Rain in Cubao.

A drinking party has sequestered M.'s cafe again. They'll be carousing through 3:00 AM as usual. The neighborhood Elfin Mound is alive on a Friday night.

Worked an hour on tenth glaze.

Calling it a day for painting. I need to enjoy what's left of the night.

Never presume that a person who was romantically interested in you years ago is still romantically interested in you the next time you meet him.

A rise in prices leads to a rise in drug addiction, for stupid people turn to drugs as a way of escape from everyday probems, debts, and responsibiities.

The August leaf falls off my planner.

Worked an hour on ninth glaze.

Worked an hour on eighth glaze.

Worked an hour on seventh glaze.

Worked an hour on sixth glaze.

Worked an hour on fifth glaze.

The worst readers of all are those who tell writers how to write.

Lunch at home with Aubrey. Angelique still sleeping in her bedroom because she is in night shift mode.

Rain over Cubao.

The right teacher comes your way but once. Then he moves on to another place and another person.

The sun rains fire on thieves.

Good day, Cubao!

Slept nine hours last night.

More Treasured Gifts From My Spiritual Son

This is my painting year (March 31, 2018 - March 31, 2019), I know. I'm just posting photos of two medallions that my spiritual son gave me. He gave me permission to post them tonight.

This is a Haring Bakal medallion (the center crucifix only). It is a medallion from Italy, the kind that you can buy at stores that sell religious items, but its original owner subjected it to "testingan" on a Good Friday (a traditional activity); the bullet hit the medallion but simply bounced off it. Whether this is true or not I have no idea--I wasn't there--but the original owner cherished it so much that he had it set in a quadrant of four different kinds of Philippine wood with brass inlay.

Back of medallion, with a crude depiction of the Holy Trinity

An original Tomas Nazaire (also known as Tommy and as Mang Tomas, deceased) of Cavite. He produced less than a hundred pieces in his entire lifetime. The front depicts the Holy Trinity. Many Philippine talismans make use of Catholic imagery.

The back of the medallion depicts the coronation of the Blessed Virgin. Philippine talismans typically have a masculine side and a feminine side for "balance".

Aubrey and R. came home after a successful Chemistry lab test at university and dinner out. Angelique and J. are having their dinner upstairs.

Everybody home.

Tony Perez's Art of War: All potential allies are potential enemies, so be careful when choosing them.

All potential enemies are potential allies, so do not get rid of them too quickly.

Take all necessary precautions to keep yourself safe, for this world will never be the same again.

Our successes foment envy in others, that is why we are never in heaven.

I am delighted whenever TV is full of replays and there is nothing worth watching. It means that I have all the time in the world to work on my painting.

Worked an hour on fourth glaze. Fourth glaze is done.

All four glazes were on the entire painting as a whole.

Succeeding glazes will be done only in sections.

Happy Birthday, Rose Sabijon Rara!

Your birthday messages:

1) Learn to be happy in solitude.
2) Do not announce your secrets to everyone.
3) What you earn, enjoy without guilt.
4) Practice restraint.
5) Never go beyond the edge of reality.

A rise in prices will always lead to a rise in crimes.

Tony Perez's Art of War: While your enemies are speaking ill of you, quietly complete your next three masterpieces.

Angelique and J. are home from Gateway.

A small goblet of sirop de cassis.

A brief, fine drizzle in Cubao.

Worked an hour on fourth glaze. 

Angelique and J. off to go shopping at Gateway.

Reread another story from Miss Marple's Final Cases. Still no knitting.

Worked an hour on fourth glaze.

"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it."

--Oscar Wilde

Worked an hour on fourth glaze.

Lunch at home with Angelique. Aubrey at university.

Two cups very black, Moccona espresso.

Strange. I reread the fourth story in Miss Marple's Final Cases last night, and in all four stories she hasn't done or even mentioned any knitting.

The clouds are bolts of fine canvas.

Good morning, Cubao!

Slept nine hours last night. I should probably combine my painting stances with yoga.

Worked an hour on third glaze.

Third glaze is done. Will commence fourth glaze tomorrow.

Time to relax in bed with Miss Marple's Final Cases. Deliberating whether it should also be my lambanog night.

Angelique arrived from college, then Aubrey and R. arrived from university.

We all had separate dinner times.

Worked an hour on third glaze.

Worked an hour on third glaze.

Painted in the studio area while Angelique took her lunch in the dining room.

