You Are Here, Hon.

Off the Map

2008-06-06T15:56:00.006-04:00

To My Ever Loyal Subjects
From Your Humble Servant, Her Majesty of Maps

It is with a sad heart and a deep sense of sorrow that I regretfully inform you that after much thought and deliberation, back and forth, give and take, sturm und drang (yeah, I looked it up!), I have made the painful yet inevitable decision:

Done.

Ye royal boyfriend has made Her Majesty an offer which ye (or, she) could not refuse. And believe it or not, and believe me when I say I NEVER thought this would happen, I am moving to, of all places:

Ohio.

Seriously. Ohio.

So suddenly, I need to pack (boxes or garbage bags? boxes or garbage bags?), help ye royal bf get rid of all (!!!) the “stuff” I do not wish to surround myself with and which does not meet with my royal sensibilities, and prepare myself to live in… Ohio.

Ohio!!!!!

So much to do, so little time. As a result, I have had to make some sacrifices. And you, my loyal subjects, are my sacrifice. This blog has been a blast. I have loved pretending that the scores or hundreds of you (some days are better than others) who wander to this page every day have said to yourself “very, very cool!” when looking at some neat or weird map. But alas… Googling takes time, and I am just plum out of it.

Mucho gracias for your readership and your interest, for your comments and your ideas. I loved following your leads and your links.

And I wish you the best in all your future endeavors. Map well.

Arms Race

2008-06-02T22:11:00.003-04:00

Not to pat myself on the back or anything… but Her Majesty, your royal servant of the map, is truly on the cutting edge. Remember my stalking obsession with mapping celebrities? And remember my posts about map tattoos? Well, I’ve found the jackpot!

Who knew… that one of Angelina Jolie’s tattoos is the map coordinates of the birthplaces of her children?

MapBlogMap(Blog)

2008-05-28T16:58:00.002-04:00

So here’s a neat (and somewhat obvious, which makes it all the neater) idea – a map of bloggers who blog about maps and other things. Check it out for NYC: http://www.nycbloggers.com/

Please Don't Stop the Music

2008-05-22T14:43:00.002-04:00

Help. I’ve fallen and I can’t get up. Waaaaaaay too much time on my hands yesterday. I’m now listening to map music.

Love this!

Famous, I guess.

Fun! (And annoying)

Check out the first track – not my style and very short but I can only imagine what the rest of it is like.

(Gracias, StrangeMaps, for the image. “This is a pretty clever translation of the shape of the world’s continents into the dots, ties and bars of traditional musical notation, but ironically, its main claim to harmony is visual, not aural.”)

Been There Done That, Still in Awe

2008-05-20T14:22:00.003-04:00

Some friends were in Baltimore for the Preakness festivities (not the actual race, mind you, just the drinking in the infield) so naturally, when they asked what there was to do in Baltimore, I whisked them away to the Walters Art Museum. (If I have to tell the truth… they asked to go.) Seriously… if you haven’t gone to see the exhibit Maps: Finding our Place in the World, then go. It’s only up for until June 8. My favorite map has changed – I’m now deciding if I like the map of Huron, IL made by Abe Lincoln (THE Abe Lincoln. How cool is that?) or the Rand McNally guide with directions (did I mention this once before?... the book which provides directions with a photo of every turn in a route)?

Inter-state – Inter-esting

2008-05-18T20:32:00.002-04:00

Cool. A map of the US Interstate system. Who cares if it’s not actually correct.

One Park

2008-05-16T14:56:00.004-04:00

I’m heading over to the Current Gallery this weekend to check out Welcome to One Park. Parks and People put together the exhibit about turning our local parks into one giant, connected park. Neat idea! And I’ve been promised there are lots of maps. So, in advance…very cool. See for yourself.

Aram Barthell, Hero

2008-05-15T10:37:00.004-04:00

Dear Aram, You should see me now, sitting on my sofa, with a huge smile on my face. And I’m giggling like a schoolgirl. You are clever and awesome. Her Majesty bows to you.

Out of Control

2008-05-12T12:59:00.004-04:00

Stop the madness. I am losing it. Everywhere I turn… everything I see… is a map.

This is the table at the fast food place where I got my lunch on Thursday.

This is the floor of the warehouse where I had to pick something up.

Oooooh, Shiny!

2008-05-07T16:28:00.006-04:00

Being Her Majesty and all, I really think that I should have my own collection of crowned jewels. So, if anyone is interested in helping me out…I am thinking that this globe, covered in 500,000 crystals, might be a good start.

It is part of Swarovski Crystal Palace, “an exhibition that pushes the boundaries of crystal to create contemporary interpretations of lighting, furniture and design.”

More importantly, it’s an awesome globe!
(Early Christmas present anyone?)

Land Of Make Believe

2008-05-05T16:22:00.002-04:00

One of my new GMU geography class buddies mentioned her favorite map of all time, The Land of Make Believe.” So naturally, I checked it out. You can too.

Freaking Out Children since the 1930’s
Found: Land of Make Believe

Those Crazy College Kids… Visit the Walters

2008-05-01T16:05:00.002-04:00

So, like, I mean, there is, like, this college class? And they, like, went to see the maps exhibit at, you know, the Walters Art Museum? And, like, for extra credit, they had to post a little sumpin’ sumpin’ on their blogs about the exhibit? And, like, it’s kinda neat to see what they said? So, like, if you wanna? You can read them here?

http://bensays2002.blogspot.com/2008/04/map-festival.html

http://ilikegeostuff.blogspot.com/2008/04/map-festival.html

http://dlader.blogspot.com/

http://serious310.blogspot.com/

http://procopiocartography.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-am-seaky-i-take-pictures-at-map.html

http://mp411.blogspot.com/

http://cartography310.blogspot.com/

http://rkcartboggle.blogspot.com/

Nonetheless, the students’ comments are pretty interesting, both for what they say about the exhibit and about college students. There are a couple of comments that the exhibit is small. Ok, but not really! There are more than 100 incredibly famous, important maps. I don’t know anyone who breezed through the exhibit or who didn’t follow their “it was smaller than I expected comment” with “but it was so cool!!”

