<i>"Hello, My name is Misha. I am a map geek."</i><p>But what is a map geek?<p>A personal aesthetic where the visual, geometric and topological apects conspire to induce a overpowering feeling for the beauty of spatial possibility.<p>A spatial imagination, which can look at a map, but see the landscape. The symbolic abstractions vanish as a transparent veil over the underlying truth. A skill and a motivation also correlated with mathematics, physics, (computer) graphics, typography, chess, classical music, art and sculpture.<p>A specific intuitive understanding of topography, based on what it would look like on the ground, with nuances of intervisibility, and the operational task of planning of hiking routes. Perhaps also interwoven with knowledge of local geology, flora and fauna. Ultimately enabling navigating without maps, by the familiarity of the trail, the interlocking of landmark and timeline, and the experience of light and weather by the seasons. Striding out to the summit and rolling down to beat the sunset.<p>Can there be a map geek who is not also a hiker?<p>The mapgeekiness of the (probably male) introverted techie personality. Not just viewing and relating to the beauty, but a desire to know, capture and own, all of it. The collector of the specimens, the librarian of the catalog, the unconsulted oracle preoccupied with imaginings of unspoken theories.