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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
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Barbara Falconer Newhall

My Killer Shoes — Brought Down to Size by Those Four-and-a-Half-Inch Heels

April 18, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 7 Comments

Barbara Falconer Newhall tries on a pair of Glint pave shoes with 4 1/2-inch high heels. BF Newhall photo

Dress shoes for women right now, as you may have noticed, sport heels that go on forever. Wedge heels, spike heels, stack heels – everywhere I look I see nothing but heels of skyscraper proportions built to lift their wearers four or even four-and-a-half inches off the ground. Read More.

Look for Me on Thursdays

April 11, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

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.

A Dad, a Mom and an 8-Year-Old With a Bashed Lip

April 11, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 7 Comments

eight-year-old boy smiling up from a swimming pool. photo by bf newhall

At 7 on a Saturday night, eight-year-old Peter came home from the park with a lip the size of a ping-pong ball. He had been hit by a hardball on the fly. I wanted to take him to the ER. Jon said no, it was just a fat lip. Read more.

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

April 7, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

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 5 Comments

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.

Shopping for a Mother-of-the-Groom Dress — Is That Me in the Mirror? Or Somebody’s Grandmother?

March 30, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 35 Comments

a long rack of fluffy white wedding gowns for sale at David's Bridal Salon, Pinole, CA. Photo by BF Newhall

My son is getting married. I’ll need a dress. A dress that makes me look terrific. It’s time to hit the department stores and bridal salons. Read more.

From the de Young — A Final Toss of the Bouquet

March 23, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 1 Comment

The cross-shaped floral design of Monique Duncan of Plumweed Flowers Co., San Francisco, took its inspiration from Robert Rauschenberg's "Shadow (Tracks)" sculpture.

At times during my visit to the Bouquets to Art exhibition at the de Young on Tuesday, I wondered whether my soul might be better off if I’d just stand there quietly looking at the floral arrangements — instead of taking so darned many pictures. I took 254 photos to be exact.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Would My Husband Like to Take My Name?

add my name to his? jon-and-barbara-newhall-get-married

My fiance had no middle name. When we married, I asked, would he like to take my name to fill the empty spot in the middle of his? Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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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!

two-porta-potties

Sheltering at Home Day 2: Oh, No! Our Porta-Potty Is Gone

Our future after regulation 'reform'? More scenes like the Oakland Ghost Ship fire that killed 36 mostly young people, artists, musicians, LGBTQ folks. A few days after the fire, it was cordoned off as a "crime scene." Photo by Barbara Newhall

Regulations: Will Trump’s Slash and Trash Deregulation Put Americans at Risk?

Did my long-lost dead ancestors live in old frame houses like these on Minneapolis's Seventh Street South? Photo by Barbara Newhall

My Long-Lost Dead Ancestors — I Found Them in a Parking Lot

Ceramic cake by Richard Shaw -- "Bride and Ship, 2003." Photo by BF Newhall

Ceramics Envy at the Berkeley Art Center — I Want to Get My Hands into that Earthy, Messy, Squishy Clay

MORE DON'T MISS!

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