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.
"[continues without heeding her.]" From Drawing-Room Plays, selected and adapted from the French by Lady Adelaide Cadogan and illustrated by E. L. Shute, 1888.
A duck-headed butler opening the door for a Poe-esque gentleman? Check. (By the way, that's a precursor to David Lynch's commercial for the Sony Playstation, in which a duck says, "Welcome to the 'third place.'") A faceless figure surrounded by disembodied cackling faces? Check. A crow in a jacket standing on a meditative sheep while an anthropomorphic dice cup spills and kills an innocent bystander? Check. A skeleton holding the Ace of Hearts? Check. Edward Gorey-esque despair on a settee? Check. Granted, the figure blowing his head off does seem rather too much. From Judy, Or The London Serio-Comic Journal, 1884.