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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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Barbara’s Riffs on Life

A Checkerspot Butterfly in Marin — And Other Insects I Have Known and (Tried to) Love

June 27, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

I spotted an endangered butterfly — the checkerspot — in Marin county. A couple days later, one appeared outside my kitchen window.

Zumba at The Hills! Authentic, Never-Before-Published Video of Real People Moving Their Bods!

June 2, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Barbara Falconer Newhall Zumbas with teacher Toni. Photo by Jon Newhall

Want to see some sexy dancing? My favorite Zumba teachers and their fast-footed Zumba students show their stuff on a video. That’s me on the left. Read more.

My Mother’s Goneness

May 13, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Small tweed and leather purse. Photo by BF Newhall

My mother is gone, but when she died, she left a few things behind — a battered old purse, a small sofa she liked to call the loveseat. Read more.

Purple Bearded Irises — Close Up and (Very) Personal

May 8, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

[caption id="attachment_28388" align="aligncenter" width="500"]Irises -- An iris blossom close up. Purple. Photo by Barbara Newhall An iris blossom close up. Purple. Photo by Barbara Newhall[/caption]

There’s a heck of a lot of erotica going on inside an iris blossom. Stamen. Pistel. Haft. Claws. And, of course, those fuzzy, caterpillar-like beards. Read more.

The Writing Room: My Flesh Is Weary — Too Much Book-Writing, Not Enough Yoga

May 6, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

The cluttered desk and computer of a busy writer. Photo by BF Newhall.

Can you guess who wrote this? “Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” Hint: The writer’s been dead for at least two millenniums. Read more.

Confessions of a Carnivore: Why Eating Meat is OK — Sorta

April 24, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

[caption id="attachment_8640" align="aligncenter" width="500"]Cattle feed lot extending acres. Photo by BF Newhall Cattle feed lot extending acres into the distance at Harris Ranch, CA. Photo by BF Newhall[/caption]

I don’t see a clear difference between slaughtering a pig and cutting down a seven-story tree. Between netting the wild salmon I eat for dinner and harvesting my breakfast oats. Faced with a choice between killing a pig and killing the tree in our backyard – I’d kill the pig. Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

What’s Rhetoric? Let My Two-Year-Old Enlighten You

My daughter Christina discovered the art of rhetoric when she was being weaned from baby bottle to plastic cup. She’d say, “I want milk and I don’t want it in a cup” — an elegant illocutionary statement that usually got her what she wanted, her bottle.

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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!

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

Farmers-market

Widowed: Who Will Look After Me Now That Jon Is Gone?

SXSW: Quirky, Lovable Austin, Texas

Clip from video of NBC News report on Donald Trump's statement to Chris Matthews that if abortion is made illegal a woman should be punished for having one. NBC News Video

Donald Trump Outs the Elephant in the Pro-Life Room

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