Worked an hour on third glaze.

Two cups very black, Moccona espresso.

Good morning, Cubao!

Always look for the cursor on the blue screen of the sky.

I tip food servers for their service and especially when they go out of their way to be presentable and friendly. For them, it's like being onstage and on their feet in a play that lasts at least eight hours. 

Calling it a day for painting, but only because I need the current glazes to be at least semi-dry. The weather is cooperating. When the rains come again, I know that I will be painting more slowly than usual.

Selected Miss Marple's Final Cases to begin rereading in bed tonight, but I hope I don't get inspired to launch into a knitting project once again. I have to finish this huge painting first.

I am able to retreat into my captain's cabin bedroom and relax only when the grandchildren are home. (Even if they are already young adults they are still my babies.)

Aubrey and R. arrived from university and dinner out. They are now studying for their Chemistry class.

Angelique and J. arrived from studying in a coffee shop and dinner out.

Everybody home.

Getting used to painting on various levels of the scaffolding. I slipped and fell only once--kept my grip on the topmost rung but dropped my palette and skinned my knee--and I swore that that would never happen again.

Worked an hour on third glaze.

Angelique, J., and Kichiro Mayuzumi came back from the vet, then Angelique and J. went to a coffee shop to study and afterward have dinner out. Spent thousands on Kichiro Mayuzumi's medication, but how could I not, seeing that he is treated like a baby and cosseted by Angelique, Aubrey, J., and perhaps also by R., though I've never seen R. interacting with him. Kichiro Mayuzumi even has his own facebook account.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Know that the most aggressive enemies usually have the weakest defenses.

The sea will always vomit your garbage on the lap of the earth.

There is truth in many superstitions, that is why they persist through the ages.

It is what you can do alone, not in a group, that determines your true worth in society.

Chevy might grow up to be a painter too.

Worked an hour on second glaze.

Now Angelique and J. are taking Kichiro Mayuzumi to the vet.

Third and fourth cups of very black, Moccona espresso.

It was either that or a small goblet of sirop de cassis.

Never be swayed by the biases of your associates and friends, for, after all, you do have a mind of your own.

Worked an hour on second glaze.

Painted in the studio area while Angelique was taking her lunch in the dining room.

Finished rereading Funerals Are Fatal last night. Still a good read, but, since I am 67, am now critical about details. This time around the mirror-image issue was not convincing, considering how obsessive-compulsive the criminal was (as are all criminals created by Agatha Christie); the wax flowers issue was too contrived; and the nuns could have been done away with.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are tabletops laden with porcelain figurines.

In bed once again with Agatha Christie.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand. He brought a double cheeseburger with ketchup and hot sauce home and ate it with some sliced, white onion.

This werewolf can conceive of burgers without french fries, but he cannot conceive of burgers without white onion slices.

A brief, business meeting with M.

Worked an hour on second glaze.

Rereading pages from my favorite Agatha Christie novels is like eating a confection from a fancy box of chocolates.

"You cannot give to people what they are incapable of receiving."

--Agatha Christie, in Funerals Are Fatal

Worked an hour on second glaze.

Alkaline water delivery.

Worked an hour on second glaze.

Worked an hour on second glaze.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Ordered grilled pork belly from a new hawker who set up a stall in Sitio Catacutan's hawkers alley. She sells fresh vegetables and has lots of wonderful stuff, including big squid, which she grills on the spot. I usually buy red and white onion from her to take with the hamburger from the hamburger stand.

The hawker promised to send the grilled pork to my house. I told her neither my name nor my address. She not only arrived on her sleek motorbike later with the grilled pork and home-made sauce but she also called my name.

I am not as anonymous as I thought in our neighborhood.

Tony Perez's Art of War: The greatest devastation an enemy can ever experience is the realization that you were right and that he was wrong all along.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a gigantic, hard drive.

Walked over to M.'s cafe and tried their crispy danguetsilog with root beer. Nice.

I abstain from magic, the paranormal, and psychic activities for long periods of time because, when I finally come back to them, I am able to engage in them with abilities greater by a hundredfold.

Everybody home.

Planning to just loll in bed and reread more pages from Funerals Are Fatal after my evening shower.

A birthday lunch followed by a series of chores today. Wasn't able to do as much painting as I wanted to.

Staying home the whole day tomorrow and hoping to make up for lost time.

Dinner at home with Angelique and J. Aubrey and R. had dinner out before coming home.

