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Barbara Falconer Newhall

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

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Is an Istanbul Trip Too Risky for You? Here’s What You’re Missing

June 30, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Exterior walls of the ancient Hagia Sohia basilica of Istanbul. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Jon and I took the kids to Istanbul back in 2009. What we experienced was a energetic culture with a rich past, great food and beautiful people. Read more.

Travel Adventures: The Poop on China – And the Pee

May 22, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

In Suchow, this little boy was set out on the doorstep of his house to pee, To expedite things, his pants were open at the crotch. I have preserved his dignity by retouching the photo to close up his fly. Photo by BF Newhall

I’ve been contemplating writing this little photo essay on the toilets of China ever since I traveled there last September. It’s taken me all this time to overcome my mid-century Midwestern upbringing, where nice people didn’t talk about poop and pee in public. My nose for news finally prevailed, however when a Mainland Chinese couple allowed their toddler to urinate publicly on the streets of Hong Kong.

For China’s Young Fashionistas the Cultural Revolution Is So Over

December 13, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Two teenaged Chinese girls getting their picture taken in Beijing. One has dyed her hair orange.

Until very recently, when I thought of China, I didn’t think of fun. I thought of the Cultural Revolution of the ’60s and ’70s, when traditional Chinese men were forced to cut off their queues, and intellectuals were banished to the countryside to till the soil and be reeducated into the proletariat.

Shanghai Chic – Where a Woman’s Style Starts With Her Shoes

December 5, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Canvas espadrille shoes decorated with stars and stripes in red, white and blue on the streets of Shanghai. Photo by BF Newhall

 

I thought I was traveling to China to explore the mysteries of China’s storied past — the big dynasties with their poetic one-syllable names: Ming, Tang, Han. But what really caught my attention was China’s storied present: The skyscrapers. The ubiquitous one-child families. The traffic jams. The fashionistas . . . Read more.

Photo Ops: China’s One-Child Families — They’re for Real (For Now)

November 18, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A mother in Shanghai China wipes the face of her schoolage boy in a crowded bazaar in Old Town. Photo by BF Newhall

China’s one-child families may soon be a thing of the past. But for now, they are very real. Jon and I saw them everywhere during our trip to China in September — and I took lots of pictures of mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers doting on that one child. Read more.

Xi’An to TX and Mao to LBJ — I’ve Been Traveling and I’m Back

October 3, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Writer Barbara Falconer Newhall poses with a mock-up of Pope Francis at the Religion Newswriters Association conference in Austtin, 2013. RNA photo

China, Austin, a Religion Newswriters conference — I had a great, traveling September. It started with on my birthday on September 6, which lasted only a few hours because Jon and I were on a plane to Shanghai when somewhere over the Pacific we hit the International Date Line. Read more.

Shanghai Chic — It’s All About the Shoes in This Skyscraping Town of 24 Million

September 27, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

By Barbara Falconer Newhall Young people are flocking to swashbuckling, get-rich-quick Shanghai. Come back soon to see what they’re wearing on their feet. I’m just back from a two-week blitz tour of China and am off to Austin for a Religion Newswriters Association conference tomorrow. There will be plenty to share when I get back. […]

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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Tint My Eyebrows? It’s an Existential Question

fading-eyebrows-aging

It’s an existential question I’ve been asking myself lately: do I go gentle into that good night — or do I tint my eyebrows?  Read more.

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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!

Peter Newhall engaged in a fierce tug of of war game. Like the Old Testament God. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Was That Old Testament God Just Trying to Keep Us in the Game?

Oval portrait of Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, ca. 1825. Courtesy Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan

The Lost Poems of Jane Johnston Schoolcraft — A Native Michigan Voice Rediscovered

Beyond Forgiveness book jacket. author phil cousineau

Book Openers: Forgiveness Is Tough — Atonement, Even Tougher

a bookshelf of books from many religions, including buddhism, taoism, christianity, judaism and islam. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Coleman Barks and Rumi — What a Few Lines of Poetry (and a Witch) Taught me

MORE DON'T MISS!

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