My house is full of dog and cat Tchotchke's; dog mugs, cat pitchers, dog and cat pictures, dog candles, dog rugs, cat planters, dog clocks, dog and cat pillows, blankets, books, and socks. You name it and if it comes with a dog or cat motif, I've got it. I didn't go out and buy any of this myself, I have never bought a kitschy dog or cat item. Friends and clients give them to me as gifts. Like this sign:
I don’t really collect or hang on to much of anything, but there was a time when I collected two things, and one was maps. I love maps. Which is a bit odd because I am on the aspie spectrum, have ADHD and am visually and spatially dyslexic. So, if I pick up a map to look for a specific thing, I instantly have lost the name of whatever I’m looking for. As a tool of navigation for me, maps are useless, but as objects of beauty to enjoy and admire, they are phenomenal.
I have all kinds of maps and globes, mostly packed away except for some globe bookends.
I have a globe that has Persia on it, before it was 2 countries, though I suppose that wasn’t that long ago. I also have a globe made of lapis lazuli. I couldn’t find a picture of one as beautiful as mine but this is close:
I used to travel around a lot, 3 or 4 cities a week and wherever I went, I would always seek out a map store. One of my biggest regrets is being at the Rand McNally bookstore in NYC and seeing what I remember to be a “Map of the Civilized World” and not buying it.
It had little legends that indicated how civilized each country was; from barbaric to enlightened. I first looked for Tibet and India, those are places I think of when I think of enlightenment. But, no, amazingly they weren’t considered enlightened. As I looked closer at the map I realized that the “enlightened” countries were marked with Christian crosses. LOL! Damn, I wish I had that map on my wall now.
I think this is the map here, it’s an interactive map so you can move in close and see all around. This map comes from another, the original is here. It’s interactive too, so have fun playing with it. A dear friend of mine very patiently (except for the one time he exclaimed “You are aspie as fuck!”) taught me how to use interactive maps and I’ve spent hours playing with them ever since.
This whole subject of maps came up for me because the Lt. Governor of my state attacked the Democratic candidate, Gayle Jordan, running in a special election for state senate here in TN, next week, March 13th.
Gayle Jordan has another diary up about it here. The Lt. Governors name? Randy McNally, which I, of course, read as Rand McNally, and off I went on maps. Just a tiny glimpse into the way my mind works. It’s exhausting.