It is useless to keep offering me alternatives to my present lifestyle because, at this time, I already have EXACTLY what I want.

Benjie helped me measure and cut a four-foot length of canvas for a prospective, next, painting.

Tearing up more, old diaries.

Olive Oyl is extremely quiet and lying low. This is her strategy now, as opposed to her fighting tooth and nail in the past. She did try that this time around but failed. A befitting end and karma?

The clouds are boxes of chrome-plated, plumbing hardware.

Good day, Cubao!

Slept nine hours last night.

Lunch with the granddaughters and Benjie.

Bought three more big tubs to store our good, garden soil in.

You are a different person in devils' traffic because the devils do their rounds and possess you on the road. When you get home you don't know what hit you.

Now encased like spun gold!

Finally, a portfolio for my pens.

I suddenly realized that this is a book, because each pen has a story to tell. All of them came from different countries and were given to me by different people. The second pen to the right, bottom, for example, was given to me by my Saint John model Erwin Gonzales after my Making John The Baptist art exhibit at Sining Kamalig, when we were still working on the same office compound.

More house cleaning.

Watched Team Ninja Warrior on AXN last night. While having a snack.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are kennels of white puppies.

Eleventh glaze.

Cozy Saturday night. Aubrey's classmate sleeping over in Aubrey's bedroom. They had food delivered for their dinner.

Still reading The Athenian Murders. Interesting, but I wonder if I started reading it years before and then abandoned it. It doesn't seem familiar at all.

We were able to fill three tubs with garden soil. I think we need three more tubs.

Today near, the next time far.

Benjie cleans again tomorrow.

As for myself, will probably finish Sarah's portrait, then commence doing someone else's.

Aubrey and her classmate are off to have lunch out and then watch a game at the coliseum afterward.

Tenth glaze.

Ninth glaze.

One hour painting.

Eighth glaze.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a chest of white sapphires.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

He is now tuned to CNN, but when CNN transits to its long-drawn, cultural feature he will switch to Fox, and when Fox transits to a musical number he will switch to Al Jazeera or BBC. And will stay there until he drifts off to sleep.

My Friend in Stockholm, Sweden marked himself safe.

It is difficult to help needy relatives (who are not your immediate family) because they will go through periods of guilt (that they cannot help themselves) and resentment (that you have more than they do).

The same thing goes when a rich country extends help to a poor one.

It is perceived as inverse condescension.

What you have, be proud of and content with, for you always have a lot more than what others do.

Benjie reports for work to clean our house tomorrow.

One hour painting.

Seventh glaze.

Finished rereading The Chinese Lake Murders. Will read, or reread, a recent book I found in a bookcase, The Athenian Murders, and will decide whether to keep it or give it away after that.

Sixth glaze.

Fifth glaze.

One hour painting.

Fourth glaze.

Two cups black, Barako Batangas.

Friday, Friday.

Still deliberating what to do.

Rest/Read/Continue being a computer zombie/Have two cups of green tea?

Paint?

Do hard labor in the rear passage and shovel garden soil into storage tubs? (Garden-related work is excellent exercise.)

The sun is a new, yellow, sponge on a white-tiled kitchen counter.

Good day, Cubao!

Slept ten hours last night.

Lunch with Aubrey before she goes shopping for towels and proceeds to the gym.

Another quiet night on P. Tuazon Boulevard.

Considering that Police Station 7 is right across the street, I mean. Or do I mean BECAUSE Police Station 7 is right across the street.

An hour painting.

Tenth layer.

An hour painting.

Ninth layer.

Poorer by thousands. Paid down on Angelique's senior prom gown and enrolled Aubrey, who is now on the long break, in a private gym.

Caught Ancient Aliens on History. This episode was on occultism and magic, and had short features on Rasputin and Aleister Crowley.

Judge Dee is off to search a hidden pavilion inside a huge, forest labyrinth created by an eccentric, rich man.

And then spent an hour painting.

Eighth layer, but still a long way to go.

Bought plastic tubs for the rear passage, to store our garden soil in.

Your Messenger message:

"Goodmorning sir. I just need to ask something.

