the unlikely orange

happy thanksgiving, everyone!  enjoy the day, and May gratitude become even more a part of the fabric of your life. oh, and LETS GO STEELERS!!!!!!

it's a weird week.  i mean, it is thanksgiving week, which means that all my week's work has to get done in 2.5 days, which is enough of a struggle as it is.  plus the packing, and the cooking (and by that i mean smelling shannon's cooking), and everything else that goes with this time of year, and its kind of a busy week.  but this year, this week is even more electrified, distracting, and intense than ever, because... IT'S RAVENS WEEK!!!!!! so, amidst the baking of big bulbous, stuffed birds, there are yet more birds to be plucked and cooked this week.  ugly black ones.  i've been over this many times before, and while most of you are rolling your eyes, feeling like you've read this post 12 times before, get over it, because it doesn't get old for me. at least not yet.  least of all this week, with turkey day nearly here, the ravens and the steelers colliding with exact records, a similar inability to run the ball, and an identical desper

okay, so i missed seeing a game last week.  but not this week, nuh-uh.  i watched every minute, thanks to dvr, and enjoyed every nanosecond of it.  it is amazing how much a season of losing will make appreciate the wins that much more.  it was glorious, and even though i was just sitting on my couch, i had very little voice left after the game.  i was that into it.  it was awesome.          antonio brown had a big game once again, and is having the best season of his young career, demonstrating that he is one of the brightest stars in the steelers universe.  the steelers felt like the enjoyed some early christmas presents from the browns, who were in the giving spirit, with a few turnovers.  the steelers were delighted to open those early presents.  and just in case the browns were thinking of taking anything back, having lost the spirit of generosity, cameron heyward put up the stop sign.  "oh no you don't!" ben was awesome.  again.  no turn

since i just wrote about nick drake the other day, and since i am still on a bit of a buzz from having the opportunity to visit his grave, i thought i would share a typically awesome nick drake song for today's saturday song.  here is "time of no reply," with its characteristic melancholy, and aching other-worldness.  Summer was gone and the heat died down And Autumn reached for her golden crown I looked behind as I heard a sigh But this was the time of no reply. The sun went down and the crowd went home I was left by the roadside all alone I turned to speak as they went by But this was the time of no reply. The time of no reply is calling me to stay There is no hello and no goodbye To leave there is no way. The trees on the hill had nothing to say They would keep their dreams till another day So they stood and thought and wondered why For this was the time of no reply. Time goes by from year to year And no one asks why I am standing here But I have my answer as I loo

the steelers hosted the detroit lions at heinz field on sunday afternoon, at least it was sunday afternoon in pittsburgh.  it was sunday evening in birmingham, england, where i was, in a hotel with a kind of sports bar in the lobby.  perfect, right?  no, not really.  unless i really wanted to watch futbol, rugby, or cricket, which were the sports displayed on all the numerous televisions throughout the bar.  there wasn't even an nfl score to be found!  so i relied on a very slow public wifi connection to try and stay connected.  we were so exhausted from the long day of touring (we had been across the country over in Epworth for most of the day), that we eventually gave up and went up to our room to collapse into bed.  i didn't even see the final score until i stumbled, pre-coffee, back down to the lobby and the free wifi the next morning.  so, for the first time in as long as i can remember, i didnt' get to watch a steelers game.  i often have obligations which cause

yesterday marked the one year anniversary of our dear max's death.  the day did not go unnoticed in our home; nor does any day, really, without him.  he is constantly missed.  when there is an abundance of crumbs on the floor under the table...when the night is too quiet without the sound of his regular and calming snore....when we get out the peanut butter...when we see any other dog, even on tv, we miss him terribly, and our hearts still ache with love for him.  by the way, in reference to yesterday's post, we adopted max with his name already handed to us.  however, longing for the right to name him ourselves, we extended it a bit to maximus drake milinovich.  the "drake" came from none other then nick drake, the musician who's grave i visited a few days ago in england.  so, along with yesterday's post about death and rising, may you rest in peace, maximus drake, and may you forever enjoy those bits of heaven that are like an endless jar of peanut b

as i write this, i am back stateside, trying to ward off the crushing jet lag that feels like weights heavier than jet engines attached to my eyelids.   we are home, safe and sound, and happy to see our children and get back to the routine, but sad that our overseas adventure is so soon over.  i could have easily spent another week there.  or fifty.    i wanted to update you about our final day there: a day of tombs, as it turned out.  i discovered, partly by accident, that the hotel where we stayed for most of our time in england was only about 20 minutes from a little town called tanworth-in-arden, a small british village without any particular claim to fame other than perhaps one small blip on the radar screen: nick drake.    now i have written about nick drake before here and here , so you really have no excuse to not know who he is.  but in case you do not, he is, to put it as plainly as i really can, the master and magician of melancholy.  nick died tragically at the yo

