the unlikely orange

"final" mixed media collage on book board gregory a. milinovich (buy it here) beginning and end, you said. i am. first page, last day. commencement, final. finally, unadulterated love. uncomprimised beauty. abundant life. as in the beginning, as in the always right now, love is in the end. final.

jazz this morning with the family, served alongside cereal and oatmeal. a little count basie with the mills brothers: the board of directors. good stuff. hope you're enjoying your tuesday, and remembering to start each day off right.

perhaps you've seen it at the end of the news broadcast: "follow us on twitter." or maybe you've seen it right here on the margin in this blog, or on someone else's. chances are that you've at least heard of twitter, as it has seemingly invaded not just social networking, but pop culture in general, having grown 700% in the last year, ballooning to over 10 million users in just 3 years. it is certainly a phenomenon, even if you don't know what it is! what it is, actually, is a vehicle for what is called "social networking," which is a fancy way of saying making/keeping relationships without the traditional geographic borders. if you know what facebook is, then twitter can be easily described as a place dedicated solely to status updates, with the main restriction being that they must be 140 characters or less. a quick perusal of twitter and many peoples "tweets" (updates) shows a tendency towards the inane, superfluous, and even narciss...

here are some pictures from both of cade's birthday parties. shannon made a different elmo cake for each celebration. the first one involved the elmo coconut face cake, a couple of weeks ago. the second one involved this little elmo on top of the yellow lemon cake. we went with yellow since that is one of the few words that cade can say. actually, it sounds more like oouulll-oo. still, it's worth celebrating.

dear caedmon, today you turn two. you've had two whole years to crawl around this little corner of the world, touching and tasting everything to experience it. i hope you would say its been a good two years. it certainly has been a busy two years. you went from baby food to big boy food; from crawling to walking (to running - everywhere); from onesies to sweater vests (well, at least on easter). my point is that you've had a crazy two years, but at least in my opinion, they've been awesome. i am so glad we've spent these two years together. don't get me wrong, i could have done without some of the late night shananigans, the constant pooping, and the long string of ear infections. i would have enjoyed it more if you could have sat quietly and read a novel or something when the steelers were playing. but despite those minor issues, i have-as ridiculous as it sounds -fallen even more in love with you over these two years. you, with your impossible blue eye...

i have recently discovered that my two sons have alter egos. that's right, i am living with the toddler equivalents of bruce wayne and peter parker. i have secretely recorded this video to prove it. in all seriousness, you'll likely get a laugh out of this one. enjoy it. and have a great weekend, safe and secure in your comfy homes, knowing that crime doesn't stand a chance as long as these two are on the scene.

so good, baby. swingin' in germany in 1960. this album was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame for basically being that awesome. instant oatmeal has never been so enjoyable!

Dear earth, i understand that it is earth day today, which jack tells me rhymes with birthday. this is significant i guess, at least to a 4-year old. i know it isn’t your birthday (is it?), but i thought i would write you a note today, on this your special day. maybe it’s a bit odd for me to write to you, you not being able to really receive letters and all, but maybe in a way this is something like prayer: more for me than for you. in any case, i find that i’m usually just using you for a place to stand, or something to hold me up against the relentless weight of the universe pressing down on me. come to think of it, you’re a pretty important part of my life, and i don’t often stop to say thank you. so, thank you. thank you for holding me up. thank you for how your soil is always so perfectly cool just under the surface, even when the sun is scorching hot. thank you for blackberries, and how they stain my fingers. thank you for spinning your way around the sun, keeping us clo...

jazz for breakfast this morning: count basie's 1957 e=mc2, a swingin' atomic masterpiece. breakfast just keeps getting better.

don't know if you'll be anywhere near northwest new jersey on may 16th, but if you are, i'd love to see you at our little show at the friendly grounds coffeehouse in flemington. it should be fun. can't give away the setlist right now (still a work-in-progress), but i can tell you we'll be doing covers from a variety of eras, from james taylor to death cab for cutie. so clear out your calendar, tivo whatever is on that night, and join us for a latte and a fun night of music. hope to see you there!

hey, you'd never guess who showed up at our house this weekend...spring! yep, she just arrived without much warning, but we welcomed her with open arms. in fact, on saturday, since we had a rare free day, we went down towards trenton to the new jersey grounds for sculpture. it is a really beautiful place with some truly fascinating art along with amazingly landscaped grounds. it would be even more gorgeous when everything is in full bloom. still, we enjoyed the springiness of the day, as evidenced by the pictures below. i hope spring came to visit you, too.

today was absolutlely perfect here in new jersey, so the boys celebrated it by rolling down the hill. i stood at the bottom and taped it, so that you could watch it and laugh at them. well, to be more precise, i taped it so that we could all laugh at them 20 years from now, but i thought i'd share it with you now. enjoy!

there is no question that at least one radiohead album belongs on my list of top 15 albums, but the problem is, which one? i absolutely had a very difficult time deciding between ok computer , kid a and amnesiac . i honestly could have pulled one out of a hat and just went with it, but i decided on ok computer as my number 13 album, simply on the basis that it was the first radiohead album that i listened to. and that moment is actually the moment that i fell in love. from the very first time the blips and beeps and disjointed rhythms found their way into my ear canals, i got it. i understood. i found i could relate to thom yorke's droning whine. i found i could relate to the sense of dissatisfaction. i don't know if it is a generational thing, or a cultural thing, or just a human thing, but i find that there's a part of me that is very much at home in the soundscape that radiohead creates, particularly on ok computer, kid a , and amnesiac . it's angry, but not in a...

happy tax day!

here are some pics from our easter day. i know that there is a grandma out there somewhere who was waiting for these...

i hope you all had a truly blessed and meaningful easter, full of the hope of resurrection in the midst of our broken lives. we truly have reason to rejoice - our God not only defeated death, but also returned to us with unconditional love and forgiveness. thanks be to God.

