"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun." - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Story time! I stumbled into my local Barnes & Noble the other evening, as I was armed with a wealth of collected B&N gift cards. One from Aunt Linda and Uncle George last Christmas, one from Aunt Linda and Uncle George this Christmas, and yet a third from (I think) Mike's mom for (I think) my birthday, with $1.79 remaining on it.
I first selected The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z by Max Brooks, because ever since I saw Zombieland, I've pretty much decided that I now want to grow up to be a zombie decapitator. Woody Harrelson is a paragon of ass-kicking awesomeness to begin with, but Zombieland elevated him to the Chuck Norris level of ass-kicking awesomeness, a high honor indeed! Mountain Dew Code Red + Bill Murray + Chainsaws used as weapons + Twinkies = One fuckin' epic movie!!!But I digress. My second selection was predetermined before even stumbling into B&N. I had heard of a wonderful series of books written several years ago and the fact that I had not read them yet amazed many. However, my long love affair with a certain Mr. Steinbeck had been too intense for me to notice any other authors for quite some time. Not that Mr. Steinbeck and I have broken up, we're just on a break.... and we're not exclusive anymore. Once again, I digress.
That predetermined series was none other than (If you didn't already guess from the post title and Quote of the Day) Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Five books in one paperback volume. So far, I have only read the preface and chapters 1 and 2. But I already have a feeling that this book - this series - is going to change my life!
From the very first sentence, Hitchhiker clearly states that Earth, our home planet, the only habitat we have and know, which collectively is the center of our personal universe, is albeit totally insignificant and painfully primitive in the eyes of the rest of space. I can't imagine much truer sentiments. Not that I can speak for the rest of the universe, but we (and when I say "we", I refer to the current population of the planet Earth) seriously are strange race of beings. We call our system of cohabitation a "civilization" or "society." We progress and fall, we build and destroy; we don't learn anything. Our happiness depends on the movement of some green pieces of paper. The green pieces of paper move, but we're still, for the most part unhappy. Apparently, some girl figured out the solution without having to get nailed to a tree. I'm sure it was painfully simple, but I sure wish she'd shared that solution before that stupid catastrophe. But no. We're still here in the mindset that digital watches are a neat idea. We float around on this rock, thinking we're in charge of every other rock in the solar system. Isn't it possible that the reason we haven't come in contact with any other beings foreign to this planet is because we're not interesting to the rest of the universe? If other planets have the technology and ability to cruise the galaxy, I would imagine that we would be like the world's lamest, most boring roadside attraction in comparison. If you're cruising across the country, would you really pull over in excitement to see the "World's Smallest Pecan"? If you are, bless your heart. But seriously, if we were able to zip around space like the Jetsons, would you stop and check out a planet inhabited by beings with the collective intelligence and philosophy of an amoeba?I guess my point is that even though we're not worthy of a visit, let alone an attack for what we consider to be precious resources, I'd sure like a visit from some friendly, yet superior beings to show us the light. Obviously, we're totally failing at this "civilization" thing. After all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different outcome (Einstein said that... I think he got stranded here because he was too awesome to be a regular humanoid). So other beings, in your awesome space-traveling powers, can you cure our insanity so we may rise up and be worthy to learn from all the universe has to offer? There's just gotta be more than us in this very, very, very big collection of rocks.
Maybe I'll figure things out further when I finish the rest of the book(s).
...and maybe the best part of all this: I've still got $25 worth of B&N gift card left!
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