Those who have less tend to gravitate toward those who have more.

Those have more tend to gravitate toward those who have the most.

And, sometimes, those who have the most tend to isolate themselves from everyone else.

The British, the Americans, and the Australians laugh at the Filipino term "ocular inspection". Indeed, there is really no such thing as an "ocular inspection". One should merely say "visit", "inspection", "initial inspection", or "look-see". After all, no one inspects anything with one's eyes closed.

Send more flowers to the living than to the dead.

Last jalan-jalan for the month of June. Before going home I stopped at the Cubao Leaky Cauldron and lingered, as though challenging the rain to come on.

When you sit down and center yourself, relax and persist. During the first few minutes you will be haunted and beset by various concerns. Do not push them away. They will eventually settle on their own, and there will be the sunrise of peace in your heart.

The flame never goes to the moth. It is the moth that goes to the flame.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Our antique, one-meter-tall, porcelain Kwan Yin looks over my studio taboret.

Before you write and before you paint, find and locate your stillness, for creation takes place only within it.

A true artist never loses momentum.

Allow progress to challenge tradition.

The sky is a gigantic trapeze net.

Good day, Cubao!

Slept eleven hours last night. Woke up briefly after sunrise then drifted off to sleep again, as though the air were heavily charged with a powerful soporific. This has been happening to me many times in my life, no matter how much sleep I'd had the nights before. The first time I noticed it was when I was in high school. My only explanation is that I am urgently needed elsewhere and that I am brought there via the astral plane.

Wanting to check into a hotel for three days in late July to view the complete Nightmare on Elm Street DVD series that my sister Sylvia sent me from Australia. I wouldn't mind seeing young Johnny Depp again.

It would also be a good, brief respite from painting.

Protracted family dinner, 7:30 - 9:30 PM. Aubrey had beef with broccoli from M.'s cafe, Angelique hot dogs and bacon fried by J., and J. and R. sisig from M.'s cafe.

R. left for home while I was having a business meeting with M. in my writing area, J. while I was inside M.'s cafe toward midnight.

Both J. and R. are laid-back and softspoken young men, and there is nothing of me or their father, Chito, in them. They don't have my fiery temperament or Chito's unique laughter, sense of humor, or world-class singing voice. Between J. and R., though, R. has Chito's complexion and build. There are also moments when he moves like Chito.

Read a few more pages from Picasso: Creator and Destroyer in M.'s cafe, then had sisig and a root beer.

The foyer clock played "Fur Elise" exactly at midnight, after I came back home.

https://mailchi.mp/singnet/theatreworks-writers-lab-presents-a-line-up-of-programmes-just-for-you?e=a5730cc758

Wet day in Cubao.

No-cooking, graduate student's breakfast: big cup of noodle soup, two buns with purple yam filling, a piece of salt bread, and two cups very black, Moccona espresso.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky fairies build glass bridges between clouds.

Crunchy, well-done sisig served with raw egg, mayonnaise dressing, and lots of chili is once again available at M.'s cafe.

4:44 PM. Rain.

https://www.facebook.com/tHEATREwORKS.Sg/photos/a.1453739244873264.1073741828.1453395404907648/2137194609861054/?type=3&theater

Wearing Pour Homme by Lomani of Paris.

In the Philippines, when a mobile has been bought the capacity to send messages and go on the Net, we say that it has "load".

In Singapore, they say that it has "cash".

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a polished, brass incense burner.

The cloud dwarves are playing nine pins over the Cubao Catskills. Those claps of lightning and thunder are strikes. I wonder who is ahead of the game.

And now, a gentle rainfall.

Reunion of relatives in honor of my cousin Freddie at my sister Remi's

Two cups very black, Moccona espresso.

Good day, Cubao!

The sun is a portfolio of manuscripts.

11:40 PM. Everybody home.

Two more paintings need to be framed in black lacquer--Red Vendor's Spot and Gray Outpost--but I'll take care of that in mid-July.

