State Animal? Guess Ours

A friend alerted us to a proposal to name the killer whale Washington’s official state mammal.

“When was the last time you saw an orca?” she asked.

She’s right. Killer whales are magnificent. No question. But they’re definitely a West Side thing.

(The idea was, in fact, cooked up by some Seattle area grade-schoolers and a rain-soaked state legislator.)

Our friend suggested asking Slice readers what animal they believe would be a more fitting representative of Eastern Washington’s mammalian spirit.

“I’m torn between voting for the Black Angus steer or the kid-gobbling cougar,” she wrote.

OK, consider yourselves asked.

And in case you’re wondering, the marmot has our endorsement.

* Think globally, act selfishly: Calvin Brown had to shake his head. Some inconsiderate individual had parked a car in front of a cluster of mail boxes and newspaper boxes, making it all but impossible for a delivery person to access them. One of several like-minded stickers affixed to that car read, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.”

* Slice answer: “We have 52 chairs in and around our home,” e-mailed Juanita Troyer. “This does not include sofas, loveseats or folding chairs.”

* Here’s something from reader R. A. La Com: “It is time to update your responses to colleagues, friends and family members when they ask you, `Did you read the one in The Slice about …’ “

Here’s his list.

1. “No, I accomplished something this morning.”

2. “I get all the news I need in the weather report.”

3. “I stopped reading that feature after I saw that, with minor modifications, they recycle the items on a yearly basis. You have not noticed that?”

4. “For some reason, ever since leaving pubescence I find that whining, gossip and self-absorbed regionalism no longer entertain me.”

5. “Why should I read it? They never have the good sense to print a thing I send in.”

* Today’s Slice question: In virtually every household, there are certain words and expressions that have a meaning known only to members of the family. You know, something a grandparent used to say, a child’s malapropism kept alive by decades of repeating, nicknames for local stores or institutions or a line from a movie that has come to be a catch-all characterization. So … what are your favorite family phrases?

(We’ve asked that in various forms over the years. But we’ve used only a small percentage of the answers. This time, we want to print a bunch.)