buy a ten-foot Christmas tree. I knew exactly where to put it and knew exactly what to hang on it.

Later, at dinner, the granddaughters discouraged me from making such a purchase. A Christmas tree is a storage problem, a cleaning problem, and a lot of sentimental bother.

I agreed, and I wondered why that impulse came over me. I think, the K.T. wanted a tree. I shall have to give them something else for Christmas.

Good day, Cubao!

Slept ten hours last night.

The sky is the tented ceiling of a three-ring circus.

My sister Alice finished translating my volume of Ceremonias y caminos de O. approximately a month ago, but I had a chance to check out the handwritten manuscript only tonight. Quite interesting. All the ceremonies are elaborate, and there are 40 pathways. My head spun. Will resume inspecting the document tomorrow.

Now reading the tenth and last story in Murder Under the Christmas Tree. It's by Ellis Peters, and Brother Cadfael is in it.

Is the taong-grasa who roams Sitio Catacutan for real or is he an undercover agent?

--His hair is long but chopped off for comfort.
--He is dirty but does not stink.
--His all-black shirt and shorts are too contrived, and slashed in the right places.
--He knows how to spend the coins that people give him.
--Sometimes I see him taking a break and smoking a cigarette.

Your Messenger message:

"Good morning, Tony! Last night's dream somehow disturbs me. I dreamt I had just discovered that the padlock to an adjacent room (not mine in the dream) was unlocked. I mean adjoining room with an exit door to the _________ grounds, like my own room. In the dream I got so worried that someone could have entered from the outside and looked through my things and , possibly, could have stolen something material and immaterial.

"In another dream last night, I saw an aunt in a truck going somewhere with some of my relatives and I wondered why she didnt invite me on that trip. She was happy in my dream."


My reply:

Hello ___________!

You've recently been vulnerable, and you wonder how wise it is to show others your human weaknesses. It is possible that you indicated an openness to a deep relationship with someone, but you now fear that this is being misconstrued.

The second dream indicates to me that, while your choice of lifestyle--or choice of happiness--unites you with other people, it might, at the same time, be alienating you from your own family, and from forms of happiness you grew up with.

Haven't seen or smelt Shalimar in a long, long time and I recall that, when I was in grade school, I used to mix a drop of it in my fountain pen ink. (We were required to use fountains pens in fifth, sixth, and seventh grade.)

Never save the best for last. You may not have the time to enjoy it later--either all by yourself or with others.

Overcast skies above Cubao.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a cut-glass punch bowl.

I find it very ironic that this is the Year of the Rooster, and that poultry layers have to be massacred in certain farms.

A good mage reveals his most powerful spells only to his trusted apprentices.

Retirement is the perfect time to read up on and study, on your own, everything you ever wanted to know about--with the bonus of no one trying to discourage you or stop you from doing so.

"I do recall/

That every moment spent was wasted time/

But then I chose to lay it on the line/

I put the past away/"

There are three stages in enjoying a sloppy, boardwalk ice cream cone: first is receiving the perfectly-sculptured cone from the vendor, attacking the twirly top, and licking the ice cream round its base to prevent it from dripping; second is gradually licking the ice cream on the cone until everything gets pushed down into the cone; and third is to eat the crunchy cone with the remaining ice cream inside it.

The corner of EDSA and P. Tuazon Boulevard, in Cubao, looked like a movie shoot location this afternoon, what with all those tow trucks, policemen, and cameramen. The buses of First North Luzon Transit were being pulled out and the terminal apparently being closed down, because of the move to eliminate all bus terminals from EDSA.

Traditionally, business transactions are not made within Hungry Ghost Month. 

Viands are appreciated by adult, hungry ghosts.

Candies are appreciated by young, hungry ghosts.

A dish of fresh cherries that my sister Remi sent over for breakfast.

Two cups very black, Turkish dark.

Wearing Platinum by Roberto Verino.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a stall stocked with tropical fruits.

The most exciting teacher is he who, after you have conveniently categorized him under something comfortably familiar, suddenly steps out of the box and shows you a side of himself you never imagined.

Really enjoyed The Julius House: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery on DIVA last night.

Back from jalan-jalan.

Angelique and J. off to college.

Wearing Pour Homme by Lomani of Italy.

Two cups very black, Turkish dark.

Lunch at home with Angelique. Aubrey at university.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sun doffs his hat of fire to Earth.