Angelique and J. having dinner out and then watching a movie. Aubrey, R., and I had dinner at M.'s cafe. Aubrey had barbecue-flavored buffalo wings, R. had buttered chicken, and I had dory fillet. Aubrey had a chocolate shake, and we all had iced tea. I learned, too late, that root beer is already available. Might dip in later tonight and have one. 

Brown Pick-up Point

Oil on linen
7" x 5"
May 6 - 9, 2018

Framed in black lacquer

One of my models celebrated his birthday four days ago. I should take him out to lunch. Will commence the painting he modeled for second week of July.

Your Messenger message:

"Good day po! Pede po ako magtanong para sa kaibigan ko po ito. Kasi ung father po niya ay may sanib daw po na tikbalang... pero ang gusto lang po raw ng tikbalang ay ung anting anting.

"Natatakot po sila kasi maputi buhok tapos ag nahapon po ay naitim

"Tapos naglagay po ng malunggay sa ilalim para maalis ang anting anting... 'daanan' daw po kasi ung bahay nila... tapos bigla daw pong namamaho ang bahay...

"Wala pong sakiy si tatay niya.. na stroke lang po ng 8 times..."


My reply:

Hello ____!

Were this not my painting year I would probably go out of my way to help your friend. My current passion, however, is, albeit temporarily, outside the realm of paranormal psychology.

The best advice I can give is for your friend to consult an albularyo, preferably one who lives in his neighborhood.

And the patient, of course, should receive medical attention as appropriate.

Back from jalan-jalan. Bought a terracotta lantern for the studio entrance.

Aubrey and R. arrived while Angelique, J., and I were away.

Afternoon rain.

Picked up Brown Pick-up Point at the framer's.

Had an early lunch.

Angelique and J. watching a movie later, Aubrey coming home from a sleepover.

Going jalan-jalan today--a guilt-free jalan-jalan because all of my painting obligations for Night Walker are done.

Night Walker: Studies In Multiple Perspective

In sequence

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun bleaches the dark hearts of the wicked.

Sat in the dining room with Angelique, who took a late night dinner.

Actually there is a direct correlation between technology and schizophrenia. The former deludes users to believe that life can be perfect and that they therefore should expect it to be so, the latter is a result of dejection due to the realization that life is, and will always be, as imperfect as it can be.

Walked through the Sitio Catacutan hawkers' alley after the drizzle, in the semi-darkness, to buy additional rice and more of John's fabulous, grilled pork chops. The cicadas were singing at full volume, a truly enchanted sound, almost as though cicadas were extraterrestrials that would eventually take over the world. The place, after all, is the setting of my 1990s play Isang Pangyayari Sa Planas Site.

Then went to the laundry to pick up Angelique's comforter, bed sheet, and pillowcases.

It is not the rain that punishes you. It is the devils' traffic.

If only Fine Arts majors have the right to paint, then only Political Science majors have the right to engage in politics.

In moments of urgency, the mind cooperates, and you temporarily become six times more intelligent than you normally are. 

Sometimes items you stowed away cry out to be exposed once again.

He who is surrounded with antiques is protected from the most dangers and disasters.

The most potent, indigenous, love magic is from Thailand.

The most potent, indigenous, offensive magic is from Indonesia.

You cannot un-traumatize an individual in a group setting. You will only manage conducting tired group dynamics, senseless calisthenics, and art projects that will end up in the trash can.

Making sketches and studies for my next painting for an institution, but I'm not ordering the canvas until the middle of July.

Your Messenger message:

"dear Sir tony,

"I have been working so hard via visualization to manifest my new job for a couple of months. then I went for a reading regarding my future. it started with the psychic asking me if I had a new job? she saw immediately that job I was constantly visualizing and it seemed so real that she ask me about it, I said no since it has not manifested. then she continued by predicting that I am gonna have a better paying job that I would really love and enjoy with in two months. 2 months past by and nothing happened. I am just wondering what happened to my efforts? I seems that materializing my dreams is harder than I thought. If a wise magician such as yourself maybe kind enough to advise me."

