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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

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.

RBG: Glorious, Notorious — and Old

September 19, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

ginsburg-book-jacket

I want my little granddaughters to treasure and revere RBG because she was smart, compassionate, lovable — and old.  Read more.

Grandparents Day Is Today — How to Grandparent and Why

September 13, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Grandparent's Day. A grandfather, father and grandson, circa 1941. Photo by Tinka Falconer

It’s Grandparents Day today. How to be a grandparent? I haven’t a clue. Why do we do it? I have some thoughts on that one.  Read more.

It’s My Birthday and I’m Really Old. Dang! Sheltering at Home Week 26

September 7, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

it's my birthday and I'm really old chocolate-birthday-cake-just-desserts

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.

Watching People Working With Their Hands — Why Am I So Fascinated? Sheltering in Place Week 25

September 3, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

concrete-being-poured working with their hands

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

August 27, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

hanging pictures how-to-hang-pictures

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

August 16, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Rep.-Katie-Porter. is fluffy the new black?

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

August 11, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

shabby-old-patio

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.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

‘Read Me a Story, Mommy, But Not That One You Wrote’ (Or,The Nicest Thing My Husband Ever Said to Me)

1986 home office with computer monitors, toddler and sleeping cat. Photo by BF Newhall.

To save money, management had cut my hours back to one day a week. I did what every self-respecting writer does when she’s ticked off at the world. I sat down at the keyboard – and wrote. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

CATEGORIES

  • A Case of the Human Condition
  • My Ever-Changing Family
  • On Writing & Reading
  • My Rocky Spiritual Journey

 
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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!

Young man wearing a black shirt and red tie greets guests at Minneapolis' Bachelor Farmer restaurant.

The Mother-in-Law Diaries: A Groom’s Dinner at a Place Called the Bachelor Farmer

Stars and Stripes. A man hangs the American flag on the front of his house. Photo by Barbara Newhall

The American Flag Is Flying in My Liberal, Elitist, San Francisco Bay Area Neighborhood Today. Here’s Why.

people-made-of-peanut-shells

Instead of My Toys, They Played With Peanut Shells

Close up of a blossom of fiireweed on a San Juan Island in Washington. Photo by Barbara Newhall

A Patch of Fireweed in the Northwest — What Color Are Those Blossoms? Do I Need to Know?

MORE DON'T MISS!

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