Ok, I know, I'll give out a free be! That's sure to get my karma up~
The ULTIMATE QUESTION to the ULTIMATE ANSWER of 42 is... drumroll building to creshendo, someone please dim the auditorium lights:
AT WHAT AGE WILL DRIFTINGBLIZZARD DISCOVER THAT HE HAS AN OBSCURE CONDITION KNOWN AS A-S?
I think the ultimate question cannot possibly be one simple question, but must be a different question to different people to actually really make sense. (ok dammit, at least that's how I'm going to package it)...
I know this is probably a total and complete letdown to everyone that has ever touched (or even been in the same room with) a glorious and fantastically well written Douglas Adams book (with the exception of Dark tea time of the soul, didn't care for that one much really). But to me, in the course of a few short minutes, well regular minutes actually, my entire existance suddenly came into crystal clear focus and for once made complete and comforting sense in my head. Similar to the moment I put on my first pair of glasses in 12th grade (after being told not to squint while reading the eye chart). I had been squinting at those damn things since 6th grade when told by a fully liscensed optician, "tell me what the smallest letter is that you can see". With out further explaination, I did exactly what I was told. And I did it well. For the next 6 years. In 12th grade, one of them finally noticed that I was squinting like crazy to try my hardest to make out the absolute tiniest letter I could possibly detect. Kinda like a human version of the hubble telescope scanning the heavens for the faintest quazar burp! All through High School, classmates thought I was stuck up since I didn't always greet them in passing. Trouble was, I usually just didn't recgonize them!~ Its the reason I always sat in the front row. Overnight, a girl thought I must have a crush on her since I was now saying hello to her from down the hallway~ oh the angst of ignorant youth.... Then one night, alone on my computer, while researching ADHD info for a close family member, I came across a description of a syndrome and oddly enough, it was describing my life! And then I heard angels singing and a bright light burst forth filling the room and a euphoria coursed through my body to the very marrow of my bones, fanning out to the tips of my fingers and toes, all of which I still have. I shouted Eureka! Which by the way is fun to do in a quiet house at 2 am. I frantically started catologing all the incidents cluttering my head that had occurred with me, to me, against me, over the course of my life span and each and every one could be linked to my A-S. How's that for a nice way to wrap up a twisted little tale. Not bad for a nights work I said to myself. For the next few weeks, I learned as much as I possibly could, continued to catalog events (and still do) since there were many "incidents" that defined me. At least now I had something to go on, something I could really sink my teeth into. A bit of a project, but more than that. Oh yes, this was a revelation of biblical proportion! I'm still, after 2 years, trying to plumb the width and bredth of it all. Kinda like Hubble trying to measure the universe about him even as it continues to expand. (I live for a good alagory).... more damn dots....