The Slice: If you embellish your time, embellish your stories, too

Work a few of these into your Bloomsday stories and people might actually listen.

1. “Just before I blacked out.” 2. “So suddenly she yanks off her shirt.” 3. “The first punch.” 4. “Out of nowhere I feel someone’s hand.” 5. “So I see he’s got a gun.” 6. “By the time I realize it’s a wasp.” 7. “I said ‘going,’ not ‘groin.’ ”

Slice answer: Maria Washington thinks her husband, Rich, might be the area’s fastest lawn mower. “I saw him in action this last weekend at my sister’s, who had a very overgrown backyard, and it was like watching the Lawn Mowing Olympics.”

Monday quiz: I’ll send a coveted reporter’s notebook to at least one reader who correctly identifies the late actress Jeanette Nolan’s tangential connection to Spokane.

Extra credit for those who get it without an online search.

Just saying: If you put it on after finishing Sunday and are wearing it again today, it’s possible your 2010 Bloomsday shirt already needs laundering.

Three possible ways to note Bing Crosby’s birthday today:

1. Refer to the S-R as The Bingville Bugle.

2. Walk around going “Ba-ba-ba-boo.”

3. Dress up like a 1940s priest and do your best impression of the genial Father Chuck O’Malley from “Going My Way” and “The Bells of St. Mary’s.”

Warm-up question: Which of the following never worked in the S-R or Chronicle sports departments?

A) Dan Weaver. B) Dave Boling. C) Slap Maxwell. D) Susan English. E) Howie Stalwick. F) Big’un Darley. G) Kevin Taylor. H) Frank Bascombe. I) Fred Exley. J) Mike Sando. K) Dan Webster. L) Ralph Walter. M) Dickie Dunn.

That’s right. It’s C, F, H, I and M.

Today’s Slice question: Can you spot a former cowgirl just from the way she walks?