• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • WRESTLING WITH GOD BOOK
  • CONTACT

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.

The Fourth of July — With Liberty and Justice for All

July 1, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

American-flag-detail with liberty and justice for all

Some think flying the American flag is a right-wing thing to do. For me, the flag is a symbol of good old “liberty and justice for all.”  Read more.

Tint My Eyebrows? It’s an Existential Question

June 10, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

fading-eyebrows-aging

It’s an existential question I’ve been asking myself lately: do I go gentle into that good night — or do I tint my eyebrows?  Read more.

Those Wild and Wooly Pandemic Hairdos — Tales From the Covid Shut-Down

June 3, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

wild and wooly pandemic hair woman-with-pandemic-hair

I thought the flawless, pre-covid Nancy Reagan coiffure would fade away, and the wild and wooly pandemic hairdos would prevail. Wrong!  Read more.

Women — Can They Have It All?

May 27, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

women -- can they have it all, like singer-songwriter-jaspar-lepakWomen — can they have it all? Can a woman have the child and her dreams of a career? I say, yes, she can. Go for it!  Read more.

Kegeling With Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin — Tales From the Pandemic Shutdown

May 20, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

michael-douglas-alan-arkin men kegel

I didn’t know men could kegel until I saw actors Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin discussing their kegels in Netflix’s “The Kominsky Method,”  Read more.

An Unruly Garden Tamed at Last

May 13, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

markings-for-a-new-garden-path

An unruly garden tamed: Neglected during the pandemic, it had become a leafy free-for-all with star jasmine tangling with Japanese anemone.  Read more.

In Defense of Pink

April 29, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

encore-autumn-carnation-azalea-in-defense-of-pink

In defense of pink: Pink is a legitimate color. It deserves respect. It’s not teal. It’s not periwinkle. It is pink, and it has a lot to give.  Read more.

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 5
  • Page 6
  • Page 7
  • Page 8
  • Page 9
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 52
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

GET MY Riffs on Life BY EMAIL

True stories often told through a humorous lens–because you just can't make them up!

We respect your privacy and do not share your email with anyone.

 

LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

“Listen to Your Mother” — Moms Across the Country Get the Mic for Mother’s Day

Nancy Davis Kho read from her story published in "Listen to Your Mother" (Putnam) book reading at A Great Good Place for Books bookstore in Oakland, CA, April 24, 2015. Photo by Barbara Newhall

It was a fun night at A Great Good Place for Books when three funny ladies celebrated “Listen to Your Mother” an Erma Bombeck style collection of mom stories. 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

 
Need some levity? Push my Funny Button!

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!

At an exhibit table at the 2014 meeting of the Religion Newswriters Association are Robyn Blumner,Executive Director of the Richard Dawkins Foundation, and Todd Stiefel of Stiefel Freethought Foundation. Photo by Barbara Newhall

The Atheists Are Coming – Out of a Closet Near You

girl-bumper-car

TV or Not TV: The Week We Turned Off Our 1980s Go-To Screen

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

Help! My Kids Aren’t Perfect After All

An oversized red strawberry is bigger than the bowl of the spoon it rests on. Photo by BF Newhall

The Sad State of the Supermarket Strawberry

MORE DON'T MISS!

© 2009–2026 Barbara Falconer Newhall All rights reserved. · Log in