title: Checking if node exists in Javascript
body: <p>Here's the deal - I've got a load of elements on a page, and I'm using Javascript to remove some of them (this.parentNode.removeChild(this)) which is working great. However, if I have a variable referring to this node, then remove the node, the variable does NOT lose it's value! But if I then try and perform some other actions on this element, I get errors!</p>
  
  <p>Example:</p>
  
  <pre><code>var element = document.getElementById('ooolookatmeimanelement');
  element.parentNode.removeChild(element);
  alert(element);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I still get "[Object HTMLblahblahblah]" in the alert, rather than null or undefined - anyone got any ideas how I can check to see if the node has been removed? It's probably something really simple that I'm oblivious to!</p>