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.
With the quill dipped in blood, the incredibly long serpent, the see-through cloak, and the radiant halo, this one is truly jaw-dropping (see the third skull at the top). From State Female Normal School, Farmville, Va.'s 1900 yearbook. Explanations: How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
We thought this pigeon was triumphantly flying through confetti on New Year's Eve. Alas, the dots represent ammunition. We're worried that this pigeon did not make it to the New Year. From Letters to Young Shooters by Ralph Payne-Gallwey, 1895.
I don't think even Design Toscano has a legendary-hybrid-supported birdbath for dipping one's caught rodents. From The Mystic Bell by Edward Kuntze, 1869.