Among my Russian Friends I have a Pavlov, a Chekov, a Romanov, and a Rasputin, but I have always been too timid to ask them whether they are descendants of their famous surnamesakes.

Back from jalan-jalan.

It may be cold at night and at dawn but it was most definitely sweltering hot at the center today.

Lunch at home alone. Angelique in college and Aubrey at university.

Going jalan-jalan in a while.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky fairies ascend and descend on cloud escalators. 

Had sizzling tuna sisig and an iced Pepsi at M.'s cafe.

Angelique arrived from college and dinner out.

Dinner at home alone.

Evening chores. Still hanging loose and doing nothing--before I decide to set up another canvas on an easel again, that is.

Aubrey arrived from university and dinner out.

The January leaf falls off my planner.

Read a few more ages from Herge's biography.

Two-hour, afternoon nap.

Back inside my captain's cabin bedroom. And now to take a nap. Hopefully a long one.

My sister Remi invited me to lunch at her place--her THIRD birthday celebration this week. I'd finished my painting and could now hang loose. My sister Alice and I came early, took lunch early, and left early. The lunch was really for my sister Remi's former high school classmates at St. Scholastica's anyway. I remember Babsie Paredes from when I was in grade school. I was eleven or 12 at the time and she was the first liberated woman I ever met, and to think that women's lib would get established in the Philippines only in the 70s. Remi said that I should also remember Cristy Matias, though I couldn't; I wonder now whether she is the sister of Al Matias. Baby Barredo was also invited, but I don't know whether she showed up or not after I left. She wouldn't have remembered me. Bibot Amador might have, had she still been alive.

_Guardian Angel_

Guardian Angel

Oil on cradled canvas

4’ x 4’

January 26 - 31, 2019

In the fourth hour after sunrise an angel leads a boy and a girl across a municipal bridge. They are leaving behind a squalid area of informal settlers on the right and are moving toward a place of lush Nature on the left.

This painting was designed to hang in the Library Director’s office at Maryhill School of Theology. A small, cardboard model of a pyramid will be hung on the right side of the painting to show how this painting was conceived, which was to view the flat surface of the painting as a three-dimensional pyramid from directly on top of it.

Imagine the painting cut into four quadrants, or isosceles triangles, then  constructing them together in the shape of a pyramid. The apex of the pyramid should be that tiny space between the angel’s left hand and the little girl’s head.

This is the auditory stimulus I used while making this painting. It became popular in the Philippines in 1964, when I was in seventh grade. My older sisters started taking me to their dance parties then. (Yes, I danced.) The lead drummer of this group passed away quite recently, so this is somewhat of a tribute to him:

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

Worked an hour on twenty-third glaze.

This painting is finished.

Selfie in a side mirror. In a vehicle from Zambales to Quezon City.

2015

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun uses silver shears to trim his cloud topiary.

Watched the nth replay of When Sparks Fly on DIVA again.

Tina invited me to the anting-anting lecture, but:

1) I recall that the last time I went to Batangas with her (Alitagtag), the trip was long and we got home so late at night.

2) Friday is the day my granddaughters have no classes, and I need to be with them.

3) I am wary of ALL academic lectures on anting-anting. Unless I am the one who gives it.

Wouldn't DENNIS Padilla have been better cast as Bato?

It is the person who is never seen who is always on everyone's mind.

Night classes

4:30 AM

Godog used to sell different varieties of barbecue on the street 6:00 - 7:00 PM, after which he always sold out and packed up. For the past two nights, though, I saw him packing up toward 11:00 PM. I crossed the street tonight and asked him why he's been keeping late hours. According to him business has been very slow.

Now in his early 40s, I wonder if he will be doing the same thing through his 50s and his 60s, and whether that ever crossed his mind.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Did my evening house chores, took a shower, and am back inside my captain's cabin bedroom--but it's only 9:30 PM!

Will probably just read or watch TV. I don't want to pick up my brushes and get paint all over my hands again. Come to think of it, it's been ten months already since I stopped wearing rings on my fingers. Will resume wearing them after I complete my 40-painting set, and so far I am working only on the sixth!

Dinner at home with Aubrey.