Hey student Martha – “they didn’t have anything cool for sale.” What are you talking about?!? The lobby at the Walters is a huge gift shop with a ton of cool map stuff? It ain’t a Nordstroms, girlfriend!

Student Daniel…. you wanted to see more recent maps? Maybe I can explain. You see, honey, it’s a museum. The exhibit is about important maps in HISTORY. You know, that class you sleep through every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning.

And OMG! Give me a break. I hope your grades aren’t based on your command of the English language or your ability to spell words like “there” and “supposed.”

But I am impressed. You’re very polite. Every one of you who sneakily took pictures, even though you knew you weren’t supposed to, noted it in your blog. Very thoughtful (but still against the rules). And you’re very honest young people. (Or as student Ben would say, “young ppl.”) Some of you even titled your blogs “Extra Credit” instead of pretending you really would have written about it anyway. Commendable. And you’re taking a college class about maps – how cool is THAT?!?

Puzzling

2008-04-30T16:18:00.000-04:00

National Geographic Online has atlas puzzles - very, very cool! Addictive but in a good way. Go jigsaw your little heart out! I am not to blame for lost hours of productivity.

Look Now Look All Around

2008-04-28T16:13:00.006-04:00

Clearly I was going to go see something that City Paper described as “an elusive little show” about mapping. And I did. “Look Now Look All Around” is at the Maryland State Arts Council offices on West Ostend Street. Cool stuff – I especially liked the conversational maps by Emily Hunter. (hey… is this the Emily Hunter from Maryland Art Place?) Art meets language at the corner of Mapping and Interpretation. Nice!

Where in the World is…?

2008-04-25T11:14:00.003-04:00

A Friend Of A Friend sent me this photo. (My reputation as Her Majesty is spreading; I’m not sure if I’m flattered or a little bit creeped out.) My FOAF’s family has a wall-mounted map in their house where they plot every place they’ve been -- one color pin for trips where FOAF goes alone, another color for where Mrs. FOAF has been, and a third color for where they have been with their little FOAF kid-lings. Cool idea… and lucky kids! Look at all those pins in the Caribbean and Europe.

Down to the Wire

2008-04-24T15:43:00.003-04:00

You know by now that I’m not the craft type. But I’ll make an exception – when it’s a cool map. Like these, made by “The Wire Lady” Elizabeth Berrian. Suitable for hanging.

Never Lost

2008-04-23T16:07:00.007-04:00

The guy who helps me at my neighborhood Kinko’s has a tattoo of Poland on his arm. It got me thinking… and you know what that means…. Check these out

Ouch. But very cool.

But ouch!

Day and Night

2008-04-22T15:10:00.003-04:00

If you’re reading this in, say, Helsinki, and it’s oh, let’s say 9 pm here in Baltimore, then you should be in bed, fast asleep. It’s 4 in the morning there, nuthead! How do I know? Here’s how.

Raise Your Hand

2008-04-14T15:24:00.003-04:00

So here’s a neat thing… the Hand Drawn Map Association! www.handmaps.org (Who knew?!) What a way cool idea – a repository of, you guessed it, hand-drawn maps. I love it. I’m in. (see above: showing my mother how to get to Holy Frijoles in Hampden)

The Karmphleuterstam Provinces?

2008-04-13T21:06:00.002-04:00

Or a map depicting the political divisions of Traignothingham following the Mreptipol uprising? The topography of Ghreishenstat? Geothermographical waves in Qarestinen following the 2001 hurricane?

Nope. Just the bark of a tree at Pompeii. (I found this photo I took many years ago while I while organizing my pics last night.)

Let’s Map Some Trees

2008-04-11T15:38:00.003-04:00

Hey tree huggers: this Saturday is the opening event for the Urban Forest Project here in B’More. There are all these really cool designy banners being put up all over the city that celebrate trees and a driving tour (map above) where you can check them out. Here are the detes. I may check out the party Saturday at “the Beach” at Hopkins… free bands, why not?

Maps in Clay! (Who Knew?)

2008-04-09T16:08:00.004-04:00

I’ve never been one for molding things out of clay. After all, I AM her majesty. (Plus, I once took a pottery class and let’s just say things came out somewhat bumpy and lumpy… which made me grumpy.) But I am definitely pro-looking-at-people’s-work-who-are- sculpturally-inclined. And combine that with something about maps, and I’m there!

This past weekend I checked out another Baltimore Festival of Maps exhibition, Terra Incognita at Baltimore Clayworks. Rebecca Harvey, the awesomely mappy curator of the exhibit, wrote in something I saw “ I am interested in looking at the work of these artists in terms of mapping, in expanding the definition to include the abstraction of form and meaning, in a stripping away to uncover meaning. Can a map be a line, a pattern, a series of objects? How do we map the unknown? ” A woman after my own heart!

The exhibit has a little bit of everything, from colorful vases to circles filled with red clay (you know, like dirt) to shiny dinosaurs with their heads in the clouds. Very, very cool. Check out the exhibit for yourself at Clayworks’ online gallery. (You really should come to Baltimore for all this, my friends. You think I’m just going to keep filling you in on all the mappiness going on here. Well… maybe.)

I See London

2008-04-08T16:20:00.003-04:00

I’ve only been to London once and I am not planning on going any time soon. I don’t know anyone in London. And frankly, I don’t even know what most of what the maps are showing -- but this is waaaaaaaay cool. A University College researcher used the names of registered London voters to map the ethnicity of the city based on another researcher’s probability of what ethnicity the name was. (Get it?) (My people live north of central London.)

The map is also a cool way to check out lots of other way cool stuff that I don’t really know what it is but it’s still way cool. You can see the real routes of the London subway overlayed on the real city, crime, poverty, housing costs… neat-o!

