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Barbara Falconer Newhall

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

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Barbara Falconer Newhall

A Case of the Human Condition: James Dean’s Last Day — Video with CHP Officers on the Scene

March 1, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 1 Comment

The highway patrol officers on the scene of the car crash that killed James Dean are interviewed in an excellent new video, along with the officer who cited Dean for speeding hours before his death.

A Case of the Human Condition: Even Barbie Has to Turn Fifty Sometime

March 1, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

Barbie doesn’t look it, of course, but this month the busty, slim-hipped fashion doll turns 50. Read all about it in Mary Jo Murphy’s article  in today’s New York Times. Posting here tomorrow — “Dolls and Daughters,” what happened when my daughter, then seven, and I tried to play with her Barbie.

Geoff Machin — We Go Looking for God, When We Could Be Having a Beer

February 27, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 1 Comment

Geoff Machin -- science is obvious. God, not so much. The Sombrero Galaxy, NASA. NASA & STScI photo. copyright@stsci.edu

Humans are the only living things that know they exist & ask why. We’d have more fun if we didn’t ask so many questions, just go to the beach & have a beer. Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: The Day James Dean Died — The Eyewitnesses to Speak on February 28

February 26, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

Fans of the legendary film star James Dean will meet face-to-face the CHP officer who was first on the scene of the car collision that took Dean’s life as well as the officer who ticketed Dean for speeding just before his death.

Sister Barbara Hazzard on How to Pray Without Words

February 24, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 6 Comments

What is prayer anyway? I haven’t a clue. These days, when I go to pray, I often find I haven’t a thing to say to God. Every tradition I’ve come in contact with in all my years as a religion reporter and writer recommends — no, insists upon — prayer. Yet right now I don’t know how to do it. I don’t even know why to do it.

How Selective Service Made a Man of My Son — Without Even Trying

February 23, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

The 1998 Selective Service pamphlet -- I left it at the post office.

In a few weeks my son would be eighteen, time to sign up for Selective Service. I’d filled out forms for him for years, but this was different. This piece of paper could send him off to war. Read more.

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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

My Deceased Husband’s Laptop — I Fixed It Myself!

my deceased husband's laptop

My deceased husband’s laptop had become my favorite, fun laptop in the months following his death. But now I couldn’t open it. 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!

Glacial erratics at inyo national forest. photo by bf newhall

Buddhist Writing — Wisdom or Chicken Shit?

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I was important at the cast party for "The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin, San Francisco, June 15, 2017. Barbara Falconer Newhall and Jonathan Groff of TV show "Looking." Photo by Jon Newhall

For One Night I Was Important Again. Thank You Armistead Maupin

Multicolored Tibetan prayer flags strung on a rope fly at the Himalayan Fair Berkelely 2014. Photo by BF Newhall

Why Pray? — Some Thoughts from Karen Armstrong

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