The Good Life... a weblog about life, technology, and the Opera Web browser

I've already written part of this once, but I had an unfortunate browser crash....

I first came across invisible creatures on the rmt-a newsgroups. They had a creature named the Invisible Purple Unicorn. More recently, some of my friends and I have begun seeing Invisible <Insert Color> Punchbuggies (a short aside: is it wrong to hit a woman when it's for a punchbuggie?). Anyway, today I came across a reference to purple cows over at Neil Gaiman's Blog for his upcoming novel, American Gods (from the blog of April 16th, 2001).

Purple Cow is a poem by Gelett Burgess. It reads:

The Purple Cow's Projected Feast:
Reflections on a Mythic Beast,
Who's Quite Remarkable, at Least.
  I never saw a purple cow,
  I never hope to see one;
  But I can tell you, anyhow,
  I'd rather see than be one.

Apparently, Burgess became agitated when he found that he was known only for that work and wrote:

CONFESSION: and a Portrait, Too,
Upon a Background that I Rue!
  Ah, Yes! I Wrote the Purple Cow --
  I'm Sorry, now, I Wrote it!
  But I can Tell you Anyhow,
  I'll Kill you if you Quote it!

Parodies of the poem are available.