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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.

An Urban Oasis: Keeping It Wild — And Fire Resistant

November 26, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

trimming-tree-urban-oasis

Beaconsfield Canyon was blighted with trash and invasive species — until its human neighbors took it upon themselves to restore their wild urban oasis.  Read more.

Scan Those Family Photos — Today!

October 8, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

scan family photos family-photos-in-boxes-by-year

I have a closet big enough to store 38 shoe boxes packed with photos and negatives. My kids do not. It’s time to scan those family photos. Read more.

I Got Covid — Finally

August 27, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

I've got covid. here's my positive-covid-test

I finally did it. I got covid and ‘m feeling sick. But not too sick to do some on-line shopping for warm PJs to fend off the covid chills.  Read more.

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

August 13, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

[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

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

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

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.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Armistead Maupin: The Man Who Wrote the Quintessential San Francisco Novel — On a Newspaper Deadline

Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin reads from "The Days of Ana Madrigal" at Book Passage, SF Ferry Building

Army’s assignment was to show up at the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle every weekday morning and produce seven hundred words, give or take. The challenging part was this: Unlike most newspaper journalists, Army did not sit down to his Selectric typewriter fortified with a fat notebook of stats and quotes. Army’s job was not to report the news. It was to make it up. 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!

the politics of houseork. a man is working in the kithcen. Photo by barbara newhall

The Politics of Housework, Revisited

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

I’m Thankful for Friends, Family, Pumpkin Pie and — It’s a Girl!

Copy of a jury duty summons and juror badge superior court of california. Photo by BF Newhall

In Judge Harbin-Forte’s Courtroom — Where Jury Duty Is an Exercise in Mindfulness

clock-12:01

My Days Are Numbered — And So Are My Minutes

MORE DON'T MISS!

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