Fifty two. A deck of cards. The B-52’s. The atomic number of Tellurium. 52 weeks in a year. The number of letters in the English alphabet.

Today’s birthday clearly signifies that I’ve got a pretty auspicious year ahead of me. Hopefully, it will also be one of the most creatively fulfilling and emotionally satisfying. Not that I really ever want or even expect to be completely satisfied with anything. That would probably be my demise. Stay hungry, as Steve Jobs so aptly put it.

I don’t make new year resolutions. But I will promise to try harder – during my fifty-third year – to focus on taking my life as an artist to a more spiritual level. Above all, I’m going to work harder than ever on choosing projects and setting goals that have long-term benefits for me and my family. Which means, I’ll be re-introducing the word “no” to my vernacular at an accelerated frequency. The vintage photo above was taking sometime during a voyage in my youth. I may have been 19 or 20 at the time and it was likely shot somewhere in the archipelago along the west coast of Sweden.