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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.

Guo Pei’s Wearable Splendor (Wearable? Maybe Not. Splendid? Oh, Yes)

August 13, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

[caption id="attachment_36247" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]guo-pei-east-palace  [/caption]

The opulent imaginings of China’s premier couturier Guo Pei are on view at San Francisco’s Palace of the Legion of Honor through Sept. 5.  Read more.

Help! I Can’t Remember the Names of My Flowers

July 16, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 10 Comments

i can't remember the names of my flowers

I love my new flower garden. But, for the life of me, I can’t remember the tongue-twister names of my flowers: Aquilegia? Armeria? Scabiosa?  Read more.

Gun Rights — Who Owns the Second Amendment?

June 11, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

Mourners-at-Uvalde who owns the second amendment?

Who owns the Second Amendment? The Americans who own guns? Or the people who sell them?  Read more.

Jon Was a Sports Fan. Am I?

June 4, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 8 Comments

steph-curry a fave with sports fans

Jon loved sports. I didn’t. But I did love Jon, and he was a sports fan, so I followed his teams. Now that he’s gone, am I still a sports fan? Read more.

There’s a Pollinator in My Pollinator Garden

May 21, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 17 Comments

woodland-skipper-butterfly

The columbine, the statice and the armeria had been planted only a week earlier, but already there was a pollinator in my pollinator garden.  Read more.

A Pollinator Garden: Putting In Flowers and Hoping for the Birds, the Bees and the Beetles

May 14, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 12 Comments

flower-garden-plants

I want flowers. I want a pollinator garden. I want the crazy daisies, the seaside fleabane, the irises — and the birds and the bugs.  Read more.

The Abortion Wars: Forcing a Woman to Continue a Pregnancy Is a Form of Assault

May 7, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 15 Comments

the-abortion-wars pregnant-woman

Requiring a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term is an assault on her agency as a person. It’s also literally an assault on her body.  Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

My Purple Rain Garden: Is the Universe Trying to Tell Me Something?

Pansies so purple they appear black -- are they flourishing in honor of Purple Rain by pop singer Prince? Photo by Barbara Newhall

Lots of rain and lots of purple in our garden this year. Purple nemesia, purple iris, purple pansies. What gives? Is this a Purple Rain message from the spirit world? Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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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!

Image of Jesus Christ from the Hagia Sophia. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I Searched for Jesus, and Here’s What I Found

A stack of books on getting published in the library of author Barbara Falconer Newhall. Photo by Barbara Newhall

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Two deep pink tulips bloom at Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, CA. Photo by BF Newhall

Tulips and Sex — Writing as If Everyone I Know Were Dead

Author Don Lattin, Photo by Deanne Fitzmaurice

Author Don Lattin: Americans Are More Thoughtful About Religion Than We Think

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