CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, and a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
Capital "A" and "Capital A" mean two different things in the context of this old architecture diagram. To learn the surprising answer, see my guest blog at the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar.
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
Theory: the Pac-Man video game was inspired by a lily pond. The lily pads, with their triangular missing pieces pointing toward colorful flowers, inspired the munching mouth who chases ghosts. When we flip Pac-Man art upside down, the ghost resembles a water lily blossom.
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar spotlighted Hamilton, the only city in the United States to legally have an exclamation mark attached to its name. The scalawags at SPOGG suggested adding a question mark after Newark. Here are my own punctuation-city suggestions:
Boston— (that's a long dash, in honor of the marathon)
{Las Vegas} (with braces, because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas)
Colonial. Williamsburg ("Colonial period Williamsburg")
The other day someone laughed when I nonchalantly described a miniature trellis as being ten clipboards high. I responded that, as a writer, it's only natural for me to define space in 8 1/2 x 11 inch units (though to use longer units would certainly be legal)!
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
The Gnome Pebble, discovered by Nicolas P. Rougier, preserves a gnome's footprint.
Plaster gnome Danny will never be the same after taking a tumble down a stairway. He was left tragically shattered down one side of his body, and his face and ear took a direct hit.
Sculptor Edward Netley makes amazing wireframe unicorns for the garden, each leaping over a fence. They require eight weeks of twisting to take final form. Regarding one of his sculptures, he explains: "A unicorn is not ridden! It allows one to participate in the ride. The elf shown here is barely balanced as the unicorn jumps the fence. A slight twist of the hind quarters is all that keeps the elf from falling to the ground."
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
• 7-letter words: 9
• 8-letter words: 2
All letters in the word must touch (in any direction), and no square may be reused. One of the 7-letter words refers to cheerful symbols best viewed sideways.
What's the dirtiest water sport on earth? Bog snorkeling! Every year, a host of mud-caked competitors get at loggerheads in a sixty-yard peat bog for the coveted "World Champion Bog Snorkeler" title. The international sporting event takes place every August in the dense Waen Rhydd Peat bog on the southern outskirts of the smallest town in Wales, Llanwrtyd Wells in Powys Mid Wales.
The invisible butterfly's wings are like stained glass windows. (Much prettier than the transparent yellow-green soybean aphid, unless you happen to be a fan of the transparent yellow-green soybean aphid.)
Samson: The oldest trick in the world. Silk trap, baited with a woman. Delilah: You know a better bait, Samson? Men always respond. —Samson and Delilah (1949)
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
Do you know the secret teaching of the Buddha's enigmatic smile? Hint: Hold the image up to a mirror. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)
"Did a blurred view of the moon influence the smile of the Mona Lisa?" asks artist David Dodson.
The answer is yes! We put together this animation to show how the craters of a blurry harvest moon perfectly line up with the eyes, nose, cheek bones, and enigmatic smile of Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa.
Ronan suggests, "So maybe the real question is ... what is the moon smiling at, eh?"
Normally I would think this would be a little bit too far fetched to believe but curiously before I saw this picture and read about it, I had thought something similar. On my way up to Vegas one time it was a full moon but I could see it during the day. I thought the craters and things reminded me of a face of a sad woman! Ever since then I would always see the same face on the moon. This is actually very possible, since Da Vinci said to make glasses to see the moon closer - so he was definitely looking at the moon. Mona=Moon? I don't know but I thought this was interesting!
Leonardo was such a special creature, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the moon was his inspiration. Amazing post BTW
Angela Bou Kheir writes:
Omg! I saw the moon last night and had never thought about it before. This is the first time to see your post. But I was thinking the same thing. Actually, Moon is "Luna" in Italian, but I was thinking he was playing with the words. I don't know, maybe Lona Misa? That's really far-fetched, but I know back then to paint a smile was "provocative" in that time, and they don't know who that picture was based on. Leonardo was an out of the box thinker and if there is a possibility that's a self portrait of him, I think there is a possibility that it's the moon he drew.
A chair spiral by Tom Matthews. See full-sized version here.
The philosophy department at my university was so small it didn't have a chair. Of course, the department did have the Platonic ideal of a chair.
By the way, here's a picture of someone sitting on one of Plato's chairs. This blue chenille chair came up in my search for Plato's chair, but I doubt its authenticity.
Piecing together the secret of the Eleusinian Mysteries . . .
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
Graphic designer Paulus Bommarito "is part of a small but growing group of sun-gazers in metro Atlanta. They are disciples of Hira Ratan Manek, a retired spice trader from India who says staring at the sun improves mental and physical health. Called HRM by his followers, Manek says he has rediscovered a practice used by many ancient cultures, from Greeks to Native Americans. Manek, 70, advocates staring at the sun only near sunrise and sunset. Start with just 10 seconds, he says, and add 10 seconds each time. He says sun gazing suppresses hunger and has allowed him to go more than a year without eating solid foods." —"Sun-Gazers" Praise Rays, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saint Probat
Patron of the Exception that Proves the Rule.
Saint Probat sees to it that not all good things must come to an end. She preaches against burning books, though abhors the idea of wasting good fire. She is beloved by those who joke about their own race. She ruled over Liam Neeson's thick German accent in Schindler's List. She oversees sumo wrestling, Neapolitan Mastiffs, and celebrities who confess that they have developed schizophrenia.
Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Lulu and Volume II from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle.
Piecing together the secret of Easter Island . . .
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
When a place seems worn out—when everything’s dusty and there’s only one horse to get to the end of town on and it’s lame—the oldest trick in the book is to show it to someone new. —Gloria Frym, Distance No Object (1999)
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Lulu and Volume II from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle.
I just got an e-mail from an author in the Netherlands who is completing his Dutch dictionary of one-letter words. Stage Two of the Global Initiative has begun!
This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?