a good friend from high school who blogs with his wife tagged me here to list 10 things about myself that you might not know. i found this exercise to be extremely difficult because, as a pastor, my life is so often lived in public ways, but i did my best. so here goes:
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1. okay, i'm kind of nervous about how this list is going to go, so let's start off gently: i have two webbed toes. the 2nd and 3rd toes on my left foot are connected by a flap of skin like you would see on a frog or a flipper. it goes about 3/4 of the way up the toe. you would think it might help me swim faster, but it only helps me swim in circles (since i don't have one on the other foot!).
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2. i love words. okay, you probably know that, but you might not know the full extent. for example, when i watch a dvd at home, i almost always watch it with the subtitles turned on so that i can simultaneously read the dialogue and watch the movie. this is not because i want to imagine i'm watching a foreign film; it is because i shudder at the idea of even missing one word of the script. to me every little word is critical to the story. i know, i'm weird. don't worry, it gets worse....
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3. other than when a urinal is available, i always pee sitting down. i didn't realize that this was unusual until college, when i found out that this makes me 'feminine' or other adjectives that i won't use. i had no idea! nonetheless, these mockeries have not deterred me from my commitment to seated urination. basically, without being too graphic, it comes down to this: it is a heck of a lot cleaner this way. which leads me to my next point...
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4. i am a very neat person. i hate messes and disorganization. but i am not, in any way, shape or form, a clean person. there is a substantial difference. i could write at great length about this, and maybe someday, for kicks and grins, i will, but here is the best way i can say it: if someone famous was coming to my house, like the president or derek jeter or Jesus, i would organize things (in western pa we call it 'redding up'). in other words, i would put everything where it goes. things would be organized and decorated nicely. i would pick up any noticable junk on the floor, but i probably would not vacuum and i most certainly would not dust. even if it was jesus. this applies to washing my sheets (as you may remember from a former post) and other areas of my life as well. cleanliness, in my mind, is absolutely not next to Godliness. it is way, WAY down the list.
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5. i cry at movies. most of the time. if there is an even slightly emotional scene with building music and either profound sorrow or joy, you can bet that i am crying. i probably cry in 80% of the movies i watch.
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6. i have always had a dream of owning a radio station. this dream manifests itself in different ways, but it basically comes down to the fact that one of my passions has always been sharing music with people. and i would love to do that in a format that allowed me to mix various kinds and styles and genres of music for people who might normally only expose themselves to one or two kinds. since i was a little kid i have been 'playing radio.' even now on road trips, i will be the dj in the car, setting up a playlist that seems appropriate for the trip, sometimes even adding in a little dj 'filler' between songs like this: (in a super sweet deep dj voice) that was patty griffin singing "mary," from the album "flaming red." let's switch gears a bit now and put on our hippest tight clothes, because here comes bright eyes with "landlocked blues..."
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7. i am obsessive about a few things, like saving the best for last. i compulsively find myself saving my favorite for last in any given situation. recently i got some jelly beans. i was eating them while reading a book. i could not simply reach my hand into the jelly bean bowl while reading and pull up a few beans of jelly deliciousness. no no no. i had to look away from the book, look down into the bowl and make sure i was only getting ones of certain hues. i had to eat all the whites first. then greens. then yellows. then reds. then pinks. if i forgot a white and saw it while i was eating the yellows, this would be very disappointing to me and cause me no little stress. listen, i don't try to be this way - it just happens. i do the same thing with lucky charms and other cereals. and my dinner. and just about everything else.
...
8. now i hesitate about sharing this one, based on what i already said in number 3, but i have often wished that i was a girl. now, don't get me wrong, i am very comfortable in my masculinity and i like grunting and scratching as much as the next guy. but i also think make-up is cool. i mean, painting your face? how awesome is that? guys do it at sporting events! but girls get to do it every day! and paint their nails! (not to mention sitting down to pee without getting ridiculed for it). and purses. man, the gods have smiled on girls. i mean, everything they could possibly need they get to carry around in a bag with them and this is perfectly socially acceptable. guys get to shove everything they could possibly need into a wallet which they then must sit on. and since a fanny pack is just not an option for me, i am reduced to having a wallet roughly the thickness of a metropolitan phone book under my right butt cheek. plus, its ok for girls to cry at movies. wow. i'm beginning to think i've got alot to talk to my therapist about here...
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9. i once had a car-fire on the pennsylvana turnpike. driving from my parents house to my fiancee's house the day or so after christmas, my car caught fire. i pulled over and, with the help of a good samaritan truck driver, tried to extinguish it, but to no avail. then i had to get away from the car in case the flames hit the fuel line (ka-boom) and watch all of my christmas presents (that i had just received and that i was about to give to shannon) and all my clothes and all my music and all my journal go up in flames. the only thing i was able to pull out was the guitar i had with me which belonged to the church. i couldn't let that burn.
...
10. and finally, some of you might know this but many of you do not: i am an introvert. big time. being a pastor and all and working with so many people, folks just assume that i love all of that. and while i do get deep satisfaction out of helping people and ministering to them, i get very tired of it very quickly. i need my alone time. big time. those who are close to me know this very well. if i don't get some space or time to myself i become very unbearably grumpy and miserable to be around.
...
so there you go, 10 things you might not have known about gregory andrew milinovich. hope you laughed a little and that you will still be my friend.
slightly embarassed,
greg.
...
