Michael Scott Gallegos

"Crap is the essence of innovation and technological advancement. ...It’s our human way of becoming … well … generators of more crap that helps us become more modern, productive and communicative human beings."

"Monday could not have arrived on a worse day. It could have been polite and waited until Tuesday or even Wednesday."

"I need to wake out of my stupor and begin work. ...my body stands frozen in a snow packed tundra waiting for rescue. It may take a few days before that happens, since my mind is on vacation in Alberta right now."

"My wife is talking to me this morning without realizing that her words go into my ears and drop directly to my toes. I hear their thud as they land and maybe a small wisp of air as they pass my brain. ...I need her to understand that the alligator in my head is eating the meaning of her words as my toes become crammed with their debris. She will still yell at me, but I have a good excuse now that I have an alligator residing in my head."

"What they [the Cactus Bristle gang] discovered is that people were not influenced by principles, such as the difference between democracy and communism, Judaism versus Islam, or even rich versus poor. They found people did not generally comprehend or like abstract principles. All people wanted was a place they called their own, a good job, and the ability to make life decisions with ample access to television."

"Human nature is very myopic about its existence. It very much wants to think their current reality is the absolute reality."

"History is a perfect arm-chair coach, but it lacks human sentiment. It’s like imagining living through the Black Death in the Middle Ages. It can’t be done. Essentially history is an emotional iceberg when it comes to human tragedy. We look upon the events of history as folklore, stories of human rights and wrongs, of character and cracks. History is always a good story, but its tragedies or success never hit our current-event nerve."

"Jason never knew a day without war. They raged since before he was born, and had become a silent backdrop to his everyday life. As long as it stayed in the big cities, he was satisfied to remain deaf, dumb and blind to the destruction."

"Right now, at this very moment, we are at that point in time where the dream dies and reality takes its place. We are the only ones that can appreciate that moment, because we are the only ones who know it. This is a future moment happening right now. Don’t you get it Jason, then is now. In a few minutes, the present reality we are experiencing will be gone; the dream will have ended because it became reality. All of these stratums of reality, the multiplicity of cascading sheets of our world are about to morph, and shift, and sort, all in one small single point in time."

"Magic gave a final wink and wave as it vanished into the cascading darkness of the dark lonely back road."

"A noted psychologist, who witnessed one of Mary Wellington’s desperate episodes, wrote about her in one of his articles. “Mary X’s behavior is symbolic of a gross narcissism that doesn’t allow anyone in their world except themselves. If there were a cure for this parasitic ailment, it would lead to world peace. Our modern technological society has inadvertently created the Mary X’s of the world, and our civilization suffers as a result. God help us all.”"

"He was soon asleep as the familiar cadence of Bach played in the background. It was no surprise that no one noticed."

"A couple walked past us holding hands. “You guys look so cute playing football in the park.” Little did they know that they just witnessed the biggest Super Bowl loss in the history of National League Football."

"The “have-nots” see agonizing death as an equalizing force. Their pompous attitude is unfair and their only advantage over us. Recently, I’ve come to resent them, to resent karma. ...I understood when Zombie died. I understood when Monica died. What I can’t understand is why I have to die at such a young age. It just doesn’t make sense. The only question I have is … WHY ME?"

"I trembled at the thought of commenting on The Economist. However, I knew I had to take the leap or I would forever see myself as a sissy failure, a scaredy-cat unable to put his stuff out into the world for a shake and bake session with the big boys."

"It’s COMMUNICATION MOBILITY. People love walking around engaged. They do NOT, I repeat do NOT love the phone. ...COMMUNICATION MOBILITY could take place with a cardboard box and people would love the cardboard."

"The pivotal element is TIME POVERTY."

"Reducing the consumption flow by rich people taking all the money is fun (if you’re rich) … at least for a while. ...In ten years, a new consumer class must emerge to continue to the devouring trend of consumption. IF NOT, the top falls from its own weight. The top dogs of global economic market cannot munch their way through product consumption to keep the show going. The result … CRASH!"

"I don’t like jumping in the ocean and pretending to be a fish. I don’t surf and I don’t enjoy swimming. ...I don’t enjoy fishing either. I must come from a line of beasts that lived on the beach but not in the ocean."

"The sequel would catapult me into the New York Times #1 book for 18 months straight. I would not allow my stardom to affect my Zen-Monk demeanor. I would retire into my mansion, become a Zen-Monk master and own three Jeeps."

"The ocean is an intoxicant or more like WD40. It greases the rusty parts of the mind and body and gets them moving like a precision machine."

"I learned how to work on automatic pilot over the years. It takes a lot of practice to keep a wife calm. I’ve actually become a wife-whisperer during my 32 years of marriage."

"I like to commemorate my trips with a localized t-shirt. I re-live my trips throughout the year, saying to myself that I am not trapped in a dungeon of incessant work because I go on vacations and have t-shirts to prove it."

"Luck is for the poor. For the rich, money flows to its natural source. ...You know, it’s true what they say. Life is a beach!"

"Today is my last full day at the ocean. ...Perfection is not only for the rich, the supremely talented, the powerful. It is also available to me."

"My wife says that I should be working for retirement instead of pursuing my sizzled dream of writing. I told her she was right. I should be working instead of goofing off. But, I’m a man. What does she expect?"

"All my inner beings become streams of brightly lucent colors. I touch each strand and each thread makes a unique tone."

"Aesthetics is merely an undiscovered force, expressed by a yet un-devised mathematical equation."

"Meditation takes chaos and begins magically morphing it into nothing."

"A battle line occurs at these critical points in time. The heaven born leader must fight the onslaught with vigor and courage. Yet, no person alone can avenge a malevolent enemy. A grain of sand cannot consider itself a beachfront nor can a single drop of rain claim to be a raging river. However, when all the forces combine in harmony, then rocks crumble into dust, the earth shakes, and mountains move."

"Summerset’s fine culture was the topping on the cake for his delicately assembled self-esteem. Culture was one of the top ranking rest and relaxation pastimes for the citizens of Summerset. The Summerset Art Gallery, the... Theater Group, ...Museum of Fine Art, and its annual Summerset Independent Film Festival were the heartbeat of the township. It was a joy to live in Summerset’s cultural coated lining of contemporary living. It made one feel a cut above the rest of the mundane world."