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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
  • MY EVER-CHANGING FAMILY
  • WRITING & READING
  • MY ROCKY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
  • WIDOWED
  • FUNNY BUTTON

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About Barbara

Barbara Falconer Newhall at her home office desk getting ready to do final edits on her book, "Wrestling with God." Photo by Barbara Newhall

I’m Barbara Falconer Newhall and I’ve got a serious case of the human condition.

I’ve done it all: career, family, house, garden, and a prize-winning book, "Wrestling with God." The result: I'm a woman of years, lots of them, who can't help seeing things from the funny side.

Tucked away on this website are hundreds of riffs on life. I hope you’ll seek them out – and keep me company as I discover the humor, if not the meaning, in what life throws my way. Learn More

THE LATEST

Happy Birthday, US of A. You Made It to 250.

By Barbara Falconer Newhall 1 Comment

happy birthday us of a. 250 American-flag-flying-against-the-sky-250

Happy birthday, US of A! You made it to 250. A little the worse for wear, but still here.  Read more.

BARBARA’S BOOK

★ Publishers Weekly, starred review
Any seeker of any faith will be blessed to read the words of this fine author and observer. Read more.
"Wrestling with God: Stories of Doubt and Faith" book cover with photo of author Barbara Falconer Newhall

An inveterate doubter for most of her adult life, journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall embarks upon a quest to find a way to believe in God in the twenty-first century.

The result is Wrestling with God: Stories of Doubt and Faith, which details her search for the Divine in the lives of diverse Americans – from a fundamentalist Christian to a progressive Muslim to a Buddhist monk.


Seekers of all persuasions will feel represented here, from priests, ministers, and rabbis to engineers, physicists, and avowed non-believers . . . a riverflow of a book. — Phil Cousineau, host of PBS’s Global Spirit

Click to learn more about "Wrestling with God"

Recent Riffs on Life

Sixteen Years Left to Live. How Many Bowls of Froot Loops Is That?

By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

froot-loops-at-my-grocery-store

In the sixteen years I’ve got left, how many of the gotta-do items on my to-do list will I get done?  Read more.

Was My Mother a 1950s Tradwife?

By Barbara Falconer Newhall 8 Comments

at-the-beach-in-the-1940s

My mother was a tradwife, a bona fide 1950s tradwife. That’s what she wanted. That’s what she got. Read more.

MORE RIFFS ON LIFE

CATEGORIES

  • A Case of the Human Condition

  • My Rocky Spiritual Journey

  • My Ever-Changing Family

  • On Writing & Reading

Need some levity? Push my Funny Button!

DON’T MISS!

Sue Johnson’s Lamps and Shades — Works of Art From a Little Shop in Berkeley

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A hand-blown glass lamp by Lindsay Art Glass. Photo by BF Newhall

On Solano Avenue in the far north reaches of Berkeley, California, a modest storefront softly glows, luring me in every time I pass by. It’s Sue Johnson’s custom lamp and shade store.

Did the Pandemic Shut-Down Change the Way We Live?

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

did the pandemic shut-down change the way we live?

Travel with me back in time to the bad old days of 2020 to consider — did the pandemic shut-down change the way we live?  Read more.

Widowed: Her Stolen Car Came Back, but My Husband Didn’t . . . And All Shall Be Well?

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

my husband's office chair is empty, yet all shall be well

The same death that took Jesus took my husband. Can we say then that all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well?  Read more.

MORE DON'T MISS!

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Quarantine Hair: I’ve Got Curls All Over My Head. How Did That Happen? Sheltering at Home Week 22

I've-got-curls Barbara-falconer-newhall-with-fluffy-hair-2

Out of the blue, my hair has begun sprouting Shirley Temple ringlets. I’ve got curls, adorable curls. What the heck? I didn’t know my hair could curl.  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!

old-man-working-out-at-gym

Widowed: It’s Jon the Old Guy I Miss the Most

1986 home office with computer monitors, toddler and sleeping cat. Photo by BF Newhall.

‘Read Me a Story, Mommy, But Not That One You Wrote’ (Or,The Nicest Thing My Husband Ever Said to Me)

A plastic angle with a blue gown plays a golden flute. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Advent: Witnessing to the Light – With Tinsel and a Plastic Santa

mouth-of-outrage

Grievance and Outrage — Good in Small Doses

MORE DON'T MISS!

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