sorry i failed to write yesterday.  i was exhausted, and we hadn't really done much to warrant me writing.  yesterday was a bit of a free day, at least in terms of methodist significance.  we certainly had a good day of enjoying england, particularly a region known as the cotswalds, a region witha  particular geography and geology.  we went to several villages in the cotswalds, stopping for shopping and eating and just enjoying the sights.  shannon and i found a pub called the Kingsbridge Inn in a cute little town called bourton-on-the-water.  we had fish and chips, and bangers and mash, and some refreshment, while sitting next to a warm fire.  it was delightful.  today was far less casual, and much more interesting, at least from a methodist perspective.  we started early, driving east across the country to epworth, the childhood home of john and charles wesley (on the way we passed nottingham and sherwood forest!).  once we arrived in epworth, we began the day by worshipping wi

its been another full day here in beautiful england, if a bit emotionally exhausting.   we started with a bang.  well, bang ers , actually, which are sausages.  the hot breakfasts here consist of bacon (which is really what we might call fried ham), sausages, eggs, some kind of baked beans, mushrooms and hash brown potatoes.  i've been enjoying it thoroughly.  shannon has been opting for healthier choices like fruit and english muffins.  i say, when in britain... from the bangers we jumped in the coach (we were strictly warned not to call it a bus!), and headed for a small town called "great barr" outside of birmingham.  great barr was the home of one francis asbury, a man who wesley ordained and appointed to spread methodism in the new world (america).  asbury was very dedicated in this task, and his success matched his dedication, at least in retrospect.  when you picture the circuit rider on his horse, riding from state to state to spread the gospel, preaching severa

hello from thursday evening here in england.  we've had a full  and interesting day here today, but i have decided to save myself the frustration and not even try to upload pictures tonight.  just rest assured that we are taking plenty of photos, and at some later time, we will take advantage of better connections with the web to share some of those.  for now, you'll have to read.... we left birmingham this morning and headed down to bath, an amazing city in the southwest of england that has natural hot springs boiling up from underground.  the romans, having invaded britain under various emperors, including claudius (which made me think of my 11th grade latin class), took over the area as a kind of holiday city, building a temple there and all sorts of roman-esque structures around these hot springs, thinking that it was some sort of holy site.  well, amazingly, much of those ruins have been found, so there is this really cool museum there in which you can see so much of the

hello from jolly old england!     life is good on this side of the pond, and, while we still haven’t quite caught up from what amounted to a lost night of sleep on the plane, we are having a blast so far.     i didn’t have internet access last night, so this is the first chance i’m getting to catch up on what we’ve been up to since we left.   i am feeling a bit overwhelmed about the prospect of doing a complete catch up, but i’m going to do the best i can with the limited energy i have tonight!   our trip got off on a dubious foot when shannon went to put her suitcase in the car to head to the airport, and the whole handle broke off.   we quickly repacked, and hoped it wasn’t an omen of things to come.   it seems that it most certainly was not.     we drove to philly, arrived VERY early, got through security in a manner of moments, and had a great deal of time to read and relax.   after several hours, we finally boarded our plane, shannon with a window seat, and settled

well, that was a sight for sore eyes.  it was nice to see the defense show up in pittsburgh, after missing the flight to new england last week.  of course, the bills aren't the patriots, either.  but, still.  a win, as they say, is a win, and, unbelievably, the steelers are still in the mix of things in the afc north.  anything can happen.  and, as a fan, that's really all you can hope for.  next week will be a tougher test, and i'll be eagerly watching, from across the atlantic, to see what happens.  cheerio, steelers!

    "hold to hope" mixed media collage (acrylic paint, vintage papers, other papers) on stretched canvas october, 2013 gregory a. milinovich     i haven't been doing much in my art room recently.  it takes so much time just to do the work of being a husband/father/pastor, that i often feel i have very little time or energy left to give to the creation of my ridiculous juxtapositions.  so, every time i walk by my art room, and i find myself a bit sad, i remind myself that there will come a day when i will have more time for this.  for now, that expectation holds me.  however, recently a friend asked me to design something around a particular theme, and i found myself jumping at the opportunity to get down there and make something for a change!  it didn't turn out exactly as i had envisioned, but i'm still happy with it.  there's a bit of a glare in the picture above, but below you can see that the background is all scriptures that deal wi

that's right.  in the last 11 weeks i've lost 20 pounds!  i've also earned 4 new cd's in that time (since i give myself a cd everytime i lose 5 pounds!).  i've been eating better, cutting WAY down on my evening snacking, and burning more calories by working out regularly and doing some longer running.  i am so happy to be shedding some of these pounds, but i have further i'd like to go, and i hope i am becoming a more healthy person overall, in the process.  also, i want more music! 

  whatever. i'm done with that.  the patriots are still cheaters, and the steelers are still the greatest franchise ever.  and i will love them when they 0-16 as much as when they go 16-0.  so there.  put that in your hair product, tom brady. 

today's saturday song comes from sleeping at last, one of my favorite artists, and the name of the song is "masquerade," a halloween song.  i made a little video with some of our 2013 halloween festivities to go along with it, and i hope you enjoy it.