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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

DON'T MISS!

I've written hundreds and hundreds of posts over the years. To help you find your way to the best of the best, I've tagged my favorites "Don't Miss!" Scroll down here to find them.

Another way to locate Riffs on Life that you might enjoy is to click above on your favorite category – "My Ever-Changing Family," perhaps, or "Funny Button." You can also use the search box located way up top to hunt for stories by topic. There's fun reading at "garden," "aging," "kids" and, of course, "Jon."

Widowed: No Dreary Memorial Brick for My Husband

October 1, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

widowed memorial-brick-jon-newhall

A memorial brick for Jon in the new neighborhood plaza? Yes, but only if it could also bear the names of the people who loved him. Read more. 

My Deceased Husband’s Laptop — I Fixed It Myself!

September 24, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

my deceased husband's laptop

My deceased husband’s laptop had become my favorite, fun laptop in the months following his death. But now I couldn’t open it. Read more.

Widowed: I Don’t Like My Life

September 17, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

I don't like my life, but I did like my sunny-cheerful-airbnb-house

I’m widowed and I don’t like my life. Stranded 2,000 miles from home with covid proved easier than facing the life that awaited me back home.  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.

A Week With Fellow Writers — Surprising Me With Gifts

July 30, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

[caption id="attachment_36196" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]communityi-of-writers-2022 We writers go to workshops, manuscripts in hand, hoping to get helpful feedback from our fellow writers. Sometimes we get more than we hoped.  Read more.[/caption]

Happily Married? One of You Is Going to Get Your Heart Broken

July 23, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

couple-on-michiga-beach -- happily married? One of you is going to get your heart broken

When I see a happy couple, long-married or newlywed, I want to say, “Happily married? One of you is going to get your heart broken some day.”  Read more.

My Deceased Husband’s Mail — I Like Getting It

July 9, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

charity-donations

When my deceased husband’s mail arrives in our mailbox, it’s often from charities he supported, so a little bit of him shows up along with it.  Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

My Years Are Numbered. Give Me Those Blossoms — Now

lavender-stalk my years are numbered

My years are numbered. Who knows, I might be at the point where I’ve got more money than time. Give me the plant that’s ready to bloom — now.  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!

Book contests. An IPPY gold medal awarded to Wrestling with God, by Barbara Falconer Newhall, 2016. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Kudos for Wrestling with God — The Author Shamelessly Keeps Score

TINKA-FALCONER

The Darkening Days — And My Mother’s Last Hours

Robert Tharratt portrait. Man with beard and glasses. World War II vets. Barbara Newhall photo

How Three World War II POWs Saved Each Other’s Lives

Armistead Maupin signs his book, "The Days of Ana Madrigal," at Book Passage, SF Ferry Building. Photo by BF Newhall

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

MORE DON'T MISS!

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