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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."

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.

My Deceased Husband’s Voice — Coming at Me From the Stars

June 24, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

my deceased husband's voice father-daughter

My deceased husband’s voice came at me the other day — from across the years, all the way from 1988 and a summer’s night under the stars.  Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Scrubbing the Floor With My Daughter Cinderella

cover of the vhs version of the disney movie, cinderella

There was no getting around it. Christina, who is 51/2, intended to wash our kitchen floor. She had been studying her “Cinderella” videotape for weeks, and now she wanted nothing more than to scrub. Read more

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

CATEGORIES

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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!

Family photos in frames on bedroom dresser. Photo by BF Newhall

Feng Shui Tip for the Writing Room and the Bedroom — Your Mother’s Not Allowed, and Neither Are the Kids

Barbara Falconer Newhall wearing her vintage Austrian Walkjanker wool jacket from Salzburg. Photo by Jon Newhall

Real Snow in Minnesota . . . and Real Warm in My Real Austrian Walkjanker

cartoonist Cathy Guisewite's new book, "Fifty Thing That Aren't My Fault," arrived in my mailbox yesterday. Can't wait to read it. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Cathy Guisewite: I Can’t Wait to Spend Time With This Funny, Wise Lady

patriotic holiday gifts might include an American flag like this one in Pentwater, MI. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Fifteen Patriotic Holiday Gifts for the Worried Progressives on Your List

MORE DON'T MISS!

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