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 73 posts tagged ‘ocean’

Restoring the Lost Sense – July 21, 2029 (permalink)

From Wee Wisdom, 1930.
[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 #seaside #faces in things #ocean #waves #1930s #illustration #coastline #poem #shore
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 5, 2029 (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 illustration #knight #ocean #1900s #illustration
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Your Ship Will Come In – November 27, 2028 (permalink)

From Appletons' School Readers Book 2, 1878.
* Our printed collection of vintage nautical postcards is entitled Your Ship Will Come In and is available from Amazon.com.
> read more from Your Ship Will Come In . . .
#vintage illustration #ship #ocean #waves #1870s #illustration
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Your Ship Will Come In – October 13, 2028 (permalink)

From Southwest Missouri State College's 1934 yearbook.
* Our printed collection of vintage nautical postcards is entitled Your Ship Will Come In and is available from Amazon.com.
> read more from Your Ship Will Come In . . .
#vintage illustration #ship #vintage yearbook #yearbook #ocean #waves #1930s #illustration
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Yearbook Weirdness – July 20, 2028 (permalink)

From the United States Naval Academy's 1962 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 #ocean #waves #1960s #endpapers #illustration
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This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea – May 10, 2028 (permalink)

From Chatterbox, 1916.
   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `
"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 #bird #ocean #sea #illustration #1910s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – December 10, 2027 (permalink)

From The Canadian Readers Book IV, 1881.
[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 #bird #ocean #sea #seagull #illustration #1880s
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This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea – October 21, 2027 (permalink)

"Down the maelstrom and up the water-spout."  From Hairbreadth Escapes of Major Mendax by Francis Blake Crofton, 1889.
   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `
"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 #shipwreck #ocean #illustration #waterspout #maelstrom
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This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea – September 11, 2027 (permalink)

From The Little Story House by Miriam Mason, 1935.
   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `
"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 #dog #ocean #sea #illustration #wave
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Staring at the Sun – August 3, 2027 (permalink)

"And there was light."  From David Lipscomb College's 1935 yearbook.
> read more from Staring at the Sun . . .
#religion #vintage illustration #sun #christianity #vintage yearbook #yearbook #ocean #biblical #1930s #illustration
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This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea – May 6, 2026 (permalink)

From The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border by Walter Scott and illustrated by John MacFarlane, 1908.
   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `
"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 #scotland #ocean #lost love #1900s #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 23, 2026 (permalink)

From Myself and I by Helen Van Valkenburgh and illustrated by Maginel Wright Enright, 1918.
[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 #swing #ocean #sea #swinging #wave
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 10, 2026 (permalink)

From Amrita, 1973.
[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 #ocean #1970s #illustration #shell
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Restoring the Lost Sense – February 16, 2026 (permalink)

From Wee Wisdom, 1924.
[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 #mermaid #ocean #sea #1920s #illustration #wave
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Restoring the Lost Sense – February 9, 2026 (permalink)

Sea lambs emerge from the foam.  From Wee Wisdom, 1924.
[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 #ocean #1920s #lamb #illustration #wave #sea lamb #foam
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Yearbook Weirdness – December 21, 2025 (permalink)

A rare ocean train, from Oberlin College's 1903 yearbook.

*For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #train #locomotive #vintage yearbook #ocean #1900s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 28, 2025 (permalink)

"Sea bathing has become the king of all the dry sports."  From High Society: Hints on How to Attain, Relish, and Survive It by Fish, 1915.
[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 #ocean #illustration #beach #1910s
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Old News – December 17, 2024 (permalink)

"Wrecked: the angry seas cried 'I'll get you, I'll get you.'"  From The Australian Women's Weekly, 1967.
> read more from Old News . . .
#shipwreck #ocean #sea #vintage headline #headline #sea problems
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This Terrible Problem That Is the Sea – July 29, 2024 (permalink)

From Lasell Junior College's 1965 yearbook.
   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(   ,(
`-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `-'  `
"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 #vintage yearbook #yearbook #ocean #wave
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Old News – May 30, 2024 (permalink)

"How deep is the ocean?"  From the Bombay Sunday Chronicle, 1947.
> read more from Old News . . .
#ocean #vintage headline
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