About

Yes, the blog title, 21: Half the answer to life, the universe and everything, is eccentric. You caught the Douglas Adams reference though, didn’t you? He wanted us to believe that 42 is the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. Well my brain isn’t half the size of a planet, my life isn’t complete, I only inhabit a corner of the universe and not everything interests me. On the whole, I’m usually well short of even half the answer, so 21 is an aspiration rather than a promise. And it makes the arithmetic easy.

Moving beyond whimsy and simple sums, there is more to the title. ’21′ is a concise, if opaque, response to the question of ‘where I’m coming from’. This is what WordPress invites bloggers to explain on their ‘About’ pages. Coming from 21? Huh?

DON’T PANIC! For many of us, 21 is a significant age, the time when we emerge fully into the adult world. By then we’ve been shaped and positioned by upbringing and opportunities, or lack of them. We have some of the answer to life’s questions, but usually we’re still learning fast and much is yet to be decided. What happens in the next few years often has further powerful effects on our careers, social circumstances and the kind of person we become. Of course the environment includes national and international events, social climate and popular culture. Experiences when we are 21 or thereabouts often turn out to matter a great deal. So it was for me.

A few details. In the summer of 1968 I got my first degree but didn’t bother to go to graduation. Better to try to be ‘cool’.

And anyway I had booked a trip to the US. Nine weeks in the Deep South and five weeks on Greyhound buses opened my eyes to inequality and injustice, pushed me leftwards politically and increased my thirst for travel. The negative backdrop included the Vietnam War, widespread hostility towards the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King’s assassination and police cracking heads at the Democratic Convention. The positive context for me – a space nut and fan of the Stones and the Who – included the Apollo project in full swing and rock music at its zenith (I reckon). What a time to be there! The lows included looking down the wrong end of a gun, seeing racism and poverty in Mississippi,

and arriving in Chicago at 5am after a 46-hour trip from Calgary. Amongst my highs – all legal – were Jumping Jack Flash at Number 1 on my 21st birthday,  Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry concerts, Cape Canaveral,

the Grand Canyon

and a ‘tricky’ presidential candidate passing close by.

Returning to the UK, I started my pre-arranged graduate job in industry, but my heart wasn’t in it and I soon quit. Largely because of the US experience, in the next few years I travelled extensively, married a kindred spirit, did a postgraduate social work course and embarked on a public-sector career. America tipped the balance; I’m glad about that.

We soon started producing children, and we’ve had grandchildren for a while. I taught in universities for more than 30 years and have been fortunate to visit quite a few countries. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been to the US. Only rarely have I been a paranoid android and, so far, I’ve not been clinically depressed. Still a lefty political junkie, I’m frustrated that for years no one has really merited my vote. I continue to be an inveterate Stones and Who fan, space enthusiast and traveller. These days I’m better at tolerating other viewpoints and my tastes in music have widened slightly. Computers are now everywhere and my work has come to centre on developing and promoting the appropriate use of ICT in higher education. Compared with 1968 I take more exercise, do more gardening, complete more crosswords and am more discriminating about beer. Settling into semi-retirement, I hope these trends will continue.

So if you want to understand where I’m coming from, 21 is a good start. How much more is there to know? 21.

Bob Rotheram