JQuery: powerful, easy, amazing!

The for the past month I've really been exploring what JQuery can do and I have to say: wow. If you want to spruce up your site's user experience, this is a great way to go. Not only is it easy to understand, but there is a large number of ready-made plugins for it (with good documentation, too!)
For example, you can easily transform a list into a slick drop down menu complete with animation. Or add a image gallery with carousel navigation. Or add a touch of AJAX with a search-box auto-complete feature. Web 2.0, ahoy!

Part of the power behind JQuery is how it uses "selectors" to identify (and objectify) HTML page elements. Once "objectified" in your javascript, you can then use the expansive JQuery function library on selected element(s). Here is a list of JQuery selectors: http://docs.jquery.com/Selectors . Seem familiar? If so, it's because JQuery borrows and expands upon CSS selectors.
And while I'm giving you good links, here is some documentation for the JQuery function library: http://www.visualjquery.com/1.1.2.html (keep in mind that this is mildly outdated: there are a few more cool functions added in 1.2)

If you want to see what I've done with it lately, check out the product search on: http://www.emilystrange.com/beware/getlostengine.cfm (try searching for cat)
I used JQuery's auto-complete AJAX feature, the TableSorter and associated Paging plugin, and I even created my own widget for the TableSorter plugin that adds alternating row colors to the results table. The search filtering is all done with custom JQuery code too.

For the better part of my web-career I've distanced myself from javascript because it was unreliable and most of it just seemed chunky. Plus, the web didn't start to pick up enough speed (literally) until a few years ago when broadband became standard issue. All of these factors kept me from ever using javascript for anything serious, much less depending on it for site functionality. But that has changed. With browser standardization and high-speed internet came "Web 2.0", and slicker user functionality has become vital.