If you’re a writer and you’re reading this, you know how this goes. You want to check accuracy of some fact. It doesn’t matter what it is. Before the internet, I’m certain I’d have spent a lot of time in the library while writing, or I’d have kept a notebook handy to make a list of questions to research for my next trip to the library. Or, maybe I just would have let the detail slide and not worried about it.

With the internet and the Google toolbar (or any other search engine toolbar you use), I just type in a phrase close to what I think I’m looking for. A few weeks ago, I spent most of a day trying to find a useful link or two about expectant fathers’ rights–if you’re a prospective daddy concerned about what your rights are, I’m sorry. An internet search will be a nightmare for you. And you’re likely to discover you don’t have many rights, but you do get a lot of responsibility. So before you don’t worry about contraceptives, consider how ready you are to shoulder that responsibility.

This week, I want to check a small detail in Twilight–what effect does a particular body fluid have on a vehicle’s paint. It’s not the sifting required to find the answer that’s so funny; it’s what I have to sift through that my selected search phrase brings up that’s funny–mostly paint horse breeders who compete. So far, I’ve been able to determine it would affect some painted surfaces, but I’m not absolutely positive what it would take to mar a vehicle surface. I can testify that repeated droppings of certain birds in my Texas driveway DOES in fact, mar paint after it eats through the protective clearcoat on a black vehicle. As for a single instance of a different substance allowed to dry, I’ll have to keep looking.