Yeah, you probably already know that PMS is the name of the book “PMS: Problems Men Started,” a funny and fun book by the publisher and founder of Skirt!, Nikki Hardin, who’s in town today signing her book at Davis-Kidd, 6 pm. (That’s Nikki, in love with Stephen Colbert, who inexplicably refused to wear a skirt for her and the magazine!) We hope you also find a copy of the February issue of Skirt! — click HERE for a list of places to pick one up. It’s free!

… anything, what would you tell them?

Yep, I’m speaking Friday to a BIG group of high school guys — no girls allowed — soon and I really want to do something like “10 Things You’ll Wish Someone Had Told You About Girls.” I want to be funny, of course, but maybe give them something to think about, too. And I admit it: I’m intimidated.

Help! What would you tell them?

Wish I’d asked the girls’ school girls I spoke to earlier this week this question!

It’s been a long time since NPR made me cry, but Tuesday night, the magnificent Anne Garrels (above) filed a report that brought me to tears in the parking lot of Target. It was a sweeping evaluation of where women in Iraq are since the U.S. invasion, and sister, the news is not good. Women being killed in Basra for wearing makeup and “Western” clothes. A reporter in Baghdad whose life was threatened, so she moved to a regional capital where she was safe, but her family couldn’t get along without her and her income. So she’s now back in Baghdad, her life still on the line. And the final story was of a woman who had no prospects for marriage, so she has remained a virtual slave to her own family. Listening to her cousin describe her pain — such a bright, curious, passionate woman, doomed to a life of lonely drudgery or worse — is what finally pushed me to tears. Try explaining that to the 8-year-old in the back seat.

Why is it that the conditions for women have gotten worse since our push for democracy in Iraq? Why is it that only reporters like Anne Garrels cover this story? What can we DO about it?

Haven’t you always wondered about the woman who’s married to one of the world’s richest men? And who runs the world’s largest foundation, with assets of $37 billion? This month, Fortune magazine gets the first-ever profile of Melinda Gates, and it’s a good one. Some of my favorite revelations: As a new bride, Melinda nearly didn’t  move into the 40,000 square foot pleasure palace Bill was building on the shores of Lake Washington, and she works hard to keep some private time for family. (Of course, these are the beautiful people: Bono is quoted about how much fun it is to hang out in the kitchen with the Gateses.) And her kids — they have two daughters, 11 and 5, and an 8-year-old son — are beginning to see the outlines of their parents’ work and wealth, and have begun asking penetrating questions. When watching a documentary about poor Indian children, one of their kids began asking Mom if she’d helped that kid, and if not, why not?

It’s a fascinating look at a woman who has a life that’s difficult for me to imagine, but who is in a position to make amazing, lasting change all over the world. You go, Melinda. 

I’ve been thinking about the question ever since Wendi Thomas asked it a couple of weeks ago: Can you remember three gifts you got for Christmas last year? No, off the top of my head, I couldn’t.

But this week was my birthday, and I’m shopping for Christmas, and I realized that indeed there are gifts that I don’t forget. It’s been a difficult time — lots of work, lots of friends having troubles – so I decided to draw some strength from the gifts and love that my friends have given me over the years. I put on my lovely blue cashmere sweater from Rosemary, who told me when she gave it to me that she pictured me wearing it while I was writing a newspaper column. I added the fabulous earrings from Becca that I’d never have picked for myself, but that suit me perfectly. Andy bought me my cowboy boots years ago, just because. My toast this morning from my friend Lela’s kitchen; first bread she’s made in years, and she shared it with me for my birthday. And my desk at work is full of tokens of friendship; I particularly love the colorful tile from Lisa that says “Desire What You Have.”

While Wendi’s point is well-taken — we generally give way too much stuff with way too little meaning — for me, today, the gifts that my friends and family have taken time to pick for me stand for much more. They are tangible representations of love, caring and time.

What gifts could be better than those?