trade routes

As though there needed to be another wonderful thing about Gmail: Gmail Swap. Basically, people with extra invitations offer to trade them to people who want Gmail accounts. Wanters offer things; sometimes physical things, although money's not allowed, but sometimes intangible ones. (Here is a list of the most noteworthy.) And seeing as I've already doled out about 20 invitations to everyone I know who's interested, I obviously -- obviously -- needed to try this.

In the last 48 hours, here's what I've received in return for an invitation:

1. one recipe for "prize-winning" salsa and five recipies for "family-secret" pies, one of which is called Durbin Hotel Sugar Cream Pie, which sounds oh so Jazz-Age chic

2. a marriage proposal, although that was from Anne's coworker and I had already given him an invitation and he was just thanking me, but I am still counting it in the tally

3. a Father's Day gift for a stranger, who said his father wanted a Gmail account more than anything else in the world

4. an Irish man's promise to burn a good-luck candle in my honor for two hours last night

5. another man's promise to donate his hair to Locks of Love, which I did around this time a few years ago (he sent me a "before" picture today and says he will follow with an "after" picture immediately following his appointment next Tuesday)

(6. should have been a note for Angie's mom in the Western Wall in Jerusalem, but that person never wrote me back, sadly)

And Lauren, who is similarly swap-obsessed, is doing even better than I am -- they are her own stories to tell, but they involve swing voters in Florida, long-distance lesbian relationships and handmade sock puppets.

Is it too much to say that my faith in the creative potential of the Internet has been restored? Probably, but it has been said And you're probably tired of hearing me extol the virtues of Gmail, but you'll have to get over it or I will swap you for a postcard from Cuba, a Britney mp3, a wink and a smile.