Most of karma never waits for the next lifetime. As a general rule you are made to pay for your cruel acts as soon as possible.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Friday, June 10, 2016 2:29 PM

So far the best studio easel I have ever seen and want is that owned by John Singer Sargent. It is big and it is strong, very much unlike the wobbly, portable easels that are sold in art supplies stores. As a matter of fact I want my easel to be sturdy enough for me to jump, stand, climb, and hang on.

Rain on Cubao, a carnival of sylphs and undines.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Friday, June 10, 2016 12:42 NN

The first and the last thing to look at in every painting is composition.

Tony Perez's Art of War: An actor's best revenge is to work his way up to become a director and a producer.

Appreciating other people's paintings is like appreciating other people's fine cuisine. None are bad, all are good, but some are truly excellent.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun shines on every road, including the road not taken.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Thursday, June 9, 2016 10:59 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Thursday, June 9, 2016 5:41 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Thursday, June 9, 2016 3:17 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Thursday, June 9, 2016 2:23 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Thursday, June 9, 2016 1:07 PM

Watched the documentary on famous prison breaks on History Channel, also last night. It was LONG. I wanted to know more of the human nature aspect of the cases and the characters of the jailbreakers. The producers were too careful to avoid glorifying them as heroes. But, really, they are, in a Jack-London, man-against-nature, fascinating way. They are the PROTAGONISTS of their stories.

Caught the Naoge festival on China's CCTV 4 last night. It's the annual event in which children are borne high on iron braces like puppets. An interesting method of storytelling, and of making communities remember their mythology and folk literature.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a white, milk chocolate candy bar.

Did the maroon pillow only tonight, and calling it a day for painting.

Will work on that blue sarong tomorrow.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Wednesday, June 8, 2016 8:53 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Wednesday, June 8, 2016 4:29 PM

The Dream
Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Wednesday, June 8, 2016 2:49 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Wednesday, June 8, 2016 10:50 AM

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun is in a golden cage, captured by the rain.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Tuesday, June 7, 2016 7:14 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Tuesday, June 7, 2016 5:35 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Tuesday, June 7, 2016 3:24 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Tuesday, June 7, 2016 1:59 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Tuesday, June 7, 2016 11:43 AM

Never follow a leader who tells you what to do.

A true leader allows you to make your own choices and decisions.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Tuesday, June 7, 2016 11:09 AM

Good morning, Cubao!

The sun, through a soft drizzle, sparkles like a chandelier.

Stop painting for the day only when your model starts looking delicious.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Monday, June 6, 2016 10:29 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Monday, June 6, 2016 9:39 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Monday, June 6, 2016 6:51 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Monday, June 6, 2016 4:50 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Monday, June 6, 2016 4:07 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Monday, June 6, 2016 2:29 PM

Drizzly noon. The granddaughters are shopping at the center. I told them to just have lunch at a restaurant.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a milk nougat pastille, and the clouds are clusters of crushed nuts.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Sunday, June 5, 2016 10:41 PM

The devil is still doing his rounds. Continue being steadfast in your love, and value everyone who means anything to you.

I have stopped announcing exits and departures in all my social media accounts because it seems to distress many people.

Calling it a day for painting. This one might get done faster than usual anyway.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Sunday, June 5, 2016 7:30 PM

I have yet to ask my spirit guides why the figures in my paintings begin looking like actual people I know, even if none of it is intentional.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Sunday, June 5, 2016 4:06 PM

It might be all right to shock people once in a while--it is like shaking a drawer full of stuff so that everything settles in and allows you to put more stuff inside. When it becomes a habit, though, it becomes completely adolescent, like that of a misunderstood boy with a chip on his shoulder.

Yes, it has occurred to me that the average Filipino is in fact adolescent--in his taste for TV shows, movies, entertainment, and the like. this is the kind of person advertisers sell their products to. It just becomes difficult for intellectuals to talk to them on their own level and in their own terms, especially if neither the adolescent nor the intellectual is willing to meet the other halfway.