Worked an hour on twenty-second glaze.

Angelique and J. arrived home from college and dinner out.

Calling it a day for painting. Will resume tomorrow.

Hang a red, plastic fly swatter at or near your front door.

They will declare that a business operation is illegal if they themselves cannot benefit from it.

Envy is a form of deep resentment.

Whenever interesting people regularly congregate in a cafe, the cafe becomes a watering hole.

Worked an hour on twenty-first glaze.

Aubrey arrived from university.

Worked an hour on twentieth glaze.

Contradictions are truths that reflect duality in life.

When you say that you can't, it is the very reason why you won't.

Worked an hour on nineteenth glaze.

My sister Remi sent over some food from the Bible study session she is co-hosting at Liberty Ilagan's house.

Before I retired I often conveniently left our house behind and focused on my work. The house no longer existed during those times, only my work did. Today I am amazed at the number of things that happen around our house (or other people's houses in the neighborhood) at all hours in the day: the people who come and look around--unexpected visitors, delivery persons, electric and water meter readers, sales persons, strangers--accidents that happen in the street, items in need of repair not visible at night but visible in the day, the way the light from the sun affects everything at different times, and so on.

It was difficult for me to have lived in two worlds, the world of my employment and the world of my home. I imagine how much more difficult it must be for people have more than one house and more than one job.

It is a hundred times more heavenly to have a problem at work than to have a problem at home.

Worked an hour on eighteenth glaze.

Ordered a late lunch from M.'s cafe and had it delivered to the dining room.

Our neighbor across the street is now having a wrap-around balcony built outside his house. That already makes three of us with balconies looking out onto the street. Now all we need is an annual Mardi Gras to pass below.

I am a firm believer in turning on the air-conditioner in one's bedroom not only in the Philippine summer but also in the cold and in the rainy seasons. When it is 21 degrees or lower outside, set the air-conditioning to 23. It prevents you from getting sick due to unconstant and uncontrollable cold air. That is why I am dismayed when I walk into a hotel in a cold city and see that there is no air-conditioning and that the room's windows are merely open--and that, when I ask why there isn't any air-conditioning, the manager looks at me as though I were crazy and replies, "Because it's cold."

Air-conditioning is not meant to make a room cold. It is meant to regulate the temperature in your immediate environment.

One must sip the day slowly like coffee or wine, rather than take big, heavy drafts from it.

A quiet Wednesday.

Two cups very black, espresso blend.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sun takes leisurely strolls only on Earth's equator.

After I finish this painting I might take a short break and either reread another Judge Dee book or watch a Bruce Lee DVD.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Worked an hour on seventeenth glaze.

Calling it a day for painting. Will resume tomorrow.

Angelique arrived from college.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Worked an hour on sixteenth glaze.

Aubrey arrived from university.

Worked an hour on fifteenth glaze.

Worked an hour on fourteenth glaze.

Worked an hour on thirteenth glaze.

Lunch at home with Ben. Angelique in college and Aubrey at university.

Worked an hour on twelfth glaze.

Worked an hour on eleventh glaze.

Then Ben arrived to resume work on our roof.

Happy Birthday to my sister Remi!

Years ago I tried to Post this photo on facebook. They immediately sent me a pop-up that said that my Post was awaiting approval (or disapproval) and that they would get back to me.

They perceived it as a photo of a naked woman.

Photo from the Internet

2011

Cloak by Joe Salazar

Photo by Hedwig de Leon

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is hung with thousands of white umbrellas.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Worked an hour on tenth glaze.

Calling it a day for painting. Must wait for this glaze to dry completely. Will resume tomorrow.

Dinner at home with Angelique. Aubrey and R. ordered food from outside for their dinner and are taking that upstairs.

Worked an hour on ninth glaze. Angelique still studying in the dining room.

Condemnation is always an afterthought.

The last time I fell in love with someone was when I was 18 and in college. It seemed to be a waste of time, resources, and energy, and so I swore to never fall in love again. Now all of my time, resources, and energy are devoted to my family, my creative writing, and my art.  I feel that I am not only very prolific and productive, but that I am rich as well.

