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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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 14 posts tagged ‘destruction’

Restoring the Lost Sense – May 25, 2028 (permalink)

From Amrita, 1964.
[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 #imp #destruction #1960s #illustration #disorder #entropy #decline
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 14, 2028 (permalink)

From Popular Science Monthly, 1916.
[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 #destruction #war #illustration #1910s #juggernaut
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 8, 2026 (permalink)

From Popular Science Monthly, 1916.
[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 #destruction #illustration #1910s #juggernaut
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Restoring the Lost Sense – September 17, 2021 (permalink)

"Whom the gods would destroy."  From Wid's Daily, 1919.
[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 ad #destruction #god #vintage hollywood #blood #hollywood #ad
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 22, 2020 (permalink)

From Lustige Blätter, 1914.
[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 #ghost #death #destruction #war #spirit of war
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Yearbook Weirdness – September 19, 2019 (permalink)

Anything we say about this photo will constitute slander, and we don't need smiling m*niacs coming after us with axes, gas cans, and a hatred of culture.  From Washington & Lee's 1980 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage photo #destruction #piano #vintage yearbook #yearbook
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 13, 2019 (permalink)

From Kladderadatsch, 1923.
[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 #destruction #ruins #impermanence #buddha #ruined temple #fallen temple
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Yesterday's Weather – February 4, 2019 (permalink)

"He delights in storms and destruction," from Satan, His Origin, Work, and Destiny by Carlyle B. Haynes, 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 #devil #satan #destruction #storm #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – October 16, 2018 (permalink)

From L'Assiette au Beurre, 1907.
[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 #destruction #giant coin #art
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 19, 2017 (permalink)

"Now she brought the horn handle of the crop down upon the vase with all the strength of her arm."  From Lucy of the Stars by Frederick Palmer and illustrated by Alonzo Kimball, 1906.
[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 #destruction #vase #illustration
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Go Out in a Blaze of Glory – September 26, 2015 (permalink)

Dancing to celebrate the destruction of the world.  From Earthquakes by Arnold Boscoqitz and translated by Coulson Bell Pitman, 1890.

> read more from Go Out in a Blaze of Glory . . .
#vintage illustration #end of the world #apocalypse #death dance #destruction #earthquake #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – February 22, 2015 (permalink)

"Cut the pictures into strips and ribbons," from The Heart of Princess Osra by Anthony Hope, 1896.
[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 #destruction #illustration #art critic #everyone's an art critic #willful destruction
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Restoring the Lost Sense – October 25, 2014 (permalink)

An illustration from The Child's Own Poetry Book by Horace George Groser (1887).  The caption reads: "They called me a destructive child."
[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 #destruction #illustration #broken toys
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Restoring the Lost Sense – December 26, 2013 (permalink)

The serpents are emblazoned with death, destruction, murder, mischief, madness, brutality, robbery, and blasphemy. From The Working Man's Friend and Family Instructor (1833).  The caption reads: "Will you take a glass?"
[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 . . .
#macabre #death #serpent #goblet #murder #poison #mischief #destruction #madness #brutality #blasphemy
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Original Content Copyright © 2025 by Craig Conley. All rights reserved.