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The Slice: Stranger things have happened down this way

I mentioned on The Slice Blog earlier this week that a preschooler sitting on a porch across the street had asked me if I was a stranger.

Since then, I keep thinking of answers other than the one I actually used – “Not really, I’m your neighbor.”

But let’s all play. I’ll send a coveted reporter’s notebook to the reader with the best proposal for an alternative reply.

Love and loss: A reader leaving me a phone message told of visiting a cemetery recently and seeing a young woman sitting in a chair and reading a book aloud to a child buried there.

The woman who shared this was quite clearly moved. How do you react?

Happy day before June: Or Joon, if you are insanely into made-in-Spokane movies.

Which of the following were not in 1993’s “Benny & Joon”? A) Johnny Depp. B) Adrienne Barbeau. C) Mary Stuart Masterson. D) Joe Pantoliano. E) Aidan Quinn. F) Jeffrey Tambor. G) Julianne Moore. H) Kevin Spacey. I) Laura Dern. J) Oliver Platt. K) CCH Pounder. L) Dan Hedaya. M) William H. Macy. N) Alyssa Milano.

The answer is down below The Slice contact info.

Songs that make you think of kissing: For Emil Wunderle, it’s “Under The Boardwalk.”

“The band at our wedding played that song when we entered our reception hall and my wife and I adopted it as our theme song ever since,” he wrote. “Kissing is a secret to a successful marriage. At least that’s what my wife says.”

Language arts: There are enough freelance grammarians lined up and ready to comment on the proper use of “graduate” that we could discuss this subject till the marmots come home. But despite what you might have heard, I don’t actually try to drive readers away. So let’s do this instead.

How do you feel about “went missing”?

Name of the game: Chuck Young plays golf with a group that includes another Chuck. So how do they keep things straight on the score card?

“The other (older) Chuck is ‘Chuck the Elder’ and I’m ‘Chuck the Younger.’”

Today’s Slice question: What’s your equivalent of hockey players growing a playoffs beard?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. B, D, F, H, I and N were not in the movie.

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