And yesterday I got kicked in my RIGHT knee twice by my 2000 pound horse who was trying to get a horse fly off his stomach when I was tightening his girth. I narrowly avoided being swatted by this hoof in my head too when he was dancing around trying to shake the bugs off. I didn't think it was that bad. It wasn't like my knee was shattered or anything, just tingly vibrations up and down my leg. Now almost a day later I can barely walk. Yesterday evening I just limped around my house and cushioned it thinking it would go away but the bruise is even bigger then before, even more purple, and my knee is even more swollen. Fuckkkkk. I have to go to work / ride again today. Hopefully if I ice it or wash it with warm water it will feel better before I have to leave at 1.

Well at least I have matching  painful knees.

Do you have any painful sport injury stories?

Knowing that you are a fast train going nowhere

I was waiting in chains, counting down the time

Until I could escape whatever plagued me there

I’ve realized that you are poison to my skin

Toxic tastes taunting my tender tongue

You think you can stop it from seeping in

But in reality the transfomation has already begun

These fickle emotions are won't last

Flowers turning to ash right in front of me

I’m going to burn down our past

Till all that is left is smoldering memories

I’ve tasted pure freedom in its simplest forms

White clouds override all the impending storms

Don’t want to give up my newfound blue skies

Won’t trade it in for any glowing green eyes

I’m not ready for a round two to commence

I’ve put my weapons down in perfect surrender

I’m not willing to give you a second chance

My racing heart just lost its leading contender

I used to be all over you

And now I’m just over it

Some things I've noticed Shaant likes- left side (read his lyrics and his journals), "tried and true" (he must have said it 10 times at least on the DVD plus in his lyrics and blogs), weaving his head when he sings (all the time), Dave ("the glue holding the band together", bffs) :] Do you know how fucking cool it is to see tidbits from blogs from 2006 make it on the record? The title for Do What You Do is one of those things.

Some highlights of the DVD- The acoustic version of Navigate Me is FANTASTIC, "We have an obeo on this record! Isn't that cool!?", Shaant rapping during Hollywood, the "left side" thing almost coming full circle with Time, Daves all around eagerness to talk about the band / him grinning like a maniac when Shaant recounts the story of Dave puching the shit out of him in the recording booth for a take of Doctor because John (producer) wanted Shaant to get angry (I wonder if that made the final take ;]), Toms only dedication being "YOU", and finally, the TWO BONUS SONGS. Yes, we know we get one called Through To You. But there is an unmarked track 16 that is Shaant singing acoustically in his gorgeous voice. Pure heaven.

Practice Makes Perfect - The opening track of Rotation starts with Shaant softly crooning "So sweet I can hardly speak due to such trama in my teeth" and building into an intense chorus. The song is more mature then anything off of The Same Old Blood Rush With A New Touch and more filled in instrumently wise. It's like growing from a scruffy teenager to a man. There is very nice background vocals and electronics making PMP just all around lovely with Shaants smooth voice easing your way through it.

Doctor - Doctor builds from distant laughter that you only notice with the volume high into a pounding "This is it for me" repatition towards the end of the song. "I took the chemicals we used to make our chemistry, and I remixed it, It didn't fix it, All it did was make the memories a blur to me" proves that Shaant still has his witty tongue in cheek mind working his pen. This catchy song has a more tropical feel with a hint of Blood Rush in the way Shaant plays with the tones but only a drop. It progresses into something bigger then anything off the former CD.

Navigate Me - There is no other way to describe this song then gorgeous. Obviously it's a sexy song and I'm sure dozens of teenage girls will have their knees weaked when the instruments break away for a pause to leave Shaant desperatly crooning for a few beats. I'm just blown away by the range Shaant has developed and how he takes advantage of it throughout the whole record and this song. He uses many diverse tone patterns to keep everything interesting. The drums are a particular favorite in this one.

Loser - It's good to have a song like this on their record. As you listen to it you are reminded of why you like Cute in the first place. It has an electric buzz and an anthem like feel for a while there.

Do What You Do - There is a part in the beginning of the song that happens to be my favorite part of the record. It that goes, "There is an engine in my body, With every beat it helps me breathe, There is a machine within my body, If I can keep up with the machine that is in my body, I can do anything, be anything, see anything, I can feel the beat within my body, If I keep up with it can I catch myself?". When Shaant sings "breathe" I just let out a breathe I didn't know I've been holding. In that verse there are so many different ways he manipulates his voice with the solid support of Toms drums and Jeff and Daves strings. There are so many great lyrics in this song such as the ones I mentioned above. I also love the lines "How you ever been fake for the sake of saving face?" and "You can work, you can play from the cradle to the grave / Doens't matter what they say / You can move as you may from the cradle to the grave / Doesn't matter what they say" in which I particulariy enjoy how he sings "been" in a higher note rather then the obvious choice of "fake".

Hollywood - Shaant has mentioned that he likes and follows polictics in his blogs and this song is all about that. This just feels like something he enjoyed doing and experimenting with. It has a cocktail bar / jazz feel with trumpets and horns and strings and dips and echos. It's snazzy and snappy. You want to just spin around and groove to the song. And OHMYGOD Shaant has this little mini rap thing that I adore.