See the Walters Exhibit from Your Barcalounger!

2008-04-07T17:13:00.001-04:00

Just in case you’re not in Baltimore, or near Baltimore, or coming to Baltimore (c’mon – it’s a nice place!) … you can still have a guided tour of the maps exhibit at the Walters Art Museum. Check out the YouTube videos with the curator Will Noel. Not quite the real thing but unless you’re coming to Charm City, you can sorta kinda get a sense of the exhibit. And it’s not so bad listening to Will’s oh-so-sexy voice of Noel wax prolific about things like cholera and Inuits, and say things like “the oldest map – evah!”

Ah-Choo(se a Map)

2008-04-04T16:28:00.004-04:00

Did you miss me? Her Majesty has been sneezing up a royal storm and coughing up ye annual royal phlegm the past few days. I’ve been a little under the weather and off the map. Not my favorite time of year. … except it gave me an excuse to do this:

The American Lung Association’s allergy map.

Check out the location of you favorite type of pollen (I’m more of a Betula Populifolia gal).

Who knew – sneeze fetishes! Had I known, I would have been the belle of the ball this week.

Happy AF Day

2008-04-01T12:13:00.005-04:00

And I don’t mean Abercrombie & Fitch! (I’m not that kind of princess).

It’s April Fools Day, which reminded me of one of my favorite maps - the “View of the World From 9^th Avenue” from the New Yorker. (Is it a cartoon? is it a map?... does it really matter?)

That reminded me of the “New Yorkistan” map from the New Yorker.

Here’s an interesting article about this genre of map.

Mapping Harry Potter

2008-03-31T19:05:00.003-04:00

How good are the Harry Potter books? So good that many people have drawn maps of Hogwarts based on the descriptions in the book – and they are wonderfully, surprisingly similar. Steve Vander Ark has created a scarily extensive (and I mean, yikes!) website of all-things-Harry Potter (so much so that JK Rowling sued him) with an Atlas of Hogwarts. It shows different peoples' maps of Hogwarts. Check it out, and if you dare, wander over to the other 700 pages of Harryphenalia. Seriously, yikes!

ZipScribble

2008-03-28T16:24:00.004-04:00

Asks a Mr. Robert Kosara: “What would happen if you were to connect all the ZIP codes in the US in ascending order? Is there a system behind the assignment of ZIP codes? Are they organized in a grid? The result is surprising and much more interesting than expected.” Here’s his answer.

I Missed My Calling

2008-03-27T15:52:00.002-04:00

The first time I said it, it was ridiculous. The second time, I was being facetious. Now, I’m beginning to wonder.

I should have been a curator.

Check out Gary Vikan’s blog post about Maps: Finding Our Place in the World. He is the very well known, very well educated, very well spoken director at the Walters Art Museum. There are about a gazillion incredible, famous, important, way cool maps in the exhibit that he could have written about. Let’s see, we got the Leo Belgicus lion map…. Napoleon’s march… the mammoth Coronelli Celestial globes…the first map ever made…. but noooooooooo! – he picks the same map that I said (to you) a few days ago was one of my favorites.

It’s now my favorite.

Hey Dr. Vikan, I have an MS degree! (Map Smarts). I received my PhD (Plotting Hard Directions). I studied at the Sorbonne (if by Sorbonne, you mean “so, you’re boning up on maps?”) If you need an extra curator, give me a shout.

Mapping Mount Vernon - The Good, The Bad and... The No Comment

2008-03-26T17:54:00.005-04:00

It is a gorgeous day in Baltimore and I used it as an opportunity to kill two birds (orioles, naturally) with one stone. I whipped out the Literary Mount Vernon Map, created by the Maryland Humanities Council for the Baltimore Festival of Maps, which I picked up last weekend, and started off on my walking tour. Naturally, I couldn’t ignore the infamous and forever to be famous gold chain link fence surrounding the Mount Vernon Parks.

First, Literary Mount Vernon. As I’ve said before, who knew?!... that F. Scott Fitzgerald and Tupac Shakur lived practically across the street from each other (not at the same time mind you, but still very cool). All of the ‘characters’ of Mount Vernon look like little bobble-heads! If you want to check it out for yourself, you can pick up a map at the Humanities Council or download one from their website.

And then…the Fence. No comment.

On Repeat

2008-03-25T17:18:00.005-04:00

You know how a song gets stuck in your head and you can’t stop singing it to yourself? Well, I’ve got 100 images stuck in my head. I can’t stop thinking about Maps: Finding Our Place in the World at the Walters Art Musuem.

I’m trying to pick my favorite piece in the exhibit. So far (for the moment, temporarily, for now) I’ve narrowed it down to two.

Geological map of England 1815-17

“The Map that Changed the World”, as it is often called, is very, very cool. It is the first geological map of England and it helped to correctly date the earth for the first time (not that there’s anything wrong with using the Bible as your guide, mind you). Plus – it is huge – 6’x 9’!

Map of London on Glove for the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Yes, I know the glove map is everywhere. It’s been a little over used to promote the exhibit - blah, blah, blah. Nonetheless it is very cool to actually see it in person. It was created for the first Worlds Fair in 1815. A lady visitor could wear it on her left hand and point out her destination with her right. A fashion accessory AND a map - what more could a girl ask for?

A new look at U.S.

2008-03-24T16:30:00.003-04:00

I’m not sure which is cooler – the map showing the influence of major cities or the neat magnifying function.

Finding My Place in the World

2008-03-19T16:58:00.001-04:00

So I think I’ve finally had time to digest all the mappy-ness I was exposed to this weekend. Not only did I get to listen to Kianga’s tour, I was privileged enough to see Maps: Finding Our Place in the World at the Walters on Friday night. (It was the Member’s Preview and my connection at the Walters scored me admission – I felt like I got the “royal” treatment.)

After all the anticipation and waiting, I was afraid the exhibit wouldn't live up to my expectations. But it did. The exhibit totally blew my mind. Looking at the maps online is cool. Seeing them first-hand, all up close and personal is very, very cool.

