Actually, that doesn't really sound right...
Hi, my lovely peeps!
Have you met Howdy Doody's sister, Heidi?
(Hold on, Chris. This is supposed to be your serious post. Remember? Try not to be a doofus for five minutes, okay?)
Dear Colleagues;
I've been a bit under the weather. But I'm back, baby!!
And while I was recuperating, I got THIS in the mail!
I've really been anticipating this book. I love maps, but I've always felt as though they were removed from me, something too arcane for me to grasp. Oh, I can read a map to find out where I'm going. That's no problem. But all the topography and symbology and the legend and what lines mean what kinds of road, and... well. It is sometimes daunting.
Jill Berry not only demystifies the humble map, but she also gives us permission to MAKE one. Or even, two! Different kinds of maps! Maps of the self, maps of life, maps of your pantry, parts of which you probably haven't seen in years.
(I may have made up that last one.)
I've read her introduction and it is fascinating. She talks about her life-long love of maps, and touches upon the evolution of maps, the influences guiding map-making, the values of maps through history, and really brings The Map into perspective. I'm eager to get started on the first of 21 projects she's included, here. And they apparently don't have to be completed in any order or even in entirety. I'm spending my getting-better day reading this lovely book (awesome imagery!) and selecting the projects I want to work on. After loving the mysterious map for so long, I look forward to making my own.
There's also a new Flickr group related to the book, where we can share the projects we've done. So it will become a collaborative effort in a way. Or at least an effort where I can borrow from other people's ideas and claim they were mine. YAY!!
Some people deserve the stomach flu.
Next up: Chris makes a map of Scout's sleeping positions.
I love maps too, and just like you wonder what the heck all those symbols are. Don't you just wish you could sleep so carefree as Scout. I do. I'm afraid my head starts to bob and I'm sure I snore and then I wake myself up. I'll be singing map maker map maker make me a map all day now.
ReplyDeleteI too am a lover of maps. Not so much with the nagivating thing, but as works of art and very cool ephemera. Will have to check out this book-sounds tres cool!
ReplyDeleteErin
Great recommendation for this book, tho' Scout doesn't seem too interested. Thanks, I am an avid collector of books.
ReplyDeleteI love maps, too. When I was a kid, and we would drive from South Carolina to Michigan to visit my grandparents for Christmas, I would follow our route in my road atlas (dorky, yes!). Now I love to use maps in my art. When I was teaching, I had my students create a Road of Life at the beginning of the school year, as a precursor to their personal memoirs. I would be interested to see some of the projects in this book; I'll be checking out the Flickr site. I hope you'll share any of the projects you do, too!
ReplyDeleteYou are always so much fun to read Chris! I can't wait to see where this book leads you. I am grateful that you popped in at my place...sometimes I get so far behind on my reading list that I never make it here...
ReplyDelete♥♥♥
Heidi Doody is Howdy's wife. Their daughters are Judy and Trudy. I'm not sure where Flubadub fits in but I've been discouraged from inquiring.
ReplyDeletehey
ReplyDeletewait a cotton pickin minute!
weren't there 7 turkeys
up there in that banner
on friday?
i could have SWORN there were 7!
hummmm...
anyway...
i adore maps like nobody's business
and even as a small cub
i use to STEAL them outta
my grandfather's
National Geographic Magazines...
even to this day
i sleep with maps under my bed
so i will dream about foreign places...
{{ say,
i don't remember anything
about a judy and trudy doody...
is that guy named steve
making that part up ?
:-\
i have no idea.. }}
THANK YOU for all your special notes and email chris. i am back and alive and have a new computer to stay in the world of blogging and art now.
ReplyDeletesorry to hear you were sick, i bet you are well now and sick and tired of being sick! joke intended :))
what a great update on this book, i shall check it out!
scout knows what to do...my favorite sport is napping! xo
How adorable is Scamp - awwwwwwwww, too cute! Now, I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate maps, sorry, I do, with every atom of my soul. I'm the girl who is famed for taking my sis and her niece away for a long weekend (in my single days)to Lyme Regis, but had to settle for Bournemouth, instead.. at least it was by the sea(ish), just a few hundred miles out of the original destination. SatNav is my saviour. Some folk have a spider phobia, I have a phobia of getting lost. Until the blessed SatNav came along I wouldn't go ANYWHERE without someone first taking me to where it is.
ReplyDeleteUm, enjoy your (shudder) map-making.. takes all sorts, I guess. Oooooh, sorry to hear you are under the weather hon, hope you're well on the way to recovery by now (hugs).
hi Chris! I'm glad you're feeling better, because reading your posts always makes ME feel better. I've been using maps in my work for many years, so this book looks like it would be right down my alley- something else to put on my Amazon wish list. Btw, i think a map of Scout's sleeping positions would be quite interesting; I dare you to do it! :)
ReplyDeleteWow, this is a first for me, a map hater. :) Not wanting to get lost (actually or metaphorically) is the reason I make maps!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to see what you make Chris, your enthusiasm is infectious.
Happy Thanksgiving, and have a wonderful journey with this, I will be following you!