It looked like everyone hated him--his co-participants, the production because of five unflattering shots they gave him, and, I am certain, some members of the audience.

Strangely, there was something about him that I found very appealing. He was most refreshing.

TV channels have begun eliminating end titles from their canned programs. I thought this was a big no-no.

Relationships can develop, but they cannot be engineered.

Even the smallest patch of grass is a great blessing.

Sadly, more tornadoes, at least a week from now.

Actually it will not be launched.

It is never too late to catch up, especially if the person you are catching up with is none other than yourself.

True religiosity never showcases itself.

Rest is the expression of deliberate contempt for time.

A gossip is never well-informed.

When a person is writhing with envy, people will seek to make him even more envious because the spectacle he provides is too entertaining to resist.

"Millennials" are not true millennials if their mentality and taste for entertainment are still fixated in the 20th century.

It is possible that the true millennials will be born as late as 2050 or 2060.

Lunch with Angelique, Aubrey, and Benjie.

Benjie's second day cleaning house.

Now Angelique is off to university.

Good day, Cubao!

The sky is an etagere filled with glass figurines.

This is the 21st year of the Spirit Questors, a group I established in 1996. I've made major changes to the group's structure, operational format, and membership. Just in case there are impostors out there who claim to be Spirit Questors or current members of the group, here are the characteristics that distinguish its members now:

--They do NOT appear on TV shows and interviews, they do not grant radio interviews, and they are not featured electronically or in print, except by me.
--They do NOT use Tarot cards, rune stones, Ouija boards, and other properties from the West, except for their personalize use. We use, instead, the I-Ching, The Oracle of Kung Ming (http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook4.blogspot.com/), the Kwan Yin oracle sticks, temple pwei stones, mahjong cards or tiles, and other methods, especially those indigenous to the Philippines.
--They are gainfully employed, financially stable, and able to buy books and ASEAN implements for themselves.
--They are single. If they are married, I advise them to spend all of their extra time with their family.
--They are gainfully employed, financially stable, and able to buy books and ASEAN implements for themselves.
--They are single. If they are married, I advise them to spend all of their extra time with their family.
--They are gainfully employed, financially stable, and able to buy books and ASEAN implements for themselves.
--They are single. If they are married, I advise them to spend all of their extra time with their family.
, The Kwan Ying oracle sticks, mah jongg cards or tiles, the pwei stones, and e5hods indigenous to the Philippines.
--They do NOT do scanning and readings in public.
--They do NOT belong to other groups.
--They are gainfully employed, financially stable, and able to buy books and ASEAN implements for themselves.
--They are single. If they are married, I advise them to spend all of their extra time with their family.

In handling clients' problems possibly caused by the supernatural:

--We require clients to first send me an e-mail message describing the problems to me in a coherent, rational manner. I have discovered that 90% of such problems can be solved via e-mail alone, thus saving everyone time, trouble, and resources.
--If we must visit a client, I first do it alone, and if I must bring members with me, we go only in a small group of two or three.
--All visits are held IN THE DAYTIME, WITHIN WORKING HOURS, AS SCHEDULED, and ON TIME.
--We do not recommend expensive or unusual remedies.
--We do not perform unusual rituals in other people's houses.
--We do not use dubious gadgets.


Participants of my workshops are former workshop participants and NOT NECESSARILY Spirit Questors.

Finally, if I was not there, it was NOT a Spirit Quest by the Spirit Questors.

It is unfortunate that there are no brown candles, but that is the color that stabilizes earth changes.

The only way to have brown candles is to buy black or violet candles, lay them flat, and expose them to sunlight until they fade to brown.

Every serious student of magic must own a compass.

You never know what is in store for you, but the gods and goddesses do.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Know not only your advantages and disadvantages but your enemy's as well.

Violet is an enigmatic color because it is neither red nor blue.

When people write in notebooks, they write on the opening pages--and they write on the end pages. I observe that everything on the opening pages reflects their conscious, and everything on the end pages reflects their subconscious.

There are certain types of students one must naturally stay away from. These are the students who think you are obliged to teach them everything you know.

So tempted to watch the Mayweather-McGregor fight live at Kia Theater on August 27. It's scheduled 9:00 AM - 12:00 NN and a VIP or Loge ticket includes a hot dog sandwich and iced tea. BUT, that's on a Sunday and I have to be home, especially to attend to lunch for the granddaughters.

