Make extra money by selling textbooks on Amazon

May 22nd, 2009 § 4

At the end of this semester I was left with some books that my college’s book store wouldn’t buy back from me for a variety of reasons (they had reached their quota on that book, the instructor was using a new book next semester, etc.) I needed to get rid of a few so I looked for places online I might sell. I had used Amazon to sell things before (books, actually) so I quickly found myself there.

It was extremely easy to list my books—all I had to type in was the ISBN and it knew everything about my book—and they were listed in just minutes. Amazon shows you their prices for the book, as well as other individual sellers’ prices to help you decide how much you want to sell yours for.

Within two hours I got an e-mail from Amazon informing me my Calculus book had just sold and I should ship now—the money was already in my Amazon Payments account. The only complaint I have about the whole process is Amazon’s high fee for using the service. I listed my book for $85 and in the end I received $73.90. Not that bad but still.

All in all I’d give Amazon Marketplace a pretty high ranking. It’s almost too easy. I barely had to do anything but list it and ship it. If you’ve got a few extra textbooks (or anything, really) laying around you want to get rid of quick, Amazon Marketplace is a good place to do just that. You’ll need an Amazon account but who doesn’t have one these days?

What other places online would you recommend to college students for selling textbooks?

Review: One of the best Live albums I’ve heard in a long time

May 20th, 2009 § 3

I am generally a Counting Crows fan, yes, but even I will admit there are certain recordings where lead singer Adam Duritz takes it just a little over the edge into cringe-territory. In his and the band’s defense, both have been through a lot since the days of Mr. Jones (from their first album) and have matured quite a bit. Their live album New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall, however, is truly a culmination of their careers and their musical genius. » Read the rest of this entry «

The feeling won’t go

January 1st, 2009 § 0

Have you ever wanted something more than anything? It could be anything. It could be a material item, a feeling, or a person. What happens when you finally get it?

Sometimes you are in paradise. I mean, a pure psychedelic, transcendental inebriation of absolute euphoria. You’d sell your soul to whichever deity could keep freeze that moment for you. Even Mephistopheles himself, as Faust had done. Betraying your eternity for an instant of complete satisfaction. To just hold that moment in your hand, next to your heart or mind, whichever was more overwhelmed.

But what about the other times? What do you do when you finally achieve your desire and you don’t feel as you thought you would? What happens when the emotions evoked by such an event aren’t those you thought would rush the floodgates of your mind, spilling down your soul and intoxicating your heart? Every feeling is meaningless and contradictory, betraying your hopes and desires. Inversely, you would sell that same soul to whichever deity could make this pain pass. You begin to question yourself, even blame yourself for not feeling like you think you ought. Your mind wanders and wonders. Every thought becomes an indecipherable concoction of feeling and reason. The line between your heart and mind begins to blur. Why aren’t you satisfied? Was it not enough, or did you expect too much? Probably so.

Where do you go from here? You’ve attained the unattainable, and now feel the crushing foot of insatiable desire. Were you foolish? Surely not.

Why can’t you settle for less? Maybe there’s nothing less to settle for? Perhaps what you thought was more than enough isn’t anywhere near what you need. Maybe you don’t know what you need. That’s probably so. If you had you wouldn’t be feeling this way.

Oh well, you’ll heal, right? Time heals all wounds. Bullcrap. Time masks wounds. It’s like when the waves on a beach gradually carry in sand and cover up a wayward shoreline boat. When the waves get rough the boat resurfaces, in a worse form than before.

God, somehow you know that boat is me.

America Doesn’t Know Talent

September 3rd, 2008 § 0

Has anyone noticed that on NBC’s show America’s Got Talent that two of three judges of “American talent” are not even American at all? Apparently this means that Americans do not recognize talent when they see it. Furthermore, there are even people on this show that admittedly only came to America to compete in this show.

So let’s some this up: On America’s Got Talent, two out of three judges aren’t even American, and not all of the contestants are even American.

My best guess is Hollywood is taking advantage of Americans’ patriotic spirit to draw more viewers into their show. It’s not about “America’s Talent” at all.

For some reason I’ve watched the Olympics this year

August 21st, 2008 § 0

I’ve generally ignored the Olympics in the past. Of course, given the fact the last few times I was incredibly young and didn’t get anything out of watching them. But for some reason this time it’s different. I’ve actually watched some coverage about every night or at least checked up on them at NBC Olympics to see what’s up.

Few notes:

  • Michael Phelps is all that is man.
  • Usain Bolt is literally a freaking lightning bolt.
  • Shawn Johnson is kinda hot.
  • Okay, about all of the USA’s gymnastic women were kind of.

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