I see that my most recent post was late October 2009.  I apologize.  There is a good reason for this, or at least I am hoping you will think it is a good reason, or agree to give me the benefit of the doubt.

In mid-August my position as Director of New Media Initiatives of the Cleveland Museum of Art was eliminated.  And, because I was, at the time, the only employee of the Department of New Media, this meant the elimination of a program that I had, under the direction of then CIO Leonard Steinbach, founded and nurtured for almost a decade.  Although I know that the decision to eliminate a position made by the director and administration of an institution is not meant to be taken personally, particularly during tough economic times, it is hard, as the “eliminated one” not to take the decision to heart.

So….I spent some time soul-searching, trying to decide what I was going to do in this next phase of my career.  During this period of extreme navel-gazing I really didn’t have anything to say that I thought was blog-worthy.  And to be honest, I’m still trying to determine how my role as a Musematic blogger might change in the future.

Like the Grinch standing up on the top of Mount Crumpit I puzzled,

’til my puzzler was sore. Then I thought of something I hadn’t thought of before!  Maybe losing my job doesn’t mean that I’m poor.  It just means that my choices are different, less sure!”

So, with that in mind. I asked myself a few questions.

Did I do the best I could with the tools (money, manpower and time) I’d been given?  Yes, I think I did.

Am I proud of the work accomplished by a talented group of people (vendors, volunteers, student interns, and  museum employees alike) under my watch?  Yes, I am?

During the decade that the New Media Department existed at the CMA, all of the projects for which I had both the resources and the authority for completing, were completed on time and on budget.  That’s something.

Do I still feel like I have something to give back to the community?  Damn straight I do.

And like Chrissie Hynde says:

I’m back in the fight, back on the train,  back on the chain gang.