Andy Woodruff
@awoodruff.bsky.social
Don’t worry, the enormous Smoke Room on this deck isn’t the only one
November 11, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Don’t worry, the enormous Smoke Room on this deck isn’t the only one
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.
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.
November 11, 2025 at 2:20 AM
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.
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.
Great minds &c.! (From a couple years ago.)
November 1, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Great minds &c.! (From a couple years ago.)
Got a nice package in the mail yesterday. You, too, could receive it! beltpublishing.com/products/cin...
October 31, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Got a nice package in the mail yesterday. You, too, could receive it! beltpublishing.com/products/cin...
Well I still haven’t seen our book, but I guess the important thing is that my mom has.
October 25, 2025 at 8:57 PM
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
October 23, 2025 at 2:53 PM
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
I’m sorry to say this one is toned down quite a bit from the last time I mapped it.
October 6, 2025 at 8:11 PM
I’m sorry to say this one is toned down quite a bit from the last time I mapped it.
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.
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.
August 27, 2025 at 1:40 AM
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.
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:
Me at 11pm:
August 25, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Me at 7pm: wow, I made a vegan dinner that was actually pretty satisfying!
Me at 11pm:
Me at 11pm:
XI. Thou shall not rest thy legs on the LORD’s landscaping
August 12, 2025 at 2:24 PM
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.
July 4, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Another solid day in the 30+ years of progress in advancing this from Simpsons joke to actual GOP platform.
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
- 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
July 3, 2025 at 2:08 AM
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
- 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.
July 2, 2025 at 2:07 PM
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.
June 27, 2025 at 12:28 AM
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?
Anyway here’s this map we saw of Massachusetts (but missing the islands) labeled Cambridge, made of… hotel lobby bench cushion?
June 24, 2025 at 12:47 AM
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?
Anyway here’s this map we saw of Massachusetts (but missing the islands) labeled Cambridge, made of… hotel lobby bench cushion?
inscription=Potatoes Potato Potato Potatoes Potato Potato Potato Potatoes Potato Potato Potato
Feels like my hard work of hitting "send" on a soon-to-be viral tweet about Boston's potato monument 8 years ago or whatever is finally making a difference. 💪
www.openstreetmap.org/node/1266317...
Feels like my hard work of hitting "send" on a soon-to-be viral tweet about Boston's potato monument 8 years ago or whatever is finally making a difference. 💪
www.openstreetmap.org/node/1266317...
May 22, 2025 at 1:47 AM
inscription=Potatoes Potato Potato Potatoes Potato Potato Potato Potatoes Potato Potato Potato
Feels like my hard work of hitting "send" on a soon-to-be viral tweet about Boston's potato monument 8 years ago or whatever is finally making a difference. 💪
www.openstreetmap.org/node/1266317...
Feels like my hard work of hitting "send" on a soon-to-be viral tweet about Boston's potato monument 8 years ago or whatever is finally making a difference. 💪
www.openstreetmap.org/node/1266317...
The other day I knew nothing about ship tracking data but wondered where the boats go in Boston Harbor. Turns out it's easy to get data for US waters! These maps represent the second half of 2023. marinecadastre.gov/accessais/
May 21, 2025 at 2:22 AM
The other day I knew nothing about ship tracking data but wondered where the boats go in Boston Harbor. Turns out it's easy to get data for US waters! These maps represent the second half of 2023. marinecadastre.gov/accessais/
I’ll be so angry if I learn that someone already digitized building footprints in Boston’s former West End, because even doing it fairly sloppily took me a lot longer than expected.
A work in progress on the insane “urban renewal” that razed the entire neighborhood. (Yes, I will fix the typo.)
A work in progress on the insane “urban renewal” that razed the entire neighborhood. (Yes, I will fix the typo.)
May 16, 2025 at 12:57 AM
I’ll be so angry if I learn that someone already digitized building footprints in Boston’s former West End, because even doing it fairly sloppily took me a lot longer than expected.
A work in progress on the insane “urban renewal” that razed the entire neighborhood. (Yes, I will fix the typo.)
A work in progress on the insane “urban renewal” that razed the entire neighborhood. (Yes, I will fix the typo.)
I googled "Boston area pronunciations" in search of a good comprehensive list, and this troll job from 2001 was the top result. Amazing.
web.mit.edu/kenta/www/th...
web.mit.edu/kenta/www/th...
May 9, 2025 at 12:21 AM
I googled "Boston area pronunciations" in search of a good comprehensive list, and this troll job from 2001 was the top result. Amazing.
web.mit.edu/kenta/www/th...
web.mit.edu/kenta/www/th...
I’ll plot all the turkey reports in Boston (some are literally “there’s a turkey”) but am going to cut some corners on mapping the true bullies.
May 5, 2025 at 9:42 PM
I’ll plot all the turkey reports in Boston (some are literally “there’s a turkey”) but am going to cut some corners on mapping the true bullies.
Maybe there’s a newer pearl-clutching NIMBY fear than the “Manhattanizaton of [already urban neighborhood]” since I haven’t heard in a while, but I think I’ll still include it in a forthcoming population density map.
April 22, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Maybe there’s a newer pearl-clutching NIMBY fear than the “Manhattanizaton of [already urban neighborhood]” since I haven’t heard in a while, but I think I’ll still include it in a forthcoming population density map.
Marathon Monday means it’s time to pull this map out of the bag for about the 10th time. If you didn’t qualify today, I’ve got some options for you.
April 21, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Marathon Monday means it’s time to pull this map out of the bag for about the 10th time. If you didn’t qualify today, I’ve got some options for you.
also by having to explain that no, twenty-one thousand people do not work in literally this single block
April 19, 2025 at 2:34 AM
also by having to explain that no, twenty-one thousand people do not work in literally this single block