• 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

Wait for Me! (Keeping up With the Twenty-Somethings)

April 17, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

wait for me, I cried out to the speedy young woman dressed in pink and gray running clothes as she sped ahead of me. Photo by Barbara Newhall

 I was a tiny preschooler, pumping away on my tricycle, near tears because the big kids were leaving me behind. Today, I was a lot older — and left in the dust again. Read more. 

The Trouble With Daffodils — and My Writing

April 11, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Solo yellow and white daffodil. Photo by BF Newhall

The trouble with daffodils is they have no subtext. They are all cheer and sparkle and optimism. They are avatars of perky. They get on my nerves. Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: When a Six-Year-Old Flies Solo

April 3, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

6-year-old boy dressed as cowboy. photo by barbara newhall

My mother-in-law was on the phone. Could my 6-year-old son Peter come to Southern California for a week’s visit with her? “A week?” I thought. Could I get along without my little son for a whole week? Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: Four-Year-Old Girls — The Last Bastion of Pretty

March 27, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

four pretty preschool girls in tutus at the ballet barre. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Pink dresses. Powder blue dresses. Dresses with nosegays, kitty cats and sunbursts. Are little girls the last hold-outs for pretty these days? Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: Spring’s Here — And So Is That Guy With His Camera

March 19, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

  By Barbara Falconer Newhall He shows up every spring. Some years we see him. Some years we don’t. He shows up at our house just as dozens of daffodils are showing their bright, ridiculously optimistic faces all over the neighborhood and the show-offy star magnolia in our front yard is glorious with blossoms. Every year he arrives […]

A Case of the Human Condition: How Millennial Are You?

March 13, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Want to know whether you are a Millennial, a Gen Xer, a Boomer or a Silent Generation-er? Take this test on the Pew Forum website. According to this test, I’m a robust 38 years old. And I only cheated a little — I said I had texted within the last 24 hours. But that’s only […]

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 122
  • Page 123
  • Page 124
  • Page 125
  • Page 126
  • 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

Oakland Tribune: The Trib Is Dead, Long Live the Tribbers

On April 4, 2016, former employees of the Oakland, California, Tribune, had a wake in honor of the paper's last day of publication. Photos by Barbara Newhall

The Oakland Tribune is dead. But dozens of Trib staffers live on. On the California paper’s last day, they gathered for a wake. 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!

Alina, Vicki and Valerie with husband Joe Darger at the 2011 RNA conference.

Book Openers: Meet the Polygamist Family That Inspired TV’s “Big Love”

A five year old boy lines up against a wall to be measured. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Kindergarten Looms for a 5-Year-Old and His Mom

My computer monitor in action. Photo by Bf Newhall

The Writing Room: My Book’s Almost Done, Sorta

clock-12:01

My Days Are Numbered — And So Are My Minutes

MORE DON'T MISS!

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