swap and sing: something for everyone.

OK, all you readers, check this out:

paperbackswap.com

you post 9 books and they give you 3 credits. for every credit, you get to search their database and find a book you want. you order it, and then it comes! for free! all you have to do is pay for shipping for the books of yours that someone wants. and then, for every book you send, you get ANOTHER credit. for another book!

now that i write it out, it sounds kind of like a library. but you can keep the books! and someone gets a book you don't want! i got rid of a random biography of Handel that i found, and some art book that someone got me for christmas, and i ordered "faith seeking understanding" -- a great theology book that i used last semester but didn't buy, and "autobiography of an ex-colored man" which someone just told me was a fascinating read.

so now i've gotten two books, and mailed two books, so i have three credits. any recommendations?

in other news, apparently women sing better than men. on american idol last night, the women had way better voices, but didn't have the same kind of personalities, at least the same kind of obvious personalities. also, they tell the women every year -- don't try to sing aretha, don't try to sing celine, don't try to sing whitney, unless you can REALLY do it (and it's the rare women that can REALLY do it). but we had 2 celine songs, 4 arethas...c'mon!


my two favorite women: the shy ladies who are nervous even though they're awesome. melinda, on the right, is a former background singer who should really be a front-ground singer, and lakeisha, on the left, is a single mom who works for a bank. she pulled out "and i am telling you," which made me roll my eyes, because it's kind of obvious, but she's sweet.





the two "hipster women": both of these ladies i want to like, because they're different and have their own style and are not really in the conventional pretty-idol-girl mold, but i was disappointed in both of them. gina, on the left, totally didn't hit the right note on the BIG note of the song and then tried to play like Simon was wrong and she did hit it and like she was proud of something that made me wince (the picture is of her NOT hitting the note). leslie has a rock-ska vibe, but she sang aretha, which seemed mismatched (but look at her dress! and the boots! LOVE.).


the other women are kind of forgettable with their wavy hair and skinny jeans. also of note: ryan seacrest is really short, or this is a particularly tall crop of women: