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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

Why Pray? — Some Thoughts from Karen Armstrong

June 5, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Multicolored Tibetan prayer flags strung on a rope fly at the Himalayan Fair Berkelely 2014. Photo by BF Newhall

Why pray? Karen Armstrong, one of my favorite authors, has some answers for the skeptical. Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: What Happens When You’re Young, Beautiful — and American — in England

June 4, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

By Barbara Falconer Newhall I have a  total of three gorgeous, young nieces. One of them, Julie, went to the famous Ascot races in England last year, with astonishing results. Julie thought she was doing most of the people-watching at Ascot that day. But it turns out that some people were watching her. Before she […]

A Case of the Human Condition: Long-Distance Mothering

June 2, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Peter is fine. His appendix was twice the size of normal. But it’s gone for good.

The Writing Room: Splitting the Infinitive — How to Boldy Go There

June 1, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

“To boldly go where no man has gone before.” Nitpickers and pedants take exception to that stirring old Star Trek slogan. I don’t.

A Case of the Human Condition: Would My Husband Like to Add My Name to His?

May 29, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Jon and I had been married nearly 12 years. It was time to pop the question again. I had taken his last name as mine. Would he like to add my maiden name to his?

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

May 25, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

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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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

The Lost Art of the Telephone Conversation — Here’s What Happened to It. Sheltering at Home Week 14

the lost art of the telephone conversation

I know why young people do all that texting. It’s because 21st-century wireless phones make for a lousy telephone conversation, and kids want to — talk. Read more.

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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!

The Night I Forgot to Make Dinner — A Rerun From the Archives

before her son in hospital with appendicitis. Barbara Falconer Newhall's son gestures expansively before the appendicitis attack. Photo by Barbara Newhall

My Son Is in the Hospital With Appendicitis 2,000 Miles Away. How Do I Mother Him From Here?

wrestling-with-god-by-barbara-falconer-newhall

A New Roll-Out for ‘Wrestling with God’ — Just in Time for the Holidays

lavender-stalk

My Years Are Numbered. Give Me Those Blossoms — Now

MORE DON'T MISS!

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