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.
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A Turkish Delight of musings on languages, deflations of metaphysics, vauntings of arcana, and great visual humor.

Found 1,564 posts tagged ‘book’

Yearbook Weirdness – April 28, 2020 (permalink)

Catching wisdom between two kites, from atop a mountain of books.  From Henderson's 1910 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #books #vintage yearbook #yearbook #kite
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Yearbook Weirdness – April 27, 2020 (permalink)

We initially misread this to say, "Books often give way more to important pastimes."  From Canton Community College's 1967 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#books #vintage photo #vintage yearbook #sleeping #yearbook #college #student
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This May Surprise You – April 23, 2020 (permalink)

Yes, even Uncle Sam uses a ghost writer.  Here's an "as told to" autobiography (when it comes to Uncle Sam, of course, history is autobiography): The Unpopular History of the United States by Uncle Sam Himself As Recorded in Uncle Sam's Own Words by Harris Dickson, 1917.
> read more from This May Surprise You . . .
#vintage illustration #uncle sam #old book
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Yearbook Weirdness – April 18, 2020 (permalink)

It's dangerous for a book to carry a torch.  From Elmhurst's 1944 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage yearbook #yearbook #book #illustration #torch
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I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought – April 17, 2020 (permalink)

Unusual to see a byline shared with elm trees.  Yet who better than hedge-row elms to know about the countryside?  And Mr. Woodward is aptly named, for whether we head woodward, hillockward, mountainward, rivuletward, or valleyward, we'll undoubtedly learn to enjoy the countryside.  From How to Enjoy the Countryside by Marcus Woodward, undated.
> read more from I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought . . .
#old book #countryside
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Yearbook Weirdness – April 6, 2020 (permalink)

From Ohio Wesleyan University's 1923 yearbook.An illustration by D. Beck for Ohio Wesleyan's 1923 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage yearbook #yearbook #book #gem #diamond #radiant
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Yearbook Weirdness – April 5, 2020 (permalink)

A throne atop a giant book.  Yet he didn't remove his shoes.  From Monmouth's 1913 yearbook.
What is this theme of shoes on books?  Also pictured is one from Bennett's 1966 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #king #vintage yearbook #yearbook #giant book #throne
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 4, 2020 (permalink)

You noticed how dumbed-down movies are, and here's why -- the dictionary ran out in 1934.  In case viewers couldn't follow the simple statement, both the projection room and dictionary are labeled.  The artist put the book title on the back cover.  From The Film Daily, 1934.
[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 #anthropomorphism #dictionary #1930s #dumbed down #walking dictionary
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Yearbook Weirdness – March 29, 2020 (permalink)

Reblog if you walk through the valley of giant books.
From Mary Washington's 1947 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #books #vintage yearbook #yearbook #giant books
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 28, 2020 (permalink)

[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 book #book #manx cross #isle of man
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This May Surprise You – March 27, 2020 (permalink)

You've heard of the art crowd, but did you know they're color-by-number?  From The Art Crowd by Sophy Burnham, 1973.
> read more from This May Surprise You . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage book #book #art #color by numbers
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 26, 2020 (permalink)

From Japan and Its Art by Marcus Bourne Huish, 1912.
[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 #japanese #sleeping #book
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Precursors – March 9, 2020 (permalink)

A decade before Jonathan Livingston Seagull, there was Evangeline: Pigeon of Paris by Natalie Savage Carlson, 1960.
> read more from Precursors . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage book #bird #book #pigeon
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 7, 2020 (permalink)

From Le Charivari, 1847.
[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 #book #quill pen
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Yearbook Weirdness – February 26, 2020 (permalink)

"Her book."  From Lasell's 1929 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #reading #vintage yearbook #yearbook #book #ex libris #bookplate #marbled paper
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The Right Word – February 25, 2020 (permalink)

Here are four different / same books by Dostoevsky / Dostoyevsky / Dostoieffsky: Injury and Insult, The Insulted and Humiliated, The Insulted and Injured, and Humiliated and Insulted.  We wonder if even a single person on earth has read all four.
> read more from The Right Word . . .
#vintage book #dostoevsky #dostoyevsky #same book different title #book titles
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A Rose is a ... – February 21, 2020 (permalink)

A rose is a peacock feather.  From Rosa Amorosa by George Egerton, 1901.
> read more from A Rose is a ... . . .
#vintage book #book #peacock feather #rose
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Restoring the Lost Sense – February 21, 2020 (permalink)

When a bookworm doubles as a bookmark.  From Unknown magazine, July 1940.
[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 #horror #bookworm #hands of god #1940s
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The Right Word – February 15, 2020 (permalink)

"The word-hoard."  From Handbook of the Old-Northern Runic Monuments of Scandinavia and England by George Stephens, 1884.
> read more from The Right Word . . .
#old book #word hoard
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Yearbook Weirdness – February 8, 2020 (permalink)

Dancing on a dictionary.  From Colorado College's 1927 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage yearbook #dancing #yearbook #dictionary
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