Towel Day 2026

Do you know where your towel is? "...any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."

I resisted the draw of Douglas Adams' books for many years, but when I finally gave in and read them in order to find out what the hoopla was all about, I found myself caught up in his web of words. Admittedly, sometimes I questioned his possible relationship with mind-altering substances, but there was something in his mad verbal meanderings and the (at times) nonsensical and tangential interludes in the books which had a magnetic appeal. I identified deeply with Arthur Dent, the hapless human in a situation clearly not of his own making, who craved desperately for one item of normality: a cup of tea amid the chaos. There is much in "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" which is relevant in modern times, so I ask you again: Do you know where your towel is?

Towel Day

Day 225: Douglas Adams cagily imparted a lot of good advice to those who read HHGTTG carefully, but I find these words from Slartibartfast particularly and personally apt in these current times: "Perhaps I'm old and tired, but I always think that the chances of finding out what really is going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say hang the sense of it and just keep yourself occupied." Know where your towel is. Don't panic. And from another quarter entirely, wear the lilac. (Oddly and without any plan for it to happen that way, I just finished reading "Night Watch"). (background image courtesy of NASA via Hubble)

Towel Day 2024

Day 225: Slartibartfast pretty much summed up my life philosophy when he said, "Perhaps I'm old and tired, but I always think that the chances of finding out what really is going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say hang the sense of it and just keep yourself occupied." Happy Towel Day, fellow travellers! Something tells me the ride is going to get bumpier for a while, so be sure you have your towel, and don't panic. And remember, the answer to the Ultimate Question of life, the universe and everything is out there, even if it is wrong. (background image courtesy of NASA)

Towel Day 2023

Day 224: "'This must be Thursday,' said Arthur to himself, sinking low over his beer. 'I never could get the hang of Thursdays.'"

I have to admit, it took me a long time to get the hang of Douglas Adams's books. Initially, I was put off by the sheer ridiculousness of a place where people were named Beeblebrox and Slartibartfast, but eventually, Adams' extraordinary understanding of physics and his linguistic tricks wormed their way into my consciousness, and I was able to put aside my conviction that, as far as these novels were concerned, popularity did not equate with quality. That said, as I re-read them again in observance of Towel Day, I am still convinced that Adams walked straight past the sign which read "Keep off the grass," and therefore managed to avoid being institutionalized as a danger to himself and others by being able to present himself as a rational being when in public. Thus, my friends, I wish you a happy Towel Day, and no matter how it goes wherever you are, "Don't panic."

(Background photo courtesy of NASA)

A Proper Cup Of Tea

Day 224: "All I want is a cup of tea. A cup of tea would restore my normality," said Arthur Dent. "Is there any tea on this spaceship?" Poor Arthur. I think most of us can sympathize with him on some level, especially after the last year. But as our hapless hero is about to discover, normality is probably going to remain out of reach for some time. We can be grateful that no one is reciting Vogon poetry to us now (four years of that was more than enough for one lifetime), but we should expect "normal" to restructure itself rather radically, perhaps to include two-headed beings from Betelgeuse, paranoid androids and strange small men obsessed with fiords. Fortunately and unlike Arthur, we still have tea, although sometimes I think I'd prefer a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster to keep me from deciding to go quite, quite mad.