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, and a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly. 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.
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Lulu and Volume II from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle.
I reached most of my goals, but I didn’t do it in a conventional way. I did it using the oldest trick in the book. Sex. —Karrine Steffans, Confessions of a Video Vixen (2005)
Did you hear that Hollywood is doing another one of those movie mashups, like Alien vs. Predator? This time they're sending Indiana Jones into Flatland. Indy's going to be in search of "the arc of the covalent."
I visited Merriam-Webster online just now. Due to browser sluggishness, the consonants in the phonetic display of "bookkeeper" loaded first (presumably because the vowels, which are all represented with accent marks, are special characters). For just an instant, M-W was an all-consonant dictionary!
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Lulu and Volume II from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle.
The enchanting artist Apollonia the Red created a marvelous color palette in honor of my Professor Oddfellow persona. Entitled "Hail to the Prof," it is based upon a photo of me playing a version of the strategy game "Cathedral" with miniature architectural landmarks.
The colors (left to right) of the Hail to the Prof palette are: Olive: #787830 Different Path: #786030 Pluto Moss: #001818 Laca China: #E90909 Fruit Kiss: #F0A890
Piecing together the secret of divine civilization . . .
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
Q: Why does it seem to take forever to drive across New York State?
A: Because of the shape and geographical orientation of New York State, time actually slows down north of New York City and makes all travel seem incredibly monotonous. Einstein called this the Upstate Temporal Distortion Effect, which he discovered during a trip from Princeton to Cornell. Note that it also explains the phenomenon of the "New York Minute."
Recent studies have suggested that the magnetic field of the earth has a slight "bulge" around New York State, now thought to be related to the type of metal reinforcements used in the structural mass of the Erie Canal locks, and this could explain the time-dilation effect.
(Literary humorist Jonathan Caws-Elwitt's plays, stories, essays,
letters, parodies, wordplay, witticisms and miscellaneous tomfoolery
can be found at Monkeys 1, Typewriters 0.
Here you'll encounter frivolous, urbane writings about symbolic yams,
pigs in bikinis, donut costumes, vacationing pikas, nonexistent movies,
cross-continental peppermills, and other compelling subjects.)
I wonder if this 1889 drawing of a daredevil girl on a horse (both made from bottle corks and burnt matches) was an early attempt to educate children on the dangers of smoking and drinking.
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Lulu and Volume II from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle.
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
At the Met Museum, "The Unicorn Tapestries display the medieval desire for interpreting in history and nature a vast interlocking network of symbols. The tapestries may be read as the popular tale of the hunt for the elusive magical unicorn."
According to this article, seeing a mountain lion in the wild is akin to "tracking a unicorn."
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
Do-Re-Midi!, by Linsomnia. The purple is entitled "Wordsmith," the yellow is "One Letter Words," the green is "Verbiage," the light blue is "The Odd Fellow," and the darker blue is "Lexis."
Piecing together the secret of the crystalskull . . .
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
Photographer Eli Shams recalls the story of this portrait of a sun-starer:
Pacing small lanes of old Banaras, I followed this sadhu coming back from the river with his traditionnal pot. I liked his steps, and when he stopped to sprinkle Ganga holy water on some children, I asked him for a picture. [He raised his eyes to stare into the sun.] I waited for him to look at the camera, and waited, but he was frozen So I shot, than he relaxed. I asked why ??? He said : "I am nothing great, so I wanted you to have the sun in my eyes."
Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Lulu and Volume II from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle.
Early 20th-century postcards celebrating the Fourth of July. One from 1908 depicts shooting at cats as part of the celebration. Several address fireworks safety, with one "humorously" offering this advice: "How to prevent your boy being killed on the Fourth of July—kill him on the third."
I prefer this cover from the Civil War Harper's Weekly, July 8, 1865, depicting the spirit of peace transforming the battlefield.
Prof. Oddfellow's excellent Spooky Pagoda palette lit a fire in my brain as I struggled to remember a spooky pagoda I've seen before. Then I remembered: there's always a fantastic light display in the local botanical garden at Christmastime; unfortunately, in the Japanese themed garden, they forgo the Christmas lights and use large red and green floodlights instead. The result is creepy as all get out. Seeing a bare-limbed Japanese maple under blinding red light gives one the idea what the shrubbery in hell must be like. Anyway, thanks to Prof. Oddfellow for reminding me that interesting colors can be found in creepy photos and not just the "beauty shots."
Re: the "Spooky Pagoda" palette, moonlight and lanterns illuminate the tiles, woods, and metal work of the oldest structure in Los Angeles—the pagoda at the pool of the Hollywood Hills Hotel below the Yamashiro restaurant. This night shot I took inspired the Spooky Pagoda color palette at ColourLovers.com.
Printed collections of Forgotten Wisdom diagrams are available: Volume I from Lulu and Volume II from Amazon. Selected posters are also available via Zazzle.
I am leaving today - no more to say You can find yourself some hooker if you really need a lay You can keep your dope and whiskey and your chain-smoker's cough And just wallow for eternity in liquor and sloth
Not your average dictionary, if I do say so myself.
With
"hindpsych," the answer is "yes," the moon landing was faked by NASA! The first card in our Tarot spread, the Five of Pentacles, depicts two figures limping past the star-filled stained glass window of a church. The figures are stooped, bandaged, and barefooted; one walks on crutches. The figures suggest that NASA is "handicapped," hobbling along on rudimentary technology. The figures don't notice the warmth offered by the church behind them, suggesting that NASA is unable to find a solution to its technological hardships. The middle card, the Four of Cups, depicts a figure sitting under a tree, looking at three cups before him and not noticing a fourth cup being offered from "on high." This fourth cup in the clouds represents the Moon. NASA is too focused on earthly matters to set its sights on the sky. The third card, the Hierophant, symbolizes power: political, religious, and military force. The Hierophant is making a proclamation, his right hand pointed to the heavens. The powers that be announce a successful Moon landing. Yet we can say
with confidence that NASA, whether hobbling on crutches or sitting cross-legged under a tree, isn't going anywhere. The Apollo mission was a hoax, and we can now move on.
Tarot cards colored by Prof. Oddfellow from Public Domain artwork.
* Historians must reconstruct the past out of hazy memory. "Once upon a time" requires "second sight." The "third eye" of intuition can break the "fourth wall" of conventional perspectives. Instead of "pleading the fifth," historians can take advantage of the "sixth sense" and be in "seventh heaven." All with the power of hindpsych, the "eighth wonder of the world." It has been said that those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. Therein lies the importance of Tarot readings for antiquity. When we confirm what has already occurred, we break the shackles of the past, freeing ourselves to chart new courses into the future.
Piecing together the secret of the crossroads . . .
* The most profound secrets lie not wholly in knowledge, said the poet. They lurk invisible in that vitalizing spark, intangible, yet as evident as the lightning—the seeker's soul. Solitary digging for facts can reward one with great discoveries, but true secrets are not discovered—they are shared, passed on in confidence from one to another. The genuine seeker listens attentively.
No secret can be transcribed, save in code, lest it—by definition—cease to be. This Book of Whispers collects and encodes more than one hundred of humankind's most cherished secrets. To be privy to the topics alone is a supreme achievement, as each contains and nurtures the seed of its hidden truth. As possessor and thereby guardian of this knowledge, may you summon the courage to honor its secrets and to bequeath it to one worthy.
This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
This puzzle grid contains several big words. Can you find them?
Update on my "