Because it is raining
You will come to me again

The rain hangs from the sky like glass bead curtains.

Wearing Elizabeth Taylor's Passion for Men.

Rain.

You know when the electricity trips even just a fraction because all five electric clocks around the house start playing music at the same time.

Democracy allows people to find each other. Religion seeks to prevent it.

Lightning and thunder are ripping through the stratosphere above Cubao.

If you can't even make your best friend do as you say, what makes you think you can make a politician or a criminal do as you say?

Noon drizzle in Cubao.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Benjie.

Aubrey at university.

A Monday of prospective, romantic affection. Your beloved is undergoing a minor problem and needs a holding hand. The choice of action is yours. Will this be your beloved's Monday or will this be yours?

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is streaked with white puree.

Now more than halfway through Murder Under the Christmas Tree.

Benjie is cleaning the house again tomorrow.

Watched the nth replay of Mad Max: Fury Road on HBO and noticed for the first time that Australian actress Melita Jurisic plays The Vuvalini. She appeared as WOMAN in my play On The North Diversion Road, directed by Nonon Padilla for the Black Box Theatre in Melbourne, years ago.

Am quite flattered that my play is included in her stageography list on http://www.konarciq.net/FlyingDoctors/MelitaJurisic.html.

Bought myself a wood burning tool with interchangeable points. Planning to do artwork on the surface of a wooden table, hopefully soon.

Watching the nth replay of The Mummy on AXN (I have the complete, DVD set, though) and searched for my Amun-Ra stone paperweight bought from the shop of the Museum of Modern Art in New York more than 15 years ago. I'm glad I still have it--it's one of the few Egyptian items I have.

Your Messenger message:

"Dear Tony,
"You are one friend whose mind i truly respect.

"May i have another reading?

"I was with some monks in a dream. All of us were holding sandals and slippers in what looked like a distribution of or shoppping for footwear. I was so happy that the most beautiful and only pair of beautiful white rubber sandals was given to me. I made an effort (while dreaming) to remember its design."

My reply:

Hello ________!

This is a sequel to a previous dream you had. In this one you are happy to wear white sandals instead of white, high-heeled shoes. I see this as a good indication; it seems that your psyche has fully embraced humility--wearing sandals like the monks rather than setting yourself above the rest.

Do not Click on globe-shaped and gift-box-shaped icons on your screen. It gives others permission to make changes to your computer.

I am happy because I have always known what I want and I have always known what I do not want. Those include possessions, abilities, activities, and people.

Comfort is the successful dissipation of pain.

Whenever you kick ass unduly, you kick your own, but you feel it only much later.

It is not red, but the combination of red, black, and white, that wards off negativity.

Take a shot of brandy or creme de menthe the next time you have the flu.

Toys are non-fattening pacifiers. That is why he who has toys remains gorgeous and sexy.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, but only more so in the daytime.

Do not engage in religious group dynamics.

To appreciate the present, do a flashback and a flashforward.

Stress causes dysfunctional hallucinations.

Soaked in sweat
My T-shirt clung to my body
And I felt that I'd been walking
In the rain

Angelique back from her college retreat.

Went jalan-jalan at Sitio Catacutan.

Seventeen years into the 21st century our collective mindset is still fixated in the 1990s. There are no new forms of art, and I suspect that the world will shed the old millennium only as late as 2050 or 2060.

Everything around us is Thanatos--new wars, new boat-rockers, new dissensions--as if terrifying earth changes were not enough.

Where is the life principle of the 21st century? 

It is quite sad that many companies in the Philippines do not give their employees retirement plans. As a result, their employees need to make arrangements to take on other jobs after they retire, meaning, of course, that for such employees there is no such thing as retirement.

Companies should therefore not be surprised if their employees, at the age of 40, become loyal not to their companies but to themselves.

Always plan a life of retirement in which you are dependent on no one but yourself, and in which your importance is defined only by yourself with or without fans and supporters.

Thus far into my retirement I have allowed myself to go with the rhythm of day and night and with the natural flow of activities set by our house and its residents. I now have a routine--one that is relaxing, enjoyable, stress-free, comfortably predictable, and with much space to be creative in and to indulge in my crazy hobbies in.

This is the life I dreamed of and saved up for since the age of 18.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is dusted with the white ashes of last night's campfire.

A dishonest admirer will try to gain access to you by provoking you to play games. Do not fall into the trap.

