Two unrelated items

I don't often post about music, but sometimes I fall so completely in love with an album upon first listen that I have to shout it from the rooftops. Miles Kurosky, frontman of the late and great Beulah, released his first solo album, The Desert of Shallow Effects, and I can't get it out of my head. You can watch the video to one of my favorite songs from the CD here.

Also, one of my high school friend's little brothers killed himself early last year. I hadn't seen him for at least five years, so though he was an older teenager at the end of his life, I remember him as a goofy, chubby, confident kid with a big blond afro. This last Friday, we were driving back from the swimming pool and passed a bridge. Sitting on the rail and facing away from us was a chubby kid with a blond afro. It looked so much like Jake. There was a bicycle laying in a ditch beside the rail, so Andy turned the car around to go see if maybe the kid had been in a bike crash. I rolled down my window and asked him if he needed any help. I got a good look at his face, and he wasn't Jake anymore. He said he was fine - it looked like there was maybe somebody else with him, climbing around under the bridge. We turned around again and drove back home, and he gave us a little wave as we passed.

When I saw this high school friend over Christmas vacation, I gave her a copy of some home-movies we'd made at her house, including footage of Jake as that confident kid.

I'm not quite sure how to end this post.