One of the really interesting things is the scale – the John Smith map of Virginia is smaller than I thought, while Smith’s “map that changed the world” is really quite large.

Being around so many maps, large and small, that are so important and full of history helped me better understand where my place in the world is.

There were so many maps – from Tolkien to Leonardos (yes multiple!). The whole thing made me a little dizzy. I wasn’t sure if I should spend my time looking at the HUGE Coronelli Celestial globes or gazing into the heavens of the Hubble images. It was total map overload, so much in fact that I think I will have to go back and see it again. I mean what if I missed something!

The Story of This Place

2008-03-17T15:23:00.001-04:00

I went to my first Baltimore Festival of Maps event over the weekend. Kianga Ford (described as a “sound and installation artist” – who knew?!) was at the Maryland Humanities Council (who knew?!?) reading her story about the parks in Mt. Vernon. She was accompanied by DJ Dubble8 (who knew?!) on the turntable and computer. It was way cool – Kianga (it means sunshine – I looked it up) wrote a fiction story based on the actual places around Mt. Vernon, and DJ D8 put together this neat collection of waltzes and famous Baltimore club (who knew?!?) music. Then I got an iPod from the Contemporary Museum and listened to the tour again while actually walking around the park. The image above is the map for the tour.

The iPod tour was commissioned by the Contemporary Museum, where you too can pick up an iPod and take the tour. You can download the tour and the map from the comfort of your very own Barcalounger and there’s going to be a new tour introduced every two weeks. Way cool.

MY BFF @ NGO

2008-03-16T14:56:00.002-04:00

I feel like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction - completely obsessed, preoccupied and a little bit in love.
A few days ago, my new best friend at National Geographic Online, Marilyn introduced me to her blog Map of the Day. Very cool blog about maps - need i say more? (Probably not but i will because it gets better.)

The blog has a daily quiz about geography or history that relates to the map of the day. I am completely addicted. So much in fact that one quiz a day isn't enough for me - I've had to rummage through the archives to get my fix. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's question!

Thank You Eliot Spitzer

2008-03-13T09:22:00.002-04:00

I have been fascinated by this whole Elliot Spitzer debacle. Poor Silda. But of course, I quickly recovered from my Pity Party to return to the matters at hand.

How about a map of political indiscretions in Washington DC.

Or the 1871 Hooker Map of New York City (I don’t think that’s what it means)

Speaking of which… Strangemaps has this gem showing where rapper Ludacris claims to have uh… um… ladies like Kristin.

The image at the top? That’s a plan for Washington DC drawn by a “W. Elliot” in 1833.” What do you think that W. stands for, weasel?”

Map Frenzy

2008-03-11T15:50:00.001-04:00

Another Baltimore Sun story about maps!! Very very cool. You mean there is actually an organization for people like me? (I can hear it now: “Hi. I’m Her Majesty, and I’m a map addict…”)

This Baltimore Festival of Maps really is turning out to be a big deal. And I’m counting down the days until I, too, can go see "Maps: Finding Our Place in the World" at the Walters.

Mars and Venus

2008-03-11T11:09:00.000-04:00

I asked an innocent question about why the mappers who respond to my blog – and probably who most likely respond to maps – tend to be men.

Cartophiliac commented that it’s probably a spatial thing between men and women… venus and mars… hens and roosters… Hillary and Bill. (Thanks for the comment, Carto!)

It got me thinking. So naturally, that got me googling. For your reading pleasure:

http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=HVhDJ2rBR1QVPwvLnLnYpFJ1f3bFrGLh6SkWTJHbFzhL4DZT5f15!-1452952156?docId=5009299535

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/07/AR2008010702043.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hometruths/directions.shtml

Something’s Coming…

2008-03-10T15:09:00.000-04:00

There’s something in the air. Things seem just a little bit different. I smell anticipation. (Or is it just this shirt I’m wearing?)

Read the article from this past Saturday’s Baltimore Sun about the Walters’ map exhibit that opens this coming Sunday (yippee!!!! at long last!!! it’s about time!!! finally!!!) I heard that the media (make that, the “real” media) got to see it this morning. The rest of us will just have to wait until Sunday, I guess. Count me in.

Still Another Tip of the Tiara

2008-03-07T15:43:00.000-05:00

My cup runneth over. You guys (why ARE you all guys) have been great – sending me links, responding to my posts. Thank you for you inspiration, your thoughts, and for your oh so cool maps that I have pilfered and plundered and put on display as if they were my own.

Two of my new faves:

John Krygier, wish I had you as a college professor - http://makingmaps.wordpress.com/about/

Dug – I dig your digest - http://mapoftheweek.blogspot.com/

Texture Message

2008-03-05T16:49:00.000-05:00

After posting the map of Hull House, I found this – multivariate data with texture. I guess that means “kinda cool” in cartologyism.

One Wrong Turn and…

2008-03-03T17:24:00.000-05:00

The royal chariot was in the shop a few days ago, so I had to rent a car for a couple of days. What was inside but --- a GPS! Awesome! Be still my heart. So of course I spent all my lunch hours (and weekend…) driving around Charm City trying to get it to slip up but alas, I couldn’t outsmart the thing.

I was telling my new buddy at the Walters about it and he told me about one of the pieces soon to be on display at the Walters big big map exhibit. The Rand McNally Chicago to Lake Geneva Photographic Automobile Guide, sort of a pre-cursor to a modern navigation system. The book was written in 1905 by H Sargent Michaels and featured “turn by turn” directions from Chicago to Lake Geneva, with photographs of each turn taken from a camera mounted on the hood of a car. Very cool, back in the day. It’s very much like (i.e., pretty similar… exactly like) a mashup of Google Maps’ new StreetView feature and Hertz’ NeverLost GPS.

H Sargent will always have a special place in my heart.

Home of the Brave

2008-02-29T15:56:00.000-05:00

U.S. state names are replaced with countries that have similar GDPs.