Worked an hour on first glaze.

Your e-mail message:

"Manong, may napanaginipan ako:

"I was in a small cave. Isa/dalawang tao lang ang kasya. The sides and ceiling are dirt/earth. Some roots protrude from the ceiling. Ceiling is only about ordinary room height. The ceiling was now becoming concrete and bricks. Then there was a gap in the ceiling from where finely cut diamonds fell. Mga isang balde ang dami. Tapos nasundan ng mga jolen. May malaki na halo sa maliliit. It's the tailend of the dream. First part I couldn't recall.

"T.y."

My reply:

Hello _______!

The cave represents the narrow enclosure you perceive yourself to be in at this time in your life. The roots are signs of growth and progress--whatever there is, however, is above ground, so that you can neither see nor touch it. That the ceiling of the cave becomes concrete and bricks means that whatever is above ground has become even more inaccessible to you.

You need to search for the metaphorical gap in the metaphorical ceiling, from which the diamonds fall. It is your only salvation. Glass marbles will fall along with the diamonds, meaning that you need to be able to tell the difference between values and between the real and the fake.

No one but yourself can help you. And certainly not I, for this is my painting year, during which I am abstaining from all things magical, paranormal, and psychic.

Please respect my painting year and try to interpret your own dreams.

Ask three times. When it is not given, do not ask again.

Worked an hour on first glaze.

Angelique and J. are back from watching a movie in a Platinum theater.

Worked an hour on first glaze.

There are men and women who are liberated but who are not free, for being liberated and being free are two different conditions.

To be liberated is to think, speak, and act individually against all odds and despite the contrary opinions and judgments of the people around you.

To be free is to succeed in having the people around you see things from your individual point of view, and even in having them actually concur with you.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is an eternal birthday candle.

A huge drinking party has sequestered M.'s cafe for the rest of the night.

Now in bed continuing my reread of _Funerals Are Fatal_.

Saturday, August 25, 2018: The Festival Of Hungry Ghosts In Cubao, Quezon City

Treasured Gifts From My Spiritual Son

Saturday, August 25, 2018. My spiritual son visits and gives me a work he commissioned 13 Lucky Monkey to present me as a belated birthday gift: a crafted, copper-alloy Zippo lighter case with my portrait on it as half-man and half-wolf.

The work in progress

The work in progress

The artist borrowed images from my painting titled _The Midnight Lecture_.

I love it--it looks very masculine and very ancient!

Now I have two, cherished gifts from my spiritual son: the lighter case and a silver ring with my portrait on it that he gave me two years ago. The artist worked my rings into my hair.

Dragon's blood cone incense from L.

Today was a no-painting day. Rose at 10:00 AM and bought food for lunch, then Jim picked me up to go to Elline's house for the annual anointing of The Wands.

Bought a ceiling bulb and nylon twine at Ace Hardware. Walked home.

Made arrangements for dinner.

Now waiting for F. and M., two former students, to arrive. I'm buying them sisig at M.'s cafe.

Tomorrow might be a no-painting day too. If Ben arrives we will commence clearing and rearranging the roof deck--something I'd been wanting to do for some time now.

Most unexpected gifts from Elline: a crystal humidor a la Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, perfect for my writing table, an antique, catch-all bowl, and a pink, pressed-glass candy dish for the credence table.

Ironically, it was her birthday, not mine.

Back home from the annual anointing of The Wands. This year it was held at the B. residence.

Brought some of my magical, manifestation  crystals and gave them away to some members. This is my painting year (March 31, 2018 - March 31, 2019) and I am abstaining from all magical, paranormal, and psychic activities the entire year (except this one).

I have never believed in diplomatic immunity.

No one in this world is immune against anything.

He cut down everyone he disliked, not knowing that all of them were actually his solid supporters.

Never launch into a romantic relationship with a person if you will only launch into a romantic relationship with his financial, health, psychological, and other personal problems.

No one is really worth that much.

The rice situation is both a blatant form of protest and a subtle form of revolt, all of it designed to generate massive discontent.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are fat, white backpacks stuffed with goodies.

Worked an hour on first glaze.

Done painting for today.

Can't paint a whole lot tomorrow, though, for the annual oiling of The Wands.