1. okay, i'm kind of nervous about how this list is going to go, so let's start off gently: i have two webbed toes. the 2nd and 3rd toes on my left foot are connected by a flap of skin like you would see on a frog or a flipper. it goes about 3/4 of the way up the toe. you would think it might help me swim faster, but it only helps me swim in circles (since i don't have one on the other foot!).
...
2. i love words. okay, you probably know that, but you might not know the full extent. for example, when i watch a dvd at home, i almost always watch it with the subtitles turned on so that i can simultaneously read the dialogue and watch the movie. this is not because i want to imagine i'm watching a foreign film; it is because i shudder at the idea of even missing one word of the script. to me every little word is critical to the story. i know, i'm weird. don't worry, it gets worse....
...
3. other than when a urinal is available, i always pee sitting down. i didn't realize that this was unusual until college, when i found out that this makes me 'feminine' or other adjectives that i won't use. i had no idea! nonetheless, these mockeries have not deterred me from my commitment to seated urination. basically, without being too graphic, it comes down to this: it is a heck of a lot cleaner this way. which leads me to my next point...
...
4. i am a very neat person. i hate messes and disorganization. but i am not, in any way, shape or form, a clean person. there is a substantial difference. i could write at great length about this, and maybe someday, for kicks and grins, i will, but here is the best way i can say it: if someone famous was coming to my house, like the president or derek jeter or Jesus, i would organize things (in western pa we call it 'redding up'). in other words, i would put everything where it goes. things would be organized and decorated nicely. i would pick up any noticable junk on the floor, but i probably would not vacuum and i most certainly would not dust. even if it was jesus. this applies to washing my sheets (as you may remember from a former post) and other areas of my life as well. cleanliness, in my mind, is absolutely not next to Godliness. it is way, WAY down the list.
...
5. i cry at movies. most of the time. if there is an even slightly emotional scene with building music and either profound sorrow or joy, you can bet that i am crying. i probably cry in 80% of the movies i watch.
...
6. i have always had a dream of owning a radio station. this dream manifests itself in different ways, but it basically comes down to the fact that one of my passions has always been sharing music with people. and i would love to do that in a format that allowed me to mix various kinds and styles and genres of music for people who might normally only expose themselves to one or two kinds. since i was a little kid i have been 'playing radio.' even now on road trips, i will be the dj in the car, setting up a playlist that seems appropriate for the trip, sometimes even adding in a little dj 'filler' between songs like this: (in a super sweet deep dj voice) that was patty griffin singing "mary," from the album "flaming red." let's switch gears a bit now and put on our hippest tight clothes, because here comes bright eyes with "landlocked blues..."
...
7. i am obsessive about a few things, like saving the best for last. i compulsively find myself saving my favorite for last in any given situation. recently i got some jelly beans. i was eating them while reading a book. i could not simply reach my hand into the jelly bean bowl while reading and pull up a few beans of jelly deliciousness. no no no. i had to look away from the book, look down into the bowl and make sure i was only getting ones of certain hues. i had to eat all the whites first. then greens. then yellows. then reds. then pinks. if i forgot a white and saw it while i was eating the yellows, this would be very disappointing to me and cause me no little stress. listen, i don't try to be this way - it just happens. i do the same thing with lucky charms and other cereals. and my dinner. and just about everything else.
...
8. now i hesitate about sharing this one, based on what i already said in number 3, but i have often wished that i was a girl. now, don't get me wrong, i am very comfortable in my masculinity and i like grunting and scratching as much as the next guy. but i also think make-up is cool. i mean, painting your face? how awesome is that? guys do it at sporting events! but girls get to do it every day! and paint their nails! (not to mention sitting down to pee without getting ridiculed for it). and purses. man, the gods have smiled on girls. i mean, everything they could possibly need they get to carry around in a bag with them and this is perfectly socially acceptable. guys get to shove everything they could possibly need into a wallet which they then must sit on. and since a fanny pack is just not an option for me, i am reduced to having a wallet roughly the thickness of a metropolitan phone book under my right butt cheek. plus, its ok for girls to cry at movies. wow. i'm beginning to think i've got alot to talk to my therapist about here...
...
9. i once had a car-fire on the pennsylvana turnpike. driving from my parents house to my fiancee's house the day or so after christmas, my car caught fire. i pulled over and, with the help of a good samaritan truck driver, tried to extinguish it, but to no avail. then i had to get away from the car in case the flames hit the fuel line (ka-boom) and watch all of my christmas presents (that i had just received and that i was about to give to shannon) and all my clothes and all my music and all my journal go up in flames. the only thing i was able to pull out was the guitar i had with me which belonged to the church. i couldn't let that burn.
...
10. and finally, some of you might know this but many of you do not: i am an introvert. big time. being a pastor and all and working with so many people, folks just assume that i love all of that. and while i do get deep satisfaction out of helping people and ministering to them, i get very tired of it very quickly. i need my alone time. big time. those who are close to me know this very well. if i don't get some space or time to myself i become very unbearably grumpy and miserable to be around.
...
so there you go, 10 things you might not have known about gregory andrew milinovich. hope you laughed a little and that you will still be my friend.
slightly embarassed,
greg.
Comments
Do not be ashamed. I live in a houseful of men that go to the bathroom sitting down! (do you feel more normal?) I have never had an argument with a single man in my house about "putting the lid down"!
I did not know about your subtitle addiction. God Bless, Shannon.
I have the same cleaning philosophy.
that was a lovely transparent post. thanks for sharing all that. I had a good chuckle and I am still your friend (it's been to long to give up on you now!)
...actually i can think of a few more things to add to your list but maybe not today...we are on good terms after all :)