Today’s my birthday, another year has blown past, and I can’t help noticing that I’m really old, and I’m going to die sooner than I’d like. Read more.
A Case of the Human Condition
I’m Barbara Falconer Newhall and I’ve got an incurable Case of the Human Condition. And since you do too, I’m counting on you to laugh and cry along with me as I riff on life as we know it . . . Below you'll read about my creaky, old fifties house, my forays into home gardening, my shopping stories, my spectacularly low-fashion wardrobe -- and more.
Watching People Working With Their Hands — Why Am I So Fascinated? Sheltering in Place Week 25
In Bologna they call them umarells, men hanging around building sites, watching people working with their hands. I’m an umarell. Here’s why. Read more.
Hanging Pictures: Too Much Art. Not Enough Wall Space. Sheltering at Home Week 24
Hanging pictures: we spent an entire Sunday on the project, pulling everything out of storage and propping it up all over the house. Read more.
Is Fluffy the New Black? Is Our Quarantine Hair Trying to Tell Us Something? Sheltering at Home Week 23
Is fluffy the new black? Fluffy hair. Fluffy, loose-fitting clothes. Fluffy, loose-fitting life styles. Fluffy boundaries between home and work. Read more.
We’re Putting Our Shabby Old Patio Out of Its Misery — At Last. Sheltering at Home Week 22
Our shabby old patio was a mess when we first laid eyes on it forty-two years ago. Today, it’s still not a pretty sight. Time for a redo. Read more.
Why Do ‘Those People’ Make Me So Mad? A Philosopher Sheds Some Light. Sheltering at Home Week 20
When we address “those people,” do we really want to be heard? Or do we just want to get mad, feel righteous and force our desired outcomes on those “other” people? Read more.
World Hunger — Is It Up to Me to Fix It? Sheltering at Home Week 20
The bare dirt spot in my garden is taking up more real estate in my brain than world hunger, homelessness and disruption. Read more.