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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
  • WRITING & READING
  • MY ROCKY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
  • WIDOWED
  • FUNNY BUTTON

Barbara’s Riffs on Life

GodsBigBlog: Does a Teacher Have the Right to Wear a Muslim Headscarf? A Nun’s Habit? A Sikh’s Turban? Not in Every State

September 3, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Three states still have laws on the books prohibiting public school teachers from wearing religious garments in the classroom.

GodsBigBlog: Hunger in America — It’s Real

September 3, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

My writer colleague Laura Willis reports from Sewannee, Tennessee, that the economic crisis is hitting people pretty hard in the Southern Cumberland Plateau. Hundreds of people stood in line for hours to receive food . . . .

A Case of the Human Condition: Flowers Bursting From the Dirt — How Do They Do It?

August 31, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

pink camellia blossom california. photo by bf newhall

They emerge from mud, manure, leaf rot, earthworms, sow bugs. And they are beautiful. How do they do it? Read more.

A Generation of Preschoolers Trapped in Their Yards

August 28, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A suburban street without a sidewalk. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Jon and I loved our new house in the hills with the curving, no-sidewalks streets. But all that privacy and rural ambiance weren’t so great for raising kids. Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: In Your Face Orchids

August 24, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Magenta orchid growing in orchid farm in Thailand. Photo by BF Newhall

Stupendously, outrageously beautiful orchids. Read more.

Mad Men Exposes the ’60s Girdle — But Will She Get It Off in Time?

August 21, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

two women wearing 1960s Spirella Sarong girdle with sign "happiness is a flat tummy."

You can’t fool me. I know a girdle when I see one. A stewardess on Mad Men did a strip tease — but how was she going to get that girdle off without turning hot sex into farce? Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

My Old Stuff — A Little Moldy, a Little Dusty, but Unlike Certain People It’s Still With Me

a pair of old alumunium crutches with disintegrating padding. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Things. They stay where you put them. They don’t talk back or upchuck on the Persian rug. They don’t require thank-you notes or post cards from Tahoe. I like my things. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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  • A Case of the Human Condition
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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!

A pair of whimsical earrings by Susan Brooks of Berkeley with blue and green beads. Photo by BF Newhall

At the Sawtooth Building: Earrings for Thirty-Six Bucks . . . And Other Hand-Made Pleasures

girl-bumper-car

TV or Not TV: The Week We Turned Off Our 1980s Go-To Screen

A red and yellow detail of Dale Chihuly's glass sculpture "Mille Fiore" at the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum in Seattle. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Dale Chihuly’s Glass: Fine Art? Kitsch? Or Both?

steph-curry

Jon Was a Sports Fan. Am I?

MORE DON'T MISS!

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