The Court Jester's Question of the day (UTI)

I would say Jesus Christ. His example of how to treat others has really helped me to not judge people. Of course I am human & I mess up now & then, but for the most part I get along with all ;o).

Jim Beam.

And on a more worldly answer I would say my parents. They have been married for over 40 years & they are still so much in love! yes they had trials in their marriage, but they have shown us kids that you can show affection & that you can be married that long! (at least that is what I got haha ;o)). They also have helped me in many ways in my life and I am thankful they are my parents!

Probably my mom.

My dad, and my mom and my dad....

God, Jesus......

Mary!!!

My sister, my dad and step mom, and then Bo my hubby,,,,,

underinflunce gee randee I think maybe you Just kidin,,,

My daughter. She made me grow up and realize it's not all about me.

My mom!

definity my father

Ah, to pick just one?

I'd have to say, if I can only pick one, because my 'influence' as been more a jigsaw puzzle assembled from many sources, Robert A. Heinlein, because, at the exact point in my life I needed it to hear it, he told me it was OK to be a stranger in a strange land.

I gathered as I went. Aesop and Grimm were my favorites. I was most influence by what I read, and I devoured everything I could get my hands on, from Vonnegut to Terry Southern's Candy. As a kid, I didn't live in the real world; I lived in the books I read.

Good question.

karl, as literary influences...
Assimov, Nietzsche, Emerson, Poe, Plato and Socrates had to be my first influences...

when I read Vonnegut, I kind of started to look at life the way it should be, not through rosy colered glasses..but more realistically...

I did have an American History teacher that taught from a series of books called--
"Defiance in American History".... I don't remember if it was written by a single person or if it was a compilation of authors...eyes opened wider....

I didn't start reading non-Hardy boy books until about 13 or 14, karl... I have not found anyone in a long time that has admitted to reading the Foundation Trilogy....there's a story!!! ---very circular in meaning as much as Thus Spake Zarathustra, which I just finished rereading again...

The Stranger?-- I think , no I know-- I was in college studying philosophy when I first read it...impacted me almost as much as watching clips from Viet Nam on the nightly news growing up,,,,ironic that Bush favors this book..

Thanks for responding my friend

my grandma

Who... Can i say a group of people.. my friends... Most of them have been thru the trenches with me and the other part would have been had I known them at the time... My friends are my life...

There have been so many in my life that have influenced me. I am a product of the village.

My Nanny---

My friends--I have so many from many different backrounds and they all have influenced me so much

Clips from Viet Nam, you know, is what ended the war(the images on TV so shocked the national psyche, conflicting with what we knew from shows like "Combat!"). I said a few years ago, the first we see a clip on TV of a female soldier face down dead in the sand is when Americans will rise up and end this occupation of Iraq.

Sadly, I was wrong. Lately, I've been very wrong about many things America stands for. Gil Scott-Heron: Winter in America. "And now democracy is a ragtime on the corner" The entire song's great, comes to us from the 70's.

When I was in high school, having no future beyond the next day, my universal construct was 'you graduated, got drafted, went to 'Nam and died.' I watched children, a couple of years ahead of me, do just that. One person, I called a friend. In that, Viet Nam was personal to me, as it was for most of us, I think. And, Randee, those images on TV.

We asked, as we watched the horror of war in our living rooms: "What are we buying with this price we're paying?"

What are we buying?

I'm a Vietnam Era vet; I've got the service medal. yah me.

I ask: what are we buying?

All I get is a mess of nonsense, as if quoting Heller's book, "Catch 22."

Compared to What
by Eugene McDaniels
as performed by Les McCann 1969 --

"The President, he's got his war
Folks don't know just what it's for
Nobody gives us rhyme or reason
Have one doubt, they call it treason
We're chicken-feathers, all without one gut (God damn it!)
Tryin' to make it real — compared to what? (Sock it to me, now)"

...all without one guy...

Probably my dearly departed friend Lenny Kurtz. Amazing how much I learned from him.

My Mentor - Mr. Hector McLean, Chairmen Emeritus of BB&T Bank. His father started the bank as Southern National Bank some time after the Great Depression which merged with BB&T in the 1990's. He was a State Senator and was an adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt during WWII.

I was an art major in College and he convinced me to change it to Management and then helped me find a job within the bank. Although I moved on within a year, I was always indebted to him for his gentle push in the right direction.

I have been most influenced by my parents. They have been married for almost 60 years - had 6 children - shown so much love and caring - been through many bad times but always come out together - it has shown me to always weather the storm and not give up in my own marriage and things will get stronger - and they have. Thanks, to my Mom and Dad - for everything - they are always there for me through everything with my disease and everything in life. Always there to lend an ear or a shoulder. Yep, my parents.

I would have to say books of all sorts and genres have influenced me the most. I love Jane Austen, her characters are so perfectly flawed.

I also have to give my parents a lot of credit for me being who I am today, whether they want it or not. :)

My Parents, because they showed nothing but love for my sisters and myself. They were there for people that had nothing, they gave them a helping hand.
My sister Nancy, she has had a rough life, but she is still a loving and giving person. A fantastic Mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and a wonderful sister to me.
My husband Earl, because he shows me love like no other man ever could.

My parents (all 4 of them) and my daughter.

Author Dave Pelzer

Jesus, my grandmother, my husband, and my daughter. We continue to learn and grow, being influenced until we draw our last breaths.

great literature

Sorry I'm just now replying, haven't been on for a while and just going through and trying to reply to my mail.

Merle Haggard has influenced my life probably more than he will ever know. I come from an upbringing very similar and have made it very far. Thanks Merle!

God.

There are far too many to pick just one. This really makes you think about all the people that have affected your life, so maybe you can thank them or stop and say a prayer for them. Great question, Randee!