Poi Dog Pondering (and geek-lust)

[elision]

I've had Poi in my mind and in my players even more lately than usual; making a mix for the uninitiated and planning a trip to the east coast around their tour schedule will do that, I guess. Hopefully I'll be able to convince Karen that going to the show Sunday night is a good idea, but I'm fairly doubtful. I wish I had more time -- I'd still have planned the DC trip and the Poi trip together, but I could have gone to all five dates on the east coast and had a week or weekend before or after in DC.

But, alas, I get maybe two shows and all of a weekend with K and D. (Well, Thursday evening through Monday morning, so a little more than a weekend, but still not as much time as I'd like.)

Anyway, my original reason for bringing up that Poi has been in my mind lately was to point out that I have huge geek-lust for Frank[0]. Geek-lust isn't really a concept I've had a name for until recently, but it's definitely something I've felt about various people throughout my life; generally, it's those people who have been able to dance with words, spin them in every which way, and come out of it with something beautiful. My geek-lust is, I think, a manifestation of desire for those qualities I wish I had but clearly do not.

A few examples of why my geek-lust for Frank is so strong:

"We cut the knots at the back of the mind /
with bottles and bottles of wine /
but few things are ever learned from wine"

- The Wine Song, Sweeping Up The Cutting Room Floor

"Branching a blade of silver white teeth /
to cut the head off of headlights"
- Willem Dafoe, SUtCRF

"The night she has got power /
and she spends it by the hour /
cutting the head off of headlights"

- Willem Dafoe, SUtCRF and Platectonic, Electrique Plummagram

There are probably hundreds of other little lyrical snippets, and I'll probably eventually add more here, but you should get the idea from these three that have been cycling in my mind: it's not necessarily that there is great mening in the lyrics (though that can be a factor, as in The Wine Song bit above), but there is always a rhythm and flow to the words themselves that raises goosebumps on me and makes me want. . . something.

Dave the DM said when I introduced him to Poi that the music and lyrics are "relentlessly optimistic" (and so, sadly, not for him). I rebelled against this for a long time since "relentlessly optimistic" isn't really in my nature, but this particular music is something I deeply care about and even love; I'm coming to realize that he's probably right and that that relentless optimism that is not part of my self is a need, and it is a need that I have filled with a particular music.

Taken in that light, what does the fact that I've been ceaselessly listening to Poi (with a side helping of Rusted Root) say about my current mental state?

[0] Frank Orrall, Poi's front-man, primary writer and lyricist, etc.[1]
[1] Hey! LJ needs footnotes.