Barbara’s Riffs on Life

What I Really Wanted for My Birthday

What did I want for my biggest, fattest birthday yet? I wanted to visit to Nancy Selvin’s pottery studio — and go home a beautiful pot. Read more.

Kirkus reviews ‘Wrestling with God: Stories of Doubt and Faith” in its print edition this month. Read more.

It’s here. My birthday. The Big Seven-Five. I’m now officially old. But I don’t wear my trousers rolled. Read more.

When I went wedding dress shopping forty years ago, I went all by myself. My daughter was smarter. She phoned and asked me to go with her. Read more.

Airbnb is supposed to be a good deal — homey and cheap. But maybe, really I’d be better off in a real bed and breakfast like this one. Read more.

Yes, you can locate your long-gone ancestors. You can pin them down to an exact place. Sometimes it’s a parking lot. Read more.