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Barbara Falconer Newhall

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

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
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mountain view cemetery

What a Tulip Can Do — If You Ask It

March 31, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

11th Annual Tower Chapel Tulip Exhibition, Mouintain View Cemetery, Oakland, CA "BUBBLIN TULIPS," HOWARD J. ARENDTSON, H JULIEN DESIGNS, BERKELEY. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Floral designers showed off what a tulip can do — if you ask it nicely — at the Annual Tulip Exhibition at Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, California. Read more.

Pink, Pink, Pink. I’m Taking a Stand — I Like It

May 7, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Detail 2 of "Pretty in Pink" by Valerie Lee and Robin Lee, J. Miller Flowers, Oakland. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Two floral designers let themselves go soft on pink this spring. The occasion was the tulip show at Mountain View Cemetery and their design was an unabashedly optimistic concoction that contrasted with nearby edgier, darker takes on the tulip. Read more.

A Cemetery Comes to LIfe — With Tulips

April 9, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Tulips of many colors hang upside down over the entrance to the Tower Chapel at Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, Calif., during its annual Tulip Exhibition. The design, titled "Puddle Jumping," is by the Merritt College Floral Design Department. Photo by Barbara Newhall

By now my faithful readers know that I’ve got a thing about tulips. So, of course, I dropped everything to take in a local tulip show last weekend. Read more.

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.

Look for Me on Thursdays

April 11, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Large pink and yellow tulips, close up. Photo by BF Newhall

Dear Readers. From now on I’ll be posting on Thursday mornings instead of Saturdays. Here’s why.

Tulips, Orchids and More — Florists Put on a Lively Show for the Dead

March 26, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

It’s not often you get to do something for the dead. But every year, florists put on a show to benefit the Friends of Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, CA.

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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Widowed: Marriage Mistakes — If I Could Have a Do-Over, Would I?

marriage mistakes widowed a-mans-sock-drawer

Widowed, I think often of my marriage mistakes. Did I leave too many tender words unsaid? Too many small kindnesses undone? Should I have mated his socks for him after I took them out of the dryer?   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!

Christina Newhall, age 7, playing tug of war at a party. Photo by Barbara Newhall

No to Bride Barbie — Yes to a Real-Life Wedding

retablo-chimayo-joseph

Hanging Pictures: Too Much Art. Not Enough Wall Space. Sheltering at Home Week 24

telephone-wires

The Lost Art of the Telephone Conversation — Here’s What Happened to It. Sheltering at Home Week 14

The Ghost of 300 Million Drought-Killed Trees Hovers Over a Lake in Texas

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