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.
"When will you ever learn?" Babies are born with mute
wisdom. Their infant spirits are equipped with awareness and
feelings, and they must simply develop in strength and skill.
"Is it just me?" On a technicality, no. One should say, "Is it just I?" But then the answer would still be no, and you can prove it by looking in a phone book.
"What am I, chopped liver?" Yes. The human liver is divided
by fissures into five lobes, so we are all (in part, at least) chopped
livers since they are part of us.
"Is nothing sacred?" Yes. Atheism is a doctrine that there
is no God. However, many atheists are devout in their lack of
belief, which makes them religious in spite of themselves. So to
them, nothing is indeed sacred.
"Is the Pope Catholic?" No, for two reasons. The Pope is
the head of the Roman Catholic Church, and is therefore not a part of
it (if we define part as one of a number of equal quantities that
compose a whole). Also, the original meaning of catholic is universal.
"What is so rare as a day in June?" The answer is "Every day in
September, April, and November." June and those other months have
only 30 days each, so all are equally rare. Rarer than a day in
June is any day in February. The most February can have is 29.