Ray Bradbury was the first author that I was really exposed to back in grade school. I'm a big Philip K. Dick fan, but the emotion and humanity that Bradbury brings to his stories and the way he uses sci-fi to get at the human heart is something that's unique and for me incredibly influential.
I am a makeup junkie... Yves St. Laurent, Christian Dior, and anything else that looks good.
I don't enjoy British shows as a rule because British audiences are strange.