Hey, everybody! Come take a look at my updated website — lots of great stories and pretty good pictures.
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.
A Case of the Human Condition: Am I Scotch?* Or Midwestern?
Genealogically speaking, I’m not that far removed from Scotland. My father’s father was born near Glasgow. But the complex – presumably – set of beliefs and customs he and his parents brought with them to the shores of Lake Michigan in 1873 are lost to me now. Tartans have given way to Levi’s. Haggis has succumbed to pizza and Chinese take-out. When I think about where I come from, I do not think of Scotland. I think of Michigan. Read More.
A Checkerspot Butterfly in Marin — And Other Insects I Have Known and (Tried to) Love
Zumba at The Hills! Authentic, Never-Before-Published Video of Real People Moving Their Bods!
Want to see some sexy dancing? My favorite Zumba teachers and their fast-footed Zumba students show their stuff on a video. That’s me on the left. Read more.
My Mother’s Goneness
My mother is gone, but when she died, she left a few things behind — a battered old purse, a small sofa she liked to call the loveseat. Read more.
Confessions of a Carnivore: Why Eating Meat is OK — Sorta
[caption id="attachment_8640" align="aligncenter" width="500"]
Cattle feed lot extending acres into the distance at Harris Ranch, CA. Photo by BF Newhall[/caption]
Cattle feed lot extending acres into the distance at Harris Ranch, CA. Photo by BF Newhall[/caption]
I don’t see a clear difference between slaughtering a pig and cutting down a seven-story tree. Between netting the wild salmon I eat for dinner and harvesting my breakfast oats. Faced with a choice between killing a pig and killing the tree in our backyard – I’d kill the pig. Read more.
I’m a Meat-Eating Loser – I Didn’t Win the New York Times Ethicist Contest
I’m a meat-eating loser. I didn’t win the “Why It’s OK to Eat Meat” essay contest the New York Times Magazine put on a few weeks ago. But I’m OK with that. Read more.