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.
Featured Book
The Young Wizard's Hexopedia
Search Site
Interactive

•  Breathing Circle
•  Music Box Moment
•  Cautious or Optimistic
•  King of Hearts of War and Peace
•  As I Was, As I Am
•  Perdition Slip
•  Loves Me? Loves Me Not?
•  Wacky Birthday Form
•  Test Your ESP
•  Chess-Calvino Dictionary
•  Amalgamural
•  Is Today the Day?
•  100 Ways I Failed to Boil Water
•  "Follow Your Bliss" Compass
•  "Fortune's Navigator" Compass
•  Inkblot Oracle
•  Luck Transfer Certificate
•  Eternal Life Coupon
•  Honorary Italian Grandmother E-card
•  Simple Answers

Collections

•  A Fine Line Between...
•  A Rose is a ...
•  Always Remember
•  Ampersands
•  Annotated Ellipses
•  Apropos of Nothing
•  Book of Whispers
•  Call it a Hunch
•  Colorful Allusions
•  Did You Hear the One I Just Made Up?
•  Disguised as a Christmas Tree
•  Do-Re-Midi
•  Don't Take This the Wrong Way
•  Everybody's Doing This Now
•  Forgotten Wisdom
•  Glued Snippets
•  Go Out in a Blaze of Glory
•  Haunted Clockwork Music
•  Hindpsych: Erstwhile Conjectures by the Sometime Augur of Yore
•  How to Believe in Your Elf
•  How to Write a Blank Book
•  I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought
•  Images Moving Through Time
•  Indubitably (?)
•  Inflationary Lyrics
•  It Bears Repeating
•  It's Really Happening
•  Last Dustbunny in the Netherlands
•  Miscellanies of Mr. Jonathan
•  Neither Saint- Nor Sophist-Led
•  No News Is Good News
•  Non-Circulating Books
•  Nonsense Dept.
•  Not Rocket Science
•  Old News
•  Oldest Tricks in the Book
•  On One Condition
•  One Mitten Manager
•  Only Funny If ...
•  P I n K S L i P
•  Peace Symbols to Color
•  Pfft!
•  Phosphenes
•  Postcard Transformations
•  Precursors
•  Presumptive Conundrums
•  Puzzles and Games
  
-  Constellations
  
-  D-ictionary
  
-  Film-ictionary
  
-  Letter Grids
  
-  Tic Tac Toe Story Generator
  
-  Which is Funnier
•  Restoring the Lost Sense
•  Rhetorical Answers, Questioned
•  Rhetorical Questions, Answered!
•  Semicolon Moons
•  Semicolon's Dream Journal
•  Separated at Birth?
•  Simple Answers
•  Someone Should Write a Book on ...
•  Something, Defined
•  Staring at the Sun
•  Staring Into the Depths
•  Strange Dreams
•  Strange Prayers for Strange Times
•  Suddenly, A Shot Rang Out
•  Sundials
•  Telescopic Em Dashes
•  Temporal Anomalies
•  The 40 Most Meaningful Things
•  The Ghost in the [Scanning] Machine
•  The Only Certainty
•  The Right Word
•  This May Surprise You
•  This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea
•  Two Sides / Same Coin
•  Uncharted Territories
•  Unicorns
•  We Are All Snowflakes
•  What I Now Know
•  What's In a Name
•  Yearbook Weirdness
•  Yesterday's Weather
•  Your Ship Will Come In

