My Rainbows and Butterflies Post

It's only fitting that this post should be written in PINK. The reason for the title is everything in this post is happy (or at least, comparatively happy when you look at my next post).

Starting off, SONIC! We got an XBox360 for Christmas and one of the games was Sonic the Hedgehog.

When I was little, I would play this game on our old Sega Genesis for HOURS. So I was a little wary of a new Sonic game; would it blow my mind or would I be sadly disappointed? But I didn't have to worry, for it is AMAZING!

The graphics are cool, the storyline's pretty good (and it corresponds with the characters in the original games), and it's actually pretty challenging. More than once I have spent a day completely stumped trying to figure out how the heck to beat certain levels.

Unfortunately, the game is the same as the old Sonic in that it doesn't let you save very much. On the classic Sonic, you couldn't save AT ALL, and if you were lucky you could get a Continue option to start off at the last zone you started. Your best hope was to rack up lives.

In this game, you have to be in a town (not on a mission or specific level) to save, but if you go straight from a mission to a boss, it does give you a save option, which is way more than you get in the first game. Still, it sucks to play whole levels over because you got stuck and quit.

Subject change: do you remember the Bumpus hounds from "A Christmas Story"? The ones who ate that dang Christmas turkey? Well they're in this book! Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories by Jean Shepherd. This classic comedian brings us more anecdotes of growing up, most of these from his late childhood to teenage years.

This book was much enjoyed. The stories were hilarious and many will relate to his nostalgic experiences, especially the dreaded prom night. There were times where I found myself smiling and laughing at things I had done out of this book too, and then there were other times where I was cringing as I read about the poor kid asking out a girl from "the good side of town" to a movie at the dinky run-down theater. That was the night he realized what social barriers were.

My favorite had to be the Bumpus story, involving those pesky Bumpus hounds. His descriptions of their horrid neighbors is so stereotypical yet so insanely unbelievable that you can't help but laugh. It almost reminded me of Cletus from The Simpsons.

Get the picture?