Sorry, but my reactions to your picks ranged from "who?" to "meh" to "what on earth were they thinking?" I guess it's too late for a do-over this year, so here are some suggestions for next year:

1. Ben Browder. Yeah, I know Farscape got canceled four years ago, but I've just been catching up on DVD, and OMG the man is hot. Anthony Simcoe's not bad either, with or without the D'Argo make-up.

2. John Barrowman. Maybe he's a little too pretty, but I don't care. Extra points for playing an immortal omnisexual on "Dr. Who" and "Torchwood" and for being out in real life. Check out the video of him singing "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" on "Strictly Come Dancing" -- I defy you not to fall for him.

3. The entire male cast of "Mythbusters." Jamie, Adam, Tory, and Grant are four great-looking geeks who can build anything, make physics sound fun, blow things up or burn them down on a regular basis, and occasionally walk up tall buildings in magnetic boots. A geek girl like me couldn't imagine anything much hotter. Also, narrator Rob Lee--what a voice! And when you do "sexiest women alive," please remember Mythbusters Kari, Scottie, and Christine.

If readers have questions about "Harry Potter" characters and J. K. Rowling wants to answer them, how is that Rebecca Traister's problem? Of all the things Rowling could be doing with her newfound free time, that hardly seems like the most destructive. If you think Petunia would have said something more interesting when she said good-bye to Harry (and I agree with you), go ahead and write your own fanfic about it. Rowling is generous enough not to try to stop you, and I'll happily read it.

Rowling has given the Western world an amazing gift over the past eleven years. I really can't understand people complaining just because she's not quite ready to let it go. Lord knows I'm not.

Having heard many horror stories about insanely picky animal rescue people, I was a little nervous when we decided to adopt a dog through one. But our darling golden retriever came from a rescue organization whose representatives were friendly, helpful, and kind. Thanks to their efforts, we have a sweet, gentle dog who fits into our family perfectly. Bonus: We didn't have to housetrain her! Our youngest cat also came from a rescue organization whose policies were reasonable and whose staff were friendly and helpful. So if you're thinking about adopting through a pet rescue organization, don't be put off by the the bad press. There are some good ones out there.

For the most part, I'm able to laugh off the French farce that passes for airport security these days. Unfortunately, it's becoming increasingly clear to me that the farce has a purpose: to numb us all to authority to the point where we accept the possibility of death as a reasonable result for failing to obey their commands, however insane. Think I'm exaggerating? Maybe you didn't read about Star Simpson, the MIT student who was arrested last month at Logan airport for wearing a pin with LEDs that lighted up. After her arrest, a state police representative was quoted in an AP article as saying she was "extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used. She's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue."

No harm done, though, right? Not for Carol Anne Gotbaum, who died in police custody at the Phoenix airport after being arrested for "causing a disturbance." The Phoenix police are saying she strangled herself trying to get out of her handcuffs.

The message is clear: You mess with airport security, you die. Last I heard, the penalty for making a scene at an airport wasn't supposed to be death. But I guess that attitude is just hopelessly last-century.

OK, I confess. I wasn't all that into my career, and that was a factor in my becoming a stay-at-home mom. I've been known to get the odd pedicure and I try to go to the gym a few times a week, though my body is hardly "Pilatesized to perfection." I do the grocery shopping and the laundry, medicate the cat, volunteer at church and school, drive on field trips, take the kids to karate and piano lessons, try to write--you know the drill. And, yeah, when I get that Social Security statement showing ten years' worth of zeros, I'm bummed. I'm not jumping up and down saying that I'm the very model of the modern mother. But "deplorable"? Really? Ouch.