The $69 CD

Never let it be said that I am not a sucker for a free anything. Especially when there's a minimum purchase required. (Or cake. Mmmmmm ... free cake.)

The Gap is currently giving away a "free" CD with covers of different singers' favorite songs. All you have to do to get it is spend a minimum of $60. I've spent more for less in the past. And not that I needed the sweater and shirt I bought, but hey — there was a CD at stake.

So how is it? Well, I flipped to the next track about halfway through Joss Stone's "God Only Knows" (even Mandy Moore sings that one better) and Michelle Williams' "Let's Stay Together" gave the bass in my car a good workout before I became embarassed to have it playing with the windows down. But I quite enjoyed John Legend's "Hello, It's Me" and Jason Mraz's "One Love." Even Alanis Morissette's "Crazy" and Michelle Branch's "Life on Mars" are good.

But the really great track on the CD is Brandon Boyd's cover of "Alison." (He's the lead singer of the band Incubus.) I was trying to figure out if it's just a great song or if Boyd's version is just that good. In the end, I decided it just didn't matter and I decided to "song pon de replay."

I can't say for sure if the CD was worth the clothes I bought. But what I do know for sure is that today I wear a big S on my chest for "sucker."

And I'm fine with that.