"brokenly" mixed media collage on found book cover gregory a. milinovich broken. the word of the day, as far as i can tell. broken like the surface of the skin, pierced by pounding fear-turned-to-hate. broken like bread. broken like a torn tunic, or a curtain ripped down the middle with the stark sound of threads splitting. broken like glass - shattered - into a million unfixable pieces. broken. i know about brokenness. i live it everyday. when i wake up my knee hurts and my back aches: my body is broken, not the way it was meant to be. when i choose to read the day's sports news rather than pay attention to my wife, or when i yell at my kids for something petty: my relationships are broken, not the way they were meant to be. when i choose my own gratification over the needs of another, when i neglect my own need to be full of love for God and others: my spirit is broken, not the way it was meant to be. i am not the way i was meant to be. i am broken. but tod...

well, since it is holy week, and i've been incredibly mad busy, i thought i would share with you this little picture that jack drew. in the spirit of keeping things holy, he made this little guy and told us that it is a christian seal. a large lard-filled animal hauling a host of crosses on his back. welcome to the brain of a preacher's kid. +++ have a great maundy thursday, remembering that great commandment that we are to love one another as Jesus loved us. quite a calling.

well, i've been debating about whether or not i should blog about this, but i couldn't resist sharing something that happened the other night, so i might as well share the whole thing. here goes... i don't normally give up things for lent, because i hate the disappointment when i fail. it is a defense mechanism that i learned at perfectionists anonymous (pa). the p.a. system (get it?) is to not make any commitments so that you won't be disappointed when you inevitably fail. i know, its stupid. i'm working on it. but i seriously haven't given anything up for lent for a long time. but this year i recognized that one of my 'addictions' was eating at night time. this might not seem like that big of a problem, but it really is for me. upon further reflection i realized that my night-eating habit is deeply ingrained in me. when i was a little kid, i always got a night time snack. when i got older, the snacks got bigger. when i moved out on my own th...

i feel like an isrealite on the verge of the promised land, in a completely inane sports kind of way. since the beginning of february i've been wondering in the wasteland of the sports world. fortunately i've had alot of leftover adrenaline from the superbowl to help me through these dark days, but its been rough, even with the "we're the champions of the world" thing. but finally we are on the verge. as i write this we are about 7 minutes from the first pitch of the 2009 baseball season. as you read this, it will have already begun. baseball. for me right now, its the promised land. now, i know that its been a rough year for baseball. steroids and stuff. alot of black eyes on the sport, no doubt. but as i look at the picture above, i am reminded that, despite all of the other stuff, baseball is still baseball. it is still a team of men hitting and throwing a ball around. it is still fun to watch and to keep track of. it is still best accompanied by...

Mark 11:1-2 (emphasis mine) "1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden . Untie it and bring it here." -- has that line ever caught your attention before? Jesus is about to enter the big city, with all its bright lights and night life. we've heard this a hundred times. we know about the palm branches and the donkey (mark says colt - difference?). but have we ever really paid attention that Jesus is riding through the crazy commotion on an animal that's never been ridden? i mean, i'm not an expert here by any means, but aren't animals who have never been ridden kind of proud of that fact? aren't they a bit rambunctious about keeping it that way? and i mean, there are people everywhere - little kids all up in the donkey's face, wa...

today's jazz for breakfast? "jazz at oberlin" by the dave brubeck quartet. excellent stuff.

just stumbled across this pic where i look like i want to be a NBA star, circa 1974. i'm not sure when this pic was taken, but it wasn't very long ago. maybe right around the time of my sister julie's wedding (she's the good looking one on the left)? not sure. i was too busy ballin'. or maybe arranging centerpieces for the reception. but either way, no - i repeat NO - sweat got in my eyes.

number 12 on my list of my top 15 albums is patty griffin's 1996 album "living with ghosts ." this is another one of those albums that i heard in college and that has stayed with me ever since. from the very first track, what with its stark vulnerability (just a girl and her acoustic guitar), almost insanity, and passionate vocal, i was hooked. this was patty griffin's debut album and i own every album she has put out since because i cannot seem to get enough of her stories/lyrics/poems/voice. she can belt it, baby. she's got pipes that can mourn, that can soar, that can soul, that can arouse, that can soothe. she's never quite returned to the simplicity of this first album, opting instead for more produced albums with broader instrumentation, but the simple fury of the lone acoustic guitar suits her just fine. check out the song "every little bit" below. enjoy!