In lieu of Curator's Corner today I want to take some time to discuss all the things that are in my head but will most likely not accomplish in the coming year. I know it doesn't seem like I have any goals due to my lack of follow-through, but I have so many ideas and projects I want to work on I thought I'd share them and revisit ones from years past. The big ones throughout the years seem to be the following:
Overhaul the website. I've been saying this literally for the past 3 years (check my 2013 goals post for proof), but it needs to happen. This is not a typical beauty blog but it's also not a typical museum either, so examples of existing sites are of little help, and it's tough to figure out where to begin. However, I wanted to make sure everyone is aware that I know the site badly needs a refresh, as I began it in 2008 and the design is stuck firmly in that time period. Oof.
Books, books and more books. I think the reason why I don't many any progress on any of the books that I want to write is because I have too many ideas and I can't prioritize. There's the coffee table book that I've been talking about forever, the '90s beauty book (I at least have the chapters laid out for that), art and makeup book (inspired by this publication), fashion and beauty book (similar to the art and makeup one), and while's not makeup-related, I have a book full of essays on '90s pop culture brewing too. So that's 5 total. I don't know which one to try to tackle first, or how to do that while working full-time and maintaining this blog.
So many exhibitions, so little time. Five books is nothing compared to the amount of exhibitions I have rattling about in my head. I have, let's see *consults spreadsheet* at least 15 special exhibitions I'd love to execute eventually. Seriously?! Like the books I want to write, I can't prioritize. They all seem like timely themes so I have difficulty choosing just one to concentrate on. And the bigger ones will, like my books, require an extraordinary amount of research and resources I don't have access to.
Create an online library. I got the idea for this 2 years ago and haven't done anything. Again, I just don't know where to start.
Improve my photography skills (or acquire some). Every time I research how to take better pictures the same thing always happens – I get overwhelmed and end up not doing anything.
Establish a brick and mortar space for the Museum or have a pop-up exhibition at an existing gallery. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! I've come to the conclusion that as long as I'm working full-time this is never happening.
That's more or less it for now. I wish I could say I'm going to make some headway on at least one of these, but it's not realistic. And I know all the typical advice says to break down big projects into smaller steps, but every time I do that I realize there are about 1,000 steps for the projects I want to do, leading to me getting completely frustrated and defeated. I guess the point of this post is that even as I acknowledge I won't get any of these goals accomplished, I wanted to jot down these ideas online because they're taking up so much space in my brain. As the Dude says, "A lotta strands to keep in my head, man…a lotta strands in the old duder's head."
What are some things you've got knocking around in your noggin? Do you think you'll see them through?