This is Lake Michigan at sunset from a sweet place in southern Michigan called Union Pier. I took this photo while hanging out at the beach with college friends.
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.
Book Openers: Jon Krakauer — A Macho Writer Who Hooks Me in Every Time
I don’t want to read a book about people dying on the slopes of Mt. Everest. I don’t want to read about murderous Mormon polygamists. Unless, that is, it’s Jon Krakauer telling the story. In which case, I’m in. Read more.
Squeak Carnwath — A (Female) Painter
Squeak Carnwath’s paintings strike me as consumately female. They muse, they introspect, they meander, they talk (lotsa writing on them) — like most women I know.
The Scottville, Michigan, High School Football Team — 1929
A photo of the Scottville, Michigan, High School Football Team — 1929
A Case of the Human Condition: I’m a Woman with a — Sprawling — Past
The trouble with painting inside your closets is — everything has to come out of them.
And then what do you do with all your beloved stuff?
Shepherd Bliss and Men’s Secrets — No Women Allowed
Men’s No. 1 secret, Shepherd Bliss told me, the one they want to keep from women — and other men — is that they, too, feel powerless. Read more.
GodsBigBlog: OK, What’s God’s Big Blog?
“What is GodsBigBlog?” a reader asks. It’s God’s Big Blog — so named because God is big and humanity’s spiritual paths are many. I’m a religion writer in the tradition of Huston Smith . . .