I have a confession to make. You have to understand that, for a (former but still sort of) computer nerd, this is a difficult thing to admit. But, well. I suppose it would have come out sooner or later.

Until recently, I had never read any books by Douglas Adams. Yes I know his series of books has reached almost cult classic level, and the world mourned his passing. Yes I know that any self-respecting nerd – especially nerds of the science fiction/fantasy variety (the type I claim to be) would not only have read these books several times, but probably own at least the first book, and can quote significant highlights from the others.

But for whatever reason, I never read them. I cannot even begin to explain why. It’s not that I didn’t think they sounded interesting. It’s just that somehow I never got around to it. Until now.

Richard, on his wish list for Christmas and his birthday, requested the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe DVD. And because I find it fun to indulge my husband’s nerdiness as well as my own (hence the recent new Palm Pilot splurging we did. The credit card is still wincing from that one), I bought him a copy. Naturally, once he opened his gift, we had to watch it. And thus my introduction to the marvelously warped mind of Douglas Adams began.

The series on DVD covers the first two books, and gave me just enough to whet my appetite. Shortly after we watched those episodes, I headed for the library and checked out the rest of the books. Normally I would finish the entire series this week, especially when faced with weeks of being away from home, and evenings stuck in some nameless hotel room with only limited channel selections on the TV. However, lately I’ve been spending a lot of my cooped-up-in-the-hotel-room time frantically knitting, since I fully intend to make it to this month’s Craft Night, scheduled for this coming Friday night, Bay area rush-hour traffic be damned. I’ll be done with the blanket this week if it kills me, and I need someone to show me what the heck to do with those annoyingly dangly bits of yarn from when I had to weave in the second skein of yarn.

Despite the knitting issue, last night I curled up in my not-exactly-cozy hotel bed and read book three (Life, the Universe, and Everything) for the next chapter on the life of the poor befuddled Arthur Dent and his assortment of strange alien companions. At some point this week, I’ll wheedle the parking valet into taking me to wherever it is they have stashed my car so that I can retrieve the fourth book from the pile that is sliding around in my back seat. And this weekend (during recorder practices, getting our taxes done, and – if I’m really lucky – getting my car washed) I’ll probably bring the rest inside and pile them up in perfect order so I can work my way through to the end. After all, if I’m going to read these things (and I’m having so much fun with them!), it’s important to read them all in order.

This has been an AlphaBytes entry.