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.
"Please don't take this the wrong way, but ... do you ... do you have anything that would tend to prove your innocence?" —Gerald Petievich, The Sentinel
Reminiscent of a famous scene in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, here's an illustration from a 1902 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "From the smaller organ raved up a pandemonium of ghoulish execrations."
Here's a precursor to "love me, love my dog." An illustration from a 1918 issue of Harper's magazine. The caption reads: "Would you consider marrying me—and making a home for my dog?"
On a related note, here's the circular eddy resulting from a perfect spoon in a perfect cup, from Lectures in Magnetohydrodynamics by Dalton D. Schnack (in other words, we didn't make up this next diagram):
"The surprising truth is that, historically speaking, payola has often fostered musical diversity, rather than squelching it." —James Surowiecki, The New Yorker (July 12, 2004)