Top of the mornin' to ye.

I am a volunteer question-answerer over at Alberta Library Ask a Question, where anyone (!) can type in any question (!) and some librarian-type will do their darndest to answer it. I am addicted to the thrill of answering questions. I am like a junkie. Last night at 10:30 (while I was waiting for the next LOST episode to download, natch) I knew I should go to bed... but I just wanted to answer one more. This morning when I got in to work, the third thing I check after e-mail and Facebook is the new questions list. On the other hand, it's not like I'll answer just anything. I mean, a lot of eighth-grader types come to this empty text-box with their boy problems, and that is not something I am prepared to deal with. But questions about shark biology, George H. W. Bush, Latin pronunciation, and identifying obscure quotes about aliens? BRING IT ON.

I'm totally hooked on the feeling of power.

I'm requesting my free credit report today, and I think you should do the same--in fact, I declare today to be official "credit report day." Check your credit, internets! Or no more porn for you!

In addition to "credit report day," today is also (informally, of course, as I only have the power to declare one official holiday per day) Plastic Bag Day. Over at Salon, they have written an article about plastic bags, "the most ubiquitous consumer item on Earth."

They're made from petroleum or natural gas with all the attendant environmental impacts of harvesting fossil fuels. One recent study found that the inks and colorants used on some bags contain lead, a toxin. Every year, Americans throw away some 100 billion plastic bags after they've been used to transport a prescription home from the drugstore or a quart of milk from the grocery store. It's equivalent to dumping nearly 12 million barrels of oil.

Ghah! Petroleum! I am making a concerted effort to go plastic-bag-less, although yesterday I somehow ended up with 4 more than I had at the beginning of the day. This article will inspire me to face this problem with renewed enthusiasm.