(This post at Rookie was so daggone good that I couldn't help quoting a huge chunk of it. You can read the entire original piece here. It does have saucy language, so be aware of that.)

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Girls and women of the world, could we stop apologizing for wanting and eating food? Because this is one of the most ridiculous things that we do collectively as lady-people ... Could we stop feeling “guilty” for wanting an effing brownie? Or a plate of fries? Could we stop actively seeking permission from our friends to go ahead and “be bad” and order the cheesecake? Could we all just go ahead and order whatever it is that we feel like eating, instead of saying, “Oh, I feel like a pig, you guys are just getting salads”?

Because—now I know this will come as a shock—WOMEN EAT. We get hungry. We get hungry for pizzas and Double Stuf Oreos and nachos and ice cream and giant French-toast breakfasts, and you know what? WE DON’T NEED TO FEEL BAD ABOUT THAT.

Here I am making a vast and sweeping gender stereotype, but do you ever, ever hear dudes say “I just want a little bite” or “This is so bad, you guys, but I totally ate a whole pint of Ben & Jerry’s last night”? No! Because it’s OK for men to eat! Men get hongray! Men need frozen dinners called “Hungry-Man”! Men need Manwich! Boys are allowed to grow into men, but “attractive” women in our culture are expected to stay at pretty much an eternal pre-adolescent weight. ...

You see it everywhere—every café, every restaurant, every kitchen across the country. Women bargaining with waiters and their friends about whether or not they should get a side salad or fries with their entrée. Women making demeaning jokes to one another about their desire for food, like “once on the lips, forever on the hips” and “Well, it’s midnight, so technically your body doesn’t know whether it’s today or tomorrow, so the calories zero themselves out, hahaha” and women bonding with one another over their shared guilt! You’re being bad and getting the chocolate cake? Ooh, now that you’re doing it, let’s both be really bad, and I’ll order the key lime pie and we won’t tell a soul, will we? It’s just us girls!

Why are we apologizing for wanting food? What the hell? BODIES NEED FOOD. WE DIE WITHOUT IT. And food tastes good! And we’re programmed to crave it! Sure, some food is healthier than other food, but what is up with punishing ourselves for wanting pickle chips? Why is it acceptable—nay! encouraged!—in our culture for women to feel guilty and publicly “admit” our guilt for wanting to eat a cookie? Why are we rationalizing our “bad behavior”—you know, our EATING—with statements like “I’ve been really good lately” or “I’m gonna need to walk this off later”? ...

I want women to allow themselves to want food. I want women to be hungry and ask for what they want to eat without apologizing. I want women to stop looking for permission from others before they eat something that is not a carrot or spinach. I want my friends to get the chili fries if they want the chili fries, and not say something like, “It all goes straight to my ____” (hips, thighs, butt, etc.). I want to see a girl sink her teeth into a huge cheeseburger and fries and not cut the burger in half to save some for later. I want my mother to allow herself more than one small square of dark chocolate per day. I want women to take pleasure in food, without punishing ourselves for wanting it.

Hear me, womenfolk: I want all of us, everywhere, to stop apologizing, stop rationalizing our behavior, and just eat the damn brownie already.

Images: Lily in Idaho Falls

A Lifetime of Favorite Songs: "Never Is A Promise" by Fiona Apple

My quest with this series is to look back over my life and remember all the songs that would have been my favorite at any point along the way. It's a tall order, and I'll probably fall short, but we'll listen to some good tunes in the attempt.

This is a current favorite, from Fiona Apple's first album, Tidal. I picked up the CD at Value Village, and whenever I put it on, I can't help but listen to this one on repeat. Fiona, you always bring out the drama in me. And that's a good thing.

Possessions: My Left-Hand Rings

How 'bout that hand of mine, eh? That is one strange angle

Anyhoo, this is my left hand, featuring three rings that I wear often.

Ring Finger: Wedding Ring

Craig gave me this ring when we got engaged in May of 2008, and I have loved it nonstop. My wedding ring is something I contemplated for a lot of years (roughly since the age of seven), and my mind changed somewhat in terms of how I wanted it to look. Small Sara loved all things Native American, so naturally, I wanted a turquoise wedding ring. I eventually moved on to wanting a diamond, thought it HAD. TO. HADTO. be a princess-cut solitaire stone on a thin, white-gold band. At some point in high school, I became enamored with the idea of having a sapphire wedding ring instead, and that's where my preference remained. As Craig and I planned our wedding and our future together, we talked about how both of our wedding rings would look, and Craig used those conversations to design my ring. Having a sapphire has definitely been a hot topic through the years, with plenty of strangers ooh'ing and ahh'ing over what an original thinker my husband must be to have come up with a ring like that. Yeah, he did good.

