Life, the Universe, and Everything

First off if you didn't get the reference to the number "42" in the above comic than stop reading here. You will not understand, or probably not care to understand the rest of this particular blog. It is highly probable that this will be most of you. You won't understand anything about this until you read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. If on the other hand you already know that the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything is 42 but are unsure what the actual question is, then keep reading.

Late on the night of March 13th 2006, I was writing my blog Deep Thoughts. I didn't even realize the reference to the computer Deep Thought until the end of the blog when I put in the line about how this all connected to 42. Strange coincidence or just highly improbable? After I wrote that blog I still had a lot cluttering my mind. I decided to try to clear my deep thoughts by laying in bed randomly surfing the internet on my laptop. As I was stumbling around the internet I came across something very interesting.

Douglas Adams, the author of one of my favorite books, "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", was also a writer for Monty Python's Flying Circus. On November 14, 1974 he appeared in the episode Light Entertainment War. He played Dr. Emile Koning. He was not listed in the credits for this episode, but the information can be found on the internet. It was the 3rd episode of Season 4. Can anyone guess what episode number this was for the series? Anyone? Anyone? For those of you who just jumped up and said "42", which will probably not be any of my normal readers, You are Correct!

In no way am I trying to say that this was Douglas's meaning of Life, the Universe & Everything. He has stated before that the number was just a random number he thought up. Or it could of been a improbable coincidence. Ok, if ya get it, ya get the joke by now. I will stop, sorry. Since episode 42 aired in 1974 and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy didn't debut on the BBC until 1978 it is entirely possible there is a connection.

I have read a lot of the message boards and seen all the things people have came up with to reference the number 42 to Life, The Universe & Everything. I have seen everything from references to the genetic make up of DNA (also coincidentally Douglas Noel Adams initials), to base 13 math. I'm not one of those people. I'm just pointing out something interesting I happened to run across and possible helping the mystery to spin haphazardly as it has for years, rotating on chance and change, improbable as it may be.

Either way it reminds me of another one of my favorite books. A totally different kind of book, but one that in some strange way connects with this blog in the following phrase "One moment of Perfection". That other book is Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. Yes, that's a strange combination. I will talk about Fight Club in a later blog and maybe you will understand my reference.

One moment of Perfection. Now I didn't know Mr. Adams and I don't claim to know anything remotely of his thoughts, but this is what rambled through my mind 8 months ago and is still rambling. Everyone has dreams and goals. Wants and desires. Life is far from perfect. Very far from perfect. If you expect life to always turn out the way it should than you will have a lot of days spent wondering what went wrong. That's life. You have to cherish the things that do go well and strive to make more things go right than go wrong. There are those small moments of Perfection when everything is right in the world (see my blog for 11/20/06). It can happen. It takes a lot of work and a lot of luck.

Its been said that if anyone actually knew the Ultimate Question to Life, The Universe, & Everything the universe would unravel and re-create itself in a strange new way so the old question would be irrelevant. Well this actually happened, but most of you didn't realize it. Just two minutes after I made this discovery for some reason unknown or unaware to me. I snapped my fingers. I don't know why I would even attempt that because anyone that knows me knows that I can not snap my fingers. Thub my fingers, Yes, but not snap them. At that moment the sound my fingers made was so crisp and clear I actually stopped and looked at my hand. I had to laugh because then I knew that the universe had just dissolved and I was on to something.

My point is very simple. The Ultimate Question to Life, The Universe, & Everything is both as simple and as complex as the answer. 42. Its what you make of it. Maybe Mr. Adams had his dream fulfilled the day he had a small part on a tv show. Maybe your small moment of perfection is a perfect sunrise, seeing your son or daughter being born, falling asleep in the arms of the one you love, laughing till it hurts, seeing the smile on the face of someone you helped, winning the lottery, a dream home, a good workout, making a million dollars in the stock market by buying Google, creating a worldwide cult following that takes the joke literally and tries to figure out an obscure reference you made even after you told them it was a joke and they still didn't stop even after you were dead.

Its the dream, no matter how big or how small. The goal that you fear but still jump into with both feet, or maybe you just kinda step in it. Its that one small moment of perfection that keeps us striving for the next moment. It gives even those of us that tend to botch those moments up something to look forward to. Your own personal question and answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

DON'T PANIC!