I had to stop painting because this is my favorite hour of the day, and the sun is out at the right time. During such moments I sit on a chair inside the small loggia and watch the yellow-orange, afternoon sunlight sprinkle itself through the branches and leaves of the dragon tree outside, on the adobe wall and on the driveway. It brings me back to my afternoons as a boy in our ancestral house in San Fernando, Pampanga, which had a really huge garden. It is a deeply centering experience for me, for it centers not only myself as a 65-year-old man but also myself as that dreamy little boy long ago.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Sunday, June 5, 2016 2:06 PM

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Sunday, June 5, 2016 1:01 PM

It is sheer genius to be able to take things to the cutting edge, but it is foolish to push things over the edge.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a facet of a giant, white sapphire.

No matter how extensively I document my painting process, I still cannot capture that magical moment when it changes from being a crude, flat picture to a polished, three-dimensional one. It just seems to happen all of a sudden without my being aware of it.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Saturday, June 4, 2016 9:56 PM

When doctors and nurses are threatened by your intelligence, they start spouting medical gibberish and sound like classroom textbooks. It is their favorite defense mechanism when they feel very insecure.

Just tell them that they are not your teachers, that you are not their student, that you are their patient, and that it is their duty to talk to you in a language you understand.

I love fine drizzles when I can walk in them under my cap, the spray like needles on my skin and settling like glitter on my moustache and beard. The leaves of our dragon tree unfurl and take the moisture in, the streets glisten as though brushed with enamel paint, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee lingers in the air, and the windows in our neighborhood glow with the light of shaded lamps.

Whenever thunder rolls I envision angels riding motorbikes above the clouds.

Three-hour, hard-touch, deep tissue massage. Now I can't paint for the next three hours.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Saturday, June 4, 2016 1:35 PM

To prevent yourself from developing frozen shoulder--especially if you feel it coming--nap and sleep with your arms raised above your head.

Remembering your dreams and writing them down helps prevent Alzheimer's Disease.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a new school book spread open for the day's lesson.

I am thinking of holding a Stella-Yelling contest below our Cubao New Orleans French Quarter front balcony, but I don't know what prize I can offer, who the judges will be, and whether I will have any contestants.

You have to yell "Stella!" like Stanley Kowalski and tear off your shirt--in plain sight and hearing of the people and traffic on P. Tuazon Boulevard.

The Dream Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Friday, June 3, 2016 6:30 PM

The Dream

Oil on cradled canvas
36" x 36

Work in progress

Friday, June 3, 2016

4:50 PM

"There would be another song for me/
For I will sing it/
There would be another dream for me/
Someone will bring it/

I will drink the wine while it is warm/
And never let you catch me looking at the sun/
And after all the loves of my life/
After all the loves of my life, you'll still be the one/

"I will take my life into my hands and I will use it/

I will win the worship in their eyes and I will lose it/
I will have the things that I desire/
And my passion flow like rivers through the sky/

And after all the loves of my life/
Oh, after all the loves of my life/
I'll be thinking of you - and wondering why/"

Studio Break

Went to the center, paid my son Chito's dental bill, and had a single-shot espresso and a slice of Guiltless Chocolate Cake at the Cubao Hogwarts Espresso Station.

Decided to buy the rest of the 007 sets. I am not a fan of Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan, but I don't mind making our collection complete.

The Dream

Oil on cradled canvas
36" x 36

Work in progress

Friday, June 3, 2016

1:41 PM

The Dream

Oil on cradled canvas
36" x 36

Work in progress

Friday, June 3, 2016

11:35 AM

Benjie resumes work. This time we are coating the side balcony floor with marine paint.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky is a day bed laden with white pillows.

Calling it a day for drawing. Must erase superfluous lines and work in details tomorrow.

The Dream

Oil on cradled canvas
36" x 36

Work in progress

Thursday, June 2, 2016

8:47 PM

Oil on cradled canvas 36" x 36 Work in progress Thursday, June 2, 2016 6:37 PM

Oil on cradled canvas
36" x 36

Work in progress

Thursday, June 2, 2016

4:27 PM

Pending the completion of the third and last piece of my triptych, I temporarily hung the first two pieces on a wall of the studio lounge.

