My �Starlight Solutions Forecast��a great, great report I got on the Internet for $15, highlighting all the important trends in the coming year�has been telling me to watch for coincidences. And, in truth, I have been noticing an inordinate number of them. Sure, cynics, write it off as self-fulfilling prophecy, but here are some of the Highlights of Synchronicity I�ve been experiencing of late:

1. I heard the song �Little Wing� on three separate occasions within a span of 24 hours: the first, a version by I think Derek and The Horrible, Horrible Dominoes, on one of the mix CDs The Keelhauler got at the Lonely Little Thrift Store; second, the creaky, awkward, freaked-out blonde stripper at Jumbo�s danced and played air guitar to the Jimi Hendrix version that same night; third, the next day I was having dinner at The Endless Bummer, and on the patio was a guy strumming a soulful (i.e., unbearable) acoustic version of the same song. Wow. I can�t believe it, either.
2. Black cats have been appearing in my life: I�ve house-sat for two of them, was asked to adopt one (�Petey�) (he�s so cute!), and encountered one running around Marina One, in the middle of the night. (That one ran away initially, but when I called to it, almost jumped into my arms, purring and perching on my shoulder. When I finally put him down and walked away, he raced ahead of us down the dock and lay down in the middle of the path, then looked up as we approached, as if surprised to see us.) Then, my cousin sent me a postcard from Rome featuring a ruined building, with a black cat in the foreground. (See? COINCIDENCE.)
3. One of the girls here at work told me I�d appeared in her dream, and although she recognized me and asked me for help when her arm was about to be torn off, I couldn�t understand her because I spoke only Spanish. That evening, I happened to be on a boat with a girl I�d met before. She speaks only Spanish, but because the first time I�d met her I had asked her, using two of the three Spanish words I know, which town she came from in Spain, she assumed I spoke Spanish, and began a conversation with me, a conversation I failed entirely to comprehend. It was nice, because I got to use my third Spanish word (�Si�) in an attempt to appear �cultured.� And I�ve really lost my train of thought, here, haven�t I? But don�t forget! The theme today is COINCIDENCES. So, that one wasn�t really a coincidence in the strictest sense, but anyway, I already typed it.
4. Scarlett wrote to say that minutes before reading my entry in which The Keelhauler claimed that he read Al�s text message in order to make sure he wasn�t calling for help, long-distance, she and her sister were having a very similar conversation over the phone. (Scarlett had choked on a sip of whiskey, and her sister, on the opposite coast, had nervously joked about having to call 911 and alert the Northern California police force.) Coincidence!
5. In a span of ten minutes, I got two (2) e-mail messages from two (2) different people, regarding separate subjects, but each with the subject line �Lunch box.�

I know. It�s hard to believe! I�ll keep you posted about these important cosmic developments.

Star of the day. . .David Letterman