The Slice: New namesake should be nothing but presidential

Happy birthday to the great state of Washington.

If the Evergreen state had been named after a different pre-1889 president, which one might have deserved the honor?

OK, besides Lincoln.

Madison? Monroe? Jackson? Adams? Fillmore? Van Buren?

Just imagine.

“Where are you from?”

“Spokane, Jefferson.”

Small World Department: Tana Dugan was wearing a Gonzaga University sweatshirt in New Zealand when a man walked past her and said “Go Zags!”

Dian Zahner was running on a beach along Lake Michigan when she saw that a woman headed toward her had on a Bloomsday shirt.

Today’s Expo ’74 souvenir: Pat Cadagan still has the monthly bus pass that, after the fair, was made from the canvas canopy that had covered the U.S. Pavilion.

Slice answers: “The deciding factor is how long you’ve lived in the area,” wrote Mike Altman. “Old-timers just refer to it as ‘The Valley.’ Newbies call it ‘Spokane Valley.’ ”

And in the matter of how quickly after the alarm goes off you start to go over your mental to-do list for the day, Forrest Schuck said he typically starts that process before the alarm ever makes a sound.

Lorelei Plagman seconded the motion. “The mental list of what needs to be accomplished by the end of the day usually IS my alarm clock,” she said.

Today’s Slice question: “I was chatting with a friend and I mentioned that a particularly annoying rash I had been dealing with was finally healing,” wrote Hayley Murdock. “I mentioned it is in a ‘delicate’ location, and it brings a lot of embarrassment when I just have to scratch at it. She pointed out that since we both work from home (telecommute) that we grow accustomed to doing things without thinking about the public’s reaction and it leads to a bit of embarrassment when caught, literally, with our hands down our pants.”

Murdock wondered if Slice readers had stories of relaxed, in-private standards of behavior spilling over to settings where others were present.

Consider yourself asked.