Dinner at home with Aubrey. Angelique went to J.'s birthday party after her last class.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi Sir Tony! May ikukunsulta po sana ako. Nasa ____________ ako ngayon for 2 mos.research. Yung boarding house ko po nasa basement ng isang bahay. Ako lang po mag isa hanggang sept.__ kasi umalis na yung ____________ housemate ko. Pakiramdam ko po may 'kasama' ako. Lalaki, teenager. May instance na sabi ng landlady ko na naiwanan ko pong bukas ang mga ilaw sa hallway at banyo. Pero alam ko po na nagdouble check ako bago umalis kaya alam kong sarado sila. Kagabi past midnight, nawitness ko pong bumukas ang ilaw sa hallway mag isa.

"Alam ko hindi naman hostile. Pero sana wala ng gawing iba. May maaadvise po kaya kayo sa akin para lang mag coexist kami sa bahay? Salamat po."


My reply:

Hello __________!

It is the Month of Hungry Ghosts everywhere. Just leave a glass of water and a plate of cookies on your kitchen, breakfast, or dining table and address the entity aloud, each time you do that indicating that they are for him to consume. Introduce yourself and tell the entity things about yourself, as you would to any friendly foreigner.

Also, each time you take a meal, invite him to join you and partake of the food.

Know that anger and hatred do not propel your magic. Otherwise your most detested enemy would have dropped dead long ago.

Anger and hatred, on the contrary, darken your own aura and weaken your own energy. These emotions, therefore, are actually directed toward no one but yourself.

An expensive instrument will not play beautiful music on it own. The person holding it must have extraordinarily superb talent to begin with.

Worked an hour on first glaze.

Worked an hour on first glaze.

Two cups very black, Moccona espresso.

Angelique and Aubrey take a late lunch on this lazy Friday afternoon.

Worked an hour on first glaze.

Worked an hour on fourth layer of paint. Fourth layer is now done.

The painting is ready to receive glazing, but will wait a bit for a portion of the last layer to go semi-dry.

July 2018

The dragon tree sends me a note to welcome me home.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is an artist's glass palette.

Dinner alone, then Aubrey and R. took a late dinner while I worked an hour on fourth layer. Angelique still studying at a coffee shop.

Would have painted more today and would have finished fourth layer if I hadn't spent three hours at CIBO and two Korean grocery stores.

Hoping to finish fourth layer tomorrow.

Yes, The Sacred Rianna's performance was abruptly cut and a series of commercials went on. Personally, I believe that THAT WAS PART OF THE ACT.

Back from a merienda meeting at CIBO with C.G., who is into healing and shamanism and goes regularly to Moscow and Siberia. She gave me a Russian chocolate bar. I hope to give her some of the shamanic stuff I've been neglecting the next time we meet.

Afterward bought two small packs and one big pack of Sam Yang for Aubrey, a pack of a different brand of hot noodles, and two big packs of shrimp siomai for Angelique.

Home after dark.

Never flatter yourself by believing that ghosts follow you home, especially if human beings don't even bother to.

Worked an hour on fourth layer of paint.

Lunch at home with Angelique. Aubrey at university.

The perfect match for everyone is someone who matches his own intellect, sophistication, and educational background. Otherwise everything is headed for disaster.

True freedom is not regretting anything you have ever thought and said and done--and that you enjoyed every minute of it.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sun is a cote of golden doves.

Tomorrow I am mixing a beloved color that I haven't used for some time.

Worked an hour on third layer of paint. Third layer is done.

Will commence fourth layer of paint tomorrow.

Took a warm shower and finished off with a cool shower to shake off the unusually prolonged effect of the lambanog. It was clinging to my head and torso like an octopus.

Worked an hour on third layer of paint.

A two-finger measure of lambanog and a one-hour, afternoon nap.

Home alone. Angelique off to college.

Worked an hour on third layer of paint.

Lunch at home with Angelique. Aubrey at university.

Then worked an hour on third layer of paint.

When the earth is thirsty, the sky gives it drink. When the sea is hungry, the earth feeds it.

Unbeknownst to many members of an art community (or any community, for that matter), the community is like an intricate lace handkerchief that keeps itself together. If you pull one of the threads, the lace will tighten somewhere. If you cut one of the threads, the lace will come loose somewhere.

Cool breezes in Cubao. When I woke up this morning I looked out on the trees and the sky, and I marveled at how Nature takes care of herself without the need for dusting and sweeping and disposing of trash, whereas, for us human beings, we have to place three meals on our dining table and keep house. Our day does not take care of itself--we just have to make it so.

