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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
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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."

A Newspaper Story With My Name on It — That I Didn’t Have to Write

May 11, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A newsrack in Oakland California showing papers by Bay Area News Group, which ran a story on May 10, 2015. It's an interview with Barbara Falconer Newhall, author, by Georgia Howe. Photo by Barbara Newhall

For once I was the interviewee and someone else was doing the hard work of conducting the interview. A newspaper reporter was asking my about my new book, “Wrestling with God.” Read more.

Coleman Barks and Rumi — What a Few Lines of Poetry (and a Witch) Taught me

May 9, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A trail alongside Bon Tempe Lake in Marin county, California. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I’d always imagined Coleman Barks to be a stern scholarly type — till I emailed him for permission to use a few lines from his Rumi translations in my book. Read more.

Telephoning Those Teenage Babysitters — Rejected Again

May 2, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

An ivory colored touch-tone telephone, c.irca 1970s, with coiled cord and handset. A babysitter phone list is next to it. Photo by Barbara Newhall

What did teenage boys and moms in need of a babysitter have in common back in the day? They had to call up teenage girls. Read more.

What If You Threw a Book Launch — And Everybody Came?

April 23, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A room full of empty chairs at Book Passage bookstore, California, awaits Barbara Falconer Newhall's book launch for "Wrestling with God." Photo by Jon Newhall

Was anyone going to show up? My author event Book Passage  would start soon, and there were dozens of very empty chairs, waiting to be filled. Read more.

Another Bunch of Bouquets to Art 2015

April 21, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Members of the Flower Committee of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco created floral designs to decorate the ladies room at the DeYoung Museum for the 2015 Bouquets to Art Show. Author Barbara Falconer Newhall takes a selfie in the mirror. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I found more photos from last week’s Bouquets to Art show at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco. So . . . here’s another bunch of bouquets. See more.

The Best Things in Life . . . Have Been There Since High School

April 16, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Cindy Weyant plays chess at the National Open in Las Vegas in 2010. Photo by Barbara Newhall

 My niece had died. My mind scrambled for a way to face this loss. It found comfort in a surprisingly simple place: a visit from a high school friend. Read more.

A Cemetery Comes to LIfe — With Tulips

April 9, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Tulips of many colors hang upside down over the entrance to the Tower Chapel at Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, Calif., during its annual Tulip Exhibition. The design, titled "Puddle Jumping," is by the Merritt College Floral Design Department. Photo by Barbara Newhall

By now my faithful readers know that I’ve got a thing about tulips. So, of course, I dropped everything to take in a local tulip show last weekend. Read more.

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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

A Case of the Human Condition: A Half Century Later I’m Still a Size 10 . . . OK, 12

Two teenager girls in Bermuda shorts, 1950s. Photo by DG Falconer

I wore a size 10 in high school way back in 1959 and a size 12 in college. That was twenty plus pounds ago, but I can still squeeze into size 10 (or 12) jeans. Am I remembering my young self all wrong? Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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  • A Case of the Human Condition
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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!

covid-19-warning

Sheltering at Home Revisited: The Virus Arrives

Barbara Falconer Newhall's next book, she hopes, will include columns she wrote for a local newspaper back in the 1980s. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I’m Back! The Writer in Me Is Back With a Book Pitch

a mural of guadalupe is painted on the wall of a check cashing establishment in east Austin TX. photo by bf newall

American Hispanics: They Like the Pope, but the Church — Not So Much

Ceramic cake by Richard Shaw -- "Bride and Ship, 2003." Photo by BF Newhall

Ceramics Envy at the Berkeley Art Center — I Want to Get My Hands into that Earthy, Messy, Squishy Clay

MORE DON'T MISS!

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