The problem after that was that, whenever I was friendly with others, expressed interest in them as characters, or wanted no more than transient flings with them, they seriously thought that I was in love with them and expected so much more from me.

When a plain woman falls in love with a handsome man and manages to entrap him into a relationship, she will do everything to make him unattractive to others. For starters, she will overfeed him until he becomes fat and lumpy, and possibly also so that he will die before she does.

Worked an hour on eighth glaze while Angelique was studying in the dining room.

Angelique arrived from college.

Worked an hour on seventh glaze.

When a child is sick, hug him/her for several minutes and use your heart chakra to pull out the negative energy from his/her body.

Worked an hour on sixth glaze.

Aubrey and R. have no classes today because it's the feast day of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Lunch at home alone. Aubrey waited for R. to arrive.

My sister Remi passed by and gave me a snack box of fresh cherries.

Worked an hour on fifth glaze in the studio area while Aubrey and R. had lunch in the dining room.

Two cups very black, espresso blend.

We're trying M.'s cafe's salmon head with soup for lunch.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a bush of yellow bachelor's buttons.

The biggest joke on History channel is The Curse of Oak Island. They keep replaying the early episodes ad nauseam AND THEN, just as things get really interesting, they stop showing any more episodes--as though the series had been completely cancelled. Months later, they do the same thing again. This might probably be because no one really found anything substantial on Oak Island after all. In the first place, how could all those ancients have buried treasure so cleverly and so deep down within the earth that today's million-dollar machinery and equipment can't even begin to retrieve?

The biggest joke on FOX is NCIS: New Orleans. They keep replaying the early episodes ad nauseam AND THEN, after that episode in which Pride gets shot in his own apartment, nothing else follows. Months later, they do the same thing again. Are they indirectly telling us to just purchase the complete DVD set?

I've tried ALL kinds of locally-manufactured water heaters and none of them are satisfactory. When I turn on the water, the temperature I selected does not remain constant--the water just gets hotter and hotter and hotter and hotter until I have no choice but to shut it off or mix it (and continue mixing it) with water from the cold water tap. MUST I order my water heater from Singapore, which is most probably actually from the UK? I wonder how many other modern pretensions this country has that are there for me to further discover.

If they did nothing for you in the past, do nothing for them in the present and in the future.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Bought ice cream at the neighborhood grocery store for dessert. Finally met Glenn Sevilla Mas, who was with female company. Should make it a point to see what wall space he still has in his unit for a prospective painting. I must say, the only member of the literati I had as a neighbor before was Pura Santillan-Castrence, and that was eons ago.

Worked an hour on fourth glaze.

Calling it a day for painting. Will resume tomorrow.

The flower man buzzed by and foisted two strands of white flowers on me. Placed them on the shivalingam and libated clean water on the stone lingam.

Worked an hour on third glaze.

If you play roller coaster with your car, no one will buy it from you when you decide to sell it because of all the wear and tear it's gone through.

As before, whenever I am painting no unscheduled visitors will be received. No one except my family members and my models are allowed to see my works in progress.

Worked an hour on second glaze.

Aubrey took a late lunch in the dining room while I was painting in the studio area.

Worked an hour on first glaze.

Worked an hour on third layer.

Lunch alone. Then Angelique and J. went to the neighborhood grocery store to buy food items for their lunch, actually a housekeeping activity they like doing.

Aubrey still resting in her room upstairs.

Sunday, Sunday.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sun is a baker's oven.

My authentic Medalyong Lihim Na San Benito, close-up/detail. Very few people know that the Saint Benedict Cross can be traced back to the Cross of the Order of Knights Templar, with four dots in the areas between the lines formed by the cross.

This is the back of the medallion.

For precaution against earthquakes, take four of the normal Saint Benedict medallions and keep them together.

One finger coffee-flavored gin + three fingers coffee wine.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Aubrey arrived from an afternoon out with her former high school classmates and dinner out.

Now locking up for the night.

It pays to have a variety of astral brooms that can sweep away negative energy.

Love is always best left undefined, for its concept, its practice, and its expression differ from person to person, and it is always tinged with another or other emotions at various times.

Worked an hour on second layer.

Calling it a day for painting. Will resume tomorrow.

