exploring baltimore

"we live everything as it comes, without warning, like an actor going on cold." (from "the unbearable lightness of being." a book that is basically my life right now. thanks for that one, jackie.)

one of my focuses during orientation (besides answering any and all questions mica related and getting freshman to dance at freaky tiki) was working with a group of 3 other mica sophomores on redesigning the hour long "charm city slide show" presentation that essentially welcomes the new freshman class to baltimore. this was quite the undertaking, and we had been meeting and discussing our approach since last spring. summer email communication was fairly successful, but once ol training hit it was hard to get the time to take to reconvene and finalize things. which, realizing the magnitude of the message we set out to convey, made me nervous. i like improvising and tackling things as they come. but when it is something really important, i like knowing that it will happen without a hitch.

much of our message (actually all of it...) rested on andy's mad scientist map creation (something he was working on pretty much the entire school year.) what it really came down to was wanting to provide the freshman with a tool that would give them the resources to explore baltimore on their own. so instead of listing off ten random places to visit, we would break things up into categories and corresponding modes of transportation. this is something he is still working on, so you can imagine how much more can be done with it. it's huge. this is something that not only hasn't existed (especially in such an interactive form) at mica, but doesn't exist in baltimore, either. the focus now it to highlight locations that are essentially dubbed "mica student approved," but imagine if it becomes a resource for an entire city of residents...

here's the website: www.aneighborhoodcalledbaltimore.com/map

even if you are miles away in michigan and may never visit baltimore, check it out. make sure you mess around with all of its features (there are both transit and walking maps.) and if you happen to call baltimore your stomping grounds, don't hesitate to email andy, andymangold@gmail.com, with more places and addresses. (or to tell him how amazing his map is!)

edit: these posts are pretty delayed. but i figured i'd cheat and put them up anyway...