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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.

Buzz Saw Bliss — Sheltering at Home Day 3

March 20, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Buzz saw bliss -- a lumberjack-in-tree

It was loud. It was awful. It was the sound of a buzz saw echoing across the canyon. At last, that bushy old Monterey pine would be gone from our view. Read more.

Sheltering at Home Day 2: Oh, No! Our Porta-Potty Is Gone

March 19, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

porta-potty-taken-awayTerrible news. They’ve hauled away our porta-potty. Which means that work has ground to a halt on our half-finished house remodel. Read more.

Day One: Self-Isolation — For Us It’s Already Been Two Weeks of Sheltering at Home

March 18, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

zumba dancers -- before the corona virus pandemic

Jon and I have been sheltering at home — no Zumba classes for me — for two weeks now. And I have to tell you, it’s no fun. Read more.

Sheltering at Home: Day Zero

March 17, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

house remodel mess

The deadly COVID-19 virus is stalking the San Francisco Bay Area and authorities have ordered me and my neighbors to be sheltering at home starting now. Read more.

Where’s Barbara? On Instagram, of Course

March 14, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

barbara falconer newhall on instagram

Where have I been? On Instagram, of course. So much quicker and easier than writing blog posts. Look for me and lots of photos at @BarbaraFalconerNewhall. Read more.

Over-Wrought Iron — Those Curlicues Had to Go

July 11, 2019 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Fifties Kitsch-curlecues

Those Fifties kitsch geegaws on the stair railing have got to go. That’s what I told myself when Jon and I bought this house back in 1978. Read more.

Our Flag Is Flying Again This Fourth of July

July 6, 2019 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

fourth-of-july-flag

Very festive. Very patriotic. No jets or tanks, just the red, white and blue flying on the Fourth of July at our house again this year. Read more. 

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

How to Grandmother – When the Grandkids Live 2,500 Miles Away

Berkeley CA ceramist Nancy Selvin with her dog in front of her large painting, 2013. Photo by BF Newhall

My friend Nancy is a potter – a world-class ceramist to be exact – and a grandmother. Much as she loves her work, Nancy wants to spend time with her grandsons – and not just a Thanksgiving dinner here and a birthday party there. The trouble is, the young boys live a continent away. 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

 
Need some levity? Push my Funny Button!

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!

children's book reviewer barbara falconer newhall has tossed a children's book in the trash. Photo by BF Newhall

Do Books Have Rights? This One Didn’t. I Threw It in the Trash.

Tori Isner, Poet: ‘You Are a Vehicle for Spirit’

Mark-myer-painting-eppleton-hall

The Little Tug That Could — Cross an Ocean. Scott Newhall and the Eppleton Hall

Barbara Falconer Newhall's next book, she hopes, will include columns she wrote for a local newspaper back in the 1980s. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I’m Back! The Writer in Me Is Back With a Book Pitch

MORE DON'T MISS!

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