you gave me a lift

Everything takes perspective, I guess. Like how good a bowl of cereal tastes when you haven't been able to tolerate food for 24 hours.

Or, I had to work a night shift last night. I despise them. Not for the actual work, which is actually rather fun. Nights are creepy and cool in the hospital. You learn by doing what you have to do. Nights always provide the biggest contrast as to how the past several months have shaped me- phone calls that used to fill me with panic and dread are now met with gentle reassurance and a short visit to the bedside to confirm suspicions.

What I despise about night shift is the way it pummels your body and turns your circadian rhythm into the Elaine dance. There's no getting around that one.

But it was only for one night. And also, the morning before I left for night shift, I took a listen to The Shins play Simple Song on SNL. I'd heard the song before, but to be honest, the video that had been released for it had been a bit distracting, so I had not really appreciated it until I saw them perform it live.

It wasn't some powerful and rousing rendition necessarily. But it must be said- if you throw a swell of guitars like this into a song, and the lyrics and vocals are equal to it, consider me a goner. And a line like you feel like an ocean being warmed by the sun and love's such a delicate thing that we do with nothing to prove, which I never knew are fairly hard to beat.

The actual video is kind of goofy and distracted me initially, but I do think it has a bit of a point. It's certainly entertaining enough to watch.

But really, I was just pleased at 3 in the morning to have a little guitar and drumbeat to keep me moving through the hospital. Sometimes all it takes is a simple song.