When you are dishonest with others, you are dishonest with yourself. When you are dishonest with yourself, you are walking down a dark and narrow cul de sac. It will take forever to retrace your steps and find the direction you were walking in before taking a wrong turn.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is draped with white, Chantilly lace.

Very few vacations will be planned due to rising prices.

Wasn't it only yesterday that it was January and I was planning projected works in sequence for my painting year?

Rejoice on your own merits and not because you are under the protective wing of an influential person. Otherwise, when that person goes, he will leave you high and dry.

Where there are too many laws, there will be too many criminals.

The past is a place you can reminisce but never really revisit.

I've been working on my huge painting for ten days now. After the underpainting, construction lines, and two layers of paint my granddaughters (actually Aubrey) finally figured out what the painting is all about. I never tell Angelique, Aubrey, J., and R.--the only persons who are ever allowed to see my works in progress--what I am painting and wait for them to figure out what it is. It's my self-test to determine whether my visual imagery is clear to non-painters.

Cozy dinner with Angelique and Aubrey. It was raining outside.

Worked an hour on second layer of paint while Aubrey was cooking in the kitchen. Her mobile was playing multiple versions of "La vie en rose".

Second layer of paint is done. Commenced third layer, but I'm calling it a day for painting and will resume tomorrow. 

Worked an hour on second layer of paint.

Your Messenger message:

"hi sir, what does it mean when someone who died exactly a month ago appears on your dream saying that he's going to take you with him and will be wearing the same white dress as he does?

"Good pm sir!"

My reply:

Hello ___!

Do not take your dream literally. It merely reflects two of your defense mechanisms at play:

--Identification: In your mind, you put yourself in the deceased person's place and mulled over his final moments, unfinished business, previous relationships, and the wasted life left behind.

--Reaction Formation: You subconsciously wish that YOU could take HIM with you (not the other way around) in your everyday life, because you feel that his death was premature.

Worked an hour on second layer of paint.

Back from jalan-jalan. Groceries. Hied to the center after lunch because it's a holiday and there would have been long, really long, lines at the cashier by 3:00 PM. Made it! There was almost no one in the supermarket.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are marble staircases to outer space.

Worked an hour on second layer of paint.

Worked an hour on second layer of paint.

Worked an hour on second layer of paint.

Worked an hour on second layer of paint.

Paused very briefly when a delivery arrived.

Gloomy skies over Cubao.

Lunch at home with Angelique. Aubrey at university.

It was one of those mornings in which, upon waking from a good night's sleep, you closed your eyes again, felt etherized, and saw yourself floating to the brink of unconsciousness once more, as though the very air in the city were charged with a subtle but powerful soporific.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are vineyards of white grapes.

Calling it a day for painting. Second layer will take longer, as I see it.

Dinner at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Then worked an hour on second layer of paint.

Worked an hour on second layer of paint.

One-hour, afternoon nap.

Worked an hour on second layer of paint.

Worked an hour on second layer of paint.

The great thing about painting on a huge canvas is that I can skip my morning workout, what with having to climb up and down the scaffolding several times.

The clouds are draped with a trillion meters of ecru cotton fabric.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a fire-orange, velveteen teddy bear.

Worked an hour on first layer of paint.

First layer of paint is done. Calling it a day for painting, though. Working on a 9' x 4.583' canvas is very physical.

Worked an hour on first layer of paint.

Worked an hour on first layer of paint.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey. Angelique shopping for her toiletries and snack food later. Aubrey studying in the dining room.

Your Messenger message:

"Hi sir, I had a dream last night in full color that my teeth were falling off. In my dream all of my molars were gone and my front teeth were starting to fall off one by one. During my dream there was no indication of pain and I felt peace though when I woke up I started to panic for my great grandmother used to tell me that falling teeth means death. Hope you can help me ou"


My reply:

Hello ____________!

Losing teeth in a dream is not a portent of death. It is an indication of loss of power or potency. You recently underwent an experience in which you were not in control of a situation, and, subconsciously, this led to your self-doubt.

Possible triggers for this dream are:

--Being overruled in your workplace
--Discovering the infidelity of a partner
--Suddenly being short of funds
--Feeling inadequate under the present circumstances

Two cups very black, Moccona espresso.

Good noon, Cubao!

The clouds are glass tureens filled with white sapphires.

