• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • WRESTLING WITH GOD BOOK
  • CONTACT

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

Barbara’s Riffs on Life

Little Girl Lost — My Mother’s Magical Babushka

January 30, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

facade of Hudson't downtwon Detroit store, mid-20th century.

When I was three or four years old, my mother took me shopping at a big department store in downtown Detroit. It might have been Crowley’s or Kern’s or Hudson’s. Shoppers crowded the aisles and soon, my mother and I got separated and I found myself alone. Read more.

Armistead Maupin: The Man Who Wrote the Quintessential San Francisco Novel — On a Newspaper Deadline

January 23, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin reads from "The Days of Ana Madrigal" at Book Passage, SF Ferry Building

Army’s assignment was to show up at the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle every weekday morning and produce seven hundred words, give or take. The challenging part was this: Unlike most newspaper journalists, Army did not sit down to his Selectric typewriter fortified with a fat notebook of stats and quotes. Army’s job was not to report the news. It was to make it up. Read more.

SXSW: The Funky Charms of East Austin, Texas

January 16, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

colorful mural decorates the front of a store in Austin TX selling books, T-shirts and CDs. And tattoos. Photo by BF Newhall

Deep in the heart of Texas is a neighborhood that has everything it takes to be a first-rate hipster haven — street art, food trucks, farmers markets, coffee shops, parks, affordable (so far) housing, artists’ studios, walkability — and, most important, a carefree, offbeat vibe. Read more.

Christmas in Mexico — It’s All About the Baby Jesus

January 1, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

posada procession christmas eve 2013 san miguel de allende. photo by bf newhall

 

If it’s the Baby Jesus you’re looking for on Christmas Eve, the colonial town of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, is the place to be. Read more.

A Festive Christmas in San Miguel de Allende

December 26, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Santa was nowhere to be seen in the days leading up to Christmas in San Miguel de Allende.

We’re Having a — Merry — Christmas Without the Kids This Year

December 25, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A young woman carves the Thanksgiving turkey in the kitchen. Photo by BF Newhall

Christmas has gotten to be a scheduling nightmare in our family. Peter lives in Minnesota. Christina lives in Southern California. Jon and I live in Northern California. That puts 400 miles between us and our daughter and 1600 miles between us and our son and daughter-in-law. Not exactly over the river and through the woods. Read more.

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 98
  • Page 99
  • Page 100
  • Page 101
  • Page 102
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 142
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

GET MY Riffs on Life BY EMAIL

True stories often told through a humorous lens–because you just can't make them up!

We respect your privacy and do not share your email with anyone.

 

LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Book Openers: A Heather Donahue Lexicon — Flopsweat and Larfy Defined

Heather Donahue's book jacket Grow Girl: How My LIfe After "The Blair Witch Project Went to Pot"

Here’s some help with the pot-growing argot in Heather Donahue’s book, "Grow Girl."

 

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!

A relaxed groom in red t-shirt smiles and carries his Mens's Wearhouse tux in a bag. Photo by BF Newhall

The Mother-of-the-Groom Diaries: The Day Before the Big Day

A WordPress blog post edit page. Photo by BF Newhall

Writing Tips — Begged, Borrowed, but Mostly Stolen From My Favorite Writing Coaches

Barbara Falconer Newhall was summoned for jury duty.. Photo by Barbara Newhall

A Case of the Human Condition: Choose Me, Please!

jon-and-barbara-newhall

Widowed: He Knew How to Show a Girl a Good Time

MORE DON'T MISS!

© 2009–2026 Barbara Falconer Newhall All rights reserved. · Log in