Brian the Blogger!

This post is personal for me on many levels.  It's a  throwback to when I was a fresh-faced kid who lived a dream and had the guts to pursue it despite my self-doubt.  Now the stakes were raised because Sarah is following my footsteps with joining show choir.  In my college days a zillion years ago, I was a member of Sinclair Singers, Sinclair Community College's prestigious show choir.  This was a scholarship-based group that was comprised of twelve members:  six guys and six girls.  You had to audition to get in and let me tell ya the competition was fierce.  The audition consisted of a prepared piece of music and a short dance that we were taught and then we had to replicate.  I knew some talented singers and dancers that were in choir that had auditioned and didn't get in for a variety of reasons.  By the grace of God I was accepted; despite doubts from myself and a family member.  This person told me they thought I was wasting ...

I have to apologize for not posting in the past couple of weeks.  I had a computer issue where my power pack went out.  After getting some help from a few friends, a got the power pack replaced (which I did myself with a bro's help) and I'm back in business! Thanksgiving has always been my personal favorite holiday.  Many centuries ago when I was a kid, the family always gathered at my house for food and fun.  My Mom delighted in the holiday as well.  I remember she got a turkey in the oven at the butt crack of dawn and the smell of that bird cooking would make us all crazy until it was done.  In addition to the turkey, Mom would make Chex Mix.  Man, I can still smell that now.  She would get the indigents and throw it together and after one hour in the oven, we all chowed down!  Now you can buy Chex Mix in bags at the grocery store.  No thanks!  The homemade version is always the best!  This weekend I am having some guys ove...

Hi, my name is Brian and I'm a coffee addict. The old saying goes admitting your addiction is half the battle.  That being said, I want to talk about one of my favorite beverages.  You guess it:  coffee! Now I do come from a family of coffee drinkers.  Both sets of my grandparents were coffee drinkers.  My Dad and my brother are coffee drinkers.  My Mom...not so much.  Oh well.  I think tea was her brew of choice.  Paula started off not liking coffee, but she now helps me indulge my need for caffeine! If memory serves, I was drinking coffee from a very early age:  four years old.  Yup, you read that right.  I was not even in kindergarten when I started drinking coffee.  The story goes that my maternal grandma started me drinking coffee.  I recall from way back that black coffee was disgusting.  I still have that thought.  But she added the cream and sugar and that was all she wrote for me.  As I r...

Euchre...the game that has been played by legions of avid card players.  The game that generated two most often asked questions:  "What's trump?" and "What was lead?".  The game that has made husbands and wives bicker.  The game that ended friendships.  The game that is oh so totally awesome!! If you have no idea what I am talking about, then leave now because the following post will mean absolutely nothing to you.  But if you have ever participated in the game, then read on.  You may even learn a thing or three.  Who knows...you may even pick up the cards tonight and play a game or two!! For anyone that has played the game, you know the drill: each player is dealt five cards.  Four cards remain in the kitty, the widow, or whatever colorful name you have for it.  The player to the left of the dealer decides if the turned-up suit in the widow is trump.  Each player can pass or order the suit as trump.  The dealer has the...

As you are probably already know, I am an avid musician.  It's kinda weird to say that out loud or at least write it....musician.   Music has always been a central element to my life.  When I was a kid, I grew up on a steady diet of Motown and other oldies music, largely in part to my Dad and Mom.  I loved the tunes they would listen to, which is rare for someone who separated by a generation.  When I was in elementary school and all the way through high school, I played a musical instrument.  When I got into college, I joined the choir and found a whole new passion for singing.  Even now, I sing on a Praise team at my church.  In fact, I have participated with this group off and on now for eighteen years.  So, you see, music is a part of me.  Part of my soul. I know you read the title and I'm talking about music.  Hang in there with me.  I have a point....I promise! When I was singing with Epiphany's Praise Team, for years...

Picture it:  Hoff House.  Sunday the 12th.  9:30 AM.  I had just finished up brushing my teeth when I felt my nose start to drip.  Nose dripping in Ohio in the fall...that means allergies.  I reached over to grab a tissue and I caught my reflection in the mirror:  I saw blood start to slowly drain out of my nose. Now I have had one other nose bleed before and that was in February this year.  Only that time, it was at work on my lunch hour.  I managed to get it stopped, and I didn't think another thing about it.  But this nose bleed was very different.  Very, very different. I stuffed the tissue up my nostrils and tilted my head back.  I mean, that's what you supposed to do, right?  That's what I have heard all my life.  The tissue was quickly soaked with blood.  I grab some paper towels and headed for the couch so I could lay my head back and do it comfortably.  As I sat there, to my horror, I began to r...

Hey Everyone! So, this is what it's like to blog on the World Wide Web......huh! My name is Brian Hoff, and I'm married to a wonderful woman named Paula.  We have two beautiful girls, Sarah and Hannah.  I had the inspiration to start a blog post on the random thoughts that fly through my head on a daily basis.  Some folks tell me I should post them, others tell me that I should seek professional help.  When I say others, I mean Paula. I absolutely love to write and I have been doing it from a very young age.  I was under the misguided notion that bloggers were radical extremists that tried their best to shove their opinions down your throat.  Little did I know that this was simply not true.  So here I am with my first big-boy blog posting. I will try to post weekly, and if that seems daunting, I will try to post every few weeks.  As you will soon see, I love zany humor, music, art, iced coffee (and lots of it) and a myriad of other things. ...