Archives

•  September 2025
•  August 2025
•  July 2025
•  June 2025
•  May 2025
•  April 2025
•  March 2025
•  February 2025
•  January 2025
•  December 2024
•  November 2024
•  October 2024
•  September 2024
•  August 2024
•  July 2024
•  June 2024
•  May 2024
•  April 2024
•  March 2024
•  February 2024
•  January 2024
•  December 2023
•  November 2023
•  October 2023
•  September 2023
•  August 2023
•  July 2023
•  June 2023
•  May 2023
•  April 2023
•  March 2023
•  February 2023
•  January 2023
•  December 2022
•  November 2022
•  October 2022
•  September 2022
•  August 2022
•  July 2022
•  June 2022
•  May 2022
•  April 2022
•  March 2022
•  February 2022
•  January 2022
•  December 2021
•  November 2021
•  October 2021
•  September 2021
•  August 2021
•  July 2021
•  June 2021
•  May 2021
•  April 2021
•  March 2021
•  February 2021
•  January 2021
•  December 2020
•  November 2020
•  October 2020
•  September 2020
•  August 2020
•  July 2020
•  June 2020
•  May 2020
•  April 2020
•  March 2020
•  February 2020
•  January 2020
•  December 2019
•  November 2019
•  October 2019
•  September 2019
•  August 2019
•  July 2019
•  June 2019
•  May 2019
•  April 2019
•  March 2019
•  February 2019
•  January 2019
•  December 2018
•  November 2018
•  October 2018
•  September 2018
•  August 2018
•  July 2018
•  June 2018
•  May 2018
•  April 2018
•  March 2018
•  February 2018
•  January 2018
•  December 2017
•  November 2017
•  October 2017
•  September 2017
•  August 2017
•  July 2017
•  June 2017
•  May 2017
•  April 2017
•  March 2017
•  February 2017
•  January 2017
•  December 2016
•  November 2016
•  October 2016
•  September 2016
•  August 2016
•  July 2016
•  June 2016
•  May 2016
•  April 2016
•  March 2016
•  February 2016
•  January 2016
•  December 2015
•  November 2015
•  October 2015
•  September 2015
•  August 2015
•  July 2015
•  June 2015
•  May 2015
•  April 2015
•  March 2015
•  February 2015
•  January 2015
•  December 2014
•  November 2014
•  October 2014
•  September 2014
•  August 2014
•  July 2014
•  June 2014
•  May 2014
•  April 2014
•  March 2014
•  February 2014
•  January 2014
•  December 2013
•  November 2013
•  October 2013
•  September 2013
•  August 2013
•  July 2013
•  June 2013
•  May 2013
•  April 2013
•  March 2013
•  February 2013
•  January 2013
•  December 2012
•  November 2012
•  October 2012
•  September 2012
•  August 2012
•  July 2012
•  June 2012
•  May 2012
•  April 2012
•  March 2012
•  February 2012
•  January 2012
•  December 2011
•  November 2011
•  October 2011
•  September 2011
•  August 2011
•  July 2011
•  June 2011
•  May 2011
•  April 2011
•  March 2011
•  February 2011
•  January 2011
•  December 2010
•  November 2010
•  October 2010
•  September 2010
•  August 2010
•  July 2010
•  June 2010
•  May 2010
•  April 2010
•  March 2010
•  February 2010
•  January 2010
•  December 2009
•  November 2009
•  October 2009
•  September 2009
•  August 2009
•  July 2009
•  June 2009
•  May 2009
•  April 2009
•  March 2009
•  February 2009
•  January 2009
•  December 2008
•  November 2008
•  October 2008
•  September 2008
•  August 2008
•  July 2008
•  June 2008
•  May 2008
•  April 2008
•  March 2008
•  February 2008
•  January 2008
•  December 2007
•  November 2007
•  October 2007
•  September 2007
•  August 2007
•  July 2007
•  June 2007
•  May 2007
•  April 2007
•  March 2007
•  February 2007
•  January 2007
•  December 2006
•  November 2006
•  October 2006
•  September 2006
•  August 2006
•  July 2006
•  June 2006
•  May 2006
•  April 2006

Links

•  Magic Words
•  Jonathan Caws-Elwitt
•  Martha Brockenbrough
•  Gordon Meyer
•  Dr. Boli
•  Serif of Nottingblog
•  dbqp
•  Phantasmaphile
•  Ironic Sans
•  Brian Sibley's Blog
•  Neat-o-Rama
Abecedarian personal effects of 'a mad genius'
A Turkish Delight of musings on languages, deflations of metaphysics, vauntings of arcana, and great visual humor.

Found 40 posts tagged ‘storm’

Everybody's Doing This Now – October 3, 2018 (permalink)

From Ulk, 1926.
> read more from Everybody's Doing This Now . . .
#vintage illustration #rainy day #storm
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – August 6, 2018 (permalink)

From Kladderadatsch, 1931.
*Inspired by the world's only accurate meteorological report, "Yesterday's Weather," as seen on Check It Out.
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #rainy day #umbrella #dog #storm #inclement #illustration #bad weather
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – August 1, 2018 (permalink)

From Der Orchideengarten, 1920.
*Inspired by the world's only accurate meteorological report, "Yesterday's Weather," as seen on Check It Out.
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #ornate frame #lightning #storm #ornate border #illustration
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea – April 7, 2018 (permalink)