Lions (To Be) Seen at the Walters Art Museum

2008-02-28T19:12:00.000-05:00

Yes, once again, I could have been a museum curator. No more than an hour after my last post, I got an email from someone who saw it, telling me that the map with the lion is going to be in the Walters Art Museum Maps exhibit in a few weeks. He also sent me this from MapForum.com:

“The most famous of all cartographic curiosities is the 'Leo Belgicus', in which the Seventeen Provinces of the low Countries were depicted in the form of a lion. This type was first introduced by Michael Eitzinger (Aitzinger or van Aitzing) in 1583. The idea may have suggested to him by the presence of a lion in the arms of most of the Seventeen Provinces. Whatever his inspiration, the genre proved very popular, and a number of later publishers produced their own versions, some even introducing their own sub-type. One such group was the 'Leo Hollandicus', where the Seven United Provinces were depicted as a lion. Claes Jansz. Visscher was the first to publish such a map, as shown here. Visscher seems to have first published the map before 1625, the year in which the dedicatee Prince Maurice died. A second example was published dated 1633, while the third state was published in 1648, when the Spanish confirmed Dutch independence.”

And a big shout out to my anonymous buddy for letting me know. Don’t be a stranger.

Lions and Tigers and Bears

2008-02-28T13:01:00.000-05:00

Oh, my.

Gotta Run

2008-02-26T16:03:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am a couch potato. But once in a while, something jogs my memory and I get something in my craw(l) to trot out the old running shoes for a quick sprint around the block. Here is a cool site that helps me change it up. Just type in your zip code to see what your friends and neighbors are doing while you’re doing nothing but sitting at your computer in your sweats, reading this, eating cookies, and petting the cat.

Great Baltimore Fire (plus a couple of weeks)

2008-02-25T16:20:00.000-05:00

I am soooooo sorry. I thought that I had posted this weeks ago. You Baltimoreans will understand my distress at being late…

We here in Charm City, the City That Reads, and the Greatest City in America grew up hearing about the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904. Every February 7th, there are tours, exhibits, TV stories, and articles commemorating the day – well, actually the two days of the fire. Here is a way cool chronology of what happened. Nice map, neat photos – and video from 1904! A big shout out to the Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage (part of the Pratt Library, I guess) for putting this together.

Into the Fray

2008-02-22T14:03:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed that I have stayed away from trashing Miss South Carolina Teen’s brush with map-dome. It just seemed a little too easy and not very majestic. But, with apologies to Caitlin Upton, I couldn’t resist.

(And just so you know what kind of serious princess I really am… congratulations to the lovely Lauren Elizabeth Lytle who became the new Miss SC Teen this past November. An Honor Roll student, no less.)

Chain of Fools (Including Me)

2008-02-21T09:25:00.000-05:00

So what’s the proper blogtiquette – do I post cool maps from the blog where I found them:
http://pretavoyager.blogspot.com
/2008/02/living-cities.html

or from the site where that blogger found them:
http://swissmiss.typepad.com/weblog/2008
/01/living-patterns.html

or from the site where THAT blogger saw them:
http://designnotes.info/?p=1242

Whatever. Still pretty cool.

It’s a Small World

2008-02-19T16:09:00.000-05:00

I spend waaaay to much time zooming in Google maps to see how close I can get. I’ve seen my car parked in front of my apartment, and my parents’ cars, and the lounge chairs at the neighborhood pool… Don’t tell anyone, but I sometimes type in any old zip code to see where I end up – I’ve gawked at everything from million dollar houses with humongous pools next to golf courses to some pretty sketchy trailer parks. It’s pretty interesting to see how the other half lives, no matter what half you happen to be.

Back in the day (if the day was in 1895), the map of the famous Chicago settlement Hull House served the same purpose. It showed the locations of 18 immigrant groups crowded into 12 blocks. This colorful, geometric spectacle is going to be on display at the Walters Art Museum’s map exhibition in March. (Keep the map on your screen for a while; people will think you’re playing Tetris.)

Body Worlds, a Map of Me

2008-02-15T17:17:00.000-05:00

Way cool. Way way way cool. And a little creepy.

I succumbed to all the hoopla and went to see the Body Words exhibit at the Maryland Science Center. Soooooo cool. I just stood there, staring at the networks of veins and vessels, connections and contacts, muscles and membranes. There are about 10 full-size bodies, lots and lots of slices and sections… just so cool. Go.

Art = Science = Map = Way Cool

2008-02-14T15:49:00.001-05:00

Check out Gary Vikan’s OpEd article in Sunday’s Baltimore Sun.
He’s the director of the Walters Art Museum, and he offers his take on the images as “art.” And you already know what I think of the images as “map.” Just so we’re clear.

Help Wanted

2008-02-13T10:31:00.000-05:00

I like this map. I’m not really sure what it means or how to read it (yeah, I know, Pepsi owns Fritos and LVMH owns all the clothing labels I can’t afford, but beyond that…) If you can help me out, then help me out.

Another Tip of the Tiara

2008-02-08T12:40:00.000-05:00

Excuse my naïve giddity but this is getting fun. The more I explore, the better it gets. Unfortunately, I am spending an unexpected amount of time checking out the way cool blogs and sites that people are sending me. (Sorry Mom. I’ll call soon. Promise.) So… another tip of the tiara to you map crazy bloggers who are making me lose sleep – and loving it.

Ok, so he’s not really a mapper blogger feller but I like how he uses maps and overlays to prove his points. Baltimore Innerspace

I know I’ve said this before, but very very cool. No doubt I will post more from here: Great Map.

On the Stage

2008-02-06T15:39:00.001-05:00

Naturally I was compelled by the title. And then I read the description that it was “offbeat” and “evocative.” So I’m off to see “Off the Map” on the stage at the Fell’s Point Corner Theater.

