The avatar for my blog pretty much sums up my approach to life. As I get older I'm not quite so quick to react to things about me. Now sure that's due in part to an aging body that's not quite a temple anymore (like it ever was?) and in part to a mind that wanders at the slightest provocation. But what I mean is that over the years I've slipped into a more laissez-faire, "shit happens" state of mind. I react less and less in the knee-jerk fashion of my youth. These days, "Don't Panic" works for me. It's also a tip of the hat to Douglas Adams who utilized the phrase in his brilliantly funny "trilogy in five parts" The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy . Lately, though, it's become harder and harder to hold on to this ideal...