From Fliegende Blätter, 1927.
   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `
"The sea is a cruel mistress. Yet again the sea has behaved unconscionably. It's time to address this terrible problem that is the sea." —Captain Neddie, from the hilarious BBC series Broken News
> read more from This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea . . .
#vintage illustration #storm #shipwrecked #stranded #art
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – January 24, 2018 (permalink)

"That dreadful light burned into my brain."  From They that Sit in Darkness by John Mackie, 1897.
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #lightning #storm #illustration
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – January 5, 2018 (permalink)

From Die Muskete, 1920.
*Inspired by the world's only accurate meteorological report, "Yesterday's Weather," as seen on Check It Out.
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #clouds #storm #illustration #sky man #man in the clouds #man in the sky #man of storms
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – December 20, 2016 (permalink)

From The Adventures of Peterkin by Gilly Bear and illustrated by Helen E. Ohrenschall, 1916.
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #fairy #fairy tale #lightning #storm #illustration
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – July 19, 2016 (permalink)

From Judy, Or The London Serio-Comic Journal, 1872.
*Inspired by the world's only accurate meteorological report, "Yesterday's Weather," as seen on Check It Out.
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #umbrella #lightning #storm #illustration
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – May 24, 2016 (permalink)

An illustration from Rhyme and Reason by Lewis Carroll (1884).
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #ghost #spirit #howling #storm #lewis carroll #illustration #art
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Restoring the Lost Sense – August 15, 2015 (permalink)

 Here's light on an important subject, from an 1893 advertisement.

[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.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#illumination #lightning #light #storm #thunderstrom
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – February 15, 2015 (permalink)

From The Boy Travellers in Australasia by Thomas Wallace Knox, 1889.
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#mayhem #wind #storm
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – February 9, 2015 (permalink)

"In the storm," from The Seat of Empire by Charles Carleton Coffin, 1870.
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #storm #illustration
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – January 12, 2015 (permalink)

"The storm," from The Story of an Ocean Tramp by Charles Clark, 1898
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #storm #illustration
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – October 10, 2014 (permalink)

"Soon there was a regular storm," from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain.
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #lightning #storm
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – September 29, 2014 (permalink)

"Chased by a storm," from Roughing It by Mark Twain.
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #storm #illustration
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea – August 13, 2014 (permalink)

"The storm increased," from Roughing It by Mark Twain.
   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `
"The sea is a cruel mistress. Yet again the sea has behaved unconscionably. It's time to address this terrible problem that is the sea." —Captain Neddie, from the hilarious BBC series Broken News
> read more from This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea . . .
#ship #sea #storm
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – November 13, 2013 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1885 issue of Frank Leslie's Sunday magazine.  The caption reads: "Through the white streets, while the pitiless storm raged around her."
*Inspired by the world's only accurate meteorological report, "Yesterday's Weather," as seen on Check It Out.
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #storm #illustration
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Yesterday's Weather – August 21, 2013 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1853 issue of Punch magazine.
> read more from Yesterday's Weather . . .
#vintage illustration #storm #cape #illustration #against the wind
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea – January 22, 2012 (permalink)

An illustration from an 1878 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "Nearing the end."
   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `
"The sea is a cruel mistress. Yet again the sea has behaved unconscionably. It's time to address this terrible problem that is the sea." —Captain Neddie, from the hilarious BBC series Broken News
> read more from This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea . . .
#vintage illustration #lightning #storm #stormy sea
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest

Restoring the Lost Sense – November 26, 2007 (permalink)

I find this cartoon from Punch (Aug. 8, 1917) quite intruguing.  The caption reads:

Betty (after flash of lightning): "COUNT QUICKLY, JENNY!  MAKE IT AS FAR AWAY AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN."

As I see it, the children have learned a formula about determining the distance of a storm, and because the formula involves chanting numbers, it has taken on mystical qualities.  Jenny acts as the shaman, besought by Betty to repel the storm with her incantation.  Betty will presumably count backward, to reverse and thereby neutralize the machinations of the storm.  The cartoon was no doubt intended as an easy laugh, but I see quite a depth of implications!
[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.]
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #magick #incantation #thunder #lightning #storm #illustration
Tumblr Twitter Facebook Pinterest


Original Content Copyright © 2025 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.