the unlikely orange

the other day i wrote about my secret affinity for the music of taylor swift.  and i don't back down from that now.  but i have a wide variety of musical interests and tastes, and today i want to write about music that is at the complete other end of the musical spectrum from swift, at least from the production point of view.  whereas taylor swift represents the full power of the american music machine, pumping out pop hits at record pace, garrels has a different approach.  having mostly harnessed the power of affordable technology to make some pretty beautiful music on the power of his unique voice and songwriting talents only in the comforts of his bedroom, he and his production team (his wife) took a different approach wherein they asked for some support up front from fans and patrons, and then made something beautiful using the accumulated resources.  this isn't exactly a revolutionary approach to art (think art patrons back in the renaissance), but it is a different a

today is our cade's 6th birthday!  (by the way, for those who aren't sure how to spell cade's name, it's like this:  long form = caedmon, short form = cade.  deal with it.) he asked for a star wars-themed birthday, so rather than go out and try and find star wars decorations and spend stupid amounts of money on it, we decided to use the plethora of star wars-related objects we have around the house, including vintage figurines, dvds, records, collectible cards, pez dispensers, legos, games, books, and more!  i bought some plain balloons and decorated them myself, and it all turned out pretty cool! shannon, creative and talented as ever, made him some star wars cookies for his class at school.  since we didn't have any star wars cookie cutters, she improvised, using a heart with wings for a yoda head, a christmas bell for boba fett, and pumpkin turned sideways for chewbacca!  how ingenious is that?!?  we were all impressed with how they turned out.  i thi

okay....i'm going to publically admit it.  are you ready?  i'm a "swifty."  there, i said it.  and i feel better already.  it all started innocently enough.  in december, shannon had mentioned that she thought she might like taylor swift's newest cd, red .  and so, in true milinovich style, i couldn't just buy her one cd, i felt compelled to buy her the entire taylor swift discography, that is, all four of her albums.  needless to say, she was grateful enough when she unwrapped them at christmas, but she also just shook her head at my predictable extremism.  well, she might call it extremism.  i call it commitment.  i've always been that way.  during casual backyard barbecue badminton games, i would be the one with grass stains all over the front of my clothes, and a bloody cheek, because i couldn't play casually.  i play all-out.  call it extreme. call it intense.  call it passionate.  call it sucking the marrow out of life.  i'll call it li

hello friends!  i have been going through my piles of collages (i've made some 300, i think), and i have decided to quit using etsy, and to start trying to sell my work on my own.  it's not that i think its that great, its just that i want to clear out some space so i can make some more!  with that in mind, i have drastically cut prices, in hopes that i can find some new homes for art.  if you see something you like, please email me or facebook message me, or leave a comment here.  or call me.  they have these things called phones.... anyway, you'll see the price below each of these 10 pieces.  keep coming back, because i have more to upload.  if i have to ship it to you, please be prepared to pay at least $5 shipping, and perhaps more if it is oversized, or if you buy several.  we'll sort that out once we are in contact with one another.  leave any other questions in the comments.  thank you! "the examined life" mixed media assemblage (found o

all of the following art is for sale (and much more!).  i have decided to close my etsy shop, and so, at least for now, i will simply be offering my art for sale here on my blog.  payment can be made through the mail by check only, or in person by check or cash.  if i have to mail it to you, i add on a flat $5 shipping fee.    here are some of what i am selling:  (if you buy more than one, you can take $5 off the total for each additional one you purchase).  you can contact me if you have questions about size or other details at gregorymilinovich at yahoo.      "lent 2012 - baptism of suffering" $15 - SOLD   "lent 2012 - the way of the cross" $15 - SOLD   "lent 2012 - the foolishness of God" $15   "lent 2012 - the dead are alive" $15   "lent 2012 - the broken are fixed" $15 - SOLD   "lent 2012 - the greatness of humility" $15   "lent 2012 - tears of joy&

here are some posters i designed using my iphone and an app called "phoster."  it uses your own pictures that you've taken, and you can add whatever text you want  warning: it's addictive.  i just want to make posters all day. 

cade is playing flag football this spring (and i use the term "spring" very loosely - it has felt more like late november in each of his games so far), and he is enjoying it very much.  it is mostly just an opportunity to start to learn the fundamentals and the rules of the game, and i think it is doing that for him, but other than that it mostly just running back and forth down the length of the field.  still, he really enjoys it, as you can see from his face in the picture below.  looks like i have we have a blond hines ward there with that grin on his face!     jackson is playing spring soccer this year, too, (pics to follow at some point) so our saturday mornings and sunday afternoons are now busy with us sitting in lawn chairs at sports fields.  well, shannon sits.  i mostly pace and try my best not to shout too much.  but i've gotta be honest: it's a struggle for me!  my natural tendency is to constantly bark out instruction.  i think i may take t