educational | portfoliolongo

Every time I’d see Karl, I’d ask him about his donkey, and each time he’s say, “He’s outstanding in his field.”

Update: The Karl I was referring to was Karl Runser, whom I work with at ILGARD, now the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service. Sadly, a couple of months after moving back to Athens, OH in 2023, I learned of Karl’s passing. Please take a look at Karl Runser’s obituary. He was a man of integrity, honor, and wit, and it was a pleasure to get to know him on road trips to meetings and workshops throughout the Appalachian counties of Ohio. As outlined in his obituary, prior to working at Ohio University, Karl was Managing Editor of the Athens Messenger.

Check out this 1997 C-SPAN video to see Karl talk about the Athens Messenger: https://www.c-span.org/program/vignette/athens-messenger/175405

I drew this donkey on an iPad Pro using the Paper 53 app. I was thinking of Karl the whole time.

It took some real carpentry skills to diagram sentences back in the day, didn’t it? Not only did you need to know grammar, but then you had to build a contraption on which each and every part of speech could rest in suspended animation indefinitely, correctly, and comfortably! It wasn’t easy. Imagine building this one!!!

I added this image/poem on Dec. 18, 2024 because I believe it helps deepen our understanding and appreciation of grammar and the architecture of expression.