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An illustration from an 1890 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads simply: "My rods."
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| [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.] |
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| A printed collection of A Fine Line Between... is now available from Amazon.com. |
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Whisked away by the devil: an illustration from an 1858 issue of Harper's magazine.
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| [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.] |
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"The answer is simple. ... Call the number.”
—American Motorcyclist (July 1990)
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Ah, the good-old-days, when waiting for the next slide in a slide show was fraught with momentousness. The caption reads, "Just at that moment the showman thrust [emphasis ours] a fresh slide into his lantern, and presented to them another scene even more startling than the first." Today's Flash slide shows aren't nearly so flashy, eh? How can a showman thrust [emphasis ours again, though all this thrusting is admittedly wearing us out] a JPG? We're reminded of beloved British comedian Stewart Lee, who recently asked his audience if anyone was old enough to remember when there were actually things, like letters written on paper or music recorded onto plastic discs. This item from Frank Leslie's Illustrated, 1891, will forever make us pine for the nearly unbearable drama of magic lantern slides every time we open a lousy JPG. |
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An illustration from a 1913 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "Fairy Princess, last night I was a goldfish: to-night I am an enchanted lover."
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| [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.] |
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 "Don't take this the wrong way. I've been down that road, so I'm the last person to criticize. All I'm saying is, watch it." — Darlene Quinn, Twisted Webs
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 "'A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose' — and enough is enough is enough." —Shana Alexander, "The Case for Jean Harris," New York Magazine (April 7, 1986)
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An illustration from an 1893 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "Death the final sovereign of the world."
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| [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.] |
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 I'm older than I look.
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I dreamed of invented compound words, deliberate misspellings, and the grammar of gossip.
Prof. Oddfellow offers this free vintage clip-art question mark, originally appearing in a 1914 issues of Harper's Magazine and painstakingly restored to its original glory. The image is available for download in high-resolution GIF and vector EPS formats.
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| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
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~ Unsubstantiated Insubstantiality ~ 
Portrait from Memoir of William Carey.
"The strong light rendered the apparition invisible to hiseyes.” —Justinus Kerner, "The Ghost-Seer of Prevorst”
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---
A collaborative work between poets Gary Barwin and Hugh Thomas and featuring illustrations by Craig Conley, the book – as its title suggests – takes the paradoxical and absurd prose of the Czech literary giant as a point of departure for tangential musings on language, transformation and, of course, the nature of parable itself. The book’s authors summarized the impetus of the project early in the evening with the proclamation that “new writing is the imaginary future of past writing.” It is with this sense of creative lineage that Franzlations sets out to explore the labyrinthine corridors of Kafka’s work. ...
Against projections of Conley’s minimal, diagrammatic illustrations, Barwin and Thomas alternated rapidly between each other, juggling their book’s seemingly self-contained aphorisms and parables in a rhythm that highlighted the project’s overall cohesion.
A tribute to Kafka stripped of the element of narrative might easily risk being a fragmented experience, a mere collection of paradoxes and non-rational linguistic puzzles. Fortunately, Barwin and Thomas inject the word-play of Franzlations with exactly the kind of wit and dark humor often overlooked in Kafka’s own work. Rather than focus on the nightmarish quality of Kafka’s writing, Barwin and Thomas emphasize the playful irony of metamorphosis, the way in which things both are and are not what they appear to be. In one memorable riff on that infamous opening line, the authors recounted how “one morning Ovid woke to find himself a Czech insurance officer.” While Barwin and Thomas moved deftly between these registers Thursday night, between light-heartedness and cerebral absurdity, so many mirrors, inversions and mazes eventually sent this reviewer’s head spinning. Clearly, Franzlations is a book to be absorbed slowly and revisited. After all, as the authors themselves noted, “a road is a labyrinth unfurled.”
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Ponce de León Revealed as the Legendary "Ninth Immortal” of Chinese Mythology
St. Augustine, Florida - The saintly "Eight Immortals” of ancient Chinese folklore are finally ready to play ball as an unlikely ninth comes up to bat: famed Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León (1474 - ∞).
De León’s highly unusual autograph reveals a desire for eternal life that transcends his well-known quest for the Fountain of Youth. The serpentine lines of his elaborate signature trace back to the primitive magical diagrams of Taoism, the native religion of China.