My reply:

Hello ______!

1. The psychic read your fantasy, not your reality.

2. Never go to a psychic, especially one whose gifts are limited, to 'read your fortune'. There is no such thing. You MAKE your own fortune, not ask other people to see what is there.

3. Visualization conditions your predisposition, but NOT everything else in your environment and in other people's visualizations, all of which could be the complete opposite of yours.

3. Sometimes, when you want something very badly and you do not get it, you have to accept that it was not meant for you--or that you were not meant for it. Trust the wisdom of your spirit guides. They often see that what you desire will be most harmful to you, and that you are so much better off where you already are.

4. When magic does not work, resort to common sense.

Benguet coffee and a bottle of haute couture cookies (actually molded, washed-sugar "cubes" meant to be dropped in your coffee) by Cafe in the Ruins from Christine Bellen.

Now I have Ifugao and Kalinga coffee (from my son Chito) and Benguet coffee (from Christine).

Your Messenger message:

"Hello po, may nakapagsabi po sakin that you can interpret dreams? I have dreamed that my husband got shot at the back then he becomes my daughter in one snap loosing her breath in my arms. Natatakot po ako hanggang ngayon, sana iba ang ibig sabihin nun. thank you po"


My reply:

Hello--my reading of this dream fragment is that you may have been remiss in certain obligations toward your husband and daughter, and your psyche is urging you to make it up to them.

A beautiful, sunny day in Cubao!

11:30 PM. A lot of stranded employees are still eating, drinking, and being merry in M.'s cafe. Ordered a tapsilog but had it served through the secret passage. I prefer eating at the dining table tonight.

Refilled the paraffin oil lamps on the altar table.

I continue to admire this man, U., to this very day. This photo was taken years before he passed away. When he did, he came and visited me in my room. He told me about his friend V., a painter, whose works I also admired. He said that he would be my spirit guide and help me with my painting.

Now V. has also passed away. I don't paint like him, of course, I paint like myself. But, always, when I am painting, I feel U.'s presence. He tells me what to paint and what not to paint, and what is wrong and what is right about my painting.

Cozy, rainy-evening dinner at home with Angelique and J.

Aubrey is sleeping over at a classmate's. I hope she is safe, dry, and warm.

M.'s cafe is full. Of stranded employees, I wonder?

As long as there is devils' traffic we will never know the blessings of rain.

Evening rain.

Sketches I made of June De Vera when we were classmates in art class

And now, glowering skies above Cubao.

Wearing Charlie Blue by Revlon of London.

Washed my brushes.

June De Vera, do you want all of my round brushes? I never use them. Despite everything the experts say, they are the kind of brushes that Van Gogh used to create bold, heavy strokes on impasto.

Read a few more pages from Picasso: Creator and Destroyer. The chapters are long and the narrative is detailed. Am rereading it slowly. The first time around, decades ago, I merely plodded through it.

Retouched Gray Outpost because my spirit guide kept whispering in my ear that it wasn't done.

Lunch alone, then sat with Angelique after she woke up and had lunch.

Now that I've finished Night Walker: Studies In Multiple Perspective for my high school class I can rest and wear jewelry again. Today I am wearing three antique cross pendants.

Will resume painting after I come back from Singapore.

There is nothing left to do for now but sleep, read, and watch TV.

The sun says goodbye to life's shadows.

Good morning, Cubao!

Whenever I wake up in the morning, I love rolling over and going right back to sleep.

Worked an hour on nineteenth glaze on the painting anyway.

The tenth and last piece in my electronic exhibit Night Walker: Studies In Multiple Perspective is now finished.

Gray Outpost
Oil on paper mounted on wood
24" x 20"
June 14 - 20, 2018

Worked an hour on eighteenth glaze on the painting.

