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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

The Writing Room: Writing About Your Mother? — Words of Caution from Lori Gottlieb

May 10, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Planning to write about your mother? You might reconsider after reading Lori Gottlieb’s essay in today’s New York Times. Or are you a mother writing about your kids . . .

Death Is the Only Guarantee

May 8, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Olompali State Historic Park, CA, trees dying against a blue sky. Photo by Barbara Newhall.

Our bodies should be more like our cars. When a car fails, we can trade it in for a new one, but not our bodies. Some of my friends’ bodies are failing them at a very young age. Read more.

GodsBigBlog: Kids and Money — Saving It, Spending It, Sharing It

May 6, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

[caption id="attachment_1186" align="alignleft" width="141"] Three Cups, by Mark St. Germain, is illustrated by April Willy.[/caption]

Looking for a way to teach generosity and life-long charitable giving to the children in your family? Author Mark St.Germain and artist April Willy have a suggestion: Give them each three cups. Read more.

GodsBigBlog: Dancer Savitri Hari — God in the Lowly Things

May 4, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Savitri Hari finds the sacred in the lowly things. Savitri grew up in a Hindu family in a village in South India. “We children used to gather cow dung for a special holiday. We rolled the cow dung into a ball and drew mandala designs on it with rice flour.”

The Writing Room: To Niche or Not to Niche?

May 1, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Where’s my niche – spiritually, philosophically, politically? As a writer? For a writer, nichelessness can be a problem. I’m a hopelessly open-minded, doubting, wondering, yearning skeptic who senses the Holy at work in all sorts of people — Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, atheists.

A Case of the Human Condition: Feminine, Feminist Pink

April 27, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Girls wear pink, but grown women like this one opt for daring spike heels. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Christina likes pink. Given a choice, my five-year-old daughter will take the pink balloon, the pink panties, the pink baseball bat. Read more.

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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Is That a Fibonacci Blooming in Our Yard?

Purple columbine blossoms in our rock garden in spring. A fibonacci number expressed. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Is ours a strictly mathematical universe? Are those columbines blossoming in our garden just a string of fibonacci numbers? 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!

At an exhibit table at the 2014 meeting of the Religion Newswriters Association are Robyn Blumner,Executive Director of the Richard Dawkins Foundation, and Todd Stiefel of Stiefel Freethought Foundation. Photo by Barbara Newhall

The Atheists Are Coming – Out of a Closet Near You

A dead bird lies on a doorstep. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Our Sin — Or God’s? My Gino Geraci Talk Revisited

Drumroll! I’ve Just Written My 600th Blog Post.

atlas-brick-stairs

Yay! Our Garden Remodel Is Done. Come Take a Walk

MORE DON'T MISS!

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