De León’s signature is a talismanic ideograph composed of "heavenly characters” from ancient Chinese "cloud script.” This strange, stylized calligraphy of sacred symbols for cosmic truth was meant to transform an ordinary piece of paper into a passport for visiting the other (spiritual) world. In De León’s case, the figurative other world doubled as the literal New World.
Note that the Latin alphabetic characters of De León’s signature are flanked by two Taoist ideograms, to be read right to left. At first glance the cloud script resembles two serpents winding around rods of Asclepius (an apt symbol of healing and rejuvenation) or perhaps the Taoist equivalent of "footprints of the Buddha” (if the enlightened one were wearing two-toed mitten-style slippers). However, the ideograms are actually two brimming chalices, wordlessly symbolic of an overflowing cornucopious primordial essence. The first chalice is worldly, the second celestial.
De León’s immortality is written into his very signature. But the aim of Taoism is not mere longevity. The highest goal of the Taoist sage is to transcend the human realm and to unite with the eternal Cosmos. To attain this goal via an elixir of healing waters is the debased "earth approach,” condemned by the great masters. The genuine "heaven approach” involves dedicated meditation to align one’s vital energies with the universal flow.
De León now ranks as a idol of imperishability and prosperity alongside Immortal Woman He, Royal Uncle Cao, Iron-Crutch Li, Lan Caihe, Lü Donbin, Philosopher Han Xiang, Elder Zhang Guo, and Han Zhongli.
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Staring into the depths: an illustration from an 1897 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "There's a thing in that ocean that would astonish you if you saw it."
Dedicated to Jonathan due to "things."
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| [The images
we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.] |
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It's not every day that one's photo of the Temple of the Forbidden Eye is used to illustrate a Doom Metal / Death Metal / Black Metal track entitled " Under Rotting Sky." But today isn't just any day, and "Under Rotting Sky" isn't just any Doom Metal / Death Metal / Black Metal track. Consider yourself th-angst, Pseudomancer! |
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An illustration from an 1895 issue of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly magazine. The caption reads: "The San Francisco demon."
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| [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.] |
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| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
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~ Unsubstantiated Insubstantiality ~ 
Portrait from Memoir of Maj.-Gen. George H. Thomas.
“He’s here, or it’s the ghost of his hat!” —Frank Dumont, The Cuban Spy
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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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Here's an example of "air quotes" from 1893: [Said of an expletive:] "It isn't any harm when you crook your finger for quotation-marks." — Amélie Rives, Barbara Dering (1893), p. 124 |
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An illustration from an 1895 issue of Century Illustrated magazine. The caption reads: "Peach day."
Dedicated to Teresa Burritt.
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| [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.] |
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| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
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~ Unsubstantiated Insubstantiality ~ 
Portrait from The Life of Captain John Smith.
"A vague, almost ghostly outline, losing itself, in shadows, among the tombs.” —Mary V. Spencer
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| I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
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The Toronto Standard on our latest book, Franzlations: Gary Barwin, Hugh Thomas and Craig Conley use their source material only as a starting point, reworking Kafka’s writings into "imaginary parables” and invented aphorisms. The man himself would appreciate their explanation: "Sometimes this means keeping the cage and replacing the bird.” |
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An illustration from an 1894 issue of The Strand magazine.
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| [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.] |
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An illustration from an 1896 issue of Century Illustrated magazine. The caption reads: "The midnight presence of the uncanny."
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| [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.] |
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"Now, please don't take this the wrong way, we value your work immensely, but we've all been a little worried about you, and, well ... we think it might be good for you to get some rest." — Olga Grushin, The Dream Life of Sukhanov
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| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
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~ Unsubstantiated Insubstantiality ~ 
Portrait from Memoir of the Honorable Abbott Lawrence.
In this haunting, Laurence’s ghost appears four times, three of which resemble film negatives. Note also that the scanning machine has graced Laurence’s portrait with a striped aura.
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Shooting a serpent in a stone circle: an illustration from a 1900 issue of The Strand magazine (story here).
