Category Archives: My Life

Does Art Have the Power to Change a Life?

On a radio show recently, the question was put forth, “does art have the power to change a life?” Although I’ve always thought a life without art is a dead life and a society without art is a dead society, I’d never considered the question quite in that way. It started me thinking about my [...]

The Long and Winding Closet

I am surprised when people I meet don’t know I’m gay. How could they not figure that out? I am also surprised when I meet someone and they do know. How can they tell? It’s a little schizophrenic, I guess (no disrespect intended to any of my schizophrenic readers) but both are true. I have [...]

Halva On My Mind

My mother had several things that she considered treats, things that she parceled out to us as if they were diamonds. Lox was one. If you are unaware of this rare gem, it’s sort of a marriage between smoked salmon and salmon sushi. Good lox, the best lox, melts on your tongue like sweet, smoky [...]

Fabulous, Thank You, How Are You?

Many years ago I got into the habit of answering the ubiquitous question, “How are you?” by saying, “Dandy, how are you?” Most people just smiled and said they were fine. I was working in a law office in Los Angeles at this time and there was one lawyer who worked there, a junior partner, [...]

Learning Spanish – What a Pity

When I was thirteen my father, his second wife and their then two young children moved to the Dominican Republic, the country that shares the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean with Haiti. I saw him once from then until I was in my forties. I kept saying I need to visit him in order [...]

Pothos Cuttings – a Metric for Masculinity

“You are now officially an old lady,” he said to me when he saw the pothos cuttings in a vase on my kitchen windowsill. That was five or six years ago. I told him the pothos needed trimming and it was a waste to just throw the cuttings out. He shook his head sadly. They [...]

I Ruined Her Whole Experience

I was at the gym the other day, getting a good shvits in the steam room after my workout. It was billowing and very hot, so I put my little towel over my head, sat back and enjoyed myself. After a few moments of that I heard someone complaining, full voiced, which is odd. Usually, [...]

Three Auditions

When I still lived in Northern California, fresh out of college and settling into life before my planned foray into a life in theatre, I took a vacation trip to Ahsland Oregon to attend the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for a week. Once there for few days, I decided I wanted to be part of something [...]

Smokey Tea And Stinky Cheese

My mother liked extreme foods. The tea she liked was smoked. I have no idea what the brand or type was, although I have a vague memory that it was something British. It came loose in a tin and my mother would put well over a teaspoon of it in a tea bell, put it [...]

Response

Yes, I’m verbose. _______________________________ Geoff Hoff is co-author of the best selling satirical novel Weeping Willow: Welcome to River Bend