There's carousing in M.'s cafe on a cozy Friday night. The cafe is the neighborhood's Elfin Mound. Thought of dropping in but changed my mind and decided to stay in bed and read.

Today is Chinese Valentine's Day. Known as the Qixi Festival and Qiqiao Festival, it celebrates the mythological, annual rendezvous of the cowherd and the weaver girl. It is celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month on the Chinese calendar.

Happy Chinese Valentine's Day, my Friends! Light a candle and three joss sticks at your altar so that your one, true love will find you.

The most ridiculous scenes in 20th-century movies and on TV are when a character is about to sit down to a meal, some minor distraction occurs (a phone call, a visitor, or such), and the character leaves the meal to attend to whatever it is he or she is made to attend to by the writer and the director.

In real life, one finishes one's meal and does not allow anything or anyone to ruin it.

Grandparenthood by remote

Second and third cups very black, Moccona espresso.

A hot, sweltering day like yesterday, meaning that it might rain tonight as it did last night.

Back from jalan-jalan with my younger son Chito. Bought him lunch, a new raincoat suit to wear on his motorcycle, a set of gray, black, and navy blue socks, a badminton set that Chevy needs for school, and doughnuts for Chevy and Vinci. Bought myself three sets of socks as well. (My new socks have op-art patterns.)

Don't feel much like painting today unless I pick up interest later tonight, but it's just as well because I need portions of the first layer I've been working on to dry.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

The sun is a golden pergola on top of a hill.

Good day, Cubao!

Slept ten hours last night.

Worked an hour on first layer of paint.

Now Angelique and J. are off to their favorite coffee shop to study.

Worked an hour on first layer of paint.

Worked an hour on first layer of paint.

Lunch at home with Angelique.

Worked an hour on first layer of paint.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is the maraschino cherry on top of a tall sundae.

Watched the Ancient Aliens episode on Leonardo da Vinci's paintings, on History. Interesting.

In devils' traffic, devils possess you.

Worked an hour refining foreground construction lines.

The canvas is ready to receive its first layer of paint, but I think I'll do that tomorrow.

Worked an hour on background construction lines.

Background construction lines are finished.

Worked an hour on background construction lines.

Do not read discrimination in everything around you, otherwise the discrimination is most probably nowhere else but within your self.

Worked an hour on background construction lines.

Lunch at home with Angelique.

A quiet day. Hoping to finish background construction lines today, but it's quite tedious to keep adjusting the scaffolding.

Dropped my laundry in the washing machine, then worked an hour on background construction lines.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are islands interconnected with astral ziplines.

This noon's lunch with former co-workers.

Everybody home except J.

Worked an hour on background construction lines.

Breezy day. Aubrey at university. Angelique off to college this evening.

Placed Angelique's lunch on the table, and am now off to meet my former co-workers at the center.

Wearing Elizabeth Taylor's Passion for Men.

No painting work for the most part of the day. Meeting former co-workers for lunch at the center.

Wake up from the nightmare of the lashing rain. Whenever the sun comes out, all nightmares become mere shadows.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is a friendly visitor waiting outside the front door.

Something is terribly wrong with Carousell's delivery system.

Last year we ordered a Pandora bracelet and they sent us, instead, a bead--a bead that was supposed to go to someone in the Visayas.

Last week we ordered an expensive Pandora bead, and we never received the bead because it was delivered to someone else.

Either their couriers do not know how to read properly or some deliberate switching is being made.

Worked an hour on construction lines. The main figure is done. Will commence the background construction lines tomorrow.

Dinner at home with Angelique, Aubrey, and R. We ordered sizzling sisig and honey lemon buffalo wings from the cafe.

On extra chilly days and nights we light candles inside our firebox, actually a portable fireplace, in non-air-conditioned areas of the house such as the two foyers and the studio. It can also be placed under the dining table and at the foot of the bed in any bedroom. We traveled with this firebox in all of our previous trips to the Cordilleras.

The firebox can accommodate 28 tea lights or six bottled candles, and not all of them have to be lit at one go.

Afternoon tea with JRM, and then with June.

Worked an hour on construction lines.

Came back from jalan-jalan.

Then worked an hour on construction lines.

Lunch at home with Angelique and Aubrey.

Now thinking of either going jalan-jalan to buy something I need or continuing work on construction lines for another hour.

June arriving 4:30 PM to pick up the round brushes I promised him.

Worked an hour on construction lines.

