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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.

Comedian Robert Morse – Dead at 90. Very Much Alive at 36

April 23, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

comedian robert morse in a Clip from Man Men TV show showing Robert Morse singing and dancing with secretaries.

The last time I saw comedian Robert Morse he was a young guy, a fireball. It was 1967 and he was working the crowd on the set of a TV show.  Read more.

Am I Too Old to Lose That Weight? My Doctor Says I Am

April 9, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 14 Comments

 too old to lose that weight? using-the-bathroom-scale

Is my doctor giving up on me now that I’ve turned 80? Does he think I don’t have many good years left — and I’m too old to lose that weight?  Read more.

Zelensky’s TV Show — What ‘Servant of the People’ Says About Ukraine

April 2, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

zelensky's tv show servant-of-the-people-riding-bike

Volodymyr Zelensky’s TV show — a comedy — explains a lot. Like why the Ukrainian people did not roll over and play dead for Putin. Read more.

Beware. The Decluttering Craze Could Leave You Holding the Designer Handbag.

March 12, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 9 Comments

satsuma-lamp decluttering

Everybody’s decluttering, including my friends and family, and sometimes other people’s unwanted stuff ends up on my doorstep.  Read more.

Grievance and Outrage — Good in Small Doses

February 12, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 12 Comments

mouth-of- grievance and outrage

Grievance and outrage have soured American discourse, public and private, for the past five years. And, yes, I find that outrageous. Read more.

Wishing You a Hope-y New Year

January 1, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 10 Comments


hope-y new year times-square-new-years

Hope-y New Year! Here’s to a hope-filled 2022. Not because hope will solve the climate crisis or end the culture wars. But just . . . because.  Read more.

What Do You Say When Someone Dies?

November 6, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 12 Comments

condolence-cards

What do you say when someone dies? How to console a friend? There’s not much you can say do do — except to just be there.  Read more.

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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Writing Retreat Report — I Got Some Work Done. Thanks for Holding Me Accountable

Oakland-Tribune-column-Barbara-Falconer-Newhall

On my retreat I discovered that those columns I wrote as a young mom back in the 20th century have a lot to say to the 21st century.  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!

11th Annual Tower Chapel Tulip Exhibition, Mouintain View Cemetery, Oakland, CA "F9UND OBJECT IN A BED OF TULIPS," STAFFORD BUCKLEY GARDEN RESTORATION, OAKLAND

What a Tulip Can Do — If You Ask It

A chinese girl in navy sweater and white collar gives the peace sign to foreigners on the GReat Wall. Photo by BF Newhall

For China’s Young Fashionistas the Cultural Revolution Is So Over

children's book reviewer barbara falconer newhall has tossed a children's book in the trash. Photo by BF Newhall

Do Books Have Rights? This One Didn’t. I Threw It in the Trash.

Barbara Falconer Newhall's book Wrestling with God: Stories of Doubt and Faith on sale at Book Passage bookstore, Corte Madera, California. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Journalist Kay Campbell: ‘WWG Bows to the Enduring Mystery of the Universe’

MORE DON'T MISS!

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