Secret Machines

I’ve tried to look kinda spiffy this week. But I’ll tell you a little secret…

I’ve been wearing the same jeans since Wednesday.

I know, I know. Gross. (And too much information.) But on the great To Do List that is my Q4 (little bit of corporate speak for you there), laundry is not a priority. So while my apartment is in good shape on the outside — no dishes in the sink, no clothes on the back of chairs — look beneath the surface and you’ll find absolute chaos. My bedroom closet, for example? Don’t even think about opening it. Inside my head? Don’t even think about listening to all the voices.

I got a massage after work on Wednesday. Under normal circumstances, I would consider this fairly extravagant. But these are not normal circumstances. I’m running 26.2 miles Sunday morning. There’s nothing normal about that. So, to try and relax these muscles of mine which have been significantly punished in the last three months (or ten years, depending on how you look at it), I got a massage.

I’d like to say that I lay there and simply zoned out, but the truth is, my mind was racing. I was thinking about “Heartland.” I was thinking about T-shirt designs, postcards, guerilla marketing, and the BENJAMIN WAGNER DOT COM Dry-Fit I’ll be wearing on Sunday. And I was thinking about work. And the run. And my family. And — OUCH! — how sore I am.

I always take a comp day on the Monday after the marathon. This year will find me getting another massage, and — most likely — heading into the studio to manage the final “Heartland” mixes. I’ll tell you another secret…

The new record is being released in exactly eleven days, but it’s not done. Mark and I didn’t think it sounded as good as it could. So I dropped another two grand on a complete remix. This is good new for you, Dear Reader (and presumably, Dear Listener), as the record’s gonna sound amazing. It’s bad news for me, as I’m out another 2k, and sweating it down to the wire. But at the end of the day, it’s gonna be a record I can live. It’s a record I can be proud of. It’s a record I’ll actually want to listen to. That’s worth all the dough, all the worry, and all the dirty underwear in the world.