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've never heard a good explanation, but it's true that if comedy and tragedy masks are after you, a ukulele is the best defense. From Kansas State's 1928 yearbook.
You might have thought, applying your knowledge of surface geometry and plate tectonics, that only half the world could be between any two people. But, in fact, a whole world can separate us. [Sad.]
Nice Mona Lisa smile! From Greensboro's 1966 yearbook. See our previous proof that the craters of the moon line up exactly with the Mona Lisa's facial features.
Mortal fear of bad singing is a common theme in vintage magazines, but today's society seems to have lost that fear -- consider what's on the radio as evidence. From Butler's 1904 yearbook.
Our custom Uncanny Detector app caught a detail we would have missed: a dark, cloaked entity rising from the flames. (See enlargement.) From Wake Forest's 1952 yearbook. See How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
A mystery: did the writer or the recipient scratch out the signature? The inscription reads, "Dearest Lover, Darling (even). With all my love, I am writing this to you. Love, ------." Our guess: perhaps the recipient wished to hide the lover's identity but kept the sentiment intact so as to look back upon it. From Concordia's 1964 yearbook.
Here's a library ghost from the University of Maryland, College Park yearbook of 1976. Whether for payback or peace of mind, see How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.