I See London…

2008-02-05T09:05:00.001-05:00

Maybe I should have been a museum curator. My 1/28 posting about subway maps…? How was I to know that probably the most famous transportation map EVER is going to be at the maps exhibition at the Walters? Now I know.

One of the way-cool maps in the Maps: Finding Our Place in the World exhibit is an original, poster-sized map of the London Underground from 1933. This map is a big deal because it is the first simple, schematic, graphic representation using straight lines and consistent angles rather than actual scale and direction.

So we get this:

rather than this:

Speaking of Madonna

2008-01-31T12:52:00.000-05:00

(I just love Google!) http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/07/11/145-the-madonna-map-syndrome/

Is This Stalking??

2008-01-30T17:19:00.000-05:00

Speaking of Madonna and finding her house…

Out of this World

2008-01-29T14:24:00.000-05:00

I thought “star maps” referred to locating Madonna’s house in the Hollywood Hills. Not anymore.

Check out Glenn McNatt’s review in yesterday’s Sun about the ‘spectacular exhibition” of images from the Hubble Space Telescope now on display at the Walters Art Museum.

Inferiority Complex

2008-01-28T10:46:00.000-05:00

Let’s face it. We’re not blessed in Baltimore with the most extensive subway system. Look at this cool comparison of subway systems around the world.

Unfortunately, I think ours would look like this: .

No Child Left Behind

2008-01-21T12:18:00.000-05:00

Wow. I really don’t like little kids, but I could deal with this one.

Anthropomor… oh, you get the idea

2008-01-16T14:18:00.000-05:00

My new blog bud Izzy, from BP Maps, sent me some neat info about anthropomorphic maps. Thanks Iz! Here’s what the Iz-man says:

The essence of anthropomorphic maps is that they convey geographic information (location, direction) without the need for any physical image. The availability of portable image media, papyrus for example, eliminated the need for this type of map.

This is a map of Napi, the creator of the Blackfoot indians, and his wife.

If you sketched a map of Hermes (in Asia minor) and Aphrodite (in north Africa), it would be quite risque. The American indian maps are not. The bodies on those maps seem to be configured at a respectable distance from each other.

I asked Pegasus what he thought about this and all he said was: Horsefeathers!

A famous map of Asia in the shape of a horse.

Not Bad for a Dead Guy

2008-01-14T17:06:00.000-05:00

So over the last couple of years, I’ve heard about this organization in Maryland which has been recreating John Smith’s exploration of the Chesapeake Bay. A group of volunteers spent a lot of time recreating Captain Smith’s shallop, (using 17^th century-era tools no less), and then sailing it around on the route that Smith would have traveled on his expedition.

The shallop was on display at the State Capital and the Maryland Science Center. Every place that it came ashore once it embarked on its journey because a historical site, and it got lots of press…I think the Queen (not me! I mean the real queen) even stopped to see it on her visit to the US.

John Smith is probably more newsworthy now than ever. (Or at least he will be, once his “people” find out he’s featured on this blog.)

All kidding aside, Captain Smith’s map of Virginia, from 1612 is going to be in the Walters Art Museum’s map exhibit opening in March. On the map, he noted his ascent with tiny crosses and located over 200 Indian villages, symbolized with tiny huts. A vignette in the corner shows Pocahontas pleading for Smith’s life.

You can check out more about the John Smith project here: http://www.johnsmith400.org/intro.htm

And check out more about John Smith the man, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smith_of_Jamestown

Wait a Minute Mr. Postman

2008-01-11T16:25:00.000-05:00

I’ve noticed that us mappies have an affinity for other things that seem to be falling by the wayside in our culture – like letter writing. Another dying art. Why not keep it alive – here is a map to help.

Holy Map!

2008-01-09T16:08:00.000-05:00

I’m not much of a bible reader but I think this is cool. Pick your favorite bible verse and find out where it takes (or took, I guess) place here.

A Great Day for Maps…

2008-01-07T16:54:00.000-05:00

Let’s face it, not everyone shares my obsession with maps. So imagine my surprise when my somewhat quirky interest gets three big hits in the same weekend.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m dying to see Maps: Finding Our Place in the World when it comes to Baltimore, and this article in the Washington Post sets the stage pretty well. It’s got a slide show that includes some of the cool things from the Chicago exhibition.

And it seems that others are sharing my map excitement…Jonathon Crowe, who blogs at “The Map Room,” had this to say:
http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/2008/01/washington_post.php

Matt Ball, at Spatial Sustains mentions the exhibition and the book that was written about the collection.

Now that we have flipped the calendar to 2008 and the exhibition seems much closer to opening, I suspect that we’ll see a lot more postings in the coming weeks on different blogs around the net related to this exhibition.

If you see a posting out there and think I should link to it, please post it in a comment and I will include as many links in my postings as I can. Of course if you have your own blog, or just love maps, leave a comment too. I’m always looking for more info and cool sites to share.

I’m no relationship expert

2008-01-04T09:40:00.000-05:00

If you read my kissing map post, you’ve probably guessed that I am not a relationship expert, but the guys at Mukety.com are. They have a really cool site that maps the relationships between people of power, and how their relationships are at the core of news stories.

Or the complex networks driving the presidential campaigns?

Or the ins and outs of the Major League Baseball’s steroid scandal?

How about network of wealth that fuels Paris Hilton’s celebrity?

The maps are interactive and lots of fun – even if Kevin Bacon doesn’t show up as often as you’d think.

If you like relationship maps and want to see another example, check out the virtual thesaurus (words have never been so much fun!) Type “map” into the search box and see where it takes you…

French Kissing Map… Ooh-la-la

2007-12-31T13:35:00.000-05:00

Now, before you get all excited, I’m not the kind of girl to kiss and tell, but I have always wondered how people determine exactly how many times to do that kiss-kiss thing when they see someone on the street.

Do I shake hands, hug, or give them the old smacker on the cheek?

Well, I can put my fear of over-pecking to rest because someone has finally decided to map…kisses.