Dinner at home. Angelique and J. ordered pizza and are having that upstairs.

Waiting for Aubrey to come home.

Worked an hour on first layer.

Worked an hour on construction lines.

Day 1 of this painting is today, January 26, 2019.

Finished priming the canvas.

Might commence drawing construction lines tonight or tomorrow morning.

Set up a new cradled canvas on an easel and started priming it.

After this painting is done and varnished I'll be ready to install all four paintings at Maryhill School of Theology.

Back from jalan-jalan and lunch out with my younger son Chito. I also bought him eye drops.

Good day, Cubao!

The sky is a park pond with duck-shaped paddleboats.

A tiny house harbors no ghosts.

Work as though you were always in the spotlight, but never crave actually being in the spotlight.

Watched The Titan Games on FOX, and now a U.S.A. vs. the World replay on AXN. 

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Nightfall.

It's me time. 

It is always pleasant to watch the evening news without arrogant broadcasters who throw their weight around.

I know what counterfeit money is, but what is a counterfeit cigarette? Isn't it a real cigarette after all, when stripped of its fake brand?

Now Angelique and J. are taking Keiko Kashigawa to the vet.

Vernissage: _Saint Louis_

Angelique and J. arrived from college.

Everybody home.

Done with this set of dramaturging. There is nothing to do tonight but finally relax, continue reading Herge's biography (a must for all TinTin fans), and perhaps pick up a TinTin comic book to read in bed.

90% of all live videos that you see on facebook are accidental, mere trials, or mistakes.

Started varnishing work on Saint Louis.

Aubrey and R. arrived from the PAPJA convention.

Bubble-wrapped Cor Inmaculata Mariae and set it aside for delivery, to be scheduled.

Varnishing Saint Louis next.

Lunch at home alone. Angelique in college and Aubrey and R. at a PAPJA convention.

Now I see that there is a Bianca Castafiore in the periphery of my everyday life. 

The 12 Labors of Heracles:

1. Slay the Nemean Lion: Stand up against imperialist forces.
2. Slay the Nine-headed Lernaean Hydra: Eradicate all drug syndicates.
3. Capture the Ceryneian Hind: Eradicate crimes in cyberspace.
4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar: Go after corrupt government officials.
5. Clean the Augean Stables: Clean the Philippine seas and the environment of refuse.
6. Slay the Stymphalian Birds: Vanquish all terrorists.
7. Capture the Cretan Bull: Revisit stereotype concepts of democracy.
8. Steal the Mares of Diomedes: Improve the erstwhile man-eating justice and police systems.
9. Obtain the Girdle of Hippolyta: Negotiate ingeniously for our rightful territory.
10. Obtain the Cattle of the Monster Geryon: Reacquire all ill-gotten wealth.
11. Steal the Apples of the Hesperides: Pave the way for prosperity via infrastructure.
12. Retrieve Cerberus: Redefine religiosity outside the context of traditionalism.

Before you decide to get rid of President Duterte, allow him to finish everything he began, because they are difficult tasks that no one before him even attempted to begin. They are, as a matter of fact, The Seven Labors of Heracles.

Otherwise the person who takes his place will be sorely powerless to take over those tasks. Everything will unravel like a knitted sweater, and you will find that this includes your life and the life of your children and grandchildren.

I like Adding to my Friends List only persons with whom I have NO Mutual Friends.

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

I write in silence, but I always paint to music.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun's fingers are spangled with golden rings.

https://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook18.blogspot.com/2019/01/dramaturgy-for-theatreworks-singapore_24.html

Blocking someone is a one-sided action with a twofold effect. When you Block someone he no longer exists for you; neither do you any longer exist for him.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

One thing I learned from my Air Force Reservists Training in 1977 and have never forgotten: Even when things go wrong and you think you've had more than enough, you just "take and take".

If I can do 12 paintings a year for three years, my 40-painting project for Maryhill School of Theology will be done in no time.

Then I can focus on playwriting again.

Angelique arrived from college and dinner out.

Aubrey and R. took their dinner upstairs.

