The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – A trilogy of five by Douglas Adams

No, there’s not a mistake in the title of this post. It’s just one of the many silly, weird and obscure things in this series. Which, when you think about it, is not so very odd. In a universe where anything and everything, no matter how crazy, has a probability to exist somewhere at some time, I’m sure that a lot of things do exist that would seem non-sensical to us.

So, this is a truly epic adventure. It starts with the Earth being demolished to make way for a new hyper-galactic bypass, which is a pretty awesome way to start a book if you ask me. And somehow a few very quirky individuals, carbon based and otherwise, find themselves traveling all over space and time, having unbelievable experiences, meeting even stranger characters, trying to make sense of it all.

All the books of the series are highly entertaining, it certainly looks like there’s a lot of kookiness in the universe. And I was really amazed by Douglas Adams’ seemingly unlimited imagination. He was able to create such fascinating, diverse and detailed worlds and incorporate them in a rather complex storyline. My most favourite bit of this series though were the really special characters. From Arthur, the Englishman who is having a bad hangover one moment and is hitching a ride on a Vogon spaceship the next, to Marvin, the depressed robot who I couldn’t help but love, all the humans, aliens and machines in these books are noteworthy in their way. They all have their background stories, wishes, fears, flaws and pet peeves and seeing them co-exist in this big, crazy universe was definitely a fun experience.

My favourite book of the five was the second one, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, talk about the ultimate dining experience… Obviously, these books don’t belong to a genre I usually read, but I’m very glad I stepped out of my comfort zone this time. Actually, I think this series would appeal to readers of all ages and tastes, I highly recommend it.

Love and stuff

So it’s Valentine’s day today. I’m not big on Valentine’s day, never have been. I don’t care for trashy lingerie, red roses or pink champagne. Well ok, pink champagne sounds good. Particularly when it comes in this form. I wish I lived in a world were casually spending £11 for a tiny box of chocolates was a thing, alas I do not.

Anyway, even though I don’t generally participate in the day’s festivities, I do like to take the opportunity and do something nice for the people I love, myself included. It’s such a pleasure to do something special for someone, or to just get myself a little treat. This year I made breakfast for The Boy. He’s usually in charge of breakfast, so I had to sort of force him to stay in bed, but in the end he liked it. I made raspberry and dark chocolate chunk pancakes.

I went for a nice long walk on my lunch break and wandered around Liberty for a while which always makes me happy. I saw this in the stationery department and I smiled:

Tonight, I’m watching Gilmore girls episodes and having a few of these:

So on Valentine’s day I gladly skip the overpriced flowers and set menus and just make someone feel loved. A cuddle does the trick. I take the day to think about everything and everyone I love, feel grateful for them. Make a point of doing something that makes me smile.

Hope you are smiling today too!