The discovery of “just right.”

          Goldilocks always seemed weird to me. She went around trying out bowls and beds, always looking for the one that felt “just right.” It is an awkward story and kind of boring. But I now have a strange connection with this yellow-haired little girl. I have discovered the power of “just right.” Let’s start with the books. I have been reading and reading and reading and reading and the result is that I have discovered new authors and new worlds; there is one author in particular that satisfies my craving for fantasy perfectly. She has created the perfect fantastical world. It is strange enough that it is new and exciting, yet familiar enough that I can relate to it. The world is not weighed down by having to explain extraordinarily odd social customs or machines or governments. There are kings, but there are also monsters. There are common folk, but there are also humans who have been given specific skills and talents that make them different from the rest. In short, this author has created my ideal fantasy world. It is just right.

This was a good discovery, but was more like the bowls of porridge than the beds. It was a small victory. The big victory is the music: Ra Ra Riot. I just started listening to their CD The Orchard and I was captivated by it. The stringed instruments satisfied my craving for the unusual and the beautiful, the lyrics were sincere and, most importantly, clever and the vocals were absolutely exactly how I like it. Not too odd, not too nasally, not too low, not too high. Just. Right. Sometimes as I listened to them I wondered how they could be everything that I loved, how they could be so perfect for me. Exactly what I loved, resonating with everything inside of me. It was like someone had designed a band just for me – unlike Goldilocks, who just took things that had been designed specifically for other people.

I know I will grow and change and soon what was “just right” will become “too something” and I will move on – hopefully to another just right. Because the truth is that you grow and that just-right bed will become too small for you. But for now I am incredibly content, folded in the comfort of a perfect fit.