So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish

Innsbruck, Austria—where Adams
became inspired to write the Guide*

It's Friday and "May I share something funny?" day for Blog Me MAYbe. Today also happens to be Towel Day, which I would call both funny and a little bit sad. Why? Because Towel Day commemorates the life and work of the great Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Adams passed away in May of 2001, and his fans wanted a day set aside each year on which to remember him. Every May 25th, hardcore fans of Adams' books carry a towel around with them...all day. If you've never read his book(s) you're probably wondering: Um, what's with the towels?

In the world of the Hitchhiker's Guide, a towel is the single most important article that a hitchhiker can remember to carry at all times. And here's why (right from the pages of the book):

"Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to- hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with." (source)

The Hitchhiker's Guide is a comedic science fiction trilogy of five books, and is loaded with little tidbits that will make you snicker and chuckle (if you're into that kind of thing). If you haven't gotten to it yet, you really should. It's well worth the read, and by next May 25th, you may just find yourself donning a towel too. But not just a towel, because that would be just creepy and weird.

In parting, I have two pieces of Hitchhiker wisdom to share:
1.  Don't panic, and always carry a towel.
2.  42 **

Happy Friday and Happy Towel Day!

P. S. For all you Hitchhiker's geeks out there→ Somebody pointed out that this Towel Day is an especially important one because of this:  25 + 5 + 12 = 42!! (DD/MM/YY). Mind = blown.
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* Picture and caption source
** You'll have to read the book(s) to figure this one out.