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.
"It may surprise you, but walking downhill (and, similarly, walking down a flight of stairs) does a better job of improving glucose tolerance than walking uphill does." —Jack Challem, AARP Stop Prediabetes Now(2011)
6334863961_cc84643a12_oQ: "[What's] the proper pronunciation of the triple-m configuration when a vowel is blocking the rear exit[?]" —Jeff Hawkins
A: Recall that at the end of each episode of "The Dating Game," the host and winning contestants would dramatically blow a kiss to the viewers. When we make exaggerated kissing gestures, a lip-smacking "mmmwa" sound invariably accompanies the pantomime. That's the correct pronunciation of the final m in a triple-m configuration, even if the context is quarrelsome.
"In the caves at Lascaux there is a pictograph that perfectly maps the West London theater district." —Nathaniel Mackey, "Song of the Andoumboulou: 56," Hambone (2002)
An illustration from a 1904 issue of Saturday Evening Post magazine. The caption reads: "To reassure her he began doing incredible things with the big silver hoops." It was this illustration that inspired our article for Secret Art Journal, "Magic as Reassurance."