When you lose something, what greater thing do you gain?

Watched Secrets in the Walls, a Lifetime Original Movie. Much better than the usual because it survived fairly enough without special effects. The writer, however, like other horror story writers fixated in the 20th century, still employs outdated, pre-millennium tricks:

--A lot of screaming.
--A lot of explorations done in the dark, when everyone should be sleeping.
--The presence of a ghost that must be pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle, night by night.
--A secret room containing a skeleton.
--An old crime that must be researched on-line and in the library.
--A ghost that can manipulate electrical power and lock doors.
--A ghost that materializes primarily in bathrooms, and is reflected in the lavatory mirror.
--Nightgowns.
--An ending that suggests that the ghost is still inside the house, and that the evil will continue, a la Amityville and Carrie.

What must it take to change all this? The emergence of a new horror novelist who will make Stephen King obsolete?

I have yet to hear of a Filipino television set designer whose style is so fabulous and so distinct that he outshines the writer, the director, and the performers.

Your Messenger message:

"Good evening, sir Tony. There was a first...for me that I quite cannot interpret in my dream. First, I want to say thank you about not posting a message for me on my birthday. I realized that perhaps you were refraining from saying again things that you have already told me. I think that will bring quite a bad luck if you did. Please correct me if I'm wrong with it.

"So, I dreamed within layers of dream. I do not recall every part of the dream but here are the ones that I did: "1st layer of the dream: I was with my younger sister. She got pregnant and wanted to run away. I comforted her and told her that I am always around. She can call upon me and I'll be there for her. I felt the unconditional love so much that it still lingers even now that I am awake.

"We went to this house where my boyfriend was. I was shocked as she was with my sister. He was the one who got her pregnant but my sister was not happy at all. It turned out that she loved someone else. That guy came and hugged my sister. They both loved each other so much but the guy had a family with two kids. My sister is now married with my boyfriend.

"I went outside, looked up and saw the shining and beautiful stars' reflection in the open sea. I was calm and at peace. "My interpretation: My sister was myself. I was afraid at the thought of marriage- starting a family with someone whom I am not quite sure that I could express my love fully. I was in love with someone else who had a family and now has two children. I gave him that hug of bittersweet goodbye- that everything will be okay. I accepted the fact that that could never be. Myself in the dream whom I think is my higher self remained calm and peaceful because she did it. She was able to guide hlme to make that decision despite knowing the pain that I was put through. She did not smile in the end. It was a feeling of peace that everything will turn out well in the future. The reflection of the beautiful stars and the moon in the sea shows just that.

"Then, I woke up to the 2nd layer of my dream: I was in San California, USA. There was a huge island. The end of the island was a well-constructed highway with an open view of the sea. I was living in the middle of that island. I was happy and content. I had company. I just did not know whom it was. *I was not able to interpret this well. "On the 3rd, I was outside of my dormitory when I was waiting for someone to have dinner with. Someone called me. It was my professor asking why I had not gone to school. So, I went to school.

"My interpretation: This was a typical scenario in reality. I did not think that it was of importance.

"In my 4th dream, I was with my sister again. She was in front of me and was crossing a somewhat tunnel-shaped pathway made of strings. I was happy, at first, observing how she was crossing very carefully and with patience. It was too narrow for both of us to cross. There was a woman in the back, furious about me not being able to hold on to my patience. I got irritated when the strings kept holding me off. I cannot move forward so I got my scissors and impulsively cut all the strings that were on my way and that were dragging me down.

"My interpretation: I sort of started just like my sister. I was patient with people who even are holding me off, I was still positive about it. I was keeping the relationships with faith and trust. Later in life, I got fed up by people who were constantly hurting me and destroying the loyalty of friendships that we had. I impulsively cut all ties with every single one of them instead of carefully checking which ones were the ones holding my progress off. I may have cut ties with some people who are dear to me and are still loyal because of my impulse.

"Then I woke up from that dream. This is the 5th wherein I thought I was in my reality now because I woke up from my actual room now. I kept on getting up from bed, and I was dizzy. This was another of those dreams where I am about to experience astral travelling again, I thought. I looked to my right side. There was something posted on my room's wall. Not sure if it was a heart from above and then the words ' We God are just watching you.' There was an open book at the bottom. It was exactly parted in the middle and the covers were facing me. I was confused because I did not post something like that on my wall.

