Influences

I've been thinking about my influences lately. Not just "writing" influences (although most definitely that) but people or even characters who influence our behavior?

Who are YOUR influences? That's not a rhetorical question. Please, comment your influences at the bottom of this post.

My influences are pretty broad. I cast a wide net. My writing influences include (in no particular order) Rod Serling, David E. Kelly, Chris Claremont, Gene Roddenberry, Joss Whedon, Sam Keith, Grant Morrison, Peter David, Alan Moore, and Adam Warren. There are many other whose works I love, but these are the ones I want to be like. That's a big difference.

My comedic influences (still in no order) include Steve Martin, Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, the Smothers Brothers, Marc Maron, Joe Rogan, Mel Brooks, Animaniacs, Bugs Bunny, Eddie Izzard, Monty Python, Peter Sellers, The Tick, Scud, and my dad.

My fictional personality (I'm not doing an order, dammit) influences include Cyclops, Beast, Indiana Jones, Superman, Peter Pan, Sherlock Holmes, Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko, Jadzia Dax, Longshot, the Tramp, Spider-Man, Storm, Alan Shore, Dr. Strange, and Sam Beckett.

Hmmm... philosophic influences? Aristotle, Lao Tzu, Descartes... I would have thought there would be more. I guess most of them were pretty full of themselves... or insane... or incredibly uptight. There's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Promethea; spiritual influences like Buddhism or shamanism. Socio-political influences like Douglas Rushkoff, Jon Stewart, and Michael Moore. I guess I find philosophy through other things than philosophers. I'll need to give that more thought.

I was thinking about my moral influences and while there were certainly people like my mom and dad, I think my that all of these people, stories, or characters influenced my morality considerably.

Who are your influences? Give it some thought.