Almost done, but calling it a day for painting.

Dinner at home with Aubrey. She had beef with broccoli from M.'s cafe.

Light rain over Cubao.

Worked an hour on seventeenth glaze on the painting.

Then had forty winks.

Worked an hour on sixteenth glaze on the painting.

Worked an hour on fifteenth glaze on the painting.

Worked an hour on fourteenth glaze on the painting.

Worked an hour on thirteenth glaze on the painting.

Hoping to do a lot of painting today, but my mission of the day is to go to T.'s Net cafe and have some documents printed out. 

Two cups very black, Moccona espresso.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a smile from a school bus window.

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.

Worked an hour on twelfth glaze on the painting.

Go environmental and segregate your trash but, equally importantly, be considerate of the people who pick up your trash:

--Compress your garbage rather than have them loose in separate bags.
--Do not place your garbage in paper sacks that get wet, tear open, and spill your garbage.
--Do not throw away single items in the trash. Place them in a bag and wait until the bag is full.

--Tie the open ends of your garbage bags securely.
--Break your barbecue sticks into small pieces.
--Secure razor blades, needles, and sharp objects between stiff cardboard and seal them with tape.
--Be kind to scavengers by separating items that can still be used or repurposed from the carcasses of rats, the refuse of animals, or rotting food.
--Imagine your own children collecting your garbage. How can you make their job easy and pleasant?

Remember: Human beings pick up your trash. Your trash does not walk off and self-destruct on its own.

http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook18.blogspot.com/2018/06/dramaturgy-fro-theatreworks-malavika-by.html

It's bright and sunny in Cubao!

Good day, Cubao!

The sun is a tablecloth of fine ecru.

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.

"Tough times don't last, but tough people do."

--Akbar Gbajabiamila

There are certain gifts by which you are remembered well forever.

The older I get, the more I prefer dubbed dialogue to subtitles. Having to read subtitles prevents me from taking in the images on the screen.

Will resume painting tomorrow. Serafina was quite naughty tonight. She tipped my saucer of linseed oil and knocked my aluminum ruler on the floor. I think she wants to do some painting too.

Had a hot, winter melon milk in my TinTin mug. Aubrey had a hot chocolate in our Starbucks winter fox mug. I like both, but am partial to hot chocolate as of now.

Facebook no longer offers Friendship Anniversaries for Sharing. I suspect that many people have been using it to express favoritism toward some Friends more than to others.

Aside from traditional hot chocolate, M.'s cafe now offers winter melon milk (hot and cold), milk latte (hot and cold), and milk tea (hot and cold). I'm going there in a few through the secret passage, with my favorite TinTin mug. I think I'll try the hot winter melon milk tonight.

Monday, June 18, 2018. My sister Sylvia and brother-in-law Rey arrived unannounced from Sydney. They are staying in Las Pinas; two other sisters Remi and Alice went there to have lunch today; due to devils' traffic they were back home 8:00 PM.

A bottle of sirop de Cassis--Hercule Poirot, move over!

Two more additional decks of cards for my OH set. Tan Doo is used for counseling married couples; Ecco is comprised of abstract patterns and is best used with highly resistant counselees who can feel threatened by concrete images.

I'm going to need an entire suitcase for my OH set very soon.

Dragon's blood kit

Four crystal skull shot glasses for my lambanog

A very unexpected Bruce Lee T-shirt

Worked an hour on eleventh glaze on the painting.

Worked an hour on tenth glaze on the painting.

Worked an hour on ninth glaze on the painting.

Two cups very black, Moccona espresso kick off my day.

Slept very well and ready to begin a week of more painting.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a slice of winter melon.

