Reminiscing about my time living in DC. If you've lived in DC or spent time there, especially in the Cap Hill area, let's look at some of the places you could be killed for being in range of the blast radius of a Mk 84 2000lb bomb dropped by the USAF or Israeli Air Force on a legitimate target
I went to Hearst Castle a few years ago and it made me so angry I can't bring myself to visit another rich dude house.
At least it made me really appreciate Citizen Kane though.
I think there should be some temporal equity here. Preserving all that we have been. Preserving the pathways towards all that we could yet become.
what if this is how I started my villain era
Italo Calvino wrote "The Infinite Cities" to argue that each city contains infinite perspectives. My Pawtucket is different than yours and my Pawtucket next year will be different still.
We should preserve not for the sake of a single aesthetic but as a reminder of all the things we have been.
Why is Newport stuck in the Gilded Age?
They had 400 years of pirates, smugglers, planters, free Black folks, Native Americans, whalers, Quakers, gay sailors... Newport has been all of those things! Its past and image were intentionally flattened to flatter mostly one type of history.
Preserving history is good. Trapping a city in amber and converting a thriving, evolving, innovative and dynamic place for millions of people to live into a museum for the rich is bad.
It is an economic, cultural and social justice nightmare.
(Hope you're taking notes, Rhode Island)
How desperate will I have to get before I pull a Full Monty?
Highlight of today was a family with their map-obsessed kid. They told me a story about how one day when they were out and about someone said to the kid: "Hey handsome!" and in retort the little one said "I'm not handsome, I'm a cartographer."
Don't worry, kid. *hair flip* You can be both.
I've got it in the store! Multiple sizes and finishes, one is framed and I have a bunch of jigsaw puzzles! Can't get enough of Anton's work. He's doing pieces continent by continent and I can't wait to see more.
No but I'm curious!
There's a Marine Archaeology Program around Newport that has a great acronym. Maybe I should do a bumper sticker?
White rabbit being held by Andrew is looking into the camera
Today is a great day to remember that rabbits have paws covered in fur. They don't have foot pads.
All Easter decorations of rabbits with toe beans are WRONG.
My credentials are below.
Happy Easter.
America is the biggest country in the world!!!
At Mainely Maps and Frames in Portland???
If all you're selling is information, you can only ever get information prices (and a lot of information is free these days).
But people crave stories, identity and connection to place. It is as essential as language, dress, and food.
That's why what I do matters.
Maps need to be specific. They need to feel personal.
I accidentally bought a $350 specialty atlas of Indian history. Couldn't return it. Surely no one would buy it.
It sold in less than a week to an Indian couple who hadn't even been shopping. It was just a book that spoke to them.
Also look out for a big ol' map of Providence with historically Black neighborhoods highlighted. Made by yours truly!
Also look out for a big ol' map of Providence with historically Black neighborhoods highlighted. Made by yours truly!
Dr. West and I had schemed to share a space together but AAMRI found a lovely space to call their own! So excited for them!
Fun fact: Even on equal area maps, Russia is huge. Because it's actually huge. Like, not Mercator Projection huge, just regular huge.
-Folks have no idea what has been mapped, when or for what reason.
-They don't know how maps are made or how labor intensive they are to produce.
-I often tell folks I was part of BayGeo, a Bay Area geographic professionals network that had like 700 dues paying members. That one blows people's minds
Awesome view from Artemis II this morning.
What's awesome about kids is that they don't know much about maps as a way of getting around. Instead, they tend to see maps as tools for delivering thematic information that they're interested in.
Most can't use a roadmap but will be enthralled by a map about animals.
-Those who are most confident in their use of paper maps are also the least curious about everything else cartography can do.
-Kids are consistently enthusiastic and interested.
-Most folks interested in old maps don't have an era of interest. They just like "old." And sepia.
Look, all I have is anecdata but I have a fuckton of it.
I can say with authority: no one has any clue what we do.
Most folks are astounded how much mapping happens.
People think "map" is either a thing pirates make or what people used to use in their car.
You've gone too Hvar with that one.
I get it. The economy sucks and people don't want to work so hard to get by. But I do see NFTs, crypto, gambling and speculation/flipping, daytrading as a type of social rot where people try to get rich without making or doing ANYTHING. I just think that's sad.
Are you the owner of a sprawling mansion? Big lots get taxed more under Land Value Taxes!
Land speculator? Your tax rate will probably increase and you'll have to put your property to use to pay the tax bill or sell to someone who can.
