Dad's Cookies. They used to be huge, spicy and crisp; now they're small, bland and hard.

Music -- much of that singer-songwriter stuff I loved so much in my 20s now sounds like self-indulgent whining. Songs about how hard the road is (so stop travelling and get a job) and how tough it is when the true love finds another -- I guess the problem is that I've grown out of it. Those songs are about problems that seem insurmountable to the young, and routine to people over 50.

I read somewhere that the human tongue and olfactory system changes over the years, losing its orientation to sweet things and turning to savoury, salty and smoky things. At 10, I loved Swiss Cream Soda and Dad's cookies; today I can't stand either, but single-malt scotch is quite wonderful. Likewise, boyish love songs bore me but gospel songs and fiddle tunes are fascinating.