yep.

when the going gets tough, the tough go digging for their halloween gorilla mask while eating handfuls of candy corn. off i went to my storage space in the basement. i found it stuffed in a bag with stuffed animals i had forgotten about...my coke-a-cola polar bear beanie babies (boy and girl), my little old snoopy, an old-fashioned teddy bear with a nice red satin ribbon, and for the love of god...my boxing monkey!!!!

;-)

the gorilla mask (it's a few years old now) was in pretty bad shape. the rubber had melted and gotten stuck together. don't know if i can salvage it. of course, i put it on before going back into my apartment and put the boxing monkey on my hand to scare the cats. orangehead barely looked up from where she was sitting. all she did was sniff at the monkey's gloves. calicogirl was a little more perturbed. she didn't like the monkey at all and bolted when i started pumping the levers that move his gloves...

~~~~~
yes.
i'm 38 years old. and i find the monkey amusing. these days i find it tough sometimes to smile because if i crack open a newspaper or hit abcnews.com, turn on the tv and surf through the channels, the media has made a point of reporting every piece of bad news they can get their hands on. it's an easy dive into the junk. there is more than enough shit to add to the list of all that keeps going wrong. both personally and globally. we earthlings are headed for a really bad funk.

i can’t speak for anyone but myself. i’m tired of the funk. in fact, the only funk i want to be associated with is the kind that comes when you turn the knob and george clinton lets out his funky out of this world jam. or the funk that should be bottled because it’s pure love funk, the kind that blinks in red neon: Serious Sex/Love going on Here!...
i will break out the silly-ass toys. i will put my melted halloween mask on. i will eat candy corn. i will relax with a cup of green tea. i will chase the cats around the apartment. i will pile the four pillows on my bed and nest. i will put my jammies on at 6:00pm-grab a book and read. i will laugh at my attempt to balance an umbrella, bag, lunch and coffee mug. i will ignore the mud on my pants. i will walk around my office in socks. i will bob my head like a headbanger when listening to green day! i will whistle london’s calling on my way out the door. i will enjoy how beautiful the colored leaves look against grey sky. i will tune into cartoons. i will let out a soft prayer from these pink lips for rain in the west, peace in the middle east, fat red love to swell in all corners of this world, and a healthy dose of serenity all the way around.