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.
"In Canada, a woman's magazine suggested that a stepladder could be suitably disguised as a tree, or presents could simply be placed on a table." —Gerald Bowler, The World Encyclopedia of Christmas
"When he returned from the ammo bunker, he looked like a Christmas tree with grenades, smoke canisters, and ammo bandoliers hanging all over him." —Jay Taylor, Point of Aim, Point of Impact
A person disguised as a Christmas-type tree, from an 1896 issue of Punch magazine. The caption reads: "I am immense in it, my boy, immense!" This will also be of interest:The Collected Lost Meanings of Christmas.