This afternoon, having completed my sundry errands - grocery shopping for the week, picking up a few school supplies, dropping off library books, mailing a letter - I returned home and opened a beer. The beer was an Opa-Opa IPA. It was my intention to sip said beer while starting a new book - Joan Didion's The White Album - in the few quiet hours before dinner. The beer was bad: undrinkably bad. I dumped it down the sink and had seltzer, instead.

I used to love IPA. I distinctly remember, on more than one occasion during my first year of grad school, proclaiming that IPA was my "new favorite beer." What's going on, here? Does Opa-Opa's version just suck? Do I have rapid-cycling changes of my taste buds? Maybe I'm having an off day.

It fascinates me to remember the foods and beverages I used to love which I now approach with lukewarm enthusiasm: Gardetto's snack mix, Sunny Delight, pickled beets, any variety of personal-size frozen pizza. Sweet wine. Microwave popcorn. Diet Coke. This exercise begs the question: what do I like?
Here are a few: sharp Vermont cheddar, Belgian whites, fresh corn, snap peas, pumpkin anything. Some Cabernet Sauvignons. Chocolate with a 70% or higher cocoa content. Red licorice. Seltzer. The list continues.