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OPINIONOPINION

 Mountain Views NewsSaturday, June 1, 2024

PUT THE LIGHTS ON

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Susan Henderson

PASADENA CITY 
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Dean Lee 

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Patricia Colonello

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CONTRIBUTORS

Michele Kidd

Stuart Tolchin 

Harvey Hyde

Audrey Swanson

Meghan Malooley

Mary Lou Caldwell

Kevin McGuire

Chris Leclerc

Dinah Chong Watkins

Howard Hays

Paul Carpenter

Kim Clymer-Kelley

Christopher Nyerges

Peter Dills 

Rich Johnson

Lori Ann Harris

Rev. James Snyder

Katie Hopkins

Deanne Davis

Despina Arouzman

Jeff Brown

Marc Garlett

Keely Toten

Dan Golden

Rebecca Wright

Hail Hamilton

Joan Schmidt

LaQuetta ShambleE

STUART TOLCHIN

RICH JOHNSON NOW THAT’S RICH


PECULIAR HABITS OF EXCEPTIONAL 
PEOPLE

Can you even imagine a headline such as 
DONALD TRUMP WITHDRAWS FROM PRESIDENTIAL 
RACE?

Yes. You read it here first! How does it make you feel? Is it 
true? Well, not yet. Maybe my statement is a bit premature. 
Allright it is a complete fantasy. I have just completed 
reading a 467-page book entitled An Unfinished Love 
Story, A Personal History of the 1960s authored by Doris 
Kearns Goodwin. I have been complaining about not being 
able to focus long enough to complete any long book, which is only one of my 
many complaints. My wife, an unwilling listener to these many complaints, 
purchased the book as a present for me, probably hoping that reading the book 
would shut me up for a while. 

Well, she was right as she generally is. This is Taco Tuesday the 
morning of which I have pledged to take the 5,000 steps walk down the hill 
and purchase four fish tacos for less than nine dollars. Today I was so involved 
in reading that I eschewed the walk and finished the book. (Ok, also my left 
knee and ankle hurt.} What I found so compelling was that the book not only 
described the final days of her 80 plus year old husband who experienced the 
loss of taste, smell, and mental haziness that I experience but that he continued 
to the work that was important to him. Certainly, that inspired me to draft this 
article today, on a Tuesday, rather than my customary Wednesday night. So, if 
something important happens in the Trump trial or anywhere else it will be 
necessary for you to get your information elsewhere.

The book, a review of the political and social events of the 1960’s 
from the perspective of insiders, had personal relevance to me. From page 
329 through page 336 there is discussed Lyndon Johnson’s decision and 
announcement that “I will not accept the nomination of my party for another 
term as your President.” Actually, I never heard the actual announcement. I 
specifically remember being in the Law Library trying to study when I became 
aware of some commotion. I asked around and heard something about the 
announcement and walked around asking other students if it was true.

This announcement meant everything to me. At the time I was 
certain that LBJ was trying to kill me. I knew that after Law School I would 
be drafted into the Army where I would undoubtedly not survive. I couldn’t 
or wouldn’t march in step and resented the whole thing. I knew my dad had 
been discharged after being beaten up by other soldiers and I was sure the 
same thing would happen to me. (My dad’s offence; in 1943 -he had authored 
an article in the Army Newspaper “Stars and Stripes” proclaiming that the 
racial segregation maintained in the Army was a total disgrace. Some White 
Soldiers took offence and savagely beat him up.) My future was bleak—and 
then LBJ made his announcement. I was relieved to say the least. I had a future. 
Immediately I knew there would not be another Monster in the White House 
who personally would want to kill me. (If I only knew.) I was elated but that 
did not last very long. Soon after LBJ’s announcement MLK and RFK were 
assassinated and then the crazy Chicago Democratic Convention and then, 
of all people, Richard Nixon became President. Nixon was a lot of things but 
to me he was not nearly as scary as LBJ. My attitude had changed. I became a 
lawyer and did volunteer work assisting potential draftees (including myself) 
on ways to avoid the Draft. (Of course, they were all White People) One of 
the first things I did as a lawyer was to help my parents to receive a car as 
his eventual blindness resulted from the hypertensions connected to his army 
disability.

Just now my wife brought home the fish tacos and we’ll have them for 
lunch. Today, at age 80, I consider myself, notwithstanding the loss of taste or 
smell, a truly fortunate person. I thank Doris Kearns Goodwin for reminding 
me. Of course, it would be wonderful if the title of this piece became an 
accurate prediction. I am waiting to hear the announcement. 

We all have them. You might be surprised by the peculiarities 
of people of significance over the centuries. 

Take Vincent van Gogh for example. The Dutch painter, 
known for his colorful painting, didn’t just like looking at 
vibrant colors. Vince had the strange habit of eating paint. 
Not just any paint…yellow paint. Something about yellow having a positive 
effect on his mood. Don’t try it. Yellow or any other color paint for that matter. 
Have a banana instead. 

Queen Victoria of England always had at least one slice of bread with her 
wherever she went. She never knew when she would run into hungry birds or 
beggars in the park. If you run into me and are so inclined, I’d prefer a steak 
dinner.

