• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • WRESTLING WITH GOD BOOK
  • CONTACT

Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
  • MY EVER-CHANGING FAMILY
  • WRITING & READING
  • MY ROCKY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
  • WIDOWED
  • FUNNY BUTTON

anne lamott

Tulips and Sex — Writing as If Everyone I Know Were Dead

April 3, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

looking at pink tulips just opening from the underside at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, CA. Photo by BF Newhall

I want to write about tulips today. I don’t want to write about sex. The trouble is, for me, writing about tulips means writing about sex: something about their juicy curves brings erotic metaphors to my particular mind. I had thought that once my mother — and father — were no longer alive and reading over my shoulder, I’d be able to write my heart out, but . . . Read more.

. . . And Two Books I Did Read, Sorta — By Lauren Winner and Anne LaMott

April 7, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Anne LaMott at a reading of her book "Help, Thanks, Wow." Photo by BF Newhall

Yesterday I wrote about five intriguing books that have come across my desk in recent months, good books that I never got around to reading. Here are two more books — by memoirists Anne LaMott and Lauren Winner — that I’ve actually managed to blast through in a couple sittings each. Read more.

Good Books I Haven’t Really Read: Anna Quindlen, Stephen Prothero, David Talbot and a Book About French Love . . .

April 6, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Portrait of Marilyn Yalom, author of "How the French Invented Love' with a lipstick kiss on her cheek. Photo by BF Newhall

There are seven intriguing books currently languishing on my bookshelf, crying out to be read. Books I’ve dearly wanted to spend quality time with in the past year, but haven’t. And that’s because I’m writing — and promoting — a book myself. Read more.

Anne Lamott on Getting Older — Drop That Rock

November 16, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Ann Lamott at a book signing in Oakland, CA, spring 2012. photo by BF Newhall

It’s time to drop that rock we’ve been carrying around, says Anne Lamott. It’s time to surrender to the fact that we can’t do it all. We’re getting older and it’s time to have ourselves some peace.

The Writing Room: My Idea of a Good Time — A Week in the Mountains with a Bunch of Other Writers

February 19, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

I’ve attended the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley summer conference three different times and loved every moment. It’s a great chance to meet writers, editors, agents — and work on your writing.

Primary Sidebar

GET MY Riffs on Life BY EMAIL

True stories often told through a humorous lens–because you just can't make them up!

We respect your privacy and do not share your email with anyone.

 

LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

The Sad State of the Supermarket Strawberry

Large, red strawberries on a blue and white plate. Photo by BF Newhall

I’m worried about the strawberry. It’s too late for the tomato. Its innards were transformed into colorless, flavorless – but easily shippable – pulp decades ago. Which is why I’m concerned about the strawberry. Is it going the way of the tomato? Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

CATEGORIES

  • A Case of the Human Condition
  • My Ever-Changing Family
  • On Writing & Reading
  • My Rocky Spiritual Journey

 
Need some levity? Push my Funny Button!

TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

DON’T MISS!

two women wearing 1960s Spirella Sarong girdle with sign "happiness is a flat tummy."

Mad Men Exposes the ’60s Girdle — But Will She Get It Off in Time?

ink-stain-in-an-old-desk-drawer

My Mother’s Writing Desk Is Not My Writing Desk. Here’s Why

Small tweed and leather purse. Photo by BF Newhall

My Mother’s Goneness

jon-and-barbara-newhall

Widowed: He Knew How to Show a Girl a Good Time

MORE DON'T MISS!

© 2009–2026 Barbara Falconer Newhall All rights reserved. · Log in