‘Tis the season to declutter — to ditch the 1960s peace flag and make room for the garlic roaster and the pickleball paddles. Or is it? 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.
Blood and Guts in My Backyard. Or, Nature Tidies Up
Blood and guts in my backyard: A half-eaten deer lay sprawled under my cypress tree. Ravens croaked the news from the tree above. Read more.
Betty Rollin: A Light Has Gone Out. And So Have Many Others
Betty Rollin: A light has gone out. And so have many others — Rosalynn Carter, Harry Belafonte, Dianne Feinstein, Cormac McCarthy, Daniel Ellsberg … Read more.
Talking Turkey
It’s Thanksgiving, time to talk turkey. Read more.
Is Hamas Evil? Is Anybody Evil? Am I? Are You?
Is anybody truly evil? Is Hamas? Am I? Are you? Or are we humans evolved — created? — to be sometimes kind, sometimes cruel? Read more.
Barbie — Sex Object or Blank Slate?
Barbie: A sex object? Or a blank slate for girls to project their dreams on? Neither, if your daughter wants a doll who can fight dragons. Read more.
Is It OK to Kill Stuff? Yes, If It’s a Mosquito or a Eucalyptus Tree
Is it OK to kill stuff? I couldn’t kill the spider lurking in my shower. But I can kill invasive eucalyptus trees and dive-bombing mosquitoes. Read more.