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ALBERT B. CASUGA, a Philippine-born writer, lives in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, where he continues to write poetry, fiction, and criticism after his retirement from teaching and serving as an elected member of his region's school board. He was nominated to the Mississauga Arts Council Literary Awards in 2007. A graduate of the Royal and Pontifical University of St. Thomas (now University of Santo Tomas, Manila. Literature and English, magna cum laude), he taught English and Literature (Criticism, Theory, and Creative Writing) at the Philippines' De La Salle University and San Beda College. He has authored books of poetry, short stories, literary theory and criticism. He has won awards for his works in Canada, the U.S.A., and the Philippines. His latest work, A Theory of Echoes and Other Poems was published February 2009 by the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House. His fiction and poetry were published by online literary journals Asia Writes and Coastal Poems recently. He was a Fellow at the 1972 Silliman University Writers Workshop, Philippines. As a journalist, he worked with the United Press International and wrote an art column for the defunct Philippines Herald.

Monday, August 4, 2014

TODAY'S SMILE TRIGGER: A Mini Commencement Address




TODAY'S SMILE TRIGGER: A Mini Commencement Address to the University of Hard Knocks Class 2014 by Mme. YO DETTE, Chancellor, DA-DA-Versity, Mississauga, Ont. Canada, Fifth Line Campus.(Via Spyke, Cloud Nine Satellite)

 
"My dear Grads of HKC 2014, and all your invited and uninvited guests: Thank you for inviting me as your Commencement Speaker. But what can I say? This is a quick satellite feed. So, hear this. (Here goes. Beam me on.)

 
“Friends: Make your own mistakes, but learn from the lessons they invariably reveal to you. Look for your happiness.  “Feast on yourself” so says my poet friend Derek Walcott. You are the man or woman on the mirror. Make sure, though, that you have the equipment and the necessary learning to get to your goal without harming anyone on your journey to get there. Those behind you are doing their darndest best to climb up the ladder just as you did or are still doing. Don't step on their fingers or hands. Pull them up when they falter. They might learn to catch you when you miss a step yourself. Weren’t the Ten Commandments a Commencement Message? So asks Brodsky in his great commencement address eons ago. Yes, of course. Marching orders they were to the Chosen People. (Where are they now, by the way?  At war? Pity.)

    The Golden Rule, likewise, is normally your commencement thought when you step out of your shelters to work and achieve in a civilised world. Yes, "Do unto others what you would like others do unto you"; love begets love. But mark well: Do not do unto others what you would not like others do unto you. They will.  

 
“Thank you for listening or not.  
 Good Day.”
 

(Poster flash: Applaud. Please. Pretty Please? :(  )




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