"And then, I finally woke up from all those dreams."

My reply:

Hello _____!

Congratulations, your dream interpretation is correct.

Consider also the following:

1) That in order to be a complete woman independent of others you must be able to live and function without men.

2) Projection is your usual defense mechanism, that is why your Self is fragmented into more than one character in your dreams.

3) Explore the significance of water/the ocean in your dreams, because it/they is/are frequently there.

4) Romantic love and marriage are not the reasons why women exist, but society has conditioned to make all of us think so.

5) The third episode suggests to me that you are somewhat attracted to a male professor.

6) The final episode of your dream reminds you that you must be proactive in making your life a success and not rely so much on the concepts of fate and destiny.

Listen to the elderly, because they see the patterns in ether.

Keeping a shop is like maintaining a favorite hobby. As long as it makes you happy it becomes immaterial whether you are making money or not.

The athlete's star is always one that tarnishes.

Sympathy is the exercise of one's own feelings toward another.

Empathy is the ability to see what another is seeing, and to feel not what you are feeling about it but what that person is feeling about it.

Apathy is not the natural absence of feeling. It is the conscious decision to temporarily suspend one's emotions.

It is true wisdom to grow old and break free of the mental rigidity your own past conditioned you to have.

Miracles happen even if you do not pray for them. That is why they are miracles.

They are no longer proud of their jobs because they are consistently humiliated by devils' traffic.

Fundamentalists are winners only to themselves because 80% of the people in the world will always be unlike them.

The broadcaster is ill and will go on leave soon.

Lizards and frogs do not build nests or houses of their own.

NEVER Click on the globe-shaped icon. It is the equivalent of giving permission to make changes in your computer.

Lunch at home with Aubrey. Angelique still on her college retreat.

We are not having our Saturday family mahjong session today. My sister Remi is visiting a friend and Aubrey is going to gym, having lenses refracted for her new frames, and buying a pack of joss sticks for our altars.

Two cups very black, Italian blend.

So many owl figurines have come and gone in my life. I sold or gave all of them away because I'm not really an owl person. Yesterday A. gave me yet another one. It's small and made of solid (as opposed to hollow) iron and is VERY heavy. It is supposed to be held inside one's fist when fighting to defend oneself. I gave it to the K.T. because they seemed to want it, but this is one owl figurine that would also look good at the feet of our Santa Muerte statuette.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is sealed in an airtight, Ziploc bag.

Like in ancient Rome, the people are pacified with "bread and circuses".

Couldn't resist a bronze figurine of three Chinese boys holding hands in a circle. I knew that one of my small crystal balls would look good on it. When upright, they look like three Chinese boys playing. When standing on their heads, they look like three Chinese acrobats.

Back from jalan-jalan. Took care of an order at LBC, bought two more glass cloches, then went to A. and bought a three-foot skeleton model from her.

Our goddess of the storm gets an ancient throw knife. We have yet to install it.

Home alone. Angelique at a college retreat and Aubrey at university.

A quiet lunch. Going jalan-jalan in a few. Must visit A. and see if she has any more of the stuff I like.

The Wands must continue pointing to the ground.

The best form of fasting and abstinence is from other people.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sun is an iron radiator.

Now a third through Murder Under the Christmas Tree, which my sister Sylvia gave me. A nice compendium of mysteries set in December, but it is quite jarring to jump from one writer's style to another--I need to rest in between.

Back from jalan-jalan. Went to two frame shops to obtain cost estimates for two items.

Sometimes you have to let something go in order to win.

Contemplation is necessary for the mind, the heart, and the body.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun wears his golden headdress of healing powers.

One of the contestants in this year's My Kitchen Rules on DIVA is the reincarnation of a Nazi officer who has yet to resolve his karma.

Had he died ten years ago, he would have become as immortal as Bruce Lee.

Had dinner alone because Aubrey was studying for an exam. Aubrey then had dinner alone. Angelique and J. arrived from college later and had dinner together.

Her description of the artist's technique is under fire, because she made everything up. That is not how the artist made his drawings at all.

The secret to a happy existence is to live a simple life while remaining a complex person.

Our family jeweler arrived to deliver Aubrey's pair of exquisite, 14k gold creole earrings. Aubrey didn't like them and showed our family jeweler a cell phone photo of what she wants instead--they're finer, almost invisible, and to be worn high above the ear lobes. She intends to wear them everyday.

