Jim D. update: I saw him in the elevator as I was going home the same day I wrote the last post. He greeted me warmly and was really friendly. He graduated from UC Santa Barbara and only recently returned to O.C., likes the company we work for, blah blah blah. Nothing too thrilling. I guess he wasn't snubbing me after all, which is good, because now I don't have to be his enemy.

Many of you have written to me expressing disbelief at the Jim D. phenomenon. "Why is this near stranger continually turning up in your dreams?" someone asked. "What does this all mean?"

I'm kidding. No one has written to me regarding the Jim D. phenomenon, or anything else, for that matter. No one reads this blog. But I continue to be mystified by the Jim D. phenomenon, so I will dedicate one last post to it.

Last night I had dinner with my mother and brother, who each had their own theories. "He's obviously come into your life for a reason," my mother said. "Maybe he's your soul mate and you're going to marry him."

"Mother, I am not going to marry Jim D.," I said. "He's too short to be my soul mate."

I don't know why I said that. I have nothing against short people, being one myself.

"He's not your soul mate," my brother said. "But maybe you're meant to do something great together, like write a book or collaborate with him on something spectacular. Something life-changing."

"Or maybe he's going to murder me," I said, horrifying myself. "Or maybe we're meant to murder each other!"

Listen to my reasoning: I am moving in with D shortly, so the soul mate/marriage theory seems unlikely. I have "worked" on my "novel" for two years with little progress and lack the patience to collaborate with anyone on anything, so my brother's theory also seems far-fetched.

Clearly the most logical explanation for the Jim D. phenomenon is one of doom, gloom, murder and mayhem. You cannot dispute my logic. Don't even try.

By the way, I had another dream about Jim D. that night. And last night. I'm not even joking.

Jim D., stay away from me, do you hear me? Stay away!