Sweep, Scour, Mop, Buff, Wipe, Scrub, Polish, Repeat

Fri., Aug. 13, 1999

By Paul Turner srpaulturner@gmail.com

You have a choice.

You can keep your kitchen floor spotless. Or you can lead a full, productive life.

* Street concert: Laura Gross is a music education and vocal performance student at Gonzaga University. Her car doesn’t have a radio, but that doesn’t keep her from singing while driving with the windows down.

She usually pipes down when she stops at a light. But one day, she stopped at Mission and Hamilton and forgot to quit belting out the number she was practicing.

“When I finished the Italian song I had been singing, I heard really loud applause and some hooting,” she wrote. “I looked to my left and noticed a large Chevy which held two handsome young men. They were smiling and giving me two thumbs-up.”

* Family values: Lynn Everson recently found herself wondering about a sign she encountered.

“Caution: This is a salvage warehouse. Please keep children with you at all times.”

Inasmuch as she hadn’t arrived with a child, Everson wondered if she would be issued one.

* Something we said: “Are you so superior to Neil Diamond and fans of this popular and beloved entertainer that you can sneer at his fans and publicly humiliate him at a time contemporaneous with his Spokane performance?” — Frances Horn

* Overheard (young woman speaking to a young man as they emerged from a tavern): “Shut up, Jeremy. Just shut up. Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”

* A friend who confidently forecast a landslide win for Sen. George McGovern back before the 1972 presidential election suggested The Slice ask: What proved to be your most ridiculous prediction?

* Another friend, who was moved by a certain part of 1977’s “The Deep” featuring Jacqueline Bisset, suggested The Slice ask: What scene in a movie do you still remember as having made a special impression on you while you were growing up?

* Land sale: At the Elber family’s recent yard sale, a woman who purchased a couple of English walnut starter trees yanked the plants out of their inexpensive pots and departed.

Then, a bit later, a guy asked how much they wanted for the two pots of soil. After determining that he wasn’t kidding, the Elbers sold him the containers of dirt for 50 cents.

* Today’s Slice question: Who around here has the cat able to stretch out to the greatest length when it’s really hot outside?

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.