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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.

Blood and Guts in My Backyard. Or, Nature Tidies Up

December 2, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

blood and guts in my backyard raven-california

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

November 30, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

betty rollin a light has gone out rosalynn-carter-casket

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

November 18, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A Thanksgiving turkey, roasted brown and ready to carve. Photo by Barbara Newhall

It’s Thanksgiving, time to talk turkey. Read more.

Is Hamas Evil? Is Anybody Evil? Am I? Are You?

October 14, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

joe-biden-speaks-Is-anybody-evil

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?

July 29, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

barbie-sex-object-or-blank-slate an-8-year-old-girl-living-out-her-fantasies-as-a-swordswoman

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

July 22, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

invasive-eucalyptus-in-california

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.

My Front Yard — It’s a Happening Place

July 15, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

my front yard -- it's a happening place ,with this lush-flower-garden

My front yard — it’s a happening place. Life forms are shooting up all over it, greedily taking up their allotted space in the universe.  Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Cathy Guisewite: I Can’t Wait to Spend Time With This Funny, Wise Lady

cartoonist Cathy Guisewite's new book, "Fifty Thing That Aren't My Fault," arrived in my mailbox yesterday. Can't wait to read it. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Cathy Guisewite, cartoonist and author of “Fifty Things That Aren’t My Fault,” writes the way I want to write: with humor and grace. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

CATEGORIES

  • A Case of the Human Condition
  • My Ever-Changing Family
  • On Writing & Reading
  • My Rocky Spiritual Journey

 
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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!

Two schoolage kids in a friendly fight. Polaroid phot by Dave Falconer

When Your Kids Don’t Fight — Enough

D.B. Falconer building tree house. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Wisdom From My Father — Or, How to Sweep the Kitchen Floor

Simeis 147, a faint supernova remnant with a tangle of filaments. NASA image.

The Somethingists — They Don’t Believe in God, but They Do Believe in . . . Something

Small tweed and leather purse. Photo by BF Newhall

My Mother’s Goneness

MORE DON'T MISS!

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