• 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."

A Brutal Forced March Across Germany — A ‘Wrestling with God’ Story

July 27, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 4 Comments

brutal forced march across Germany robert-tharratt-barbara-falconer-newhall

Decades after he endured a brutal forced march across Germany, World War II POW Robert Tharratt told his story for my book, “Wrestling with God.”  Read more.

Getting Older: I’m Not ‘Keeping Busy’

July 20, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 12 Comments

older: I'm not 'keeping busy'

I’m getting older and older. I’m not ‘keeping busy.’ I’m busy, which is not the same thing.  Read more.

Widowed: My Husband Is Missing Out — On the Sight of Two Galaxies Dancing in Space

July 13, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

NASA-dual-galaxies

I’ve been widowed three years. My husband has missed out on a lot in that time, including a parade of images from the Webb Space Telescope. Read more.

Widowed: Marriage Mistakes — If I Could Have a Do-Over, Would I?

July 6, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 6 Comments

marriage mistakes widowed a-mans-sock-drawer

Widowed, I think often of my marriage mistakes. Did I leave too many tender words unsaid? Too many small kindnesses undone? Should I have mated his socks for him after I took them out of the dryer?   Read more.

Widowed: We Were Two People — And a Marriage

June 29, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 4 Comments

jon-barbara-newhall-wedding

Jon and I were two people — and the marriage we’d created over the years.  Read more.

‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ — Fun Words, Now Playing in Berkeley

June 22, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 6 Comments

the-lifespan-of-a-fact

Good natured but dead serious, “The Lifespan of a Fact,” raises questions that writers of nonfiction are constantly asking themselves.  Read more.

That Old Tub-Shower Has Got to Go

June 15, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 6 Comments

tile-choices-for-bath-renovation

That old tub-shower has got to go. A stall shower will be much safer. No quartz for me, though. I’m going for colorful tile and a 1950s vibe.  Read more.

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 4
  • Page 5
  • Page 6
  • Page 7
  • Page 8
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 81
  • 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

I Can’t Believe I Got in the Water With That 1400-Pound Whale

Marine World foto, Newspaper reporter Barbara Falconer Newhall in wet suit and Marine World trainer Deirdre Ballou in boots and rain coat with bottle-nosed dolphin Spock at edge of tank in 1979. Marine World photo.

Last weekend I watched the CNN documentary “Blackfish” and saw a Sea World trainer attacked and pulled underwater by an out-of-control killer whale. I had to wonder — could that have been me? “Blackfish” traces the deadly history of killer whales at places like Sea World, and it brought back memories of the day I found myself in a tank of water with a 1400-pound pilot whale named Koko. 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!

I Let the Maytag Man Into the House. And I Here’s What I Learned About Human Nature. Sheltering at Home Week 7

man-cooking-in-den

Our Remodel Has Kept Us Company — We’ll Miss the Carpenters, the Electricians and the Pile Drivers. Sheltering at Home Week 11

barbara-falconer-newhall-writer-FB-page

Am I an Artist? Or Am I a Brand?

Garden Artisan Jillian Steinberger prunes the camellias in Barbara Falconer Newhall's yard. Photo by Barbara Newhall

In the Garden With the Grammar Geek: Is It Ever OK to Use the Passive Voice?

MORE DON'T MISS!

© 2009–2025 Barbara Falconer Newhall All rights reserved. · Log in