A Matter of Structural Integrity

How often do I fall apart? What an outrageous insinuation! A seasoned performer maintains complete structural discipline at all times! To prove my rock-solid constitution, I decided to mount an expedition across the middle shelf of the bookcase to inspect a tempting stack of glossy art books. One solid step, two steady struts—pure perfection! But then, catastrophe! My heavy blue shoe caught the rogue corner of a dropped bookmark. Down I tumbled! Clatter, clatter, pop! My left arm went skittering into a bronze bookend, and my right ear detached entirely, landing squarely on top of an open dictionary. Unbelievable! It takes genuine talent to reassemble your own face with one detached hand, but I managed it, snapping that ear back into its proper socket just in time for the curtain call.