Many and varied, but mostly musical.
People who make me think. People who put me outside my comfort zone. People who stretch my understanding of who I think I am or what I think the world is like.
PEOPLE I DON'T WANT TO MEET:
nazis
bigots
racists
Although, if you buy any of the first bit, you will find the second bit somewhat contradictory because nazis, bigots and racists certainly put me outside my comfort zone.
Just about anything with a beat and melody ... even stuff that has neither. Down and dirty blues with a screamin' harp seems to be what I keep comin' back to. Harmonies and songs that make you feel ... "yeah, baby!"
Many of my favorites, those that make it on to the iPod or into the library most frequently, are the old guys. Muddy, the Kings, Little Walter, Big Walter. All those guys and too many to name.
Gotta put in a special shout out to Sonny Terry. That man could sure play the harp. I've spent hours trying to figure out what the heck he's doing or thinikng ... "How the?"
Anything good ... those old Eastwood westerns ... even the new ones! Most things Peckinpah, Leone, Tarrantino, Rodriguez, Burton ... even Stone.
It's not TV, it's HBO.
Unfortunately, I don't read as much as I should or would like. Usually, I like things that are pure escapism. Something that takes me somewhere else. But, more often than not, I find myself working through something that makes my head hurt .... I try to avoid that, but I am often unsuccessful.
This is a word that gets tossed around a bit too liberally, in my view. Football players are NOT heros.
Ghandi? ... he's a hero.
Shaq'? ... not a hero.