Watched the final episode of Genius: Picasso on National Geographic. I like the way it ended, with a series of quick flashbacks from his entire life, followed by his deathbed scene, and then the unveiling of Guernica in Spain. It was, however, quite protracted. I would have omitted that fantasy, family reunion scene in which all of Picasso's women and offspring get together for lunch on the lawn. I found it to be a cheap, Jungian ploy that didn't quite  go with the overall, Freudian treatment of the series.

Worked an hour on eighth glaze on the painting.

Worked an hour on seventh glaze on the painting.

Worked an hour on sixth glaze on the painting.

A Happy Father's Day to all fathers and children who cannot afford to have cameras, who are unable to keep photos and memorabilia of their happy times and their histories, who have very little in their social media accounts, and who need to work rather than to celebrate. May God bless you with other good things and a lot more, and may you have the most loving families in this world. You are the people in my plays, my novels, and my paintings, and I wish you the granting of everything your hearts desire. 

My son Chito's Father's Day snapshot. He looks great in this one.

Photo of my dad, on or about the time he was still courting my mom.

A person's heaven includes everyone he loves, everything he likes, everywhere he wants to be, everything he wants to see, and having his own way with no one arguing or disagreeing with him.

There are as many heavens, therefore, as there are people.

Walking into my studio first thing in the morning and sitting in front of a painting awaiting completion always ensures that my day will be a day of joy.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are white chocolate candy bars.

For the past few nights M. has been pressing his hot chocolate on me. I decided to try it tonight. Went through the secret passage (it is too inconvenient at this time of night and in this kind of weather to go out into the driveway, on the street, and into the cafe) and brought my favorite TinTin mug, then brought the order into our kitchen.

Not bad at all. Dipped chocolate chip cookies in the hot chocolate and also had a fresh, golden mango. It brought me back to the rainy afternoons in Lazi Convent, in Siquijor, where Boyet, JR, and I were served traditional tsokolate, suman, and fresh mango, a snack that remains unforgettable to me.

Angelique and J. back from groceries, dinner out, and The Incredibles.

http://www.chineseamericanfamily.com/dragon-boat-festival/?mc_cid=4bdf9004e1&mc_eid=b29e5b905b

Worked an hour on fifth glaze on the painting.

Dinner at home with Aubrey and R.

Your life is a cycle if, after sleeping well last night, you note that you also slept well exactly a year ago.

When you write a De Profundis letter, everyone will know that you are in Reading Gaol.

Did a quick errand at the center and immediately came back home. Avoided shopping; the skies were gloomy and when all of the lights went on it felt to me like it was 8:00 PM.

My usual jalan-jalan and shopping time is 2:00 PM. All other times aside from that I desire to be nowhere else but home.

Now Angelique and J. are off to do groceries, have dinner out, and watch The Incredibles.

Worked an hour on fourth glaze on the painting.

Aubrey and R. arrived from the university area, then J. arrived to pick up Angelique.

Everybody home.

"Beyond the mountains, there are more mountains."

--Chinese proverb

A person achieves maturity when he finally accepts that his wildest fantasy cannot ever become reality.

Lunch at home with Angelique. J. and she are soon watching _The Incredibles_ and doing groceries.

Aubrey arriving from her sleepover.

Truth exists both in the widest ocean and in the smallest fish bowl, but not everyone sees it.

Poverty will never be eradicated as long as the rich continue thinking like the poor and the poor continue thinking like the rich.

Two cups very black, Moccona espresso.

The sun is a studio photographer's white, light box.

Good day, Cubao!

I just woke up. Slept eleven hours last night, and now feeling prepared to do a lot of painting!

I phased out all of my credit cards at the age of 60. Ever since then I have always had a lot of cash on hand and have always been able to buy more things than I could than when I had credit cards.

It is also quite strange that, today, I am never impressed by people who buy things on credit. I somehow see them as living beyond their means.

M.'s cafe was crowded tonight, but then again it's a Friday night and a lot of people are drinking beer to unwind.

This weekend promises to be a full one for me. I need to accomplish as much as I can on my tenth and last painting for Night Walker: Studies in Multiple Perspective and I hope to dramaturge five plays that just came in from TheatreWorks Singapore.

