I'm an adoptee, and as I get older, I find it more frustrating to have no medical history. (People usually just think of mothers when it comes to medical history, but paternal history is just as important.) Just about every month, some medical story talks about the importance of knowing your family medical history - this month, it was MRI's in addition to mammograms if you have a "family medical history" of breat cancer. I try not to be paranoid, but every time I hear a story like this, I think about my family medical history form, which says "UNKNOWN" in answer to every question.

I can understand the reluctance of sperm donors to come forward (especially since the law is murky in this area) but I think it's only fair to provide updated medical histories for the children involved.

There are other intangibles too - I've often wondered what my ethnic background was, or whether I got my nose or my premature grey hair from some relative - things people who aren't adopted take for granted - but it's the medical questions that concern me as I approach my 40's and 50's.

We still haven't figured out what the "First Spouse" is supposed to do. Any spouse who works will inevitably be accused of some kind of conflict of interest, unless he or she had a completely bland job that couldn't possibly be tied to the President's work. I can't blame the Obamas for not wanting to be the first to wade into that controversy.

Shouldn't such an accomplished woman do more than organize white-tie dinners?

This comment, however, annoyed me to no end. I'm sure there are many women who work in the White House, organizing white tie dinners and other official events. (I doubt that Laura Bush did it all single handedly.) Aren't the women who work to carry out these diplomatic events "accomplished"? Couldn't they possibly be feminists? Perhaps Michelle Obama doesn't want to do this sort of thing, and that's her choice. But that doesn't mean the people who do these jobs are not accomplished.

The most frustrating airport I've been in recently is Kansas City (KCI). It was probably a lovely airport once - it's arranged in a half moon shape, and even though the facilities are limited, it was nicely designed for pre-9/11 flying. Unfortunately, that's not the case any more.

Each gate has its own security line. If you wait before the security gate, there's no place to sit, and the security guard hassles you if you sit on the floor. If you wait after the security gate, you can't get a drink of water. At least there's a bathroom - I ended up sticking my head in the sink bowl and slurping from the faucet because I was so thirsty and there was no way to buy a drink once you went past security (and of course, it's too dangerous to allow a water bottle through the security line).

This is my biggest frustration with many American airports. So many of them were designed before the current security situation, and there's very little once you get past the security stations. Maybe one noisy sports bar and a kiosk where you can buy candy and soft drinks. I'd rather deal with the ugliness of Atlanta, where at least you can get a meal after you pass through security, than deal with JFK, which may be pretty, but at least in some terminals, there's absolutely nothing available once you go through security, especially during off hours.

I'm over 30, and I remember pre-teen makeup kits from my childhood too. They usually involved a lot of glitter and lip gloss in various flavors. And have you shopped for little girls lately? I have a friend with a 4 year old, and kits with glitter lip gloss and stick-on nail decorations are everywhere. If Barbie is just getting in on this, they're late to the game. (But I remember a "make up Barbie" from my childhood in the 70's, so I don't think it's all that new.)

I got over my love of makeup about the time I got over my love of pink tutu's and playing dressup. It didn't seem to hurt me any, and I doubt it will scar today's girls either.

Farhad mentioned that you had to buy an item on Amazon before you could review it. That's not completely true - as long as you have an Amazon account, you can review any item, whether you bought it there or not. I've reviewed items that I bought elsewhere.

However, I generally don't bother to review something unless it was exceptionally bad or exceptionally good, so I guess I'm part of the problem.

Allie, I'm not an expert on this, but a therapist is only allowed to break confidentiality if the patient is a threat to someone. So if a patient threatens to kill his roommate next week, that must be reported, but if the patient killed someone ten years ago and isn't threatening to anyone now, that must remain confidential.

Count me as another person who has a high pitched, quiet voice. I was never abused, I'm a proud feminist, but my voice just comes out this way. As the previous writer said, I don't think I could change my voice, short of surgery or significant vocal coaching. (I took some drama lessons when I was in school, and despite my efforts, my voice remained unchanged.)

I can understand why someone who is in the public eye, or someone who uses their voice for their job, might want to change the timbre of their voice. But telling someone that they can't be authoritative because their voice is too high pitched seems like telling someone she can't be the boss because her breasts are too big. Sorry, you just can't be taken seriously, you just look too girly. I thought we'd gotten past the "you must look and sound like a man to be taken seriously" crap.