Things were getting serious. My boyfriend had moved his goldfish into my apartment. I had returned from a long weekend to find that Jon had moved his dimestore pets from his place to mine. He was sheepish about this.
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.
Brutality Begets Brutality, That’s Why Torture is Not OK — An American POW’s Story
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Halle, Germany, today with its castle and the Salle River c 2009 Stadt Halle, Salle[/caption]
Halle, Germany, today with its castle and the Salle River c 2009 Stadt Halle, Salle[/caption]
I’d like the forty-nine percent of Americans who say torture is sometimes justified to hear the story of an American POW who survived a brutal forced march during World War II. My conclusion: Brutality begets brutality. Read more.
Death Is the Only Guarantee
Our bodies should be more like our cars. When a car fails, we can trade it in for a new one, but not our bodies. Some of my friends’ bodies are failing them at a very young age. Read more.
The Writing Room: To Niche or Not to Niche?
Where’s my niche – spiritually, philosophically, politically? As a writer? For a writer, nichelessness can be a problem. I’m a hopelessly open-minded, doubting, wondering, yearning skeptic who senses the Holy at work in all sorts of people — Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, atheists.
A Case of the Human Condition: Feminine, Feminist Pink
Christina likes pink. Given a choice, my five-year-old daughter will take the pink balloon, the pink panties, the pink baseball bat. Read more.
A Case of the Human Condition: When Your Six-Year-Old Wants to Talk Money
My six-year-old wanted an allowance. Jon and I debated. Fifty cents a week? 75? “Let’s not talk in cents,” said Peter. “Let’s talk in dollars.” Read more.
A Mother Who Prevailed at Auschwitz
When Ernie Hollander’s family arrived at Auschwitz in 1944, his mother was ordered to the right, his sisters to the left. Read more.