I have no time for anything else and for anyone else (except, of course, for my family).

A flag cannot unfurl in the sky without the wind.

Angelique and J. are planning to watch the new _The Incredibles_. They reminded me this evening that, when the first _The Incredibles_ was shown, Angelique was but eight years old.

Dinner at M.'s cafe with Angelique and J. Angelique had sizzling pork, J., beef broccoli, and I., dory fillet. They each had a chocolate shake and I, an iced tea.

We cannot evolve without death, yet the objective of evolution is always life.

Loving the way M. operates his cafe. He has a day job and one of his servers goes to school in the daytime, and so the cafe opens only when they are here, pretty much like the antique shop in my novel Cubao Ilalim: Unang Aklat--sometimes it is there and sometimes it isn't.

The day sped by. When I put down my brushes and looked outside, the sun had set. I had to turn on the lamps.

The cafe is open tonight. Angelique, J., and I plan to have a late dinner there.

Worked an hour on third glaze on the painting.

Angelique and J. are having a late lunch. They were planning to do groceries but it's raining cats, dogs, frogs, and lizards, and they changed their mind.

I love the rain but I don't like the way it ruins our shoes. And I don't like the idea of having cheap shoes and wearing those in the rain.

Worked an hour on second glaze on the painting.

Worked an hour on first glaze on the painting.

Happy Eid Ul Fitr to my Islamic friends!

Singaporean playwrights: I instructed all of you to resubmit your manuscripts and highlight your changes, additions, and revisions in a distinct color. If there are no highlighted passages I will assume that no changes were made, and I will not bother to reread your manuscripts.

Still reading Picasso: Creator and Destroyer. Amazing how many people fell desperately in love with him and how their love somehow destroyed them rather than him.

When someone falls desperately in love with a successful artist, the artist must immediately ask himself, "Is this person in love with me for my art, my reputation, my body, my passion, or my money?" For no one really falls in love with a successful artist first and foremost as a human being.

Immaturity is a weapon that never hurts others, because it hurts only the self.

Another beautiful day in Cubao--and it's another painting day in my painting year.

I'm enjoying my painting year so much that I might extend it another year!

Congratulations to my younger son Chito Miranda on his latest achievement in his job! 

It is hilarious and pathetic when desperate people deliberately bump into the sides of moving vehicles and pretend that they got seriously hurt. What they are really after, of course, is to get paid money.

When someone does that to you:

--Stop the car.
--Tell the "victim" to stay in the position he was in when he fell.
--Take a lot of photographs.
--Call the barangay officials.
--Call the police.
--Call your lawyer.
--Call a clinical psychologist.
--Do NOT pay the "victim" anything. Let him be the loser in his own melodrama.

Your passwords are your magical shields. If they are impotent, change them.

Good noon, Cubao!

Just woke up. Slept eleven hours last night. Had wonderful dreams, and I feel refreshed.

The werewolf had a late night snack at M.'s cafe.

Angelique and J. went to their favorite restaurant in San Juan for dinner. I ate alone in the dining room, then brought Aubrey and R. to the cafe for barbecue-flavored buffalo wings, hot and spicy buffalo wings, rice, and iced tea.

A brief downpour. Will go back to the cafe later to fill two bottles with their polvoron and their chocolate chip cookies.

Worked an hour on second layer on the painting.

The sun is out but, like a stage spotlight, it is gelled with white sheets of clouds. The early morning chill has gone. It is way past noon, and the humidity from the damp earth drenches everyone's clothing with sweat.

I am back from the framer's. There are three tiny pieces in Night Walker: Studies In Multiple Perspective that must be framed, and I pick up one of them before the sky turns upside down with afternoon rain. Oliver helps me take it home.

This is Violet Waiting Shed framed. It took the frame-maker long because it is in glossy, black lacquer, the kind that is used on the glass frames of Japanese dolls.

