Don’t listen to what my kids say about toys or candy or whatever, I know for a fact that these map books were the best gifts they received today.

Many people simply snapped a photo or stared in wonder, but friends, I will not be a mere witness to history. I will be an active participant and spend 8 bucks for two (2) tiny hamburgers dispensed by an opaque machine.

Bringing back the bugle mountains with this work in progress.

Alright cartografriends, I have a maps book from @mapcenter.com for my 5 year old, but I still need something for the 3 year old. Recommendations? Ideally not just, like, actual maps. Something that explains what maps are, in a way that a 3 year old can kind of understand.

[speaking into the void] Look if you require me to create an account in order to purchase your product directly from you, I’m just going to leave and do the Bad Thing and buy it from Amazon, because of course I already have an account there like everyone else in the world.

Cincinnati in 50 Maps is officially in the world today! Words and (most) ideas by Nick Swartsell, maps by me. Just look how nicely it fits under a Christmas tree. beltpublishing.com/products/cin...

Books that start with maps. End with maps. Have maps in the middle. A lot of maps. Upwards of 49 maps. I know a couple good ones coming out tomorrow! beltpublishing.com/products/col... beltpublishing.com/products/cin...

The last step is that it goes on my map! I should also do a version with cases that were closed with comments like “turkey flew away 🤷‍♂️” because it seemed like a lot of them.

People are also saying you should buy this one.

Oh yeah this is very soon! People are saying that it's a nice book and you should buy it.

Transit Study I Nine gel pens on 24x32cm black paper. New item in the shop! Adding more this weekend. www.timwallace.art/product/tran...

By request, here's a thread of books that I think make excellent gifts this holiday season (obviously they're cartographically inclined, you know me) 1. Best anthology "All Over the Map" by Betsy Mason and Greg Miller A gorgeous, full color history of maps mind-bending maps from around the world.

Videos from the @nacis.bsky.social conference are now online, somewhat soothing my monthlong regret of missing the first half of @itspangler.bsky.social's talk.

In my box of Random Old Maps is a smaller box of maps and brochures, mostly from the 1950s, from one person’s travels. I don’t know how or why I have them. A couple of my favorites are deck plans of ocean liners like the Queen Elizabeth, which in 1946 finally began passenger service after the war.

Discount bundles on allllll published 50 Maps books: 10% off if you buy one, 20% off if you buy two, 30% off if you buy three, 40% off if you buy four, and 50% off if you buy five. Stock up for the holidays!

Back in Ohio, there was a kid in my school who, for the 10 years I was there, was a whole package of smart, popular, and friendly. Class prez in high school, naturally. Also could do impressive juggling tricks in 6th grade. Anyway he crushed his re-election to Cincinnati mayor yesterday!

Such a blessing to be the parent of children in their precious, innocent first few years of life. You can eat a bunch of their Halloween candy after they go to bed and they’ll have no idea.

Got a nice package in the mail yesterday. You, too, could receive it! beltpublishing.com/products/cin...

To any Boston-area map people who might still be with me on this site: head down to our southern neighbor Thursday evening for Maptime! I guarantee this is the closest thing to Maptime Boston you’re going see in the foreseeable future. www.mapcenter.com/maptimeri

Well I still haven’t seen our book, but I guess the important thing is that my mom has.

Finally tried the Marmite sample that @kennethfield.bsky.social handed out at the @nacis.bsky.social conference. I like it more than most cartograms. #nacis2025

You'll hear me screaming much more about this book in a month or so, but for now I've made a little portfolio update to add a thing on the soon-to-be-published Cincinnati in 50 Maps, which you can and should pre-order now. andywoodruff.com/posts/2025/c...

My phone camera is too crummy for this, but Boston #NoKings could be spotted from a few miles away in the air yesterday.

When I lived in Oakland, I was part of this amazing group called MapTime that was a friendly, quirky, techie and kind group of cartographers and geography-enthusiasts. It was called MapTime and I've started a RI chapter. Come hang out and learn with us! www.mapcenter.com/maptimeri

If you're in the Boston area and you want to see some cool maps and learn about why we shouldn't always trust them, join me for my library talk "How Maps Lie" this friday! newtonfreelibrary.libcal.com/event/14866807

Me 363 days of the year: heck yeah, no dentist appointment today! Me 2 days of the year: ugh

Catch my next library talk on October 10 at the Newton Free Library in Newton MA newtonfreelibrary.libcal.com/event/14866807

New poster! Hachure illustrations of the highest Cascade Range volcanoes. This one took a lot of experimentation to get the layout right. If you or someone you know loves this area, check it out. www.etsy.com/listing/4373...

New author interview live! This one's with Nick Swartsell and Andy Woodruff, the editor and cartographer of Belt's forthcoming Cincinnati in 50 Maps. @awoodruff.bsky.social beltpublishing.com/pages/conver...

If you have a London person in your life, this looks very nice! (Unsurprisingly, coming from one of the best cartographers out there!)

Cincinnati in 50 Maps, by Nick Swartsell and me, is off to the printer, so you can get your pre-orders in now for the December launch! beltpublishing.com/products/cin... Get this, folks: I counted and there are 125 individual maps. That's 75 extra maps for free!

Since Boston is sounding the “don’t drive a truck on Storrow” sirens this week, time to post this map again, now with a timeline. As far as I can tell, either the messaging works or the idea of students smashing U-Hauls into overpasses is largely a myth. I couldn’t find any real spike in September.

Me at 7pm: wow, I made a vegan dinner that was actually pretty satisfying! Me at 11pm:

Making what might be my first real, work-for-hire grayscale maps after all these years. Monochrome is a fun challenge for a pet project, but when it’s “distinctly symbolize these 7 routes and 90 points that are all on top of each other if you want your money” it’s just kind of… hard?

The rail map of Columbus, OH, a city of nearly one million people:

XI. Thou shall not rest thy legs on the LORD’s landscaping

Another solid day in the 30+ years of progress in advancing this from Simpsons joke to actual GOP platform.

Build it! Everyone should learn the joy of changing trains at Park Street. This is what peak transit system design looks like. Seattle to San Francisco? Just go Inbound to Park St and change trains to go Outbound to San Francisco! Nothing could be simpler!

How a map is made: - 1640s: people write down property descriptions - early 20th century: amateur historians obsessively catalog them and derive maps - 20XX: someone (sorry, not sure who) georeferences those maps - 2025: I simply sit on a chair and trace said georeferenced maps

Not sure I'll ever see these maps in real life, but it's fun to know that someone will! Here's some work I did with the Community Geographics team to design new summer trail maps for the Appalachian Mountain Club's Maine Woods Initiative properties.

Sometime in the 1990s it seems I created a poster that my opponent can use, should I ever run for office.

Went to State of the Map US since it was here in town. Fun. Should attend more than once per decade. Anyway here’s this map we saw of Massachusetts (but missing the islands) labeled Cambridge, made of… hotel lobby bench cushion?

Typographic contour lines… 🧑‍🍳😚🤌

✋ who else?

While we are here, check out this brand new beaut…(spring ‘26 by @awoodruff.bsky.social; cover by @downpourdw.bsky.social)

I feel like I know a bunch of Twin Cities cartographers. Some of you must be on here and wanting to do a book!

summah

It's back now if anyone wants to trade me some dollars for a White Mountains map.

Do other US cities have similar markets to Boston’s Haymarket? (Super cheap overflow produce from the wholesale distribution center) I’d almost forgotten about it before wandering by recently, and as a parent of kids who eat nothing but fruit, am now considering rearranging my life to go every week.