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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."

The Mother-of-the-Groom Diaries: They Did It. They Got Married

June 6, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 5 Comments

A Minneapolis bride and groom with a young cousin, May, 2013. Photo by BF NewhallThey pulled it off. They got married. They said their vows. They were pronounced husband and wife in Minneapolis on May 25.

I Can’t Take My Eyes Off Those Flowers — From the Mighty Rose to the Humble Daisy

May 23, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 3 Comments

Yellow roses by Svenja Brotz of Chestut and Vine Floral Design, Berkeley, CA. Photo by BF Newhall

The fine artist wannabe in me asserts that, as a rule of thumb, flowers are just too nice, too darned pretty to be the subject of Real Art. Real Art needs grit. It needs to be problematic. It needs tension. Something has to be askew. Flowers, on the other hand, never seem troubled to me, or even ruffled. Read more.

At Point Reyes: Wild Flowers . . . and Animals Wild and Tame

May 16, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 4 Comments

Dairy cows returning to the barn cross a public road at Point Reyes, CA. Photo by BF Newhall

A couple of weeks ago, I mourned the loss of little hill in Michigan called Eagle Top. This week I’d like to celebrate a place that — unlike Eagle Top — has been preserved in all its wild and pastoral beauty – the vast triangle of land along the California coast known as Point Reyes, and especially the narrow outcropping called Chimney Rock.

In the Garden: Look What Happened to My Front Yard Over the Weekend

May 9, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 6 Comments

San Francisco Bay Area rock garden with geranium and blue-eyed grass tucked alongside moss rocks. Photo by BF Newhall

I wasn’t looking. I was at the computer all weekend with my back to the world. When I finally took a bleary look out the window Monday morning, I saw a front yard crazy with life — poppies, blue-eyed grass, armeria, pansies and several lascivious stalks of lupine blossoms. Read more.

On the Shores of Lake Michigan — Eagle Top, a Wild Place Tamed

May 2, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 10 Comments

A channel crosses a sand beach and empties into Lake Michigan. Photo by BF Newhall

Somebody owns Eagle Top. They bought it ten years ago and built a cottage on it. I didn’t think it was possible to buy, sell or own Eagle Top. Eagle Top was a wild place. I thought it belonged to itself. Read more.

The Mother-of-the-Groom Diaries — Am I Too Old for Splashy Earrings?

April 25, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 18 Comments

Writer Barbara Falconer Newhall tries on Swarovsky earrings with her mother-of-the-groom gown. Photo by BF Newhall

The long dress I was planning to wear to my son’s wedding needed earrings. Not a necklace. Not a bracelet. Not a glitzy ring. My gown needed earrings. Big, attention-grabbing, dangle earrings. Read more.

My Killer Shoes — Brought Down to Size by Those Four-and-a-Half-Inch Heels

April 18, 2013 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 7 Comments

Barbara Falconer Newhall tries on a pair of Glint pave shoes with 4 1/2-inch high heels. BF Newhall photo

Dress shoes for women right now, as you may have noticed, sport heels that go on forever. Wedge heels, spike heels, stack heels – everywhere I look I see nothing but heels of skyscraper proportions built to lift their wearers four or even four-and-a-half inches off the ground. Read More.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Anne Lamott on Getting Older — Drop That Rock

Ann Lamott at a book signing in Oakland, CA, spring 2012. photo by BF Newhall

It’s time to drop that rock we’ve been carrying around, says Anne Lamott. It’s time to surrender to the fact that we can’t do it all. We’re getting older and it’s time to have ourselves some peace.

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!

pinwheell-galaxy-NASA

A Hopeful Realist Is Keeping Me Company These Days

A pretty girl, Christina Newhall, has shaved her head bald and still looks pretty. Photo by Tim Beedle

She’s Shaved Her Head Bald — Is Our Daughter Headed for the Dark Side?

family-of-four

Was I a Tradwife in the 1980s? Or a Liberated Woman in Progress?

three-wise-men

Christmas — It Ain’t Over Till the Wise Men Show

MORE DON'T MISS!

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