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.
We take great pains and risk eye damage to capture lens flares in our photos, and stamping "flare" in the vicinity of the sun is cheating. From Infantry magazine, 1980.
"In the flickering shadows cast by a dying fire, a couple sat talking quietly, holding close a moment against the onrush of time." From Mary Washington's yearbook of 1951.
As it spans two pages, one might say this is a cracked hall of mirrors. It brings back nightmares from that time we, too, were trapped within a shattered hall of mirrors.
Without special glasses, the only way to see the world like this is to "start changing the way you look at life, from your heart's point of view" (Women of Wisdom Spoken Word).
"Sentinel pines marshalling the magic way to fairyland." This photo may indeed be used to facilitate journeys into the otherworld. From the University of Wisconsin's 1914 yearbook.
With the full moon and the lamp post as coordinates, this photograph may be used as a tool for facilitating time travel. From the University of Washington's 1923 yearbook.