Andrew > Recent Status Updates

Home stretch. I should be done with this book in about a month.

"A film about love, loyalty, and escape that starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and cartography." on Casablanca

God bless Simon Garfield for including these anecdotal "Pocket Map"s between longer chapters. The book desperately needs them.

"Don't speak to the map." Advice from J.M. Barrie on dealing with frustration born from the inability to re-fold a pocket map.

"Take your spear to this place, a chalky arrow directs, and a woolly creature will be yours." Garfield describes an early treasure map.

"To modern eyes, each of the strips resembles a spinning barrel on a fruit machine."

The chapter on Mercator was a trip down memory lane to my college cartographic design class.

I enjoyed the "California as an Island" chapter.

What I find annoying about this book is that the maps and their descriptions in the text bear little resemblance to each other. I find myself flipping back and forth to no avail.

Just finished a cute, little chapter on the use of the phrase "Here be dragons" on ancient maps. Contrary to popular belief, it is used sparingly.

Maps used to be ridiculous.

Maps used to be ridiculous.

"Are you familiar with Galileo?" "He discovered the Earth was round." "Really? Was that him? We've sure made hay with that discovery!"

"Where'd you get the sweater?" "They'll do anything for me at Chase."

"Super's not bad. But I also answer to gorgeous and glamorous."

I love how the author uses another character to express the doubts that you know the narrator is feeling.

This didn't grab me right away, but now I'm at the point where I'd really rather be at home reading it than anywhere else. Alack, I am at work.

"Within seconds it was clear that she was filled with the spirit of the Lord."

"Within seconds she was filled with the spirit of the Lord."

The two prevailing themes seem to be (1) live actively in the present (as opposed to dwelling in the past) and (2) use your anger/regret/emotional baggage as fuel for productive, creative projects.

"I am a complete and total fuckup. Which is exactly why I an equipped to write this book and tell you how to live."

"Confidence is a reduction of your own interest in whether others are thinking about you and if so, what they're thinking."

Tonight, I am choosing book over the heaping week's-worth of unwatched TV on my DVR.

I would be long dead by this point.

I like a book with lists.

I'm very confused by the layout of this life boat.

Just finished Part One. When do things start happening?

"The lot of widows and homeless children is very hard, and it is to their defence, not God's, that the self-righteous should rush."

"Don't ever trust a sibling not to sell you out for laughs or money." - Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara

Miles: There are at least 78 dimensions where our relationship is seen in the eyes of some to be a heinous sin almost as bad as murder.
Thursday: You're kidding? Why?
Miles: Not a clue. But there are some seriously weird dimensions out there.