Yes, if you are so inclined you can check out a map of France to see how many times you should smooch upon greeting—and get this it’s all dependent upon where you are in the country!

So the next time you find yourself faced with the question of exactly how many time to kiss someone, do what I do, and refer to your map, and you can be sure that you’re not the only one feeling a little awkward about the whole thing.

Do you have a silly smooching story or another funky map? - feel free to share!

Map History 101

2007-12-28T16:21:00.000-05:00

We all know the story of the Aztec empire and Hernán Cortés from grade school history class: 19 year old goes exploring in 1519…winds up in Mexico…burns his ships…war with the natives…invades Tenochtitlan.

What you might not know is that a map of Tenochtitlan was created from the eyewitness account of Cortés and it is in the Maps: Finding Our Place in the World exhibit opening at the Walters Art Museum on March 16.

The map depicts the rich and magnificent capital of the Aztec empire –complete with a temple complex surrounded by an intricate network of streets and canals, before it was reduced to ruins by Cortés and his army.

Check out this video by Dr. Seymour I. Schwartz for a complete description of Cortés’ map.

X Marks the Spot

2007-12-21T12:35:00.000-05:00

Ho ho ho. I will be off the map for about a week (fruitcake, gift wrap, egg nog… you know the drill) so visit me again here… oh, let’s say around January 2. I’m trying to figure out how I will map my holiday. I’ve been getting some inspiration from you all. Some of my favorites:

Jeff maps Elf visits to his house (I think that’s what it is).

The Komarnitsky family have their Christmas lights set up so that web surfers can control them – and they map from where they are controlled.

Check out the probability of having a white Christmas.

Watching Christmas movies – here is where they take place.

Enjoy the day. Enjoy the week. Enjoy the gifts. Enjoy your family. Enjoy

More Baltimaps (or is it Baltomaps?)

2007-12-19T16:34:00.000-05:00

I have heard for a while about Baltimore’s Citistat program, which uses “computer pin mapping: as an “accountability” tool” for city government. Martin O’Malley marched (get it?) the program into use when he was mayor of Baltimore. This and it is credited with helping our hard working municipal workers ;-) respond quickly to issues. Check out some of the neato CitiStat maps of your neighborhood. My favorite is the map of stump removal -- Who knew?!

Something’s in the Air

2007-12-18T12:26:00.000-05:00

I heard about a meeting yesterday at the Walters Art Museum where lots of reps from local arts organizations heard about the Walters exhibition and talked about planning their OWN map activities for the Spring. Sounds cool. Could be neat. I’ll keep you posted.

Princesses, Paupers, and Property Disputes?

2007-12-12T16:51:00.000-05:00

There is something neat about maps that look like they have been ripped from the pages of a fairytale. They conjure up nice images – favorite stories heard in a cozy bed, faraway places, and visions of valiant princes and beautiful maidens.

At first I thought that this map was more of the same, but instead of illustrating a bedtime story, this Property Plan of Inclesmoor actually shows a 15^th century quarrel between neighbors - the Duchy of Lancaster and Saint Mary’s Abbey.

It seems that in 1402, each claimed rights to this desirable 240 square-mile plot of pastureland and peat. The map, drawn around 1450, shows features described in an accompanying legal document, such as pastures (marked with the feathery plants) and towns (marked with red and brown squares).

For thousands of years, people have been marking their territory with maps. In fact, many of Europe’s earliest maps were the result of property disputes.

And here’s another fact: this original map will be in the Walters Art Museum exhibit Maps: Finding Our Place in the World.

Check out these links to see other cool antique maps:

http://www.theprimemeridian.com/collectorguide.htm

http://www.imcos.org/

Maps on Purpose

2007-12-07T15:49:00.000-05:00

Art on Purpose, an organization that uses art to bring people together around issues and ideas, is partnering with multiple mostly at-risk Baltimore City neighborhoods to create community-made maps inspired by Maps: Finding Our Way in the World, at The Walters Art Museum. In a series of map-making workshops, residents will map such things as: neighborhood hidden treasures, the gap between the perception of safety and actual safety, gang territories, and other topics determined by a community-input process put in place by Art on Purpose and its neighborhood partners.

Mapping workshops are led by experienced community artists and include adult and youth from the neighborhoods. They will learn about the wide-ranging maps coming to The Walters’ exhibition, gather data about their own communities, and create artistic, hand-made maps modeled on one or more of the Walters’ maps, but conveying information they have elected to focus upon as a community.

In a series of exhibitions beginning in March at the Walters, events, and forums to follow, the maps will be used as the basis for neighborhood celebrations, networking events, advocacy, and other purposes to be determined once the maps are created. Maps on Purpose takes museum-quality maps and uses them as a catalyst for giving voice and exposure to those ordinarily disenfranchised from civic discourse.

And Now For Something Completely Different

2007-12-05T17:46:00.000-05:00

I’ve seen some wild and crazy maps before (like the map of Europe made out of clothes), but this 1884 Inuit Map tops my list.

At first glance, I thought it was just a neat wood carving, but it is actually a map of Greenland’s sinuous coastline. While in their kayaks in the darkness of the night, the Inuits traced the contours of this wood carving map to navigate. Points and angles in the carving correspond with the geography of the shore. The angle on the edge of the map relates to the steepness of the shoreline. When paddling south along the coast, a user would follow the right side of the carving from top to bottom; then switch to the left side reading from bottom to top.

You can see this map out for yourself beginning March 16 at the Walters Art Museum, as it will be part of the Maps: Finding Our Place in the World exhibit.

All Wrapped Up

2007-12-03T17:22:00.000-05:00

It is now official: maps are everywhere – even on your holiday packages.

Here is the scoop: The Map Store at the United States Geological Survey and the California Geological Survey are both offering free wrapping paper – made from old maps! The free paper is great for the map obsessed, and it’s good for the environment too. Normally outdated topographical maps would go straight for the landfill, but with this program the maps get reused in a fun and festive way. They’re perfect for the holidays, with shades of green for forests and cities etched in red.

