Websites for the Bored

Apologies for the silence these past few days. Things have been, uh, happening for us. Anyway, while we are getting ready for real posts, I present three journals that would occupy your time.

1. StrangMaps is a blog of maps you’ll never find in your geography textbooks. Peruse these titles, if you please: a map of Stephen King’s Maine, a Tourist map of Gotham, Where on Earth Was Middle Earth?. Those are some of the more literary ones but people should check other maps of interest. I’m particularly tickled by this Map of Online Communities.

2. Giornale Nuovo, maintained by a certain man of mystery named Mr. H, is a treasure trove of information, not to mention the most sumptuous scans of manuscripts I’ve ever seen. His choice of subject matter is both quirky and erudite, ranging from the different visual representations of the Tower of Babel to an illustrated Italian cookbook featuring anthromorphic vegetables. Mr. H seems to take great pleasure in collecting miscellany (even the expensive ones, some of his books are 200 years old or more!), and the juxtaposition of various interests give this blog a special flavor. Right now, I’m in awe of the works by two artists he featured, both of them previously unknown to me: the dark and unsettling portraits by Mexican painter Remedios Varo (more examples of brilliance here), and the exuberant Arabic calligraphy of Hassan Massoudy.

I need to thank the online fantasy anthology Unlined for pointing out StrangeMaps and Giornale Nuovo.

3. This last one is for all those who stay up late at night pondering the etymology of pandemonium. XDDD More word origins than you can shake a stick at can be found at Word Detective.com where Evan Morris writes monthly columns answering people’s most mind-boggling linguistic questions. His archive go as far back as 1995 and you can comment on his most recent columns on his blog. Did you know that hoi polloi has Greek origins? Or that maverick is an eponym of a Texas cattle rancher? Well, neither did I, but I’ve decided to read through the Word Detective’s back log and ejumacate myself. I learned a new word today: Rapscallion. Nice huh?

Last 5 posts by giyenah

Column: Nabokov's Last Novel Almost Burned and Thoughts on Lost Books - June 30th, 2008
Two Poems: Kenneth Koch and Louise Gluck - April 6th, 2008
Name! That! Shakespeare! LOLCAT! - October 20th, 2007
Biglang Kambyo--Poetry Time! - September 27th, 2007
Sounding off on Philippine Fiction - September 24th, 2007

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

July 13, 2007 Written by: giyenah | Filed Under Miscellany, Reading

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  Good to mention Corso, pure poet. Would you consider linking to the film about him. www.corsothefilm.com
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