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.
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Abecedarian personal effects of 'a mad genius'
A Turkish Delight of musings on languages, deflations of metaphysics, vauntings of arcana, and great visual humor.

Found 838 posts tagged ‘boat’

This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea – August 23, 2014 (permalink)

From In a Sea Bird's Nest by Frances Clare, 1896. 
   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `
"The sea is a cruel mistress. Yet again the sea has behaved unconscionably. It's time to address this terrible problem that is the sea." —Captain Neddie, from the hilarious BBC series Broken News
> read more from This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea . . .
#vintage illustration #angel #shipwreck #illustration
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This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea – August 13, 2014 (permalink)

"The storm increased," from Roughing It by Mark Twain.
   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `
"The sea is a cruel mistress. Yet again the sea has behaved unconscionably. It's time to address this terrible problem that is the sea." —Captain Neddie, from the hilarious BBC series Broken News
> read more from This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea . . .
#ship #sea #storm
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This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea – July 21, 2014 (permalink)

An illustration from The Fate of Fenella (1892).  The caption reads: "He was awakened by the sound of oars." 
   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `
"The sea is a cruel mistress. Yet again the sea has behaved unconscionably. It's time to address this terrible problem that is the sea." —Captain Neddie, from the hilarious BBC series Broken News
> read more from This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea . . .
#ship
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Restoring the Lost Sense – July 6, 2014 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1881 issue of The Quiver magazine.  The caption reads: "I find such quantities of strange toys about the house."
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #toy boat #boat #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 24, 2014 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1877 issue of Little Wide Awake magazine.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #boat #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – February 20, 2014 (permalink)

An illustration from The Mahatma and the Hare: A Dream Story by H Rider Haggard (1911).  The caption reads: "My! Isn't she a beauty?"
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #rabbit #bunny #boat #illustration #rabbit fish #by the ears #1910s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 29, 2014 (permalink)

An illustration from Gentlemen All and Merry Companions by Ralph Wilhelm Bergengren (1922).  The caption reads: "There was a long, white flash in the moonlight."

[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #falling #diving #pirate ship #illustration
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This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea – October 14, 2013 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1882 issue of Frank Leslie's Sunday magazine.
   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `
"The sea is a cruel mistress. Yet again the sea has behaved unconscionably. It's time to address this terrible problem that is the sea." —Captain Neddie, from the hilarious BBC series Broken News
> read more from This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea . . .
#vintage illustration #strange light #ship #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – October 8, 2013 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1889 issue of Puck magazine.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #mermaid #boat #illustration
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Your Ship Will Come In – July 18, 2013 (permalink)


Setting sails from Boothbay Harbor, Maine (1942).
* Our printed collection of vintage nautical postcards is entitled Your Ship Will Come In and is available from Amazon.com.
> read more from Your Ship Will Come In . . .
#maine #sailboat #vintage postcard
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Everybody's Doing This Now – May 29, 2013 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1868 issue of Punch magazine.
> read more from Everybody's Doing This Now . . .
#vintage illustration #balancing act #house boat
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Restoring the Lost Sense – May 12, 2013 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1849 issue of Punch magazine.

[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #ship #sea serpent #sea monster #sea snake #illustration #sails
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Forgotten Wisdom – April 29, 2013 (permalink)

From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook:

The text reads: "Keep a mind straight on a thought, and you will see how it bends down, just ever so slightly, at the horizon. —Geof Huth"
> read more from Forgotten Wisdom . . .
#ship #eye #mind's eye #curvature
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Did You Hear the One I Just Made Up? – April 29, 2013 (permalink)

"I could have sworn I heard a violin playing 'The Last Rose of Summer.' In waltz time, no less."
—Eugenia Riley, Waltz in Time (1997)

This maritime serenade appears in Arthur's Home Magazine, 1887.
> read more from Did You Hear the One I Just Made Up? . . .
#vintage illustration #boat #violin #musician
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Restoring the Lost Sense – December 8, 2012 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1894 issue of Century Illustrated magazine.
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #ship #star #night #light in darkness
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Your Ship Will Come In – October 11, 2012 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1899 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.  The caption reads: "The soul-ship moved out with the tide."

* Our printed collection of vintage nautical postcards is entitled Your Ship Will Come In and is available from Amazon.com.
> read more from Your Ship Will Come In . . .
#vintage illustration #full moon #boat #soul ship
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Precursors – September 10, 2012 (permalink)

Music piracy, 1906-style.  From Punch.

> read more from Precursors . . .
#vintage illustration #ships #music piracy
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Restoring the Lost Sense – July 12, 2012 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1880 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "The mystic ball of fire."
[Inexplicable images from generations ago invite us to restore the lost sense of immediacy.  We follow the founder of the Theater of Spontaneity, Jacob Moreno, who proposed stringing together "now and then flashes" to unfetter illusion and let imagination run free.  The images we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #night #boat #fireball #light in darkness
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Not Rocket Science – June 29, 2012 (permalink)

"You drop the anchor, the boat stops.  It's not rocket science."
—Cindy Dees, Her Hero After Dark (2012)

> read more from Not Rocket Science . . .
#vintage illustration #anchor #sailing ship
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Your Ship Will Come In – April 15, 2012 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1889 issue of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly magazine.  See Your Ship Will Come In.
> read more from Your Ship Will Come In . . .
#toy boat
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