The creole earrings are so pretty that I decided to buy them for myself. Am wearing them now. Aubrey will have to wait for her new set to be done and delivered.

Our family jeweler also delivered an ancient weapon for our goddess of the storm.

Sitting inside the small loggia with the antique writing slope on my lap.

Wondering how other people survive when the day is nothing more than a series of annoying expenses.

Kichiro Mayuzumi back from the pet parlor. Had a haircut and his regular, anti-flea treatment.

Angelique now off to college.

Aubrey now back from university.

Caught the second half of White Hot: A Sandra Brown Mystery on DIVA last night. Interesting, but I wonder why writers of TV mysteries, still stuck in the 20th century,  insist on making their stories revolve around romantic relationships when, in real life, every person seriously trying to solve a mystery must SET ASIDE romantic relationships, among other things, in order to get things done.

In every meeting, thoughts from different minds are stitched together as in patchwork. The quality of the thread and the quality of the stitching determine how workable the collective ideas resulting from those thoughts are. 

Bought an electrical thingie and am just so glad it works. 

Lunch with Angelique at home. Aubrey at university.

Now Angelique is taking Kichiro Mayuzumi to the pet parlor.

Happy is the man who was productive and wise in his youth and in his middle age and discovers that he is even more productive and wise in his old age.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sun is the tip of a soldering iron.

You cannot really destroy anyone, because everyone has spirit guides, some of whom will ensure that you will eventually destroy yourself.

Only Paul Dumol and I believe, to this very day, that the best hamburgers we ever had were at Ateneo Grade School's cafeteria in the 1950s. It's been decades, and the concession owner and chefs must be dead by now. The recipe must have been given or approved by an American Jesuit who loved hamburgers. At 66 I've tried ALL kinds of hamburgers in all kinds of establishments, yet I haven't come across the same. That hamburger is hard to describe but, even after all those years, I'll know it when I taste it. It's something I want to do before I die.

Rise, knowing that rising is not a state of rest, and so you will eventually need to come down again.

Always be proud not of what you are but of what you succeed in accomplishing because of what you are.

Everyone's duty is to make life as least stressful as possible, for oneself and for others.

Pretending to know someone you have not met before is like reviewing a movie you have not seen or a book you have not read.

After quite a long wait, Sarah's portrait is finally framed. Gallery Frames ordered a custom frame from Spain, and it seemed to take forever.

Diego undergoes a costume change from Haring Bakal warrior to Ifugao chieftain. I bought everything during the ICOMOS conference on the conservation of the Banawe Rice Terraces that the Embassy co-organized years ago. I bought a lot more and would need two more mannequins, but I feel that I already have one mannequin too many.

Lunch at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and J. Aubrey and J. have no classes today, Aubrey because of the feast day of Saint Dominic of Guzman, J. because of Taft Avenue traffic rerouting due to the ASEAN summit.

Two cups very black, Turkish dark.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are newly sliced, fresh coconuts.

It is the mage who chooses his students and apprentices. It is never the other way around.

The only analogy I can think of is a modern dance or a theater company. It is the artistic director who chooses who become the members of his ensemble.

In the case of the modern dance company, the artistic director chooses members who have a specific "look", as with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

In the case of the theater company, the artistic director chooses members who can fit into "character types" capable of performing roles in a repertoire, as with the Moscow Art Theatre.

I have my own criteria, and I immediately reject "applicants" I do not wish to waste my time, intelligence, and resources on.

Twenty years from now, will you look back and wish that you had spent your time on something else?

After I have finished rearranging a room to my satisfaction, I sit down feeling that there is nothing more that I could ever want or need. To hold on to this feeling I must stay seated exactly where I am and contemplate my surroundings in absolute stillness. Unfortunately this feeling is only momentary, especially when I move on to the next room that needs to be rearranged.

Not everything is worth dying for, but everything is worth living for.

To sleep is to let go sweetly.

Every day is a journey that must be taken two hours at a time.

"Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone."

--Edith Cavell

Good morning, Cubao!

The scudding clouds are galleons of the gods.

Sunday night and there is nothing on TV. Might as well continue reading N or M?.

Granddaughters back from their shopping spree.

We are having dinner in half an hour.

Aubrey's first day at university begins tomorrow and Angelique will be attending a college retreat.

