MetaChat - I just bought a map of the world

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31 January 2007

I just bought a map of the world and this has caused me no end of joy. It is beautiful, and cheap, and will look great on my wall, and most importantly (and the real reason I bought it) - I will have no excuse not to finally really and truly learn international geography!

post by: amro at: 18:33 | 21 comments

I really wanted this one, but at a price of $125 (versus the $9.95 for the one I ended up buying), I just couldn't justify it.

posted by amro 31 January | 18:35

I love maps and never pass up an excuse to buy one - even road maps are cool. Maps show us possibilities.

posted by dg 31 January | 18:49

I love maps, too -- I could just leaf through the atlas for hours.

posted by scody 31 January | 18:57

Very nice map. I have one a couple of years old. I think some of the countries listed don't even exist anymore!
And I love road maps, too. Just looking at different routes, and some of the landmarks and map keys can be quite interesting.

posted by redvixen 31 January | 18:58

Another map lover. There must be a backlog of out of date maps somewhere. Someone hook me up.

posted by ethylene 31 January | 19:02

::drools::

Where'd you get it??

posted by CitrusFreak12 31 January | 19:13

Rand McNally.

posted by amro 31 January | 19:19

It's going to be expensive to frame, isn't it? It's 50"x32" I think. Is there some cheap framing solution that will be better than just sticking it up on the wall unframed, but cheaper than a custom frame job?

posted by amro 31 January | 19:24

Poster framing could be a cheaper option, but I'm not sure it comes that big.

posted by redvixen 31 January | 20:13

I got a world map once in my National Geographic. It was wonderful on my wall, until I moved. I think it got lost in the shuffle. :(

And kudos for wanting to learn geography. I once had to draw (while driving) a map to show a friend where India and Pakistan are. I couldn't believe I had to do it, but there it was.

posted by youngergirl44 31 January | 20:44

At my last job, I cataloged maps. Endless fascination! Run-of-the-mill road maps, geological maps of every country you could name, topographical maps of US states and the moon, maps in Russian and Georgian and Azerbajani and French and English, birds'-eye views of major cities, 19th-century maps of Boston. I often got only a few done per day because I was so dazzled by what I was working on. And we had a backlog of 5,000 waiting to be cataloged. *wistful sigh*

posted by initapplette 31 January | 20:47

Cool job initapplette.

Amro, I like your map. The colors are great. I have a few large laminated wall maps in my kids' room. I used flat thumbtacks in a matching color. They look decent enough. You could always frame it out with moulding. I suppose you would need a miter box to cut the angles. Or, you could paint a larger rectangle and tack the map on top of it. I've seen this done, it looks really cool.

posted by LoriFLA 31 January | 21:29

I have my grandpa's old wall world map. It's got a nice wooden frame. It looks really old, but that's just because he smoked like an old Swedish sailor, which he was.

At one point I was going to replace it with my National Geographic map, but that didn't seem right. I still wonder if it's possible to clean the smoke out of it.

There was this brass lamp he had -- we were amazed at how gorgeous it looked once 25 years of smoke residue was wiped off.

posted by stilicho 01 February | 00:24

OMG map haiku!

I wanted this one
National Geographic
Much more than Rand McNally :(

posted by Doohickie 01 February | 00:41

You bought the map to my heart! I love collecting maps, especially old ones. When I get mine set up, I'll have to take pictures so I can share.

posted by Eideteker 01 February | 01:24

I have a big world map on my wall, too. It's very useful! I used to have a big fancy detailed one of Iraq and surrounding areas but gave that one away.

posted by By the Grace of God 01 February | 03:45

could you mount it on plywood or luan and hang that? If you stained the edges and painted behind the map area with with magnetic paint, that would be cool too.

posted by auntbunny 01 February | 10:06

Maps are indeed coolness. Here's the one I have over my desk.

posted by chewatadistance 01 February | 10:13

I have the first one on that page. There's also a cool bit of info further down the page including a link to the International Society for Global Inversion.

posted by chewatadistance 01 February | 10:16

A bunch of fellow map nerds, yay!

I really need to get a new atlas. The one I have is over 20 years old and Kaylee has chewed the ..hm, what's that thing called.. not binding. Argh. Brain fart. Y'all know what I mean. Maybe it is the binding. Hmph.

posted by deborah 01 February | 12:10

I still have the Atlas I was given as a child. I used to pore over it, looking at all the different places I wanted to visit.

It's so old now that I bet half the countries in it no longer exist.

God bless the British Empire!

posted by essexjan 01 February | 13:12

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