Middle Finger: Austin TX Ring

I picked up this ring at the Buffalo Exchange in Austin, Texas. It's sterling silver with little turquoise beads (pretty sure they're just synthetic beads and not the real thing).

Index Finger: Feather Ring

This ring also came by way of Buffalo Exchange, though this one was in my home store in Seattle. It features an oval turquoise stone, a little red coral, and a silver feather detail. This is one I'll definitely have forever (unless I pass it down to some lucky daughter, granddaughter, or niece).

Lists: My Desert Island Movies

I don't know if I'll ever be shipped off to a desert island, and if I am, I don't know that my captors will be so generous as to provide five movies of my choice.

But if it ever happens, I'm ready with this list.

1. "You've Got Mail"

I love this movie for sentimental reasons, for bouquets of sharpened pencils and caviar garnishes. For Meg Ryan's floppy hair and the Zabar's cash-only line. Nora Ephron, who directed and co-wrote "You've Got Mail," recently passed away, and in tribute, many bloggers I follow have written little posts to share their love for this film and others that Ephron wrote ("When Harry Met Sally," "Sleepless in Seattle," for example). Their words made me extra homesick for Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly and friends, and I have been (unsuccessfully) looking for the DVD at thrift stores ever since. The search continues.

2. "The Land Before Time"

In the wise words of Little Foot's mother, "Some things, you see with your eyes. Others, you see with your heart." Cue music, and cue Sara crying. I've watched "The Land Before Time" since before I could walk or talk, and it is an everlasting metaphor for life that I've turned to repeatedly. Between Diana Ross singing "If We Hold On Together" and the motley crew of young dinosaurs finally arriving in The Great Valley, awash with sunlight and green food and their adoring families ... ahh, I'm a goner. This movie teaches me things every time I watch it, and usually, it's the same lessons over and over.

3. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"

This is the kind of movie that's just mainstream enough to be cliche, but also artsy and offbeat enough to be respected. It features Jim Carrey as mild-mannered Joel and Kate Winslet as manic-pixie-dream-girl Clementine (although, as she says brilliantly in the movie, she's not a concept; she's just a [messed]-up girl looking for her own peace of mind). They are lovers, and also strangers, and also bitter exes who intentionally erase all memories of their past involvement. This movie makes me question the whole idea of regrets, of wishing I'd never met a person, and reminds me that love is messy sometimes. It also really makes me want to go to Montauk.

4. "Hot Rod"

This one's just for fun. Nothing cheers me up and gets me sillier than watching Andy Samberg in the awkward teenage character of stunt-boy Rod Kimble. He has a hormone disorder. He has a dad who's super-dead. He has a crush on the girl next door (and the girl next door has a douchey boyfriend). Favorite moment:

This movie is in the category of STUPID BUT FUNNY. As in, "This scene/character/line/idea is stupid ... but is it also funny?" And there's no accounting for exactly why I'm on board, why this movie delights me so, but there you have it. I want to take it with me so I can laugh on the desert island, and also so I can memorize every line and quote it top-to-bottom (life goal).

5. "Like Crazy"

My number five spot was a wild card and a tough decision, because when it comes to desert island movies, you're not just picking movies you happen to like a lot; you have to consider what role these movies will be playing in your long-term, lonely existence on this island. I wanted to include movies that inspired different essential emotions within me, and "Like Crazy" ... well, it brings on the romantic-sads. And sometimes, the romantic-sads are good to have.

As a concept, "Like Crazy" is a really interesting film because it was made from a fifty-page outline (written by the director) that the actors then used to improvise actual scenes and dialogue. It feels realer than real, probably because these lines were coming from the gut rather than the page. I both hated and loved seeing the two lead characters fall for one another, then deal with the unbearable distance between California and London, then be together, then be apart, then be together, then be apart, then figure out what the years of separation have done to them. I'm really glad this movie only came out last year and didn't exist at any point when I was going through a breakup, because it's entirely possible I would have watched it repeatedly, stayed in my bedroom, and eventually died in a puddle of romantic-sads. This movie is a very tough one to get over.

(If you want to see the trailers for these movies, go here. I've made a handy little list.)