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An illustration from an 1872 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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Staring into the depths: an illustration from an 1894 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "As seen through the face-glass."
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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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An illustration from an 1872 issue of Harper's magazine. The caption reads: "The man of the future regarding the things of the past."
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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 Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
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"Christmas in July" has become a day. It used to be a season.
In the last fifty years, Christmas in July has become much more materialistic, even perversely overcommercialized.
For too many, Christmas in July is the most stressful event of the year.
The thing is, you can't avoid Christmas in July. Just try not to hear Christmas carols everywhere you go in July. Impossible! And it begins so early, too. Sheesh -- back in the day, we thought that Juneteeth Day was too early for Christmas in July to begin, but now it seems like D Day is what gets it all rolling. Every year the old compromise gets floated around, to begin with Flag Day, but good luck with that.
On a late walk last night, we nearly stumbled over a tinseled star discarded in the street like last week's TV Guide. The photo says it all, doesn't it?
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"Facts are indubitably facts, and wish-thinking has no place in science."*
—The Rotarian (Jan. 1938)
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| *If Merriam (or Webster?) is correct that indubitably is not the kind of word that gets used in everyday conversation, except perhaps for humorous effect, then insert comedy drum roll here. |
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An illustration from a 1921 issue of Harper's magazine. The caption reads: "Above you the speech of unseen voyagers going north."
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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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You'll recall that in January of 2011 we presented an Internet first: an actual lime bathed in limelight. We're now prepared to reveal the word that made it all possible: pentadecylparatolylketone. It's the chemical makeup of limelight, and it's "the better part of valour," no less! This we learn in Punch, May 9, 1896. |
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We discovered a precursor to the Oompa-Loompas of Chocolate Factory fame, dating all the way back to 1896 in Punch. |
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| I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
(permalink) |
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We were honored to share with Kindred Spirit Magazine insights into our favorite mystical village, Portmeirion. In particular, we expand on how Portmeirion's sunken gardens, sunken forests, and sunken boats constitute a shamanic otherworld, but one so-well marked and so well-lit that seekers can wander safely entranced. Author Simon Wells, of The Rolling Stones: 365 Days and The Beatles: 365 Days fame, said of our travel guide, " Puzzling Portmeirion has detected a labyrinth of wonder and discovery that exists within the village’s many layers." |
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An illustration from a 1903 issue of Pall Mall magazine. The caption reads: "Imagine studying your Plato . . ."
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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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 We love this unspoken rainbow in Bananarama's song "Waterfall": It's like a waterfall coming down
Your love it just shines through me like the sun
Similarly: "You’ve painted time with an unspoken rainbow of gold." —T. Rue In an amazing coincidence (or was it a coincidence?) our tech wizard friend Gordon (of Smart Home Hacks fame) sent us, without explanation, magic beads that turn color in sunlight -- an unspoken rainbow if we ever heard/saw one! (See photo below.) Meanwhile, did you know that "colored stripes of some description" is a Googlewhack? For that matter, so is "mysterious colors in the air."
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Whimsical electrical poles then and now: the first image is from Punch, 1849, and the second is by Choi+Shine Architects (see photos of their stunning "The Land of Giants" electrical pylons on the Iceland landscape). Truly, "electricity dances in the air here" (Timothy Brown, Temple of the Troll God, 2001).
© 2011 Choi+Shine Architects. This image appears here for historical commentary.
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An illustration from an 1870 issue of Harper's magazine. The caption reads: "Do you see it? The amulet? There, there!"
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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 Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
(permalink) |
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Our work on Platonic solids tumbling through time is entitled Astragalomancy. It's all about how to divine the meanings of 21 discrete dice throws. Knowledge of ancient Greek divination rituals is unnecessary. The simple interpretations are clear-cut, based upon specific, indisputable references to history, mathematics, literature, mythology, and arcane sciences from around the world. Read more about about this work over at Amazon.com. This illustration of Lady Luck appears in Punch, 1877.
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Pecksniffery is the quality of being a pecksniffian (who who affects high moral principles). The word comes to us via the gift of Charles Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit, which features a character named Seth Pecksniff. Yet while Merriam-Webster traces the first known use of pecksniffery to 1849, we can prove better. We encountered the word (whimsically illustrated, no less!) in Punch, Vol. X, 1846, p. 149. (We do what we can!)
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An illustration from a 1914 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "I had left Europe for no reason except to discover the sun, and there were rumors that he was to be found in Egypt."
Dedicated to Christopher Knowles.
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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 1870 issue of Harper's magazine. The caption reads: "The doppelganger."
