"Care about nothing. Expect to improve."
I really wish I could tell you that was some phrase that had been passed down from generation to generation. You know, like one of those things where your father sits you down on his lap and tells you a story ending with an inspiring lesson you wear on your sleeve day after day–something you adapt to each and every situation of every next phase of your life. And I thought for sure it would’ve been a Peter Cetera lyric of some Chicago song, or a line from a Carleton Sheets motivational-speaking tape. But nope. Even Google can’t find a thing to attribute it to either.
The truth is, the words just came to me, but the mindset came a few weeks ago when I arrived at the TransWorld offices (for my first time ever) and sat down with the staff to discuss just how we could make this magazine better. The new columns, crisper design, and even more attractive photos that we bring to you in this issue are the fruit of that labor.
With that, I’d like to say it’s an honor to be working alongside the people whose work I’ve admired through the years, people like Skin Phillips, Pete Thompson, Seu Trinh, Chris Ortiz and Aaron Regan. When I bought my first TransWorld in 1988, not in a million years would I have thought it’d come to this. And when you can tell me you’ve hung onto this TransWorld half as long as I’ve hung onto that Jef Hartsel December 1988 issue, I’ll pat myself and the rest of the staff on the back. But until then, the only thing on our agenda is to improve.–Eric Stricker
P.S. You like that cover logo? Okay, so some things don’t need improvement. Who said retro was dead?