Weeded out some calling cards from my Rolodex--mostly people I associated with only in connection with my job, before I retired--all of them people I no longer remember and, I am sure, people who no longer remember me.

Worked an hour on first layer on the painting.

Commenced construction lines on the tenth, and last, canvas for Night Walker: Studies In Multiple Perspective.

A beautiful morning in Cubao. 

Two cups very black, Moccona espresso.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is spangled with silver sequins.

Just when I am about to shut down to take a shower, a Friend from Ostrogozhsk decides he wants to Chat with me.

When a stranger reaches out to you in Messenger out of the blue, they are actually reaching out to your Cover Photo.

Dinner at home with Angelique. Aubrey and J. ordered their food from outside and took their dinner upstairs. My younger son Chito arrived to give me a small, plastic sack of Ifugao coffee. I packed him a nice meal for his night shift, where he takes dinner at 3:00 AM. Was also able to share a lot of food with M.'s cafe staff.

The Ifugao coffee filled six glass bottles of assorted sizes for shelf storage. I love Ifugao and Kalinga coffee. They are, to me, the best in the world!

Never offer your psychic services to the public. It's "Tubero" mentality.

You shouldn't cry over spilt milk, but you could cry over spilt ink when it stains everything.

Whenever it's the rainy season I feel ten times blessed to have retired. I recall that the sky tricksters would always  make it rain at the wrong times: when I was leaving the house for work and when I was leaving the office to get home. I'd gotten stranded, gotten jostled in crowded vehicles, been unable to get rides, walked in waist-high floods, and known the misery of being caught in the rain when all I wanted was to be safe and warm and dry. There was, moreover, a lot of ill will out there; the devils were not only in the traffic, they were also generally everywhere else.

Today I stay home during downpours, light the incandescent lamps, relax, and enjoy a cup or two of coffee. Sometimes I just hang out in the studio lounge with a special friend. I watch the rain from the windows and I no longer see it as an enemy. And, of course, there is the option of walking to the center in a trench coat and under an umbrella, having an espresso in one of the coffee shops, wallowing in the scent of brewed, ground coffee beans, cinnamon, and lemon, and afterward bringing home boxes of pastries that my granddaughters like.

I love my Filipino Chinese friends. When they speak Tagalog, they speak in proper Tagalog, maybe because they learned the language in translation.

Where my Filipino Malay friends say "Me pan-display ako para diyan", my Filipino Chinese friends say "Sadyang may lalagyan ako para riyan". And other examples ad nauseam to you.

Washed brushes and palette knives. I could now very well begin construction lines on my tenth and last painting for _Night Walker: Studies In Multiple Perspective_, but I think I'll just take either forty winks or a long nap.

This is the saint they named me after, and I hope to paint a portrait of him someday for Maryhill School of Theology.

Today is his feast day.

White Beer Stop
Oil on cradled canvas
36" x 48"
May 12 - June 13, 2018

Nine times out of ten, a person who believes it is not glamorous to bring an umbrella, was raised on cheap umbrellas since childhood.

Tony Perez's Facebook Corollaries:

1) When a Friend asks you a question online, you are not obliged to answer. He will attempt to make you feel guilty in the name of courtesy, but pay him no mind and remember these: a) You are online mainly for yourself and not for others, and b) No one can tell you what to do.

2) Do not reply to a question if the answer can be Google-searched. It prevents others from being lazy.

3) Do not allow others to impose their values on you.

4) Everything you post is forever everywhere in cyberspace, as surely as a soul is forever everywhere.

Another wet day in Cubao, but I'm not complaining. While the sun is not only permanent but also eternal in this lifetime, the rain is not. I love sitting at the window of my captain's cabin bedroom, watching people under their colorful umbrellas, each umbrella a statement by the person holding it. The raindrops on the grilles are brilliants stranded in fine necklaces. Every hour is a new beginning. It is bliss to sip a cup of black coffee with a scented candle lit like a miniature memory of sunshine against the backdrop of the rain. The breeze comes in to embrace me, bearing ideas for hundreds of plays and novels it is urging me to write, but I can only file them away in my mind for now. 

