it’s yesterday, LA marathon, somewhere in west hollywood, about mile 16 or so. with each passing minute, it somehow manages to rain harder than it did the minute before. we’re all soaked to the skin, muscles cold and cramping, and there’s a long way to go yet. the spectators are trying their best to cheer us up, but orange slices, peanut butter pretzels and vague, disintegrating signs only go so far. then, from a apartment window high above santa monica blvd, this song begins to play. well, not the remix, the original. we all look up, then at one another, and for a second everybody is smiling. it wasn’t much, but in a race as demoralizing as the monsoon marathon was at times, it was a weird moment of grace, endowed by the circumstances with all sorts of power and importance. and just one in a string of connected, utterly essential moments that carried us from mark to mark til we got where we were going. it’s stupid, but i think fewer people would have crossed the finish line without it. music. -d