Worked an hour on construction lines.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are rabbles of white butterflies.

Worked an hour on construction lines.

Dinner with Angelique, Aubrey, and J.

Aubrey and J. now washing and boiling the crabs. I kept away and went to the studio area. I can't bear the thought of having to watch the crabs die.

Angelique and J. are back from the funeral wake and funeral in Bulacan. They brought home live crabs for dinner.

Worked another hour on underpainting.

Three-hour, deep tissue massage with ventosa.

Now my masseur arrived. Must pause from underpainting and have a long, hard, post-flu, deep tissue massage.

Worked an hour on underpainting, and only a third of the huge canvas is done.

So glad to have gotten over the flu and am ready, once again, to work on a painting.

Finally got all three, big sheets of bubble-wrap off the canvas. Used our old stepladder for now. Our ceilings are ten feet high and the widest canvas available is 4.583 feet. A sturdy dining table and chair can serve me well (I used a library table and a library chair at Maryhill School of Theology), but I do prefer to have proper scaffolding, and I now have an idea of just what kind I need.

Now all is quiet on P. Tuazon Boulevard, as though time suddenly stopped.

Set up the ladder in front of the huge canvas. Must get all those bubble-wrap sheets off.

Lunch at home with Aubrey. Angelique and J. left early this morning to attend the last-day wake of Daling's husband in Bulacan.

Having drunk its fill, the earth will speak.

Two cups very black, Moccona espresso.

Woke up to what looked like a fresh, new day outside my captain's cabin bedroom window, but I know that thousands of people are still hurting from the floods.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are foamy waterfalls on a rocky sky.

M. sent over a free serving of carbonara from the cafe. The cafe is full of customers.

In bed again with Agatha Christie.

In the Philippines you can't just snuggle under your blanket and "enjoy a good storm" because you know that people are perishing outside. Tropical housing is always exposed to the elements. 

Actually, the best national ID should be your passport.

Two shots lambanog. This day was quite stressful.

A night like the first night of Typhoon Ondoy.

Tuned to the local news. So many people are asking to be rescued, especially people with children. This is one of those nights in which I wish I were Batman.

Sent food over to M.'s cafe staff. We lost Morgan because his father needs him for their vegetable business. Arby and Rose are unperturbed by the rains and the floods because they live on Planas Site and just walk home after work.

Hungry Ghosts Month begins.

Dinner at home with Aubrey.

Angelique and J. arrived safely and without incident.

Everybody home except for R., who is at his family's apartment in the university belt area.

The rain is as vast as all the oceans and clouds combined.

Fever broke last night but am still coughing. Considering myself well enough to do underpainting tomorrow, though.

Angelique and J. are having dinner in one of their favorite restaurants in San Juan. They insisted on going even in this weather.

Aubrey and I went to D.'s store under umbrellas to buy some stuff.

M.'s cafe is open. I might mosey over there via the secret passage later tonight.

When Nature makes us suffer, we grieve because it is over and top of the suffering that our fellow human beings cause us. 

It's only 6:30 PM in Cubao and it feels like 8:30 PM already.

http://www.chineseamericanfamily.com/hungry-ghost-festival/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hungry-ghost&mc_cid=5f2d3a0c36&mc_eid=b29e5b905b

One hundred tea lights for Hungry Ghosts Month, the first night of which is tonight, an albeit rainy night.

Also bought a lantern for the small loggia and a coffee-scented candle for Aubrey.

Even in the rain.

Back home from jalan-jalan. Was at the center at the height of the whipping rain. 

Horribly wet day in Cubao and I have to go jalan-jalan at that.

The clouds are shelves of magical potions.

Jimboy is jumping out of his skin to do work on the roof deck but I still really don't feel well enough.

Whenever I check out my statistics on Blogger it shows me a list of countries and the number of page views I received from each.

There was a strange, additional, entry today. It said "Unknown Region" and showed up 21 page views. Rather creepy.

To make this world a better one, always help children who have no confidence gain the confidence that they need.

There are many good leaders, except that you seldom see what they really think and do.

Never let your own childhood dictate your attitude toward your children.

The person who creates a painting is as important as the painting itself, for his painting is a tangible emanation of his soul. Thus it is wrong for the art critic to simply objectify either the painter or his painting.

Create art to change lives, not to decorate people's rooms. Otherwise your patrons will throw away your works as frequently as they decide to repaint and redecorate.