When I was a kid, I was an extremely picky eater. Now there aren't really very many foodstuffs that I dislike outright. There are some contexts where I won't eat things, e.g. I don't like chicken on pizza, but there aren't very many things I will straight up say no to. I REALLY don't like mashed starches though: mashed potatoes/sweet potatoes, etc. One of the very few exceptions.
Oh, when I was in high school I was pretty opposed to alcohol. I had trouble physically drinking carbonated beverages as a kid growing up, and alcohol smelled and tasted disgusting to me. I remember travelling through the UK with my dad as I was turning 18, and him being absolutely crestfallen that I had no interest in even trying any of the alcoholic beverages that I was now legally able to drink. I remember having a conversation with him after trying my first sip of wine. I said "this tastes disgusting, why would anybody drink this?" He said, "well, it's an acquired taste." I said, "yeah exactly. Why would anybody try to acquire it?" It's a conversation my dad loves needling me about any time I'm back home and we go out wine tasting.
Musically my tastes have expanded pretty dramatically over the last 15 years. There are certain moments of listening to albums that are etched into my brain as seminal moments that dramatically altered what kind(s) of music I liked and like. These moments are:
1999/2000: (can't remember precisely when): listened to The Kids are Alright for the first time (got really into The Who)
2002: Listened to Meteora, adopted a hatred of the older music that my parents liked
2004: Listened to American Idiot, got really into Greenday, still hated classic rock
2006: Listened to Help!, rediscovered my love for the Beatles. Got really into the Beatles
2007: Listened to Europe '72, got really into the Grateful Dead, slowly started rediscovering my love for 60s/early 70s rock
2009: Saw my first opera, discovered I like opera
2009: Listened to Arthur
2009: Listened to Rock n Roll Animal (funny story about getting this album if anyone wants to hear it)
2011: Listened to Howlin' Wolf/Moanin' in the Midnight, got really into 50s Chicago blues
2012: Listened to illmatic and good kid, M.A.A.D City, discovered I like hip-hop
2013: Listened to The College Dropout
2015: Listened to Kind of Blue, discovered I like jazz
2016: Listened to *****es Brew, discovered I like fusion jazz
2017: Listened to Highway 61 Revisited, rediscovered my love for Bob Dylan
2017: Listened to Nasty Gal, started exploring soul and funk music
2018: Listened to Young Americans, started exploring David Bowie's discography more extensively
Those are the ones that come immediately to mind. My trajectory was essentially: liked The Stones/The Beatles/The Who as a kid, went to Middle School, got peer-pressured into not liking those groups anymore, went to High School, rediscovered all the music my parents like, and then developed tastes in jazz and hip-hop in college and post-college.
Of course the best way to have them is freshly-picked from the garden. Oh, and I hate pea soup. It's disgusting.
Hated it as a kid but will prepare it for myself now. It must be finely chopped though.
:
