the unlikely orange

that gravelly voice    will not sing the safe songs    or even the expected ones. he sings of trains,    of a relentless movement towards justice,    of the clickety-clack of history towards something worth hoping for. he sings of love, of course,    but not as an emotion to be exploited,    but as a force to be reckoned with. he sings of new jersey, of course,   but also of youngstown and johnstown,    of steel mills and nebraska and the michigan line. he sings of the outlaws, the outsiders,    the unwelcome, the unaccepted,    and the untouchables. he sings of having a good time, and can dance with the best of them in his own way,    but only when everyone is invited to the party,    including those with dirty fingernails and rolled-up sleeves. he holds a guitar in one hand,    having learned to make it sing, and a pen in the other,...

well, school is out over here at the milinovich house.  which means a variety of things, such as: -jackson waking up at 6 and being bored by 6:45, -triple the mess, triple the chaos, triple the whine, -triple the joy, triple the fun, triple the memory-making, and - the summer bucket list. each year we come up with a summer bucket list of things we'd like to accomplish and achieve during the summer vacation, and our awesome graphic designer mom/wife designs it into something really attractive.  then we put it behind glass, and when we accomplish something, we cross it off with a dry erase marker. this year we are aiming for a rich and memory-laden summer, complete with a root-beer tasting contest, learning etiquette, going to yankee stadium (already done!), drive-in movie, vacation in the poconos, star-gazing, swim lessons, a science experiment, and much more.  it's going to be a blast (pun intended)!

we were so blessed this weekend to be given an opportunity to go to yankee stadium to see the yankees take on the minnesota twins.  that itself is enough of a gift given to our family, but it was even better than that!  first of all, we were able to head out to clinton, nj on friday, to see some friends, walk downtown where we used to live, and drive by the house we lived in for four years.  then we had a wonderful dinner and friday evening with several dear friends, and had a great time catching up. once saturday morning arrived, we were able to ride to yankee stadium in style !  we were picked up in a limousine, the very first ride i have ever had in such a vehicle.  the boys thought they were celebrities, and were living it up!  in the picture below you can (sort of) see some of us in the limo, as we are going across the gw bridge out of the city. the yankee game itself was amazing.  we had such a gorgeous day (other than the strange bl...

 talk about a throwback thursday. on this day, may 29th, exactly 20 years ago, i received a diploma from jessamine county high school at the memorial coliseum on the campus of the university of kentucky. twenty.  years.  ago. i guess that is supposed to make me feel old, and i guess in one sense it does, but the more powerful sensation is one of utter disbelief that it has been twenty years since that day.  of course, the camera holds no such surprise.  i look twenty years younger in these pictures.  and about 40 years skinnier.  but my existential reality allows for some wiggle room when it comes to self-image.  so, in my mind, even though my appearance has changed - i've grown some grayer hairs and some deeper lines in those years - my self is still my self.  i have learned some things and lost some things along the way, but it feels more like five to ten years ago than twenty.  i have lived in 4 different states during that...

okay.  so here's the problem.  the longer i go without posting something worth writing and reading on this blog, the harder it gets to post at all.  i think its been nearly two weeks since i wrote, and when that happens, i feel more and more pressure (from myself) to write something that validates the lack of posts. but i got nothing. so, in an effort to just grit my teeth and forge ahead today, i am singularly rejecting the idea that all my absenteeism requires some epic post to compensate.  instead, i will simply jot down a few things rattling around in my head this morning. the other night at dinner quin told us that he likes to eat yodels at a wash-a-not.  and that he likes flushies and hot gogs from target.  (yodels = noodles; wash-a-not = restaurant; flushies = slushies).  he also calls that orange circle through which you toss a ball to earn two points by the following name: basketball poop.   i've been on a huge bruce springste...

bruce springsteen has been around awhile.  i mean, he's nearly 65 years old, after all.  he's been doing this thing for close to 50 years now, starting in small clubs along the jersey shore, and going to a point  where he could sell it out the same arena multiple nights in a row.  he is, among other things, a professional entertainer, and he does it well. i got Shannon tickets to see bruce for mother's day (as a surprise.  if you didn't see the video, you can watch it at the bottom of this post), but it was one of those presents that was as much for me as it was for her.  truthfully, she appreciated him before i ever did, but now i have become a big fan.  still, when i saw that he was going to be in hershey, pa, i didn't know when this chance might come again.  so i scooped up a couple of tickets, and got ready.  that was in mid-february.  i had three months to wait and sit on that secret. finally, shannon saw the video, and th...

i did something i swore i would never do. i watched "the blindside" starring sandra bullock and tim mcgraw.  i get a little nauseous just typing it. you see, it is the story of one michael oher, and his amazing tale of rising to being drafted by an nfl team and playing professional football.  it would be a perfectly awesome story and  movie if he wasn't drafted by the purple browns of baltimore, but he was, and so i had sworn that i would never watch such a piece of filth. but i did. and i'm glad i did. what an amazing story.  i mean, michael's story is certainly inspirational, going from the projects to the pros, but i was far more moved by the story of leigh ann tuohy and her family, and their compassion, generosity, and extraordinary love.  the film is 5 years old now, so i'm not worried about giving anything away at this point.  SPOILER ALERT.  the kid is from a rough background, finds himself somehow (by the grace of God?) going to a ...