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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

My Ever-Changing Family

Our family shrinks and grows. People die. People get born. People get mad and won't talk to you for a while. Kids grow up and find partners of their own, and pretty soon there are brand-new in-laws. And a grandchild or two.

Mother-of-the-Bride Dress: What, Oh, What Do I Wear to My Daughter’s Wedding?

April 27, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

smoke blue mother-of-the-bride dress. Photo by Barbara Newhall
Figure flaws? I’m going to wear them proudly — with the help of just the right mother-of-the-bride dress. Here are my final four choices. Read more.

Six Ways to Look Dreadful at Your Daughter’s Wedding — A Mother-of-the-Bride Moment

April 20, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A mother of the bride tries on dresses to cover her figure flaws -- flabby arms, wobbly neck and falling bustline. Photo by Barbara Newhall

The mother of the bride faces up to the figure flaws she’ll be taking to her daughter’s wedding: wobbly neck, flabby arms, descending bustline . . . and more. Read more.

Gray Hairs. Wrinkles. And Kids Who Won’t Stop Growing Up

April 13, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Christina, Jon and Peter. Their mother had gray hairs, bu the kids were still small enough to cuddle. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Peter’s in fourth grade now. My third grade boy is gone. Christina has grown an inch since Easter. My size 6 girl is gone.  Read more.

No to Bride Barbie — Yes to a Real-Life Wedding

February 16, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Christina Newhall, age 7, playing tug of war at a party. Photo by Barbara Newhall

My 7-year-old wanted nothing to do with her Bride Barbie doll. But twenty-five years later, she’s ready to be a bride for real. Read more.

A Lost Child in Wartime Detroit — A Headscarf Story

February 9, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

a lost child in wartime Detroit . Kern's Department Store, Detori., 1942. Photo courtesy of US Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information - Library of Congress-Prints & Photographs online catalog Public Domain 1942-07-00

I couldn’t see the point of my mother’s skimpy yellow babushka — until the day I found myself a lost child in a cavernous Detroit department store. Read more.

Regulations: Will Trump’s Slash and Trash Deregulation Put Americans at Risk?

January 30, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Our future after regulation 'reform'? More scenes like the Oakland Ghost Ship fire that killed 36 mostly young people, artists, musicians, LGBTQ folks. A few days after the fire, it was cordoned off as a "crime scene." Photo by Barbara Newhall

Do we really want to dispense with government regulations that prevent disasters — like the Ghost Ship warehouse fire that killed 36? Read more.

Autumn in the Garden, When Sensible Plants Pack It In for the Winter . . . And a Healing Ankle

January 26, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Autumn in the garden where, like it or not, the seasons impose their wills on every living thing. Photo by Barbara Newhall

It was autumn in the garden and all the grim stuff that happens as winter sets in — death, rot, shrivel and retreat — made for a thing of beauty. Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Jesus Was a Loser — Does That Make Donald Trump a Winner?

Barbara Falconer Newhall with Scott Dikkers, editor of "Trump's America: The Complete Loser's Guide" at Book Expo America 2016. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Jesus was a loser who couldn’t keep his hair out of his eyes. That’s satirist Scott Dikkers channeling Donald Trump in his new — very funny — book “Trump’s America: The Loser’s Guide.” Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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  • A Case of the Human Condition
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  • On Writing & Reading
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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!

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Widowed: My Husband Keeps Dying on Me

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Widowed: Am I Grieving? Or Am I Just Lonely?

asphalt crew at work filling in gutter in front of my house. Photo by Barbara Newhall

The Writing Room: Am I Stuck? Or Am I Just Taking a Little Housekeeping Break?

Huston Smith at Sagrada bookstore, oakland, ca. 2009. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Huston Smith Dies at 97: A Mentor to Me . . . and Millions

MORE DON'T MISS!

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