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| Did You Hear the One I Just Made Up? |
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Some publishers are marketing condensed books for busy executives. So how's this for a title: ASAP's Fables! Jonathan commented: How especially apt, when one imagines the plausible absurdity of an exec too busy to read the one-page conventional version of a fable.
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Fun with quotation marks: 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. |
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Piecing together the secret of fire . . .
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* 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. |
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| Puzzles and Games :: Letter Grids |
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This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
• 7-letter words: 15
• 8-letter words: 2
• 9-letter words: 2
One 9-letter word is a fancy name for a magician, or someone who acts as an agent of the supernatural. All letters in the word must touch (in any direction), and no square may be reused.
Click to display solutions
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| 7-letter words: |
• bruises
• febrile
• ferules
• grilses
• mislies
• pleases
• puerile
• queries |
• querist
• rebuilt
• release
• replies
• repulse
• ruliest
• silesia |
| 8-letter words: |
| • releases |
• repulses |
| 9-letter words: |
| • theurgies |
• theurgist |
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Smoke Screen“Do you think this is just some sort of smoke screen?”
“Oldest trick in the book,” said Ed.
—Leslie Meier, Father’s Day Murder (2004)
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A unicorn in the style of the legendary Trojan Horse. A very handsome heavy leather unicorn chamfron -- the perfect mask for an equine masquerade. A unicorn skull found among picture frames? Unicorn-themed color palettes from ColourLovers.com: 
"Unicorn Disguised" by Qlaudia. The full palette description is here. |
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"I Was Born a Unicorn" by Gabr!ella. The full palette description is here. |
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"Purple Unicorn" by Peachbelle. The full palette description is here. |
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SmilingHypnotized by a smile? Oldest trick in the book!
—Poppy Z. Brite, Lost Souls (1993)
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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")
- &over, MA
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| Did You Hear the One I Just Made Up? |
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What's the difference between collage artists and stamp collectors? Not a lick! |
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Piecing together the secret of fate . . .
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* 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. |
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Sleeping with the Enemy—Scott Turow, Ordinary Heroes (2005)
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| Did You Hear the One I Just Made Up? |
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Q: Magicians famously work with doves and rabbits, but which animal invariably gets blamed whenever something goes wrong?
A: The escape-goat.
By the way, never put a goat in charge of the lights.
Here's a goat street performer, from Stories about Animals: With Pictures to Match, by Francis C. Woodworth, courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
Here's a goat screwing up the "walking through a mirror" illusion, from The Child's World by Hetty S. Browne, courtesy of Project Gutenberg.
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| Puzzles and Games :: Letter Grids |
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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.
Click to display solutions
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| 7-letter words: |
• besmile
• iceless
• invokes
• lissome
• micelle |
• ossicle
• pocosin
• selenic
• smileys |
| 8-letter words: |
| • besmiles |
• micelles |
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| I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
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The invisible revealed: 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.) Light from an invisible lamp. Would "caller i.d." help with this invisible telephone user? A costume headpiece that makes one's face invisible. And another one (with glowing eyes). Do invisible birds and unseen enemies cast shadows? This invisible mother and child are part of the Salvation Army's " Invisible People" campaign. |
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Silk Trap, Baited With a WomanSamson: 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)
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Piecing together the secret of the forest . . .
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* 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. |
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| I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
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SilenceSilence always guaranteed a reputation for wisdom, it was the oldest trick in the world.
—W.D. Wetherell, The Wisest Man in America (1996)
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| I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
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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.) |
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Showing Up Early/Unexpectedly“Yes, the husband has come home unexpectedly,” he said. “Oldest trick in the book.”
—Steve Hamilton, North of Nowhere (2003)
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| Puzzles and Games :: Letter Grids |
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This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
• 7-letter words: 12
• 8-letter words: 2
All letters in the word must touch (in any direction), and no square may be reused.
Click to display solutions
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| 7-letter words: |
• breeder
• coelome
• dextran
• entered
• extreme
• gleeted |
• glomera
• logions
• metered
• reoiled
• sneered
• snooled |
| 8-letter words: |
| • dextrans |
• extremer |
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"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?"
Derek Bair writes:
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!
Sara Soares writes:
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.
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| Did You Hear the One I Just Made Up? |
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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. |
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Piecing together the secret of the Eleusinian Mysteries . . .
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* 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. |
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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 |
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From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:
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Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Mindful Greetings and Volumes II, III and IV from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle. |
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Showing Someone Else’s Credentials—Jerry A. Grunor, Life is Sweet and Bittersweet (2005)
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Showing It to Someone NewWhen 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)
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From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:
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Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Mindful Greetings and Volumes II, III and IV from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle. |
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| Puzzles and Games :: Letter Grids |
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This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
• 7-letter words: 11
• 8-letter words: 8
• 9-letter words: 1
The 10-letter word involves turning a horse.
All letters in the word must touch (in any direction), and no square may be reused.
Click to display solutions
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| 7-letter words: |
• battled
• caracol
• cleanup
• delight
• elation
• rattled |
• tacnode
• tactile
• taction
• unoiled
• upscale |
| 8-letter words: |
• aeration
• caracole
• cleanups
• delation |
• tractile
• traction
• uncoiled
• upscaled |
| 9-letter words: |
| • caracoled |
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Original Content Copyright © 2019 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.
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This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