Wouldn’t it be cool to send your uncle Stew in California his present wrapped in a map of the seafloor rocks and sediments of the continental shelf of Monterey Bay?

Who knows – maybe someone will send you a fruit cake or an ugly holiday sweater wrapped in a map. At least you’ll get a map out of the deal!

I Tip My Tiara to You Other Map Crazy Bloggers

2007-11-29T17:14:00.000-05:00

Call me myopic. Naïve. Unsophisticated. Or just your every day, average Baltimoron who cares more than anything, first and foremost, over and above, about ME and where I live. Charm City. The Monumental City. The City That Reads. The Greatest City in America. And I want my blog to reflect ME. I’ve been trying to make my posts have some Baltimore connection. I figured that would be a little different.

But, I know that there is a bigger, blogger world out there. So here are a couple of blogs I like and regularly check out. Now YOU check ‘em out. And tell them all that Her Majesty of Maps sent ya.

http://www.mcwetboy.net/maproom/ -- the main man!

http://coolgooglemaps.blogspot.com/ -- yeah, it’s a company and not a person but it’s way cool.

http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/ -- some neat-o stuff.

http://www.mappinghacks.com/ -- more words then images but interesting nonetheless

http://www.cartoblog.com/ -- hmmmm, thoughtful.

Baltimore is a Mappy Place!

2007-11-28T15:03:00.001-05:00

I’m discovering that Baltimore is a hotbed of mapping resources. I go to check out some little-known neighborhood – I get a map. I’m not talking about some yellow pages map showing pizza places (all bad!) or Chinese food delivery (always late!) within five blocks of my abode, or some googled satellite picture of someplace I’ve been. I mean neat, unique maps of interesting stuff. For instance, I go to check out some neighborhood I just heard of, and I get a map -- the city version has a lot more detail). I’m trying to figure out what city district I live in (yes, I am that kind of geek) – voila, a map (albeit, not a very specific one, although this is pretty cool for other information). A bunch of people have told me about this – plotting crime in the city (although I’m not sure that much of the crime was, indeed, plotted.) The Sun is also doing that with more detail. And while I was looking for subway and Light rail routes, I found just what every 21^st century gal needs – a map of streetcar routes from 1895!

Yeah yeah yeah… I know there are lots of other cool local maps out there – interactive, documenting the weird and the bizarre. I’ve seen some but certainly not all. Tell me which ones you like. I’ll keep posting them here. There. Everywhere.

A Show of Hands, Please?

2007-11-26T16:25:00.000-05:00

After traveling over the river and through the woods for Thanksgiving, I was content to spend Black Friday on the couch. But, as luck would have it, I saw a picture in the Weekend Arts section of the New York Times that floored me.

It’s a picture of a map made on a glove…that’s right, a fashion accessory and a way-finding instrument all in one. It’s probably the missing link in how maps have taken over glove compartments all over the world…

Anyway, the map is actually very cool in that it’s a map of London that was created for the first modern world’s fair – the Great Exhibition – held in 1851. Festival organizers thought the out-of-towners coming to the fair would be of the glove-wearing middle and upper classes—and what better way to show them the rest of the city than putting it all in their hands?

You’ll be able to see the actual glove at the Walters this spring, but until then check out these other apparel-related map links.

Is this is pile of clothes, or a clever mapper?

Here is a French artist who makes clothes from maps…

Map o’ Leonardo’s

2007-11-20T14:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, so here’s the scoop: There’s going to be an exhibit that will open at the Walters Art Museum here in Charm City in March that’s all about maps. Naturally, I can’t contain myself, and I’m going to share things with you as I find them out.

The exhibition is called Maps: Finding Our Place in the World, and will have tons of rare and important maps that people like me freak out about. The exhibition’s going to have maps from ancient Rome, Benjamin Franklin, JRR Tolkien, and even Leonardo da Vinci.

I know when most people think of Leonardo they think of the Mona Lisa or Dan Brown’s book, or at worst, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

While its true that he is best known as an inventor and painter, turns out he was also an accomplished surveyor and mapmaker. His 1502 map of northern Italy illustrates his groundbreaking idea to use color to indicate changes in elevation, and when the exhibition opens, you’ll be able to see that 500 year old masterpiece up close!

Oh yeah, and did I mention it’s on loan from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II? Apparently, yours truly isn’t the only Majesty of Maps.

If you want to learn about more cool stuff that Leonardo did, you can check out these sites:

Leonardo da Vinci’s 10 Best Ideas

Leonardo da Vinci Blog

Maps by Leonardo da Vinci

2007-11-19T13:44:00.000-05:00

At first I thought it was just me. I love maps. When I have nothing else to read, I pick up an atlas, turn to a random page and figure out which route I would take from Point A to Point B. At a bookstore, I'm drawn to the section with guidebooks - not because I've ever been to Prague or Mozambique but because it's neat to see where landmarks are located. I'm the gal who will draw detailed maps rather than recite directions, and whose little attic is filled with maps from Chicago and London and Cecil County --places I haven't been to in years but whose maps I wouldn't dare discard.

And then there's the Internet. Don't get me started! My bookmarks are filled with obscure sites devoted to maps. I threw a party when Google Maps was launched. I'm up late into the night checking out mash-ups and round-ups.

And guess what I discovered? I'm not alone. We ALL love maps. When I tell people what weird unique map site I discovered, they've been there too. When someone introduces me to a new acquaintance as "Her Majesty of Maps," the response is often, "Oh, do you know..." --someone else who gladly gawks at graphic guides. I may have run out of new websites to check out local food or people who drive the same car as me, but I have yet to run out of new map-related websites. I may have read all of William Trevor's novels or listened to every NIN CD or made every recipe on epicurious.com made with marshmallows and chili peppers...but I never run out of maps to peruse because there are so many of us putting stuff out there.

So here's my contribution to our little community of map friends and map fiends, map finds and map features. Enjoy