Good causes, great pictures: D.C.'s blogs

Good afternoon. It's Friday at last! The winds have died down, the snow is melting and it's actually possible to walk three blocks without feeling as if your ears are going to chip off. If you plan to hit the mall this weekend, good luck. Dr. Gridlock offers this blog post on traffic on the roads and at the mall. In the D.C. blogosphere today: Metro's random bag inspections and some recommendations for charitable gifts. Read on.

Christmas is a week away and I’m sure you have plenty to do. Between your gift buying, meal planning and packing, don’t forget about those year-end donations to charity. Bread for the City’s Beyond Bread blog reminds us thatHoliday Helpings campaign is a great cause to consider. Northern Virginia Family Services is also accepting donations for its holiday drive. Gift cards, cash donations – are all great ways to help. More details here. Greater Greater Washington also offers some charitable suggestions.

A haunting, but lovely picture shot at Arlington National Cemetery. Thanks to DCist.

Surprising Science poses an interesting question given recent news about NASA’s discovery of arsenic-based life forms on Earth. How would we react if, say, we did discover alien life?

Metro-Venture has her own thoughts, but she also wants to know what you think of WMATA’s new bag screening program. Carlye Community News also weighs in.

From our friends at Crispy on the Outside: This week in bacon, including gift ideas and stocking stuffers for the bacon lover.

That's it for now. Have a great rest of the day and fabulous weekend. I'll be back on Monday with more great posts from the D.C. area blogosphere.