Now sitting in the studio and mulling over the next painting I am planning to do very soon for Maryhill School of Theology--Painting #6.

https://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook18.blogspot.com/2019/01/dramaturgy-for-theatreworks-singapore.html

Aubrey and R. arrived from university.

_COR UNUM ET ANIMA UNA_

_COR UNUM ET ANIMA UNA_

Oil on cradled canvas

4’ x 4’

January 4 – 24, 2019

This is the Visayan portrayal of Mary for Maryhill School of Theology. Mary wears kimona and patadyong. In the background are different samples of woven, Visayan cloth, hablon and cotton patadyong fabric. The CICM slogan is in the foreground.

This painting ws designed to hang above the stairwell, directly over the steps, leading from the second floor to the third floor of the library. It is therefore visible only to people descending from the third floor to the second floor.

Worked an hour on sixty-first glaze.

This painting is finished.

Worked an hour on sixtieth glaze.

Your e-mail message:

"Dear Sir Tony,

"Good morning. Just want to share a dream i dreamt just now and read your thoughts about it.

"In my dream i was in the home of my co-worker (i haven’t been in his home, nor i haven’t seen his family). Then i went outside their door and saw a man-made lake. As per my co-worker it was 3ft deep. The wind was relaxing. Then the sceen changes, i was looking through the window seeing another co-worker playing archery outside. Then after his turn i took my turn in playing archery but still inside the house. I aimed at the target but i missed the (my arrow went way off the target, it hit the ground actually). Then i tried again and i hit the bull’s eye. Then i tried for the 3rd time, i hit the bull’s eye again, almost the same spot. But at this time all the people already have left the area, so they didn’t notice that i managed to hit the bull’s eye twice in a row until a co-worker (1st archer) took notice when he turned back. Then scene changed i was outside the house (it was now a rice field, the man-made lake was not around anymore but the area is still windy) and i will attempt to play archery again in a longer distance from the target, but since it was windy i decided to not to push through playing archery. 

"Thank you sir. Will wait for your post."


My reply:

Hello _____________!

The two co-workers in your dream are parts of your self. The first co-worker has a man-made lake that represents your emotions. You are being told to not be afraid of expressing your emotions. The lake is only three feet deep and you will not drown in it.

The second co-worker represents the ideal self, or the ideal co-worker, you always wanted to be but are afraid to be. You miss the target at first, but succeeding tries real how you excel in archery, whether or not there is anyone there to see it.

The last scene represents your good judgment. Do not aim when it is windy--in other words, exercise good timing at work and never let your pride overtake you.

Your Messenger message:

"Sir Tony, Magandang umaga... Gusto ko po sanang itanong ang ibig sabihin ng panaginip ko. Napanaginipan ko po ang isang higanteng ahas sobrang taas nya at laki pero namatay siya sa panaginip ko sa pagkasunog. Ano po kayang Ibig sabihin nun? Marami pong salamat po."

My reply:

Hello _______!

First of all, you sent me a dream fragment, not a dream narrative, and that is all I have to base an interpretation on.

In this fragment, the giant snake represents the dark side of yourself. It is probably long-withheld anger, mainly toward a parental figure. It is a wonderful dream, though, in that the giant snake does not attack or overwhelm you--it self-destructs. Indeed, the negative recollection of a parent can be destroyed by fire, only to rise again as a positive phoenix figure. The people we have been conditioned to hate, after all, are three-dimensional human beings who have transient emotions, transient dreams, and their own share of tragedies.

Lunch at home alone.

Worked an hour on fifty-ninth glaze.

Then an antique dealer arrived with two items.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a cathedral floor strewn with white roses.

"I will not fail."

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Done painting all sections with pieces of colored fabric.

Washed 28 brushes and two palette knives.

Will work on flesh tones tomorrow.

Now Aubrey arrived from university. We are having dinner later.

Angelique and J. arrived from college and dinner out.

Waiting for Aubrey to come home from university.

No pets allowed in Manila Zoo.

No human visitors allowed in prison?

Sheer beauty is boring, but character never is.

The most practical hobby is one that does not require the purchase of expensive materials and does not result in a lot of mess and debris.

Worked an hour on fifty-eighth glaze.

Two-hour, afternoon nap. Slept like a nine-year-old child and woke up like one.

