I regularly consume brand new experiences with gusto, compare them with old experiences and regurgitate them into handy slots that influence my life, my creative output and any new experience yet to come my way. New experiences define us, be it simple things like food or music or even ill thought out opinionated blogs. Below is a selection (the ones I can remember anyway) of new experiences I have had in the past 3-4 weeks, handily arranged into section headings.

Food:
We tried out a local curry place a couple of nights ago. Very tasty and different to our usual (but further away) Indian takeaway, although the lack of free poppadums and mango chutney is an issue.
Green Curry. I know a bit odd that I’ve never had one, but it was good even though it was out of a packet. My wife’s sticky rice laced with coriander was a high point.

Music:
We (my wife and I) have bought the following albums recently.
Plastic Beach by Gorillaz - indie, hip hop, electro mix up, needs more of Damon Albarn’s distorted vocals in my opinion, but allows me to roll down the street in my 1991 clapped out Renault 5 pretending to be gangsta. Also has legends such as Gruff Rhys, De La Soul, Snoop Dogg and Lou Reed on it.
People Are Strange by Stina Nordenstam - covers album, I think she sounds a bit like Charlotte Marionneau of Le Volume Courbe fame.
Peepers by Polar Bear - Jazz. Nice.
It’s Frightening by White Rabbits - decent American rock band, worth a listen.
Nights Out by Metronomy - electrotasticness.
…And Then We Saw Land by Tunng - great album, quite experimental and folky, listen to it you might like it.
Stainless Style by Neon Neon - concept album from Gruff Rhys (of Super Furry Animals fame) and Boom Bip (?) about the life of John DeLorean - simply awesome.
Happiness in Magazines by Graham Coxon - I’d recently bought The Spinning Top and wanted a look at Coxon’s back catalogue, the guy is a poet.

Films:
We went to see Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief during the school holidays. Light hearted Harry Potter-esque Greek myth inspired fare. Uma Thurman as a gorgon is a great piece of casting.
My daughter and I also hired Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs from the local rental place. Very funny, I want a talking monkey.
The Pink Panther - Steve Martin remake. It was actually a lot funnier than I expected. The original is a classic and I thought this one would just be shite.

Studio Ghibli season on Film 4:
Whisper of the Heart - I think I fell asleep during this one, something to do with the old country music song Take Me Home Country Road and a Japanese antiques shop.
Howl’s Moving Castle - very good film, definitely worth watching, brilliant animation (I borrowed this from a work colleague).
Princess Mononoke - gory and violent in places, brilliant storyline, great for kids.
My Neighbour Totoro - cute and friendly, great kids film, has a cat-bus.
Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece, definitely lives up to the hype and should be viewed by everyone (I borrowed this from a work colleague).
Porco Rosso and Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind were also on but I didn't watch them. My wife thinks the first is great, my daughter prefers the second.

Books:
I’ve read or have started to read the following books recently.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - I read Life, the Universe and Everything and (the dire) And Another Thing… (by Eoin Colfer pretending to be Douglas Adams) before reading the original. Very good book by the way.
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams - just started this but it is looking good.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Century: 1910 by Alan Moore - not as good as the two previous League books and hasn’t got the same rounded characters such as Jekyll and Hyde. However it is the first in a planned trilogy so I’ve got high hopes pinned on this. The artwork by Kevin O’Neill is outstanding as with the previous League books.
Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving - I’m a third through this book and I already recommend it, although for John Irving virgins I recommend starting with The World According to Garp or A Prayer for Owen Meany.

Exercise:
I’m not new to the concept of exercise, nor am I new to the exercise I have started doing regularly, however the new experience comes with teaching my daughter how to swim. The sense of accomplishment that comes with her gapped-toothed smile and the pride reflecting off my coffee stained teeth is something I find hard to quantify, but which those of you having had the same experience can easily recognise.

Work:
I’m not really allowed to say who I work for, but recently I had a security threat brief at work. I have regurgitated the essence of the brief into a handy, amusing story I like to tell people. Basically the gist of the brief was that anyone with a funny accent is either a terrorist, a spy, in some sort of separatist movement or a combination of the three. And yes that includes you.