TMNT is #1. I lost my sh*t as an infant when I saw a Michelangelo figure my half-brother had. I wouldn't let up until it was given to me (along with Ace Duck). My mom, seeing that nothing got a reaction out of me like the TMNT, would then help to introduce me further. I took my actual first steps because of them, we were watching the first movie on VHS & I wanted to be closer to the screen. They are an integral part of me & my upbringing, no doubt the single greatest influence in my life, for the better. They are why I got into art, & things come more & more full circle each year as I get to meet/befriend/collaborate with Mirage artists.
Second to that would be playing Nintendo games/the arts.
I started on SNES when I was 3 or 4, it was my mom's console. She'd let me "help" her play A Link To The Past & soon enough I was playing TMNT, SMW, DKC, etc. Gameboy, too. I've been an almost exclusively Nintendo-only "gamer". Don't have a Switch yet but you can bet I want one.
I've tinkered with most art forms for the same amount of time, starting with normal kid stuff like fingerpainting. Coloring books were a big thing but I always loved making my own drawings too. I'd paint sculptures (you could buy cheap blanks of all sorts of cool stuff at Michaels back then), stain glass, use clay, draw, you name it. Throughout my life I've made clothing designs, logos, album covers, comic books, pin-ups, community murals (both official & graffiti, haha), sculptures, (crude) 3D models, you name it. Also been a music lover since the beginning, though I didn't take up an instrument until I was 11 or 12 (guitar). I would go on to play drums & keyboards, rap, sing, produce beats, blah blah blah. I can create a song in almost any style, & it was all self taught, I'm proud to say. My drive and skill led to working with some of my all time favorite rappers/producers on my own group's albums.
That's where my passion's at. Real passion, properly nurtured, can lead to beautiful things. If nothing else, it's good to have stuff that motivates you to keep truckin' in this wicked world.