I am saddened whenever Filipino movie historians ignore the contributions of movie directors they probably consider "ridiculous": the works of Luis Nepomuceno, Pierre Salas, and Joey Gosiengfiao. These were directors who preferred to write their own screenplays and developed cinematic worldviews so unique and so disagreeable to atchay promoters that they are still scoffed at and referred to as Filipino directors who never "made it" to this very day.

Nepomuceno's movies were heavily influenced by advertising, which aims to depict the world as nothing short of perfect. As such, his plots were pat and conveniently constructed. In certain scenes the performers' clothing and props matched the walls of the houses they were in. His actors and actresses were carefully made up and coiffed. Every strand of hair was in place, and all clothes and costumes looked like they'd come straight from the laundry, newly pressed. Even his beggars were smudged with evident artifice. All of this was deliberate, but critics could not comprehend the message: that, watching these movies, the audience should be jolted to the reality that life is NOT like that, and that that was the point of it all.

Salas, on the other hand, was an extreme minimalist in scenery, in casting, in plot, and in dialogue--again, something that critics could not understand, to the point that they perceived his movies as sparse and too low-budgeted for the tickets the audiences were paying for. He was not interested in shooting stories, he was interested in describing situations. His camera lingered not on action and conflict but on his performers' faces and bodies. The critics could not see that his stories stripped life of useless trappings, his message being that everything boils down to relationships--between people who love each other and between people who do not love each other.

Gosiengfiao's serious movies were seen as pretentious, if not foreign in temperament. He is the only Filipino director I know, however, who was obsessed with definitions and re-definitions of women, evident not only in his movies but also in his TV melodramas. Being a man, he trod that sensitive line between depicting women as women and dangerously depicting women as possible men disguised as women.

I wish that we could see the good in every Filipino movie director. I note that society tends to adulate directors who are influenced by the movies they watch rather than the movies they believe they should be making. As a result, their oeuvre becomes inconsistent, if not merely episodic.

Our halls of movie directors are as full of artists as those of France and India are. There will never be directors like Nepomuceno, Salas, and Gosiengfiao again. Each of them was truly one of a kind. But nobody seems to care, especially now that they are gone.

Watched replay of Frozen on HBO while waiting for the granddaughters to come back from jalan-jalan. Stunning visuals and engaging story, albeit in the style of 20th-century melodrama, and I have always felt that the musical numbers are in the wrong place--the songs make the narrative stop rather than advance.

To top it all, this is another commercial deconstruction, reinforcing what Walt Disney is notorious for. The feature is nowhere near Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen", which is all about sexual frigidity, but what can one expect when producers take adult material and sanitize it in the name of entertainment?

If you want to lose weight, pick up an interest in wearing nice clothes. Your psyche will cooperate with you.

Granddaughters on jalan-jalan doing groceries and shopping for school supplies and clothes.

Big box of goodies arrived from my sister Sylvia in Sydney. Lots of nice stuff, including, of course, DVDs.

To me there has always been something pretentious about a person when he says something and follows it up with, "Having said that...".

Love is perfect only in fantasies. If you expect the same perfection in real life, you will end up a loner--unless that is what you actually want.

Good noon, Cubao!

In the morning, the sun shines on pathways that lead to the future. In the afternoon, it shines on pathways that lead to the past.

Always give your loved ones the benefit of the doubt, because that is a great part of unconditional love.

It is extremely painful to a child to be distrusted by his/her own parent. It wounds him/her for life.

It is just as painful to a parent to be distrusted by his/her own child. It wounds the parent, and, although the wound might eventually heal, it will leave a deep scar for life.

Into the second chapter of the new reprint of N or M? that my sister Sylvia gave me. I never grow tired of Agatha Christie. She is such a marvelous storyteller, a shining star that will never fade.

On Saturday evenings the city bears witness to a lot of romance. It is the weekend company of romantic partners that allows one to unwind from work, more than anything else.

After you have calmed your mind and your heart in darkness, you begin to see everything.

Every bedroom is a sanctuary. It is the physical interior of your mind and your heart.

Dinner at home with Aubrey. Angelique and J. are eating out.

Your body is your hardware. Your mind and your emotions are your software; they are easier to fix, correct, upgrade, or replace if necessary.

Your courier is YOUR FACE AND YOUR VOICE. If a recipient is unimpressed with your courier, he will also be unimpressed with you.

All couriers and messengers should be college or post-college graduates and should be given salaries befitting their degrees. You'll be surprised at how society will progress by leaps and bounds once this is so.