Worked an hour on fifty-seventh glaze.

Lunch at home alone. Angelique in college and Aubrey at university.

Whenever I am dining alone I feel like that old man in the final scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey. But, no, I didn't drop anything, and, no, I didn't feel like I was in a zoo.

Worked an hour on fifty-sixth glaze.

Your Messenger message:

"Hello po Mr. Tony Perez, napanuod kopa ung video niyo online about gayuma. Gusto kopa sanang mgpatulong di ako sure if nagayuma or sinumpa ang boyfriend ko.
:(bukas din po mata ko. Nkita ko dami tale na nakapaligid sa aura niya diko matulol. "Okay naman po kami dati malamabing xa at mahal niyako ng bgla xang mg message skin and sinabi niya. "Dina daw xa babalik.Galit na galit xa sakin at ayaw na niya mkipg usap.Tulungan niyopo ako."

My reply:

I'm sorry, I'm not interested in such things. Please consult a psychologist of your own gender.

Worked an hour on fifty-fifth glaze.

Your loved ones and you will always be in heaven as long as that heaven exists in your mind and heart.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are marshmallows sprinkled with gold and silver dragees.

It is all right to dream even without achieving your dream. The act of dreaming itself enriches and elevates your spirit.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Calling it a day for painting. Will resume tomorrow.

Angelique and Aubrey are now wearing the Sydney-Opera-House charms that my sister Sylvia brought them from Australia.

Dinner at home with Aubrey. Then Angelique arrived from college. Ordered dinner for her from M.'s cafe.

Worked an hour on fifty-fourth glaze.

A fine drizzle with gusts of wind in Cubao.

Read a few more pages from Herge's biography.

Aubrey arrived from university.

Took a catnap until it was time for Ben to leave for the day.

I don't know what a midlife crisis is because I never had it. I suspect that it occurs only to married men.

Worked an hour on fifty-third glaze.

When my intellectual friends panic because they are going broke, they ask me for advice but never take it. Their idea of becoming rich is to write a best-selling novel, sell paintings in a gallery, be a much-in-demand lecturer, or produce a movie.

My advice to them always is to run a sari-sari store or a hardware store. The income from those is incredibly big. The sari-sari store, though, must look shabby and have cheap tarpaulins. As to the hardware store, it will look shabby without any effort at making it look shabby at all.

My friends never believe me, even if I tell them that some of the richest people in the city own meat and vegetable stalls in Farmers Wet Market and live in the biggest houses with everything made of stainless steel (not that I like seeing houses with everything made of stainless steel, but you get the idea). 

And ALL of the food hawkers in Sitio Catacutan are able to send their children and grandchildren through undergraduate and graduate schools.

Worked an hour on fifty-second glaze.

Lunch at home with Ben.

My sister Sylvia and brother-in-law Rey came to visit. Gave Sylvia the four pairs of rattlesnake eggs (actually ovoid lodestones) I ordered for her. She dropped off Sydney-Opera-House Pandora bracelet charms for Angelique and Aubrey.

Now my sisters Remi, Alice, Sylvia, and Rey are off to lunch. Couldn't join them because Ben is working on the roof.

Worked an hour on fifty-first glaze.

Ben reported for work again today. We bought two more gallons of paint for the roof.

Lory Paredes gave me cuttings from her Borneo creeper years before I retired. They languished in front of our house, possibly because of the traffic on P. Tuazon Boulevard, but flourished in front of my sister Alice's apartment. According to Lory the creeper is popularly known as "Yesterday, Today, And Tomorrow" because its flowers are red when they first appear, turn pink the second day, and then turn white the third day.

Just discovered that when a Friend deactivates he is still in your List, and the number of Friends you have remains the same.

Home alone. Angelique in college, Aubrey at university.

Nothing left to do at this time of the morning but buy food at the Sitio Catacutan hawkers' stands and have a big breakfast.

Two cups very black, espresso blend.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is hung with translucent, plastic raincoats.

I wonder how many people are actually buying those metal replicas of Catriona Gray's sunburst earring.

They look like cafe table bag hangers to me--and will probably end up being used as such.