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| [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.] |
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"Every sentence includes an infinity of words; one perceives only a few of them, the others being in the infinite or being imaginary." —Raymond Queneau, qtd. in OULIPO: A Primer of Potential Literature |
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"It is not a good idea to combine symbols; the forces that stand behind them can easily start to mingle." — The Angel in the West Window, Gustav Meyrink's novel of the Elizabethan magus John Dee (our own 9th cousin)
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| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
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Praise for The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine: I love the way Conley creates these series of what I want to call visual poems, only by default--only because there is no proper designation for a novel form. [In The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine] we experience juxtaposed images of historical and not-so-historical personages cleanly engraved and then suddenly disappearing in a xeroxial fog of reproduction, a Banquo's feast of mirrors. These visual-textual series allow Conley to create the visual analogues of the serial poem, and into these delicious confections he works some of the best quotes in the English language (and many others, translated) to create an almost Midrashically complex, anachronistic interplay between image and text that often leads the mind to question the impossible interface that occurs daily--i.e., to ask how it is that words and objects could ever even come to a sort of harmony in the first place? It begins to seem beyond us. And beyond us is the metaphysical. So the circle runs, chasing its tail like the cat in that Siouxsie and the Banshees song. — W. B. Keckler, author of Sanskrit of the Body |
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An illustration from an 1897 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.
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| [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.] |
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A blank(ed) map from a 1901 issue of Scribner's magazine. The caption reads, "He had seen an empire ... wiped off the map in twenty minutes."
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| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
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~ Unsubstantiated Insubstantiality ~ 
Portrait from Memoir of Eli Whitney.
"A faint shadow stole over the room; while the countenance of the Medium had become so gloomy that the shadow seemed really only a reflection of it.” —Blackwood’s Magazine
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 "Begin by paying attention to your breath (and, yes, I know I'm repeating myself, but it bears repeating—we forget so fast and so often)." — James S. Gordon, Unstuck
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"The answer is simple: It’s a government cover- up!”
—Network World (Jan. 10, 2000)
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"If I were a writer, how I would enjoy being told the novel is dead. How liberating to work in the margins, outside a central perception. You are the ghoul of literature. Lovely." — Don Delillo |
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From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook (and dedicated to Hugh Thomas):
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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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Not a joke. I found this on the shelf in the bookstore when I was looking at other dictionaries. You can explore it online.
There’s not an awful lot to say about one-letter words, except that there are more than 1000 of them. Many have to do with Roman numerals, music and science, but a fair few have some surprising definitions.
By far the most interesting to me were these ghoulish definitions:
You know the expression, “branded a thief”? To the extent that I had ever thought about it, I’d assumed the phrase was metaphorical. It’s not. Until 1827 in America, thieves were, literally, branded on the thumb with the letter T.
And that is not all. Humans have a long history of shaming and harming each other with branded or incised letters, apparently.
In Colonial America, drunkards were forced to wear the letter D, made of red cloth and sewn onto a white ground, so A is not the only scarlet letter. Civil War deserters were branded with the letter D, as well, on the buttock, hip or cheek. The letter was made with a hot iron or a razor.
Until 1822, the letter F (for “fray-maker”) was branded on the cheeks of people who fought in church. Blasphemers were branded on the forehead with the letter B.
The ancient Romans branded false accusers with a K (for kalumnia, lie), and in England, R was used as a mark for rogues.
And on that cheerful note, I end my month of looking at dictionaries. Happy Halloween, everyone!
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An illustration from an 1884 issue of Harper's magazine.
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| [The images
we have collected for this series came at a tremendous price, which we explained previously.] |
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 Momus
suggests that there are "few tales which would not be improved by the
addition of the phrase 'suddenly, a shot rang out.'" Decide for
yourself as we alter the opening lines of . . . THE VELVETEEN RABBIT by Margery Williams There was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen. On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the Boy's stocking, with a sprig of holly between his paws, the effect was charming.
Suddenly, a shot rang out. (Thanks, June!)
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| The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine |
(permalink) |
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~ Unsubstantiated Insubstantiality ~ 
Portrait from The Autobiography of Rev. Thomas Conant.
“A dim, indistinct outline of a ghostly face staring out.” —James Coates, Photographing the Invisible
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Original Content Copyright © 2025 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.
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"A rose is a rose but ... a rabbit is the moon."
