Object of My Fascination

Well, hello out there, whomever you all are. Another day in blogland, and another writing challenge to go along with it. I'm having a hard time with the prompts this year, as a lot of them leave me rather stumped.

Today's supposed to be about "someone who fascinates you."

I can think of lots of answers...maybe I'll turn this into a list?

Robin Williams fascinated me.  Where he found all that energy and connectivity and crazy, bubbling over personality that could make the Easter Island heads smile.

Jim Henson fascinated me.  What a world he created. Full of color and love and life. It seems he never let go of the "hippie" ideals some people mock and instead just forged a path creating that world around him.  To me, the reason why the Muppets are what they are is because they represent the real goodness that people can achieve- and the real community they can have.  They show us a world where things aren't always easy or fun, but where we can all still rise above it. It's utopian but not unreachable.

Salvador Dali fascinates me. How did his brain work? How did he see the things he saw, and what did he mean with every brushstroke in every painting. There's so much, and to him, it all meant enough to commit to canvas.

My grandma fascinates me. She's going to be 91. She was born in Chicago in 1925 when there were still flappers and gangsters and bathtubs full of whiskey. She tells stories of when the mob hit up her mom for protection money at their store and she chased them out with a broom. And I could see my grandma chasing some big, hard-ass guy out of any room with a broom too. She has a strange authority, but also a way of wondering at the world even now that I still admire.

So many writers fascinate me. Gaiman, Vonnegut, Bradbury, Yeats, Neruda, Roach, Sedaris, Rowling, Bourdain...it's a weird, wonderful mix of classical, comical, fantastical writers who all have made windows into other worlds for me.

I guess what this impresses on me as I list though, is that I need to be fascinated more. I need to look for more inspiration. I need to keep wondering what  makes everyone tick, not only to understand them better for their sake, but to keep growing for myself as well.