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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 Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
(permalink) |
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We were honored to consult on the Story Forge card deck for novelists, screenwriters, playwrights, and game masters. The deck is a marvelous accomplishment -- intriguing, inspiring, and as useful as it is fun. Every card is a steppingstone that illuminates and guides the writer toward the heart of his or her work. Indeed, the deck could be likened to a treasure map torn into bits. Each card offers clues, even as it invites us to detour to our heart's desire. The deck is the perfect diversion for anyone with writer's block, since it offers an alternate route to bypass the blockage. Pictured below, we drew "The Hidden" card: "Forces are reaching out from beyond the normal realm, attempting to intervene in mortal affairs for good or ill." But check out the reversed meaning — we like it even better: "The Threshold: Someone is being drawn into other realms, beginning a voyage that largely takes place outside the normal world." One neat thing about this card deck is that you're invited to cheat! If you don't like a card, you get to draw another one.
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"Iceland is indubitably one of the most interesting spots on the face of the globe."*
—The St. James's Magazine and United Empire Review (1862)
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| *If Merriam (or Webster?) is correct that indubitably is not the kind of word that gets used in everyday conversation, except perhaps for humorous effect, then insert comedy drum roll here. |
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An illustration from a 1913 issue of Scribner'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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An illustration from an 1891 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "Christianity versus paganism. The last fight."
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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 1872 issue of Harper's 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.] |
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Staring into the depths: an illustration from a 1901 issue of The Strand magazine. The caption reads: "He stared out into the blackness."
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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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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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An illustration from an 1895 issue of Scribner's magazine. The caption reads: "Was it a beam of light that I saw in the pathway, touching the pallid bloom of the tall cosmos-flower?"
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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 1895 issue of Scribner'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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"Consciousness manifests itself indubitably in man and therefore, glimpsed in this one flash of light, it reveals itself as having a cosmic extension and consequently as being aureoled by limitless prolongations in space and time."* — Frank Herbert & Bill Ransom, The Ascension Factor (1988)
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| *If Merriam (or Webster?) is correct that indubitably is not the kind of word that gets used in everyday conversation, except perhaps for humorous effect, then insert comedy drum roll here. |
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An illustration from an 1875 issue of Harper's magazine. The caption reads: "Then I sprang over the yawning chasm." Jonathan quips, " Always bring your trombone when springing over yawning chasms!"
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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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After fully 27 years, a rhetorical question gets answered during the concert film A Diamond in the Mind. Simon: [directing a lyric from the "The Reflex" to his keyboardist] "So why-y-y don't you use it?" Nick: "I'm saving it for later." |
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 "What surprised us, and may surprise you now that you see it, is the amount of effort you spend protecting your 'I'm great' turf." — Tribal Leadership (2012)
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A surrealist illustration from a 1906 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "A tornado that lifted me off my feet and flung me headlong to the pavement."
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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 1880 issue of Harper's magazine. The caption reads: "The mystic ball of fire."
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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 a 1900 issue of The Strand magazine. The caption reads: "Monsieur Bibi's boom-boom stepped out."
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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An illustration from an 1885 issue of Harper's magazine. The caption reads: "View East from Ampersand."
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| *If Merriam (or Webster?) is correct that indubitably is not the kind of word that gets used in everyday conversation, except perhaps for humorous effect, then insert comedy drum roll here. |
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An illustration from an 1883 issue of Harper's magazine. The caption reads: "The night's Plutonian shore."
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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 1876 issue of Harper's magazine. The caption reads: "For the night deepens, and without the gate evil spirits hide and wait."
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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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"We say 'rose' and mean 'rose, because a rose is a rose is a rose.' But the truth is that words really have no meaning that isn't socially constructed." — Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Writing, the Sacred Art (2012)
Photo by National Assembly For Wales / Cynulliad Cymru.
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An illustration from an 1897 issue of The Strand magazine. The caption reads: "Extinguishing a candle on a man's hat."
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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 1886 issue of Harper's magazine. The caption reads: "Mary teaching Jesus the alphabet."
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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 a 1910 issue of Hampton'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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"Hysterico Vaporous Hypo Megrins," a (fictional) diagnosis for a condition in which one is unstuck in time; the patient is lost to the present even as the future and the past loom up before his half-closed eyes. This phrase appears in a poem entitled "Heroic Treatment," by a certain G.A.K., printed in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 75, Aug. 1887, p. 483.
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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 Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought |
(permalink) |
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An illustration from an 1899 issue of Pall Mall 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 1887 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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Original Content Copyright © 2025 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.
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"Don't take this the wrong way, but I haven't seen you looking this relaxed in years."
"Since it bears repeating, let us say it again: you don't need to be ill to get help."
