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inspired by all this thinking about clothes and shame, i made a collage, simply called "losing the voice." it is in reference to the fact that we have lost the voice of God telling us how beautiful we are.

its actually amazing that i had any energy left to make this collage, because i spent all day (and by all i mean every possible second) raking leaves. i love trees, i really do. and we live in a place surrounded by trees, which i enjoy about 364 days a year. but on the day that i have to rake them, o my gosh it sucks. i am so sore it hurts to type. it literally hurts in my arms and legs and my torso when i type. blinking isn't any more comfortable.

i love drama.

so, this blog thing is finally working out for me. i have had several family members and old friends stopping by and making comments. i am glad for the company. come back often!

it looks like i started something in my last post: toilet or commode? which is it? for me, i say toilet probably most of the time, but i prefer commode. the word commode is seriously underrated. we should use it more, as in, "i am going to go to the commode now." which i would do, except i am ridiculously sore, and going to the bathroom, which requires moving, hurts more than i can imagine. we should also learn to say "commode paper" instead of toilet paper. just a thought.

actually, that leads me to an interesting point. i would like to know if anyone is like me in this way: i have always chosen to like certain things because they are underrated. for example, it would truly be in character for me to start using the word commode because i felt like it wasn't getting fairly used, what with so many of us saying toilet all the time. this is how i chose my favorite color: orange. back in high school i felt like orange was a sadly underrated color, and didn't get its fair share of airtime. so i picked it. i remember being a little boy and purposely doing things with my left hand, like eating or writing or playing with toys, because it wasn't fair that the right hand got to do all these things. is that completely strange or does anyone have any similar experiences?

alright, now that i've been vulnerable and shared my deepest secrets with you, as well as typed myself into even further soreness, i am off to sit in silence and stair at the wall, trying to erase the image of millions of leaves engulfing me in an autumnal attack.

i say autumn, its not used as much as fall.

greg.


Comments

Anonymous said…
I am soo with you on the wierdness...but this is nothing new since you and I have always shared in these bits of strangeness(ie...smelling, sheets...) I remember i used to feel bad that i didn't chew my food as much on my left side so then i got in the habit of keeping track of the chew time that my teeth put in. also...my left calf i swear is more defined than my right (as defined as my calves can be) and it really really bugs me. i feel all out of whack. we need to start a support group. my name is Mary Milinovich...


sidenote
Milinovich rocks as a last name. why? because no one else has it. there is another example for ya brother. we are underdogs...therefore...we are awesome.

no offense to you non-milinoviches out there. your cool too...
monica said…
wow, that was a blast from the past. hey its me monica, used to be hunter, now its klepac (talk about your underused last names!) i knew your thinking behind loving orange, and its definitely gained popularity since high school, so can we say you are a trend setter? or does that mean its time to pick out another color to love?
thanks so much for the comment, Greg. i will add you to my growing blog reading. maybe i can piece together the past how many?? 12 or so years. yikes, we're old.
greg milinovich said…
mary - i have to agree that milinovich is a very cool last name for someone who likes underdogs. smith would be a little harder for me to deal with. however, as one who has some interest in naming children, there aren't a great deal of names that sound good with milinovich. i am a big fan of british-sounding first names, and they just don't work with milinovich. so i am looking at croation first names this time. Boran, for example.

monica - so good to connect with you! interesting what you said about changing my favorite color...i actually tried that once when i graduated college, but it just didn't work. i realized that i had a connection with orange that was too deep to just change. it is woven into my soul. i mean that. at a job interview for my last church they asked me to describe myself in one word (hardly a fair question!), and i said, "orange." and then i went on to defend why orange is a good description of me. so, when i say that orange and i are tight, its not just lipservice.

and, yes, we are very old. but you are older.

greg.
Anonymous said…
Nice collages Greg. I am glad you are making them a regular part of your life.

This is monicas husband...

Joel
Crafty P said…
are you going to try and bring back the hi-five next? is that also under-rated (that is not a hyphenated word but I'm having trouble spelling today).

how about the WC instead of commode. that's rather british and I do love all things british. have you ever seen kipper? we love him. and wallace and gromit? we love them.

I caught myself picking up a book the other day- in front of someone- and smelling it. that's something i do that is weird.

i love the name milinovich and I believe i was made an honorary member once upon a time.

so good to see family commenting over here. i'm feeling the love. i need to teach my mom how to comment, she's with you mrs. m.- would have no idea if she's a blogger, other or anonymous!

ps. great collage, greg. what number is that? don't you number them or something?
greg milinovich said…
hi joel! good to have you here. i know you are quite the artist, so thank you for your kind words. i do enjoy collaging - it is cathartic and therapeutic for me. please stop by often as i will continue to post more.
greg.
greg milinovich said…
christina -

the high five is absolutely not underrated. while it exists it is overrated. i think you know my position on this!

the wc, or watercloset, is a good choice, also. its just that it takes 4 syllables to say, and i'm all about syllable conservation. i'm very green these days, you know. i think all these extra syllables are putting holes in the ozone layer and causing the sun to melt the polar ice caps and all that will be left for our children is an ocean. so, i choose commode.

i believe you were made an honorary milinovich. at my grandmother's funeral a few weeks ago, we talked about what it means to be a milinovich, and at least part of it has to do with a kind of spirit which i am sure you do possess. so, welcome to the family.

i don't actually number my collages, and i'm really not sure how many i've made, because i have some but there are others that i have made and given away. so i don't know. but i know i've made plenty and will continue to paste and glue and cut and create and juxtapose and pour my soul out.

greg.
Anonymous said…
In Canada they say "washroom"

Christina was made an honorary member of the Milinovich clan a couple years ago...either at your wedding Greg or steve and Karas when she was randomly but beautifully present.
Anonymous said…
i hate semicolons. ever since the 8th grade when mrs. datolli tried to teach me how to use one and failed miserably. recently though my lit prof told me that semicolons are underrated and i should consider using them sometimes. (apparently i can't use a comma so i told her i love ee cummings and he doesn't use punctuation therefore i shouldn't have to... so stubborn) anyway, ever since i have been looking for places to use my new friend the underrated punctuation mark the semicolon.
ps my word wizard friend... did you know there are 13 marks of punctuation in the english language? i can name them all because i'm a nerd... can you do it without looking at your keyboard?
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