• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • BLOG
  • WRESTLING WITH GOD BOOK
  • CONTACT

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."

Where Author Richard Rodriguez Sees the Face of God

October 2, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Author Richard Rodriguez spoke at Faith Presbyterian Church, Oakland, CA. Photo by Barbara Newhall

When asked why he believed in God, Richard Rodriguez, author of Darling: A Spiritual Autobiography, answered the question with a story about Mother Teresa. Read more.

Dale Chihuly’s Glass: Fine Art? Kitsch? Or Both?

September 25, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Dale Chihuly's early 1970s "Glass Forest" glass sculpture at Chihuly Garden and Glass museum in Seattle. Photo by Barbara NewhallI can’t make up my mind about Dale Chihuly. He’s a glassblower, which makes him a craftsman. But is he also an artist? He’s prolific and his work is popular; does that mean he’s pandering to a mass audience? Is his work fine art—or shameless kitsch? Read more.

Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty: Foley, Sotloff Joined by Dozens Each Year

September 18, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Memorial to journalists killed in the line of duty at the Newseum in Washington, D.C, bears the names of thousands of journalists. Photo by Sam Kittner/Newseum

James Foley and Steven Sotloff are just two of the 50 journalists killed world-wide in the line of duty so far this year. Read more.

A Footwear Meditation–Chic Feet and Stylish Legs on the Go at SFO

September 11, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Mother and daughter wait for airplane at SFO. The girl wears pink socks, her mother wears camouflage pants. PHoto by Barbara Newhall

A parade of fashionable traveling feet transformed itself into a meditation on the passage of time as I waited for a flight out of SFO last month. Read more.

Tudor Bungalows in the Twin Cities—Little Houses With a Big Sense of Humor

September 4, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

tudor roof with round arch above the window in Minneapolis. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Can a house have a sense of humor? I never gave it thought until I visited Minneapolis and was treated to street after street of droll Tudor bungalows. Read more.

Point-and-Shoot Heaven: Photographing a Flower Garden Just Before Dusk

August 28, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Rudbeckia and echinacea in a flourishing Minnesota flower garden. Photo by Barbara Newhall

A little rain, a little dirt, a little sun, some red wiggler worms, and a few kitchen scraps and you’ve got yourself a flower garden. My Minnesota gardener friend makes it look that easy. Read more and see some photos.

Writers Need Editors – And Mine Wants My Manuscript Turned In, Now

August 21, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Barbara Falconer Newhall frowns and frets as she gets started on editing the manuscript for her book, "Wrestling with God." Photo by Barbara Newhall

It’s time to put the final tweaks and edits on my book manuscript so that my editor can send it off to be formatted – and published. It’s been years since I started work on “Wrestling with God.” I’ve written draft after draft and tried format after format. I’ve been wrestling with that manuscript and what I want this book to be as fiercely as I’ve been wrestling with God and who that might be. Read more.

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 57
  • Page 58
  • Page 59
  • Page 60
  • Page 61
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 85
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

GET MY Riffs on Life BY EMAIL

True stories often told through a humorous lens–because you just can't make them up!

We respect your privacy and do not share your email with anyone.

 

LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Which Way America? Compassion With Francis? Or Vitriol With Trump?

Cover of Pope Francis' book, "Open Mind, Faithful Heart." With a picture of the pope.

Pope Francis and Donald Trump couldn’t be more different — in the way they respect (Francis) and disrespect (Donald) their fellow human beings. 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!

Young man wearing a black shirt and red tie greets guests at Minneapolis' Bachelor Farmer restaurant.

The Mother-in-Law Diaries: A Groom’s Dinner at a Place Called the Bachelor Farmer

Ten-year-old Peter Newhall has just won at Final Fantasy I in 1991. Photo by BF Newhall

Confessions of a Nintendo Mom: The Day I Unplugged My Eight-Year-Old

Barbara Falconer Newhall at age 75, one year after publication of Wrestling with God. the Big Seven-Five. Photo by Barbara Newhall

The Shame of Aging: The Big Seven-Five Has Finally Arrived

The audience of about 40 people at Barbara Falconer Newhall's author event for "Wrestling wiht God" on april 11, 2015, at Book Passage bookstore. Photo by Jon Newhall

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

MORE DON'T MISS!

© 2009–2026 Barbara Falconer Newhall All rights reserved. · Log in