I learned this morning that an old friend of mine, apparently in the heat of the moment, took his own life last night. He leaves behind a wife, infant twins, and a shattered swath of friends who cherished his brilliance, kindness and sensitivity.

As the sadness and senselessness of it all settles in around me, I’m finding comfort in the strangest thing. I keep watching the “Where the Hell is Matt?” video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY.

I dunno – the music, the voice, the dancing-simply-because-we-can joy of it helps bring me back, helps me stare the stupidity of this tragedy in the face. Not in anger, but in defiance. Defiance of death in an embrace of life, and all the wild wacky beautiful things it can bring us.