Despite my age, I wasn’t really raised on video games. I was 10 or 11 before I got my first game system – a Sega Genesis. My months of badgering my mom and dad for it didn’t faze me until Christmas Eve night, when, riddled with guilt, I burst to their bedroom and tearfully told them that I didn’t want that hateful Sega after all. My poor parents didn’t have a contingency plan, though, so I still got it Christmas morning. I ended up getting pretty good use of it in the end (finishing Sonic the Hedgehog about 3 times), but I never failed to suffer a twinge of shame every time I flipped the “on” button.

It wasn’t until I was well into college that I was able to appreciate video games as an exciting and often misunderstood new medium. That said, most of my game purchases have been based on how cute the characters in them are.

For me, The Legend of Zelda games are the hands-down winners, both for their classic cuteness and their challenging fun. There are 15 games total in the series, which began in 1986 – I’ve only played 5, and finished 3 of those.

Some cute Zelda highlights:

In The Minish Cap for Game Boy Advance, magical tree stumps transform you (Link, the hero of the story) into a little person and back again. Here, a miniature Link explores a cobbler’s table. Note the little Minish person at the bottom right. This is such a cute game, what with the extreme smallness. It’s my favorite.

Wind Waker for Game Cube is the most cartoon-ish Zelda game. This was the first one I played, so it’s my favorite.

The new Twilight Princess for Wii, which I’m playing right now, is less cute than some of the other Zelda games, but it does have this one cute little monster that talks gibberish, and the art direction is pretty special in parts. So far, it’s my favorite.

I always appreciate a good music recommendation. Here are some for you, selected from my recent acquisitions (but most are not recent releases).

Cê – Caetano Veloso

I think I’m not alone when I cringe a little at the term “world music.” It’s meant to cover many diverse styles, yet it invariably brings to mind that Peruvian pan flute music that my mom used to play endlessly on family vacations.

Forget the genre name for the time being, and take a listen to this album by Brazilian pop/ rock legend Caetano Veloso. I’m just getting to know him myself, but this album is so fresh and exciting, I can’t wait to share it – it’s unmistakably and beautifully Brazilian, but the more frenetic parts of it are also reminiscent of old Talking Heads, or some of the more ’70s-ish indie rock that’s come out lately. And this guy is in his 60s.

Cathedral – Castanets

Nice goth-y country stuff.

We Haven’t Just Been Told, We Have Been Loved – Half-Handed Cloud

Lo-fi hipster Christian music. I think.

Platinum and Gold Collection – Eartha Kitt

Cute and jazzy and really engaging.

Everyone knows that New York is infested with disgusting rats. But does everyone know how goshdarn cute they are?

The rat infestation of a West Village KFC slash Taco Bell made national headlines last week, and rightly so. First of all, the freakish conjoining of any two fast food restaurants is a cardio-horror best foregone by all. Then the footage of people (probably tourists) peering in through the darkened windows at scores of rats – rats darting out from under frying vats, rats playing on empty tables, rats congregating near the condiments bar – and the nation lost its collective cookies.

But for me, watching the endless scenes of community rat life in the shut-down restaurant has been an experience rife with mixed feelings. Feelings like “Jesus, that’s the most vile thing I’ve ever seen,” and “Oh, look- cute little rat babies!” “Jesus, I’m never eating anything I didn’t prepare myself again,” and “Lookit how they play! Aw, that one’s nibbling something with his fat wittle cheeks.”

I’m reminded of the classic Koala infestation joke by the late Mitch Hedberg. But I’m also reminded of the more extreme cases of cat women, which I’d rather not turn into.

Frank Kozik‘s Labbit is honestly the best toy-with-a-hole-that-you-can-stick-things-in since Mr. Potato Head hit the scene. I admit wasn’t so crazy about the bad-ass Smorkin’ Labbits when I first encountered them, but now I think the Labbit series has really hit its stride on this side of the cute spectrum.

I’ve been meaning to get a white Labbit for a while now, but this new Easter Labbit coming soon to Kidrobot is to die for – and it’s seasonal.

I was a little surprised to find out that my mother-in-law is also Labbit fan. But my mother-in-law is cooler than I am, so it should not have surprised me, after all.