2:00 PM family mahjong session.

Using my sister Remi's red set.

Your friends are not necessarily your supporters, and your supporters are not necessarily your friends.

The sky is a crowded highway.

Good noon, Cubao!

Early lunch with Angelique and Aubrey.

Watched tonight's episode of My Haunted House on Lifetime. Both stories ("The Camp", 2010, and "Leviathan", 2008) involved murders in the past. Those "creepy" workmen in "The Camp" were somewhat interesting to me.

Afternoon meeting with K.L.D. I hope I was able to help her.

Feeling drowsy and I think I'll take a nap. Angelique is studying in the dining room.

Later, will commence reading the new edition of N or M? that my sister Sylvia gave me. 

Done reading The Dream Spheres. I think I'll give it to John's son, who is taking up a degree course in Animation, along with some art supplies I no longer want. Just need to get down to overhauling that art supply cabinet.

Lunch at home with Angelique.

Aubrey continues her freshman orientation at university.

Instead of wanting to keep on shopping, consider a long hiatus in which you shop for nothing and instead enjoy everything you already have.

Two cups very black, Italian blend.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun lord lies in his golden hammock, and the cloud waiters serve him coconut wine.

Dinner at home with Aubrey.

Angelique arrived later and I sat with her while she had dinner.

We need to buy two boxes of Pilot pens containing a dozen each--0.4 for Angelique and 0.3 for Aubrey. They get consumed in no time at all.

Aubrey back from orientation at university, Angelique at college, and I am back from jalan-jalan. Paid our electric and dental bills and, of course, went shopping.

But soon to be poorer by thousands, because Angelique needs to buy two more tomes for her studies.

Do people actually bury treasure, hide it too well for their own good, and intend to die without ever retrieving the treasure and enjoying it within their lifetime? 

Never wake up with problems on your mind. If you do, those problems become the keynote of your day. To dispel them, turn on the TV to an upbeat program, listen to soothing music, or contemplate a piece of art. This is why it is important to have some some original art, rather than junk, in your bedroom. 

Whenever I am watching _The Curse of Oak Island_ I ask myself: If millions of dollars' worth of modern equipment, technology, excavating, and diving today are unable to locate the alleged treasure troves of the Knights Templar, Captain Kidd, and whoever else, how on earth were the original treasure-hoarders able to hide their hoards that deep, with what tools, and with what motive--only to be unable to retrieve the treasure for later use? 

Do not wait and hope for better times. Live fully in the present time and make it the best time it can ever be.

Crime is an index of despair.

There is a sunken galleon beneath the sunken galleon. There is a grave beneath the grave. There is an ancient document beneath the ancient document.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is an activity whiteboard.

When exercising, concentrate on your body. Do not allow your mind to wander or focus on a problem unrelated to your exercising. Otherwise your physical effort will have no effect on your body--it will be like pouring coffee on the table instead of into the coffee cup.

The same is true of eating.

Can you think of other activities in which this is applicable?

Our greatest sin is making this world the worst place to live in for our children and grandchildren. That is why hell exists here and now, not in the afterlife.

Dinner at home with Aubrey. We gave some chocolate cake to the security guard on duty and to M.'s cafe staff.

One-hour business meeting with M.

Later, Angelique and J. arrived from college and had dinner at home.

It rained hard afterward.

I've observed that when students sign up to a mage for mentoring, they leave the mage after five years, believing that they already know everything they should ever know--and, in some cases, even believing that they know more than their mentor does--when the reality is that it takes a lifetime to learn everything from a single mage, and that the mage himself is in the complex and continuous process of discovery.

Gave away another bag of stuff to needy neighbors.

Two cups very black, Italian blend.

Be kind and generous to your own family a hundred times more than you are kind and generous to other people.

Among other things, it is part of your karma.

The sky is hung with plastic sacs of spare rain.

Everything she touches turns to dust, because the gods and goddesses have abandoned her.

The producers, director, and writer of _The Twins_ should have known that identical twins do not have the same fingerprints. That should have made them change their story line.

Tuned in to _The Twin_ on DIVA but went ahead and had a bedtime snack and did other things. I sit down to such shows only when the characters begin screaming and getting killed.

There are times when things get worse before they get much worse, especially when nobody really cares to do anything about them.

The July leaf falls off my planner.

Five more months to go in 2017.