Safe Ride - In Daves own words, the opening line of "No one is harder on me then myself", is something that anyone can relate to. My own friend has has that line up for the past week as her aim awya message. This song seems to be about growing to me. He talks about realizing that he's not alone and that he doesn't have to live that way. My only slight worry is that the chorus to this and Doctor kind of song alike to me.

The Lock Down Denial - This rougher track has a more.. I don't want to say hiphop because it's not.. but a more stacco pattern through some of it.

Marriage To Millions - MTM is one of the only songs to start out with a guitar wailing. I think this song let the instruments speak.

Miss Sobriety - Miss Sobriety seems like a revamped sequel to Fourth Drink Instinct. "One mans trash is another mans treasure / One mans pain is another mans pleasure" is my favorite line with Dave's harmonies voice taking full control of the backup vocals and filling in the spaces that Shaant misses. That was a very smart and nice touch.

Time - I believe that this is what TSOBRWANT would sound like if Cute recorded it now with slower tempos. I say that and I think that but on the other side it feels like the bridge between Cutes first record and their second and it flawlessly tie them together. Shaant slips in the lyrics he is oh so famous for in his blogs which seems like his natural state. I love how he put in the "left side" line of "I've always thought your left was your strong side / But when it comes to you I can't decide".

Yes, I do miss how much simpler and rawer TSBRWANT because it's easier to move to and sing along to. The songs off that are more made for performing and having a dance party too. And it was perfect for who they were then. But Rotation was the next step for the band. Hell, I will always miss their first record because it was special and amazing. Because that was the CD and the blogs Shaant posted at that time were the things that inspiried about one sixth of my lyrics. And I might always prefer to fall asleep to the demo version of Teasing To Please over anything they ever create. (They ARE putting the demo of Lyrical Lies back up on their myspace once they stop streaming the new record, right? Eep, hopefully or I wil; have to mourn the fact that I didn't record it and then go scour websites for it.) Hell, I will always have a very special spot in my heart for that Teasing To Please. I'm probably going to get "strong" tattooed on the side of my left rib cage one day because of the whole Left Side, Strong Side thing.

They grew up since then and as they did so did their musical taste, what they wanted to do, and their aspirations. Shaant stepped away from the teen heartthrob way of singing and toned down the puns he is so famous for on the advice of a home time friend. Dave, a singer in his own right, was added to the mix of already talented musicians and I think he's here to stay as him and Shaant seem really close and he's been there from the very start to support Cute. The band opened up their doors to anything- from oboes to horns to whatever their hearts desired.

All in all this is a very interesting and ear appealing record that people should check out even if they didn't like the old Cute Is What We Aim For because they have grown up to produce a very diverse an interesting CD that will take you on an amazing ride from start to finish. And Shaant will be your "safe ride" through out the whole thing. ;]

I see myself in everyone. I am the kid you saw playing in the sand box down near the empty swingsets (I have his laughter). The mailman driving past your door concentrated on getting home safely (I drive the same way). The drunk speeding down the street to blaring music as the yellow lines flash by (I am just as lost). The determined cop blaring my wailing siren through the prosession of cars (I want to save someone just as badly). The underfed salesman crossing the cracked pavement one last time (I am looking for same things in my life). The overworked lawyer stopping for a coffee that will stay cold and be forgetton on his desk (We both just wanted to get out of that office).  The devastated soldier picking up his gun one last time (We thought it was a good idea at the time). The crippled widow sitting in her chair waiting for something to happen (We both long to leave the window sil and fly away).

I see slivers of myself in all of them like the moon looks at the sun and knows he can shine just the same. Each of them unknowingly holds a peice to my 3D puzzle skin with each scar and the crisscrossing vein out lining the blood boundaries. Some bare it out in the open while others have it hidden in a crease somewhere. I need to reach out quietly and softly tear the extra fragment from their being and place it safely where it belongs in my bones to collect myself. They appeal to all my senses like a favorite scent does, drawing me in dangerously fast. I crave their perfume like an addict breaths smoke and my life is just as empty without them in it. Their actions beg to be scripted in my planbook of a brain- catagorized by what they do and alphabetized by their true name. My fingers twitch to steer their winding paths and give them a purpose in their otherwise pointless lives and to sharpen their clarity of the world.

I want to scream to them in high tones, to reassure them. "It will be okay. You're going to be fine. You just need someone to help you back on your feet. I will be happy to be the one taking your hand." I want to let everyone know that they deserve that. And that I can do that for them if they need me to. I know I could make a difference in their journey, that I would steer them away from the dead end and the pricker bushes if I just took . that . chance.

And yet, I let them go unchanged most of the time. The man with bags under his eyes and a tie hanging from his neck. The woman in red pushing the baby strollar. I let simply walk past me in a flurry even though my hands are clenched tight in my pockets. My nails dig semi circles into my palms but I don't reach out to them. I can feel them there so strongly and I know they are the ones. I can tell which have a hidden story waiting in their core and every fiber in my being screams for me to branch out. But I stop myself from looking into their eyes for fear that one day I might be looking at myself.

I am young and old. I am the eyes and ears of the pen and the paper. I am searching for the way to best share this feeling with the world, looking to exploit every tiny detail. I am trying to find the words.