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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
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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 (Contagious) Case of the Human Condition: How a Mother of Preschool Kids Outsmarts the Mighty Microbe

December 29, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Kindergarten girls playing a hand game. Photo by BF Newhall

I believe in microbes. Microbes are like God. You can’t hear them, taste them, smell them or see them with the naked eye. But you know they’re there. Lately, I’ve had more experiences with microbes than with God. I’ve been sick a lot. Read more.

Snow in California

December 7, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Apparently, it snowed last night on our little hill in Oakland. There was snow all over the place at 11 a.m. — on cars, on the lawn around a local hilltop swimming pool, on Mt. Diablo to the East, and dripping and plopping off the trees.

Help! My Kids Aren’t Perfect After All

November 27, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Little girl with broken arm & chicken pox marks. Photo by BF Newhall

The kids were still pre-schoolers at the time, and it had been another night of sleep deprivation for me. “Tell me it gets easier,” I said to my friend Nancy. “Well, actually it gets harder,” she replied. Nancy has a daughter three years older than Peter. She keeps me briefed on the parenting realities ahead. Read more.

Seaholm: My Old High School — It’s Not Stuck in the Twentieth Century

November 18, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A couple dozen of us took a tour of Birmingham High School, aka Seaholm High, during our reunion weekend in October. It looks like quite of few additions have been made to the building. I thought the designers did quite a good job of being faithful to the Fifties architecture.

A Case of the Human Condition: Some Scenes from Birmingham, Michigan, Today

November 17, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A Case of the Human Condition: It’s Us — The Class of ’59

November 16, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

We just keep getting better and better — and less and less like a bunch of adolescents. The class of 1959, Birmingham High School, Birmingham, Michigan, stopped talking long enough to let me take some pictures — October, 2009.

High School Revisited: The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same — Only Different

November 16, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Seaholm High School Birmingham Michigan exterior. photo by BF Newhall

My old high school, deep in flyover country, has moved into the 21st century: The girls room is now the women’s room and the library the media room. Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Widowed: Who Will Look After Me Now That Jon Is Gone?

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Jon was the one I could count on for rides to car repair shops and colonoscopies. Who will look after me now?  Read more.

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  • A Case of the Human Condition
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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!

Oakland artist Hannah Woebkenberg sits in front of a sculpture she made of pantyhose. Photo by BF Newhall

Oakland’s Jingletown: Arts, Crafts, Cool Kitsch — And Cookies

Christina Newhall says yes to the dress. Her wedding dress -- with a sign from the Nordstrom store. Photo by Barbara Newhall

The Bride Said Yes to the Dress . . . The Mother-of-the-Bride Diaries Begin

steph-curry

Jon Was a Sports Fan. Am I?

recycle-can

Widowed: Are Tears Recyclable?

MORE DON'T MISS!

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