I have many bottles of watered-down ink such as Purple Haze by Private Reserve, and I can't wait to use up all of them and switch to my much-preferred brilliants.

She offered her services for a price during the election campaign, but the candidate who hired her did not win. Now her reputation is completely ruined, and she is trying desperately to save face.

A very quiet, dry, and sunny Thursday. If you feel restless and antsy, then it is the calm before something.

A morning at the center with Aubrey. Went to the bank to change dollars to pesos, bought Aubrey a brass and glass lantern to add to her collection, bought three sets of DVDs, paid our electric, and had a burger lunch. Didn't do groceries today--maybe tomorrow, and I did forget to buy light bulbs.

Time is change, and change is time.

Good morning, Cubao!

The sky ripples like the sea.

I am seriously wondering whether I will have to put up with other people's griping, bitching, and back-stabbing for the next six years, which doesn't sound very pleasant at all. That's more than half a decade.

Possibly doing groceries with Aubrey tomorrow. I need to buy a few light bulbs--and maybe another set of DVDs, which has been my favorite mode of escapism lately.

In the U.S.A., the elections are bringing out the worst in their candidates.

In the Philippines, the elections are bringing out the worst in everyone.

Sometimes it is not a bad idea to secure all of your breakables.

Been watching My Kitchen Rules 7. I note that all of the contestants' houses are beautiful, have big, modern kitchens, and have ample space to set up their instant restaurants. I believe that serious cooks/chefs ensure that they have all this whether they are contestants or not, perhaps because they love to entertain. I also note, however, that all of the houses have narrow, 1950s, doorways.

He has been contemplating suicide, but the thought of his family has always prevented him from following through.

Throwing away all of my old knitting and crochet pattern magazines, unless someone in Cubao wants them and is able to pick them up. The stack is two feet high. There are hardbound books among them. There are also dress patterns and a lot of nursery knits.

While organizing stuff in the kitchen I came upon my granddaughters' abandoned, grade-school lunch kits: Tupperware boxes, plastic cutlery sets, Dora the Explorer lunchboxes, and all kinds of thermoses. I recalled many occasions in which those were lovingly filled with food, snacks, and juice and tucked inside their schoolbags. We amassed quite a lot, because my granddaughters liked having a new set every year, along with their school stuff. One granddaughter is now a young adult, another past her mid-teens. I know that they will never miss those items. They are now into campus cafes and off-campus restaurants.

It is only grandparents such as I who have the magical power to turn back time and see their grandchildren as grade-school students once again.

Don't you just love it when he turns to atchay reporters and retorts, "Gaga!"

Those are like the atchay reporters who victimized, with their asinine questions, Baby Arenas, Freddie Aguilar, et alii.

When painting in oils, ALWAYS use linseed oil. It is not only what blends your colors, it is what bonds them to the support.

2:28 PM Wednesday, June 1, 2016. Completed vernissage after doing my laundry.

In magic, there is nothing so dismaying to followers as a king who never dies.

I think, he wants to annihilate atchayism in the government, in religion, and in education. I hope, he is able to do the same to literature and art, but that might be asking for too much.

Atchayism is always the product of corrupt, feudal bureaucracies.

Visited M.'s cafe last night. It was pleasantly cool due to the rains. As has often happened there were walk-in customers I'd never seen before.

I like going to M's cafe alone because it is an albeit brief time to pretend that I live alone and that I have the complete freedom to be anyone I want to be--such as a walk-in customer like everyone else.
On nights like this the people who surround me have no idea that I am a writer, that I have books in cyberspace, that I am working on a painting triptych, and that I am a werewolf.

Good noon, Cubao!

The sky is a garden of flowering clouds.

It is how you continuously think of and see the world, not what you publish, that gives you fulfillment and that counts the most.

Coffee bread snack.

If you haven't had coffee bread a.k.a pan de kape, come to the Sitio Catacutan Bakery beside our house and try some. It's soft bread topped with coffee syrup, and is really heavenly. Meant to be dunked in your coffee or tea and for you to go piggy when no one's looking.