Two-Cup Morning

I woke up too early this morning and it's gloomy and rainy.  Bring on the coffee!

1. April showers bring May flowers...what have you been showered with this month?

Well actually lately we’ve been showered with rain, just like the saying goes!


2. What is the nature of compassion? Is it learned or innate? Can compassion be learned? If you're a parent is this something you've purposely sought to instill in your children, and if so how?

I think children are naturally compassionate; they want everyone to be happy and they want to understand when they aren’t. I’ve had a toddler pat my arm and give a hug because I was crying. They don’t understand happy tears or movie tears, but they understand tears and they try to give comfort.

There have been studies done involving race and sex with babies/toddlers. In one study group they all wore the same gender non-specific clothes. Without the visual identifiers; adults dressing them as :cute little girls” and “rugged little boys,” they treated each other as equals and broke into play groups based on the toys they were interested in which included boys who were attracted to the dolls and girls who wanted to play with the trucks. (I took some fun electives when I finished my degree) In other studies involving race relations, babies and toddlers of different races, features and skin tones who perceived there was no adult supervision played and again broke into playgroups based on interests and not physical traits. It’s even been my own experience that as someone in a wheelchair children in the ages range of about 6-10 are more likely to ask if they can hold a door for me than an adult. If compassion and equality can be learned, we need to pay closer attention to what our kids are teaching because the better qualities of mankind they are born with and we conform it out of them.


3. Do you prefer to watch romantic comedy or romantic drama...or are you rolling your eyes saying bring on the action flicks?

I don’t watch movies too often, but I enjoy sports movies like Bull Durham, movies based on comic books like The Punisher or 1940s black and white romantic comedies like His Girl Friday.


4. It's April which means baseball season is officially upon us here in the US of A. Humphrey Bogart is quoted as saying "A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz." Agree or Disagree?

Hmm, let’s see…. I don’t like steak but I love snouts and tails hot-dogs. I love baseball and don’t like dressing up. Yep, I’d say I totally agree with the quote! My favorite comment that I make about baseball is “A bad day at the ball park is better than a good day almost anywhere.”


5. What's something in your community or city that needs fixing or improving?

We need more police. I think it’s stupid to make cuts in vital services for the health and well-being of the residents of city. I’d love it if we had enough police to actually ticket or arrest the 3AM motorcycle racers that wake up our neighborhood, but we barely have enough to scrape up their remains when they crash.


6. Share a song you enjoy that mentions flowers or a specific flower in its title.

Desert Rose by Sting.


7. April 22nd is Earth Day...do you believe there's life on other planets? That wasn't the question you were expecting was it?

Sure. It may not be life in the form that we think of it, but I think it makes sense that other planets developed the same way the earth did.

In a spiritual sense, I can’t believe that God is so small that He made all those planets and only put life on one. That’s just our human egos that believe that.


8. Insert your own random thought here.

I woke up at 3:30 this morning. I’m not so sure my thought can keep up with my random, so I owe ya! :)