It is what I leave behind, not what I am, that will always matter.

Cabernet sauvignon night

Skull and bones ice

Chocolate-covered elf popper

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

If you lower the age of criminality to nine, then nine should also be considered the legal age.

In Russia, the legal age is 16; a sixteen-year-old can walk into a bar and order a drink. In China, depending on the region, it is as low as 13.

Never vote for a candidate who writes great-sounding speeches but who never accomplished anything substantial in the past.

Worked an hour on fiftieth glaze.

Dinner at home with Aubrey. Then Angelique and J. arrived from university with their take-out dinner, which they took upstairs.

Power resides in a man's hair, moustache, and beard.

A compass is useful not only for indicating cardinal directions but also for indicating where the strongest energies are.

Globalization and technology go hand in hand in making innocent children knowledgeable about good and evil.

Worked an hour on forty-ninth glaze.

Worked an hour on forty-eighth glaze.

Aubrey arrived from university with textbooks I have to pay for.

Worked an hour on forty-seventh glaze.

Lunch at home alone. Angelique in college and Aubrey at university.

The sun glows through a ceiling of clouds like a ship's cove light.

Good day, Cubao!

Woke up 12:00 NN.

Been seeing parts of many replays of Daredevil on HBO for about two years now, but watched all of it tonight because there was nothing else on TV. Interesting. I do have the collectible, tin lunchbox. I think, I'll retrieve it from storage tomorrow and use it to contain an oracle set.

I do see how it is difficult for audiences to identify with a visually challenged superhero. Which is too bad, because I like Ben Affleck in the role and it seems that there won't be any sequels.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand. M.'s cafe's JayJay the waiter also went there. They made the mistake of buying a non-filling pizza for dinner, and now they are hungry again.

Videoke singers at M.'s cafe on a Sunday night.

Congratulations, Manny Pacquiao! I am a boxing fan, and no matter what others say about you I will always admire you for that and for that alone. I will never judge you for your political inclinations, for your religion, or for anything else. You have become a living legend to me, and I know that you will remain so after you have gone.

I have your action figure. I ordered it all the way from Singapore in 2016, and I will treasure it always.

I always tune in to the group praying of the Holy Rosary on TV right before the station signs off on Sunday night. The group prayer centers me, relaxes me, calms my mind and my heart, and lowers my blood pressure.

I note that almost everyone still recites the grammatically wrong line "Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven especially those who need most of Your mercy." I think that correcting the last phrase with "those who need most Your mercy" will always lead people to trip back into the erroneous line. To make the correction effective, the word "most" should go BEFORE the word "need". Thus, "those who most need Your mercy". Better still, so that those words don't get jumbled up again, "those IN most need OF Your mercy".

The pyramid of dependence should show that you depend on at least one person, that at least two persons depend on you, and that at least two persons depend on each of the persons who depend on you.

Diagram your pyramid and see whose names appear on them.

Dinner at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and R. We ordered food from M.'s cafe.

Tried the Pineapple Lumps for dessert. According to my sister Sylvia they could very well be a snack for Professor Slughorn, whose favorite confection was crystallized pineapples, and according to Aubrey Professor Slughorn was the mentor who taught young Tom Riddle about horcruxes. Yummy--nothing wicked has happened to us so far.

Took a shot of the candy bag here with my Voldemort wand, a gift years ago from my spiritual son.

This photo from the Net

Worked an hour on forty-sixth glaze.

My Complete _OH Cards_ Battery

These are the only components I want and need.

My Tan Doo Cards, a component of my OH Cards Set. (I have the original OH Cards [the foundation cards], Cope [for traumatized persons] Saga [using narrative in expressing life issues], and Ecco [cards with abstract patterns used to counsel persons who are resistant and who may feel threatened by concrete images].)

The Tan Doo cards are used to diagnose and heal wounded relationships between couples.

I use the set: 1) for clinical counseling, 2) for teaching creative writing, and 3) believe it or not, as Tarot cards.

I conduct this battery with individuals and in small groups. I consider programs conducted en-masse as shallow and ineffective.