Two cups very black, Moccona espresso.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is layered with white gelatin.

An early dinner with Aubrey and R. Now Angelique and J. are having a late dinner.

Everybody home.

One more glaze and this painting is done. Still, I need to wait for everything to dry completely. And when the sun comes out, I'll wait a day for the moisture to dissipate from the air before laying on varnish.

Worked an hour on thirty-second glaze on the painting.

Worked an hour on thirty-first glaze on the painting.

Two cups very black, Moccona espresso.

Your Messenger message:

"Good day, sir Tony. I apologize if I’m disturbing you from anything important but I’m asking for help in dealing with someone who wishes me ill will. This person has abused me and hurt me in so many ways already and he still has not even genuinely apologized for it. I tried to wish him happiness and hope that he finds self-realization so he can change for the better but nothing has changed. He still verbally abuses me and defames me. Right now, I’m just waiting for the karmic effect on him.
" I’m just wondering if there’s anything I can do so the negative energy won’t affect mo so much because it has been overwhelming to deal with. I have read about performing rituals to cleanse myself and rid of negative energy. And also starting with burning sage to clear areas where I’ve spent isolating myself while in a bad place. Is there anything I can do to allow peace to enter my life right now? Thank you and Blessed be!"

My reply:

Hello ___________!

I do not spoon-feed people. They have to work hard, discover the appropriate solutions, and do everything on their own. Read my cyberspace books 99 Panibagong Kulam (http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook27.blogspot.com/2015/09/blog-post.html) , 143 Gayuma (http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook1.blogspot.com/), and Tony Perez's Magic for Squares 1 (http://tonyperezphilippinescyberspacebook11.blogspot.com/). Everything you need to know is there.

Tony Perez's Facebook Corollaries:

1) Whenever you Post something on your Wall or Comment on a Post on someone else's Wall, assume that it will be seen not only by the person you meant it for but also by everyone you did not mean it for.

2) Weed out paranoiacs and the bipolar from your Friends List.

3) Reread negative Posts and Comments and see whether they are not actual cries for help.

4) Allow former co-workers and associates to discover that you are not the person you used to be. It shakes them by their shoulders and makes them realize that they are still the persons you knew them to be.

Tony Perez's Facebook Corollaries:

1) Friends whom you have little in common with are precious. They will tend to be more sincere.

2) Your facebook account is your electronic diary, and no one else has the right to judge or condemn it.

3) Never use your Posts to fish for compliments and praises. All you will get is prolific bullshit.

4) When extending messages to the bereaved, avoid phrases like "Condolences", "Heartfelt sympathies", "Prayers", "Love and light", and the like. They are trite and overused and can even come across as horrific catchwords. Be original. Feelings are original, because they are always unique to your self.

Tony Perez's Facebook Corollaries:

1) When a Friend rants and raves online about politics, stop and ask yourself: "What is this person trying to make me do and why can he not do it himself?".

2) It is impossible to stalk a person who is someone online and then someone else offline. What you see is not what you get.

3) Always analyze the types of Friends who gravitate toward you. They either perceive you as a giver or a receiver.

4) A Friend who envies you so much will always desist from reacting to and Commenting on your Posts.

Tony Perez's Facebook Corollaries:

1) Brag online to annoy your enemies. It really ruins their day. Ensure, however, that you do have something to brag about.

2) Do not flirt with others on your Wall, on other people's Walls, or in Messenger. It is a sign of deep loneliness.

3) You cannot electronically prevent a suicidal Friend from hurting himself. You have to be physically with each other.

4) Never Post photos of food on your Wall. It is a slap in the face to those who are hungry.