Women's body issues: men's fault or women's?

Ohhh... FanTASTic!! I can eat more now because a may-un gave me permission to!

Anyone who reads this article and buys this line of bull, listen up for a minute: It is not "other women" but society that gives women these body insecurities, and society's ideals of female beauty are very much modeled on those of a very specific ruling class of men.

Hey guys, you like your woman just the way she is and don't want her to feel like she has to be model skinny or live up to some stupid and unrealistic ideal? That's great! I commend you for thinking for yourself (kinda) and not just caving to society's ideals. (No sarcasm there. I really mean that.)

But!! That still doesn't mean that women's body issues are only the fault of other women.

And ladies, if you feel insecure about yourselves only because you think no man will ever find you attractive, take heart: There is assuredly some fella out there who wants to do you doggie style.

Eating healthy has made me into a food snob, apparently.

The Hartford Courant reports that today is the ground-breaking for Connecticut's first Sonic restaurant, to be located in Wallingford.

On the one hand, it's about damn time, since they've been airing their commercials for years in this state with the nearest Sonic being in New Jersey.

On the other hand, I have a really hard time getting excited about another shitty fast food establishment.

This fish is delish!!

Some of you may recall my New Year's resolution to learn to cook a few decent meals. I'm pleased to report that said resolution is coming along splendidly. Dave and I have been making ourselves a nice dinner about once a week, and since it's really kind of a team effort, I'm not finding it to be such a repulsive chore. Dave likes to handle the meat; he says it makes him feel "manly" or something like that. This works out just fine for me because I'm grossed out by the feel of uncooked meat and because I like to chop vegetables, perhaps a little too much.

Anyway, a few days ago, we made this really yummy fish recipe that I found on the Food Network's web site, and I wanted to share it with you guys. It was astoundingly easy, though I wonder if that may have been more because we weren't competing with six other people for use of the kitchen. In any case, here it is...

Chili-Rubbed Tilapia with Asparagus and Lemon

Ingredients

* 2 pounds asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
* 2 tablespoons chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
* 1 pound tilapia, Pacific sole or other firm white fish fillets (I think we used Atlantic cod instead.)
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 3 tablespoons lemon juice (I thought this was too much lemon juice, but that may have been because we only cooked a pound of asparagus and didn't adjust accordingly.)

Directions:

Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Put asparagus in a steamer basket, place in the pan, cover and steam until tender-crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a large plate, spreading out to cool.

Combine chili powder, garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt on a plate. Dredge fillets in the spice mixture to coat. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the fish and cook until just opaque in the center, gently turning halfway, 5 to 7 minutes total. Divide among 4 plates. Immediately add lemon juice, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and asparagus to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until the asparagus is coated and heated through, about 2 minutes. Serve the asparagus with the fish.