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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
  • FUNNY BUTTON

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.

What to Do With Those Ugly Snapdragons Now That They’re (Almost) Dead?

July 3, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Those ugly blood-red snapdragons are gone from our front yard. I pulled them out, and my rock garden is the better for it.

A Case of the Human Condition: I Did It — I Offed Those Frightful Snapdragons

June 29, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

I yanked those ugly maroon snapdragons out by the roots. My front yard color scheme has been restored, and all is right with the world.

A Case of the Human Condition: I Want to Kill My Snapdragons

June 26, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Maroon snapdragons growing in the yard of Barbara Falconer Newhall. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Those maroon snapdragons in my front yard are ugly. But they’re alive. Can I rip them out? Read more.

Early Late Youth Gives Way to Middle Middle Age

June 12, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

When I was twenty, I didn’t want to be thirty. When I was forty, I considered fifty a disaster. And now that I’m sixty-seven I don’t want to even think about sixty-seven, let alone sixty-eight.

A Case of the Human Condition: Swing, Lindy, Fast Dancing — My Kind of Crazy

June 8, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Jon and I spent the weekend at his high school reunion in Southern California. Check out these youtube videos of the dancing from the era.

A Case of the Human Condition: What Happens When You’re Young, Beautiful — and American — in England

June 4, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

By Barbara Falconer Newhall I have a  total of three gorgeous, young nieces. One of them, Julie, went to the famous Ascot races in England last year, with astonishing results. Julie thought she was doing most of the people-watching at Ascot that day. But it turns out that some people were watching her. Before she […]

A Case of the Human Condition: Long-Distance Mothering

June 2, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Peter is fine. His appendix was twice the size of normal. But it’s gone for good.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Widowed: Where’s My Lead Pony?

antler-bar

A lead pony is the seasoned horse who escorts a anxious racehorse to the gate, exerting a calming presence. I’m widowed. Where’s my lead pony?  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!

In My Rain-Battered Garden — Nothing Is Forever, Not Even Those Poppies

Crying 18-month-old girl in arms of a babysitter. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Telephoning Those Teenage Babysitters — Rejected Again

Winter Solstice — My Mother’s Last Words to Me Before She Died

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

MORE DON'T MISS!

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