A couple of years ago, in the search for comprehending all things Mulholland Drive, I met online a young Portuguese man who spoke in terms of smoke and fire, of spirits unbound and yet tethered to the pulse of the earth. How very Lynchian he was. We embarked on a very serious and thought-provoking dialogue, educating each other and ourselves on the perspective seen by the other side of the world. We know of each other's loves, and losses, and quests, and desires. We have shared words and photographs and books and politics and paintings and movies, ad nauseum.

Then we shared nothing.

Our dialogue came to an abrupt halt for no apparent reason. Life intervened. We got busy and pulled away from our keyboards. Perhaps our spouses wanted more of us than we were giving to them at the time.

mr. zippy does not understand how I can call someone I have never physically met "friend." but mr. zippy is an atheist, and does not believe he has a soul that reaches out to other souls even when he is unsuspecting.

"Don't you believe in soul mates?" I ask him.

"What does that mean?"

And I cannot explain.



everything happens for a reason.

every person has a purpose.

I have just received a package from Portugal, a bottle of Porto's finest vintage, commemorative stemware and The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by Jose Saramago. Rui has thankfully sent me the English language translation of this 1998 Nobel Prize winner, as my education in Portuguese is about as expansive as my French and Spanish.

Small steps.

On his note, Rui has simply said "Dear zippy ... yes, I remember."

And I think "What? What does he remember?"

He remembers the port because of our conversation and my ignorance of quality and his national pride boasting of Oporto's vineyards and history and culture.

He remembers Jesus because ... it's Christmas, I expect. Jose Saramago because he is a Portuguese prize, a regarded man from a small country.

He remembers me, after a long absence, because we may have not yet met, but we have touched each other across the vast expanse of the universe.

I love the internet.