BBC: What on earth is 42?:
It's 30 years since Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy made its debut on BBC radio, but its most famous mystery is still waiting to be resolved.

I still have my copies of the HHGTTG, both paperback (the best way to read it) and what appears to be a misprinted hardcover, leather bound edition. My biggest regret is never asking Douglas Adams to sign it - that would just have been awesome.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time - or simple peruse the archives - you'll find many references to the books, the author, and the way of life. Well, not so much way of life, but I like to think that I'm capable of not being totally serious all the time, and I think that's part of what Adams was trying to say - not just "Don't Panic" but sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. As long as you have a towel with you.

The kids have been introduced to HHGTTG, both the recent big-screen version and the original BBC television broadcast. I haven't introduced the audio version, partly because it's very different from the television version, and partly because I only have five of the six CD's - my family had tapes at one point, but I have no idea where they are. I should probably just buy the CD's at some point....

Anyway, I hope that Emma will try reading them in a couple of years when she's a little older and ready for some of the more.... interesting concepts in the book. I have a feeling that she'll enjoy them just as much as I have. I have more than a few years to wait before Ethan can start down that road - but I think, based on his wry little sense of humor, that he'll like them as much as millions of people do.