"Last night, nanaginip na naman po ako ng isang babae na hindi ko na naman maalala ang mukha pero her body figure is my ideal figure for the girl I want. Then nagsimula yun nung kasama ko po yung mama ko sa tricycle and yung kapitbahay po namin yung nagdadrive. Then to a certain point dito sa street namin, may isang babae na nakasakay sa isang car at may dala syang mascot suit ni jollibee sa tabi nya at sya yung nagcause ng too bad traffic. Hindi po nakatiis yung driver namin at kinulit sya na buksan ang pinto at nung binuksan nung babae, kinuha nung driver namin yung mascot, sinakay sa tricycle, at umalis. Hinahabol po kami nung babae pero wala syang magawa dahil hindi sya makabaling. Dumaan kami sa isang looban ng subdivision atpagbaba namin, dala pa din nung driver yung mascot at umalis. Nawala bigla sa eksena si mama tapos po, inabutan na ako nung babae. Nagagalit sa akin at sabi, 'bat mo sya hinayaang dalhin yun?' At pagtapos po nun ay nagkausap na kami ng malalim at sabi ko, 'stay with me' na from out of nowhere na hindi ko alam bat ko po yun nasabi. And she stayed. After several hours, she asked me na kung pwede habulin yung kumuha nung mascot. And I agreed. Sumakay kami sa motor and habang naglalakbay kami, nawalan ng charge yung battery nung motor and may mga barkada po ako na nakita and sabi 'magcharge ka muna dito. Billards muna tayo. ' and dahil no choice, pumayag ako. Frustrated na si girl dahil ang tagal magcharge and as I remembered, yung isang barkada ng barkada ko ay lumapit sa kanya and parang inaakit sya pero she declined it with and angry voice and ang nasabi ko nalang po is 'Babe, come on. Lets go.' And dun nalang po yung naaalala ko.

"Its kinda weird but as I woke up until now, I can't move on and thinking to myself na I just want go back to sleep. Just to see and be with her again.

"I am a clueless son wandering for answers in the wisdom of the Hermit of Cubao.

"I beg if this can be just between the two of us sir, it will be great. I'm shy because of the weird events stated here but if you want to post it sir, it will be okay for me. Thank you and sir. God Bless."

My reply:

Hi _____!

I always post queries on my Wall, minus identities, so that others can learn from them.

This dream is about the feminine side of your Self. She is first projected as your mother, and then as your ideal woman. In your dream, she has a mascot costume--a disguise--indicating that you are either ashamed to show your feminine side to others or that you are ashamed to admit her existence to yourself.

In the chase that ensues there are two delays, indicating your psychological resistance to complete the holistic image of the yin and the yang within you. The first delay is the motor battery that drains, indicating that you are not psychologically equipped to deal with this matter at the present time. The second delay is the distraction that your male friends provide; they urge you to play billiards with them. It would seem that you might still be at the peer stage, in which the opinions and perceptions of other males your age matter a lot to you.

Keep in mind that the ideal Self is a balanced Self: feminine-masculine, dark-light, negative-positive, et cetera. Any attempt to go against this is imbalance. Other than that, I wouldn't worry too much about this dream if I were you. Time and increased maturity will solve everything.

After setting a policy, do not change your mind and be wishy-washy about it. Otherwise it is not a policy at all.

The persons who are now fiercely defending him will very soon grow tired of doing it, abandon him, and go home.

In a TV interview, the first person who overlaps his voice with the other's is the person who knows that he is wrong and, by the defense mechanism denial, does not want to hear what the other is saying.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is the yolk of a cosmic egg.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Then resumed his viewing of the nth replay of _The Mummy_ on Universal Channel, because he is a Brendan Fraser fan.

You will hear chimes and bells even if there are none of those around.

Sometimes it is in plain view but you think it is hidden away.

Love and friendship can be measured when you set operational definitions.

Nature always works in patterns.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Let other people laugh at you as long as it is you who will have the last laugh.

Be witty, not bitchy. Some people do not make distinctions between the two.

Share what you have in excess, not what you are still in need of.

I find that owning anatomical models makes me perceive other people as undesirable, perhaps because I eventually see them as walking systems and organs.

