About Us And Our Goal

 
Pauline and Paul

Two brand new New Yorkers and their friends getting to know the city, one museum at a time.

THE GOAL:

 

We move a lot. It’s common in our generation (that’s generation X to you), but I feel like we move more than the norm, certainly more than we should. In just the last 10 years, Paul and I have moved at least every two, switching cities four times. And we hate moving.

I think the worst part is not having a home. Not having a place where you can curl up in your comfy spot, hang out with your comfy people and do your comfy things. Surely every animal (us included) needs to have a safe, familiar den to retreat to. We’ve learned a few things that help in moving: it's best to unpack quickly (think of it like pulling off a band-aid; don’t prolong the agony) and you need to channel your inner Lucille Ball (in my case very inner) and brush up on your small talk so you meet people. But no matter how tired you are after all that unpacking and chit-chatting, you need to get out and explore. Really connect with the what's around you. No matter how big and intimidating the place is, it needs to become your “den”.

Paul and I have just moved to New York, just north of New York City, and there are few places that feel less “den-like.” This is one of the largest cities in the world, and it doesn’t have a reputation for being nice. Quite the opposite. New Yorkers are known for being rude, fast-talking, fast-walking and not easily impressed by small town, small time yokels from Seattle. So how do us yokels make the place home?

Everyone here has their favorite answer to this question, but Paul and I have come up with our own, possibly unique, solution.  We've decided that, in order to get to know this area, we're going to visit every museum in New York City.

On the surface, this may not seem like a great idea. After all, museums are only a small part of most cities.  However, New York is a city of museums; there are at least 180 (counted in Wikapedia and many google-ings, see our latest museum list here) and many of these are among the greatest museums in the world. Every New York borough has its share, as do most of the neighborhoods within them. Just taking the subway to all of these places will be an adventure (and possibly a challenge). Plus, at least half of the museums are focused on the history, culture or art specifically of this region. So here we go:  

180 Museums in 2 Years.