I was a little fat pudgy kid with big thick glasses, and I was quiet and never said a word, you know -- teachers loved me, straight-A student.

Growing up in Texas, you were either pretty or smart. Smart didnt get you very far, because there werent too many job opportunities for women. I wondered why you couldnt be both.

When the AIDS epidemic broke, because I happened to be a science nerd and knew a lot about viruses and a lot about that virus at the time, I felt a moral obligation to go out and try to stem the fear and get out and explain to people what the disease was and how it worked.

I was a little fat pudgy kid with big thick glasses, and I was quiet and never said a word, you know -- teachers loved me, straight-A student.

Saving the world via medical research or going off to Gobi Desert to dust off dinosaur eggs is what I thought I might be doing when I was a kid, and Id love to bring those interests to a show like E.R. or The West Wing, or a movie like Jurassic Park.

I think sometimes women are not driven by the same, albeit, testosterone power thing that pushes men to get into politics.

What triggered a migraine for me may have no effect on someone else. For many people, coffee can relieve symptoms somewhat, but for me it was a trigger. You really have to find out what affects you individually.