The cards were designed for couples of all genders. I administer them with both spouses present. They, not I, choose the cards that best reflect their relationship. Sometimes it is advisable to include children in the session and ask them to choose cards that they think reflect their parents' relationship.

Complementary cards to the Tan Doo image cards. The couple (and, perhaps, other family members) are asked to choose the warning signs that exist in their current situation.

My Ecco cards--another component of my OH Cards set. The cards are comprised of abstract patterns and are administered to clients who have high levels of resistance and feel threatened by concrete images. One has to be a psychologist AND a visual artist, though, in order to fully understand and maximize the cards, aside from being able to interpret them accurately.

The cards are also useful in counseling bipolar persons and persons who are subject to schizophrenic fugues.

A skillful psychologist/artist will be able to access a client's issues by his choice of cards alone.

Browsed through a Web site selling Tarot cards and found this anomalous inclusion of Personita, a subset from the OH Cards. Bought it immediately to include in my collection.

Personita is used in counseling emotionally and mentally disturbed youth. It has two decks: a portrait deck depicting various, ambiguous, facial expressions, and a shadow deck comprised of stick figures, used for especially resistant subjects.

So far I have the OH base deck, Cope, Saga, Tan Doo, Ecco (cards with abstract art), and now Personita (this deck, though, is a Chinese reprint, but I am able to use it even without the manual).

My youngest sister Sylvia sent me the original Personita from Sydney as well. Persona (for adults) and Personita for children are essentially used to determine a subject's self image and social image.

Mythos is comprised of archetypal, fairy and mythical tale cards. The subject is asked to select cards and put them together to create a story of his own.

I now need a TRUNK to contain my OH Cards set. Hoping that an antique dealer brings me one.

More Goodies From Australia

Sunday, January 20

My youngest sister Sylvia brought these all the way from Sydney. My OH Cards battery is now COMPLETE! Can even more effectively help suicidals, except that most of them are reluctant to approach me because I incorporate techniques from magic and psychism.

Skull and bones ice tray, more dragon's blood soap, and a set of canape toppers.

According to my sister Sylvia Professor Slughorn's favorite candy might just be Pineapple Lumps, since he was fond of crystallzied pineapples.

Your e-mail message:

"Good day sir Tony!

"I hope this message reaches you well po . 

"I just had a dream po na I was in a flight but before the flight left my mother left the plane . The flight was starting when i boarded and i was forced to seat at the front besides the pilot,but then i forgot what it is about but people were grumbling about something and then the flight started. When the plane went up for a few feet it hit an arch(that looks like an arch near my workplace).  The  plane bounced strongly for a few times and my thought is I want to share it and I should have brought a videocamera with me. It finally stopped near a pizza restaurant's backyard. 

"Biglang nag ring then yung telephone sa phone and its my workmate calling about a client . I then answered the call and made funny faces that made the people on the plane laugh. I was unable to help the client ( I work as a callcenter agent in cubao and maybe it is somehow related). Then the plane somehow started falling apart and we had to escape . In my cabin were books and i somehow saved a book about magic then I escaped.When I was escaping the plane somehow was filled with cats and I cannot just jump upon an open window. I had to go through a flooded part of the plane while I saw a woman choosing to die with her cat becauase it drowned. I saw a giant black turkey statue floating towards me then I woke up. it is a very colorful dream and the best one that I had in months and I hope that you can analyze the dream sir. Thank yoou.

"Regards,
_____________"

My reply:

Hello ______!

The airplane is your current career and the direction it is taking. Your psyche is the pilot, your ego--the dream self in this dream--the co-pilot.

Based on this dream, it seems that you enjoy the company of your co-worers but that your job itself gives you little satisfaction. It is even possible that your mother disapproves of your job. Either that or she is unable to be proud of you. As reflected in your dream, your career is fraught with things that go wrong: the plane bounces, hits an arch, is filled with cats (they are symbols of hostile srangers and could very well be your clients), and is eventually flooded. The woman who drowns with her cat is an image that cautions you to avoid establishing relationships with your clients other than a businesslike one. Finally, the black turkey signifies either that you are being made a fool of or that you too often sacrifice yourself so that others may have a good time.

Reassess your talents and abilities. There may be a better job out tbere that can showcase your true potentials.