I have to admit that when I first read "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy," I was not particularly taken with it, but I am not one to condemn a book on one reading. I forced myself through it a second time and then it began to grow on me. Eventually, I joined the vast number of fans who delight in Douglas Adams' clever and often cheeky series, and in these last few years it has been my custom to reread them in honor of International Towel Day.
As for the photo, it is a nod not only to Hitchhikers everywhere, but also to René Magritte's painting, "The Son of Man." To me, the two themes go hand in hand, the Son filling the same metaphorical niche as does Arthur Dent. Dent is Everyman and no man, the last human. All the poor sap wants is a honest cup of tea. He is thrown into a surrealistic series of events through no fault of his own, yet manages to maintain his identity even while being forced to accept that he is no more than a flyspeck in the Universe. His dilemma is one which addresses us all as we each try to find some point of stability in the confusion of our lives. Magritte's Son is faceless but unique, his identity firm but obscure. He too is Everyman and no man, conflicted by his own vision and what others see of him.
Thus the logic of my composition. I am the Son of No Man because I am a woman. I stand on a boundary between two states of matter, faceless, with the Universe behind me, and I cannot see forward.
Happy International Towel Day! And Pangalactic Gargle Blasters all around!
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