Maps

in my room there is a whole wall full of maps. the largest is a map of the world, physical. this mean there are no lines dividing countries. there are only the physical attributes, the world's mountains and lakes and rivers. even the mountains that are in the ocean are shown. there is a very undetailed map of paris. there are big airplanes where airports are. the graphics remind me of the french driving game, mille-borne. there is map of "the mall" are of washington dc from 1860 to 2000. there is a map of the world of max fischer, from rushmore, and a map of the new york city subway system, a map of the pearl district in portland, a map of amsterdam, a map of the getty, some sky maps of the summer constellations, a cartoony map of the pacific northwest. my favortite map is the map of the tillamook cheese factory though. it is so simplistic and i often look at it and wonder why they even needed to make a map at all.

sometimes i like to press my fingers against an intersection on the map of "the mall" and imagine who i might be squashing if really tiny people lived inside my maps. or i walk my fingers across the cascade mountains and imagine eastern oregon. or i whisper something to the building on my pearl district map where my sister works and pretend that she can hear me.