Inspirations and Influences

It's warmer today, thank goodness, but I'm still looking forward to Myrtle Beach in June.
Wonderful place, that: The endless beach, the great shopping, loads of good fun, and especially, the knights of Medieval Times--where the inspiration for the Cat Star Chronicles first began.
Someone was talking about inspiration on the Casablanca blog yesterday, and I think we authors find it everywhere we go, and are influenced at least a little bit by everyone we meet and everything we've ever witnessed, whether in person or via the movies or television. We are the product of our environments, and the product of our times.
Funny thing about that, though, is that when it comes to "our times" anymore, most of what I experience is not on TV. I rarely watch it anymore, because for one thing, I don't have the time, but partly it's because what I want to watch just isn't out there. I like the idea of fun, but steamy, romantic comedies--and that's something that is very difficult to find. Offhand, I can only think of a handful of TV shows or movies that fit that description. My mission is to change that!