Social isolation is the price I pay for eating sauerkraut and sardines

While I spent much of 2023 eating too much food, I will take some credit for at least eating healthy food.

Most days you can count on me to ingest plenty of fruits and vegetables, some leafy greens at lunch, a lot of whole grains and nuts, and at least a small portion of fish.

There are two downsides to eating healthy like this.

One is that it is expensive and somewhat inconvenient. I make frequent shopping trips just to keep myself stocked with healthy stuff, and I am consistently taken aback by the price of, say, berries. Berries are expensive. So are many other fruits, especially when you buy organic.

But then you ask yourself how much your health is worth, and that admittedly takes some of the sting out of it.

The other drawback is that, in my experience, there are some healthy foods that simply stink. I mean, like, they literally smell.

For example. I try to take in some sort of fermented food every day, either in the form of sauerkraut or kimchi. I like the smell and taste of both, but neither of my housemates agrees.

The same holds true for sardines. When I want to crack open a tin of sardines, I take it out to the garage and stand there with a fork eating it to avoid getting sardine smell in the house.

I do this out of courtesy to Terry and Jack, even though I feel like a smoker huddling in front of an office building getting a nicotine fix.

Ten years ago, I never would have imagined myself a social outcast for wanting to eat tiny fish. I guess when I'm 120 years old and still ticking, I'll have the last laugh.

I'll be standing outside eating sardines, of course, but I'll still be laughing.

I still love apples...lots and lots of apples

As we get older, our food preferences sometimes change.

In my case, the years have softened my dislike of the only two foods I used to say I wouldn't eat: sauerkraut and cantaloupe. Now I love sauerkraut (don't ask me what happened there), and I will happily eat cantaloupe, particularly if it's included in a fruit salad.

One thing that has not changed over time, however, is my passion for apples.

One does not usually connect the words "passion" and "apples," but there's really no other way to describe it. I love apples, and specifically, I love Gala apples.

I love Gala apples so much that I eat 3-4 of them every day. Every. Day. That is absolutely no exaggeration.

Nowadays, it's more often four per day than three. We go through bags and bags of them.

Interestingly, though, I'm not a fan of large apples. I like small to medium-sized Galas, to the point that I suppose 3-4 of them is equal to maybe 2-3 of the larger variety.

Either way, I still eat a lot of apples.

That's the only point I wanted to make here. Well, that plus the fact that I continuously bless the unnamed person who decided to make fruits and vegetables 0 points within the WW/Weight Watchers system. This saint of a man/woman makes me feel infinitely less guilty about my apple obsession.

I love things that are great!

One of the good things about being me -- and honestly there are precious few, but this is one -- is the fact that I'm so easily impressed. The phrase "it's all good" was designed especially for me, I think, because other than the Pittsburgh Steelers and sauerkraut, I like just about everything.

(By the way, if the title of this post didn't ring a bell with you, check out the first minute or two of this Saturday Night Live clip, in which Alec Baldwin does his excellent Tony Bennett impression with a song that pretty well sums up my personal creed.)

It's useless to try and get my opinion on something, or to ask me to choose between two things, because I'll invariably give some response along the lines of, "I like them both!" When I arrange to meet someone for lunch and they ask me where I want to eat, I always come back with, "You pick. I'm good with anything." And it's true: I am!

Now let me say this to you unmarried young fellas (you can tell I'm getting old because I just used the word "fellas" in a non-ironic fashion): Not having an opinion is unacceptable if you ever decide to get married. Your bride-to-be will expect you to have an opinion when it comes to wedding stuff. ANY opinion. Just have one.

When Terry and I were planning our wedding almost 20 years ago, she would show me things like napkins or centerpieces or fabric swatches for God knows what, and she would ask which ones I liked best. At first I deferred to her far better judgment. But then it became apparent that that wasn't an option, so I started picking whatever she was holding in her left hand. I don't think I've ever told her this, but it seemed like the one she preferred was always in her left hand. So I would pick that one. And more often than not, it was the correct answer. Score one for Mr. Undecided!

Rarely, and I mean rarely, do I see a movie I don't enjoy. Doesn't matter what the critics or friends and family say about it, I like almost every movie I see. Are there actors involved? Can I eat popcorn while watching it? Does it require me to solve complex math problems? Yes, yes and no? Then I'm in! Cue up "Gigli" in the blu-ray player!

Music? I like it all (even country). Art? I can't create it, so naturally it all impresses me. Sure, there are some things I like better than others, but for the most part -- say it with me -- it's all good.

The positive consequence of this is that I enjoy every day of my life. Even in the middle of bland routine, I'm bound to find something new that impresses me. "Look, there's a new email program installed on my computer at work. THAT IS SO COOL! It has icons and buttons and colors and everything!" I'll be occupied for the next six hours just playing with it.

The negative consequence, of course, is that I have no discernable taste. Which isn't good for a guy who makes his living in the marketing/PR field and is expected, from time to time, to evaluate visual design elements like logos. I have no talent at graphic arts, so anything a designer comes up with is cool with me. (This, incidentally, is why I hired the infinitely talented Ms. Lillia Lipps. She decides my taste FOR me, which I like.)

Same thing goes with home decorating. Terry could propose that we put a rusty old 55-gallon drum in the middle of the living room, and I would think, "Cool, now we can have fires INDOORS!" As you might imagine, she doesn't seek out my opinion on stuff like that anymore.