The Slice: Just pretend you like the Zags

Today life is normal for them.

But on Sunday afternoon, at least a handful of local residents will learn that their alma mater has been paired against GU in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament.

For the loyal (or not) opposition, it should make for an interesting few days.

“Slice answer (screwing up at a church service): “Our church in San Diego had a wonderful choir and the congregation would clap and sometimes give a standing ovation to show its appreciation,” wrote Jodi Dineen of Spokane.

So, a week after having missed a service, Dineen and her husband stood and applauded after a hymn. They were the only ones standing.

“It turned out that at the previous Sunday’s service, the choir director had announced that the choir no longer wanted any clapping.”

“E-mail of the day: “Suggestion for a series: Comeuppance,” wrote one of my occasional correspondents. “Ask readers if they have ever been cut down to size, rightfully, or had the wind taken out of their sails.

“If you like the idea, don’t use my name. I have been on the receiving side so many times that I will send in a response if you decide to use the category.”

“Pet peeve: I overheard a friend talking about how she’s tired of new business ventures spelling their names like this: NewBusiness or LocalVenture.

Apparently smushing two words together does not strike her as inherently cool.

“Just wondering: What’s the first thing that goes through your mind when you get an e-mail from your boss that says “Let’s talk”?

“Slice answer (getting sticky with it): “I’m pretty fanatical about keeping honey and maple syrup and other sweet-stuff containers and the shelf under them clean,” wrote Carol Polser. “But my husband loves to cook, and he could not care less if the honey or the maple syrup drips off the bottle anywhere he happens to be using it.

“I deal with it when I discover the mess (cursing under my breath as I clean it up) because he’s a great cook.”

“Speaking of men who cook: Curt Olsen recently found himself in a conversation that, it seemed to him, challenged stereotypes about what guys talk about.

“Last Sunday my friend Ed Taylor and I were discussing whole-grain bread recipes,” he wrote. “We had a lively discussion of kamut vs. spelt.”

OK, kamut has had a decent season. But, in the office pool, I’m picking spelt to go all the way.

“Today’s Slice question: Do you know a good cook who refuses to acknowledge that any dish ever turned out well?