Orienteering, of all things. Orienteering is that sport where you run through a forest with a map and compass, trying to get from checkpoint to checkpoint as quickly as possible. I built up an ever growing collection of orienteering maps, then helped draw some, then took a side trip into the math of map projections, then my pre-existing interest in the history of science caught fire and I got interested in the history of mapping and geodesy. Then I started doing some Google Maps mashups, then I found your podcast and website, and here I am.

I was wasted when I took my Physical Geography final my freshman year in college and aced it. I was up ’til 6am in my fraternity house drinking w/ my buddies before we “planned” to go home on the Saturday our Physical Geography final was. Of course, on a Friday in North Dakota you can forget about a Saturday morning final fast when drinking during a blizzard. Still, my friends bombed it and miraculously I got everything correct. Funny how those communications majors always change majors after the first semester, eh?