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, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. 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.
Cats aren't staring into space -- they're looking at themselves with the mirrors in their eyes. The headline reads, "Mirrors in cat's eyes cause them to shine at night." From Popular Mechanics, 1934.
"He was a week trying to tread on this fatal tail." From The Fairy Ring by Kate Douglas Wiggin & Nora Archibald Smith, illustrated by Elizabeth MacKinstry, 1916.This should also be of interest:How to Be Your Own Cat.
Here's a precursor to the David Bowie lyric about "putting out fire with gasoline" ("Cat People," 1982). From Kladderadatsch, 1923. Speaking of cat people, see How to Be Your Own Cat.