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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
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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."

With a Little Luck You’ll Live Long Enough to Breed Flies in Your Attic

August 10, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Dead flies caught on sticky fly paper. They didn't live long. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Back in 1987 old age seemed a long ways away. It still does.  Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: When Your Six-Year-Old Wants to Talk Money

July 27, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A six-year-old talks money. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Our 6-year-old wanted an allowance. Jon and I debated: 50 cents a week? 75? “Let’s not talk in cents,” said Peter. “Let’s talk in dollars.” Read more.

The American Flag Is Flying in My Liberal, Elitist, San Francisco Bay Area Neighborhood Today. Here’s Why.

July 4, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Stars and Stripes. A man hangs the American flag on the front of his house. Photo by Barbara Newhall

‘The right wingers don’t own the American flag flag,’ I said as my husband hung the Stars and Stripes from our garage. ‘It’s my flag too.’ Read more.

For One Night I Was Important Again. Thank You Armistead Maupin

June 22, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

I was important at the cast party for "The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin, San Francisco, June 15, 2017. Barbara Falconer Newhall and Jonathan Groff of TV show "Looking." Photo by Jon Newhall

At a party for “The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin” I discovered I was important enough to score quality time with the likes of Jonathan Groff. Read more.

A Dream About Wrestling With — Uh, Who Was That Anyway?

June 8, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A dream about wrestling. Detail of a column in the Wurzburg Cathedral, shaped in a knot. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I had a dream about wrestling the other night. Was it a message from my deep psyche — or the heights of heaven? Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: Would My Husband Like to Add My Name to His?

May 29, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Jon whose middle name is still not Falconer after 35 years of not being Jon Falconer Newhall -- cooking dinner for my birthday in 2011. He's still comfortable in the kitchen and at the supermarket. Photo by Barbara Falconer Newhall

When Jon and I married, I wanted to share a name with him and our future children. I took his last name. Would he like to take mine as his middle name? Read more.

They Did It — They Got Married (And the Bride Was Beautiful)

May 18, 2017 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

The bride was beautiful. A crystal headpiece set off Christina Newhall's short dark hair on her wedding day in May. Photo by Barbara Newhall

The bride was beautiful. The setting was exquisite. The band kept everyone jumping. Everything a mother of the bride could hope for. Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

A Case of the Human Condition: I’ve Got a Dirty Little Secret — I (Still) Can’t Say No to Toys

ewok hut toy about 16 inches tall with ewok characters. Photo by BF Newhall

Some people can’t resist chocolate. For others, it’s clothes. Some folks, oddly enough, will spend $110,000 on a Ferrari with no back seat and hardly any trunk. Imagine that . . . For me as the mother of young children, toys were my weakness. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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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!

jon krakauer photo

Book Openers: Jon Krakauer — A Macho Writer Who Hooks Me in Every Time

Pages in Hebrew and Aramaic from the Bleichrode Jewish prayer book published in 1923 in Franfurt. Photo by BF Newhall

Who Is a Jew? The Pew Research Center Tackles the Question — And Gets Some Answers

Auschwitz. Star of David patches were sewn on to the clothing of Jews during Nazi domination of Eastern Europe. On display at the Dohany Stree Synagogue, Budapest. Photo by Barbara Newhall

A Mother Who Prevailed at Auschwitz

Jeff Greenwald, author of "Shopping for Buddhas," settled on purchasing this Buddha during his shopping serach in Nepal. It is the touching the Earth Buddha mudra. Photo by Barbara Newhall writers

Jeff Greenwald and Kevin Griffin — A Funny Buddhist and a Happy One

MORE DON'T MISS!

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