Every time Charles Dickens finished writing a new book, he would rearrange 
the furniture in his house. Let’s see, he wrote 15 novels. Wait a minute. “Chuck” 
also wrote novellas, nonfiction articles, and hundreds of short stories. I wonder 
if he would just rearrange the furniture in one room after a magazine article? 
(I’ll have my research department look into it).

Sigmund Freud would smoke upwards of 20 cigars a day believing smoking 
helped him to think more clearly. Einstein didn’t wear socks, Beethoven would 
pour cold water over his head before he composed, and Napoleon would take an 
ice cold bath every morning.

Virginia Woolf and Friedrich Nietzsche didn’t have much in common except 
they used standing desks. They wrote standing up.

I wondered whether (HIPs) Highly Intelligent People typically had strange 
habits? I don’t know many HIPs. Maybe we are highly intelligent and don’t 
know it. Experts tell us this about:

1. They daydream! I daydream. You? Are we just spacing out, or 
participating in a complex cognitive process? Let’s think about it. Ouch, 
thinking hurts!

2. Constantly curious! The experts say we ask seemingly “stupid” questions. 
That’s me…or is it? Is that a stupid question? Or is it?

3. They talk to themselves. I’m talking to myself right now. They say 
Einstein talked to himself. I’m feeling smarter already!

4. They enjoy their own company. I like me. Do you like you? Let’s see a 
show of hands.

5. They are night owls. Oh-oh! I’m more of an early bird. I may have to 
drop out of the running. 

6. Reading…a lot! Does coloring count? I may not be one of the highly 
intelligent. I knew it was too good to be true. Dang!

7. Habitual walking. Now my goose is cooked. Charles Dickens walked 
miles each day (probably moving furniture). And Friedrich (Nietzsche) once 
said, “All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. Double darn.

I do have a novel idea to pass along. And it’s actually quite important. It has an 
inversely proportional message to it. Are you ready?

The next time a good friend comes along and wants to talk about a problem they 
are having, do this: Listen! Don’t jump right in with all the answers. Sometimes 
friends need to talk their own way out of a situation. If they can solve their own 
problem with you standing there like a piece of wood, two conclusions will be 
arrived at.

1. Solving their own problem may very well make the solution stick.

2. Without you saying a word, your friend will think you are truly brilliant!

It was Jesus who said, in the Bible, through his half-brother James: “Let every 
person be quick to hear, slow to speak…”

Obviously, if they solicit your input, be there for them. And please, if you see me 
on the street, befuddled and out of sorts, jump right in and ‘ave a go! Straighten 
me out.

Have a good week! (Not an order but a gentle suggestion)

Bye!

Mountain Views News 
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DINAH CHONG WATKINS


CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 
WRONG KIND

MICE, MICE, BABY

 Yo VIP, let's kick it

 Mice, mice baby

 Mice, mice baby

Alright stop, eradicate and listen

Mice is back but got an old school invention

Something grabs a hold of me tightly

Snaps like a harpoon daily and nightly

Will it ever stop? Yo, I don't know

Turn off the lights, and I'll go

To the attic, I bite the wire like a vandal

Kill the power and they’re left with a candle

Multiply, got a feeling in my gut

It’s killing my brain like a poisonous peanut

Deadly, when I face that cat Melody 

Anything less than the beast is a felony

Love it, won’t leave it, I gotta hide-a-way

You better hit bull's eye, this rat don't play

If there is a problem, yo, I'll solve it

Check out the glue while my DJ dissolves it

(Ice, Ice, Baby with apologies to Vanilla Ice)

I admit it, I’m not a cat person. Cats are unpredictable, they fawn over you one 
minute then you’re as attractive as a polyester cat carrier the next. Everything’s 
game for their razor sharp claws - your lap, the doorposts, and the 60 month 
payment plan Italian Tacchinni couch.

But a cat can once on Tuesdays and twice on Sundays take down a rat like a 
MMA champion. No traps, no bait, no warning.

That is why when my dog would wildly whine and paw in the bathroom, at the 
spot where the baseboards hit the bathtub, I knew it was time to get a cat - er, I 
mean exterminator. The human kind.

He arrived, a man of few words but wise in his craft. Old school Victory spring-
loaded traps were set out, imperceptible openings covered over, the dog was 
quietly corralled and I waited. Bumps and jumps in the attic continued in the 
night.

When dawn broke, the exterminator surveyed the night's disturbance and 
body-bagged the vermin, the length of two hardy russet baking potatoes. In its 
mouth were bits of electric wiring and insulation.

All was well, I brushed my forehead with relief and lay my head down on my 
pillow, then, 

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

While I nodded, nearly speaking, suddenly there came a squeaking,

As of someone gently squeaking, squeaking at my chamber door.

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “squeaking at my chamber door—

Only this and nothing more.

(The Raven with apologies to Edgar Allan Poe)

Dinah Chong Watkins column appears every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month.

For more Close Encounters Of The Wrong Kind go to www.ceotwk.com


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Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com