The Lion King

You can make pretty convincing giraffes by having a person walk with 4 stilts.

I really thought the hyenas were the best-designed Lion King costumes though. I think it's at least partly because of the way a real hyena is built.

Grandma

My only living grandparent fell and slightly(?) cracked her hip the other day. Today I learned that she will have to stay in a nursing home for at least two months to recuperate.

I've noticed that quite often after an elderly person falls it leads to their death -- either immediately from the severity of the fall or a relatively short time later from complications related to the fall.

I'm not so sure that this will be the case with Grandma though. She's 95 and cranky (I'm told). She'll be 96 at the end of next month. She's a tough, old bird, as they say. And I mean that with love and respect.

Happy Leap Day (tomorrow), Grandma!

Couldn't Care Less

So this is more a reaffirmation than something learned, but it's nice to know that there are still English-speaking people in the world who know how to use the phrase "couldn't care less" correctly.

Humidity or Heat?

It is extremely difficult to find a small, working humidifier for sale in February in Waukesha. Large ones, some working and some not, are a little easier to come by. Heaters are very easy to find, but I don't need another one of those. I guess I'll get by without a humidifier for now too.

An Important Question

My daughter's boyfriend asked me a very important (traditional) question today. I'm now 100% sure of his honorable intentions. (I had been 99.99...% sure before.)

Grand Pianos

Grand pianos are made much more by hand than I thought. There isn't too much automated machinery involved. At least, not for Steinways. I saw an episode of "Some Assembly Required" that takes you through the Steinway plant in Queens. Interesting stuff.

Engagement

My niece officially got engaged to her boyfriend today! Congratulations, M & J!