A giant bat will be sighted, and people will be terrified.

I never wanted to be Batman, but I always wanted to be Bruce Wayne.

There will be more mosquitoes than usual.

One hour painting.

Seventh layer.

Our family jeweler delivers three pairs of Australian opals for Angelique, who was born in the month of October. Top to Bottom: fire, water, and green (sometimes known as black).

Opals take kindly only to persons who were born in October.

Good morning, Cubao!

The clouds are staircases to outer space.

Whenever I watch competitors cooking dessert on TV I have a strong desire to be a pastry chef. There are only three things that restrain me:

1) I do not wish to invest in expensive, fancy equipment that will eventually break down and be repaired and eventually replaced.
2) I cannot be bothered to spend five hours cooking a single dessert.
3) I cannot run a full studio and a full pastry kitchen at the same time.

I continued collecting pens, but I stopped collecting swords. I now have only six swords in my old collection.

In Masterchef Australia 2016, Matthew's beautiful, blue opal earrings were very distracting to me in every episode. They are as big as a little bird's eggs and look very expensive.

Australia's national gemstone is actually the pink diamond, but its mines produce the most gorgeous opals in the world.

A person who looks beautiful in his Cover and Profile Photos but has NO such photos of himself with other people in everyday situations on his TIMELINE is most definitely an impostor.

I no longer catch anything on fyi. Whenever I hop to it, an old trailer or preview is playing. I have no choice but to hop to another channel.

Judge Dee is sending his constables to the Hermitage of the Three Treasures to search for a missing young woman.

Now check those hairline cracks in your cement floor.

The werewolf crossed the street to the burger stand.

Another quiet night on P. Tuazon Boulevard, except for a fire truck that buzzed by earlier.

Watched the final episode of Masterchef Australia 2016. It was fun following the entire competition.

One hour painting.

Sixth layer.

My pens. I have others, but I have to hunt for them because they are stowed away in places I can't remember.

Four of these pens are, from the right going left: My latest, golden dragon with faux ruby eyes fountain pen; the Montblanc pen my sister Alice gave me (it was given to her as a reward for translating a document from English to Spanish at her office); a sterling silver dip pen with cap; a Chinese brush pen that can be refilled like a fountain pen.

My new, golden dragon fountain pen with faux ruby eyes arrived this afternoon. I was tempted to post that I ordered this as a birthday gift for myself, but then again it might be said that I celebrate my birthday too often.

Went to the center. Paid our electric and went jalan-jalan.

Bought Aubrey a box of candles for her growing number of lanterns. Bought the granddaughters phone cards. Bought myself two things.

Some of my best students are not in my own country but hundreds of miles away from me, and in different time zones.

They are quick to copy you who hide away from you.

Disaster always begins on a day when you still cannot see it brewing.

He can act, but something is terribly wrong with his enunciation.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is an extra-large drawing pad with 365 sheets.

I have 93 Friends from St. Petersburg and only ten of them have indicated that they are safe.

Watching BBC and Al Jazeera.

Work in progress

_Sphinx (Portrait of Sarah C. Peck)_, oil on canvas

Fifth layer. Still a long way to go.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Do not bother to enlighten a person who prefers to remain dense.

When it looks like others are spending their time quibbling over nonsense, leave them and do things that will propel your personal progress.

You can never have too much jewelry. What you believe you will never wear, you will wear when the right time comes.

Many problems ultimately solve themselves, and so it can be pointless to fret about them.

Childhood is incomplete if some of it is not spent in a place with many trees.

Only children with their own bedrooms know the full meaning of solitude early on in life.

I like buying pens, ink bottles, and ink, but I don't like buying stationery. Whenever I buy stationery I stow it away then forget that I have it.

Must leave the painting to dry before I begin glazing.

An hour painting.

Two cups Thai green tea.

My painting is calling me again.

Tony Perez's Art of War: Know your enemy's peeves, but have none at all.

Earth. Air. Fire. Water.

The Wands must continue pointing to the ground.

Study how and where the leaves fall, and know the message that the tree and the wind are relaying to you.

Judge Dee is at the moment visiting the studio of an eccentric artist.