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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."

When a Grown Daughter Doesn’t Call — Or, How to Overmother a Twenty-Something

March 6, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 9 Comments

Christina Newhall with cell phone. Photo by BF Newhall

Christina hadn’t called. We had dropped her at the airport hours ago. The flight to Burbank takes only seventy minutes. She should be home by now. But Jon and I still hadn’t gotten the, “I’m home. The plane didn’t crash. My roommate remembered to pick me up, and we didn’t get mugged in the garage,” phone call. Read more.

Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder – But What If There’s No Beholder?

February 27, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

Half-hidden flowering tree comes into view. Photo by BF Newhall

A flowering tree grows hidden in the canyon below our house. If no one sees it bloom, is it beautiful? Without a beholder, can there be beauty? Read more.

A Child Is Born — And So Is a Grandpa

February 13, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

Berrypicking grandfather and grandson. Photo by BF Newhall

My friend Jake is a man in his prime. He does triathlons, reads good books, knows all the best hiking trails and drinks nice wines. Jake has never been anybody’s rickety old grandpa — until recently, when Jake’s daughter gave birth to a baby girl. Read more.

San Francisco’s George Leonard and the Tao of Writing

February 6, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

George Leonard, San Francisco Bay Area author and counterculture guru. LOOK magazine writer. YouTube photo.

George Leonard, one of the founders of the human potential movement, and I both worked at Look magazine during the 1960s. We knew each other — that is to say, I knew who he was. Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: The Center of the Universe? It’s a Little Beach in Michigan, of Course

January 30, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 5 Comments

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

If I were drawing a map of the world, its center would be the little beach in Michigan where the Bass Lake outlet flows into the great, blue Lake Michigan. Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: Build a Wind Farm — Wreck Lake Michigan

January 23, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 12 Comments

Lake Michigan with a colorful sky at sunset, seen from Michigan. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I saw the map and burst into tears. It broke my heart. Windmills, a hundred square miles of them, are being proposed for Lake Michigan – a couple miles off shore. In the lake. Beautiful, serene, life-giving Lake Michigan. Read more.

The Writing Room: Different From, Different Than – Which Is It?

January 16, 2010 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 6 Comments

[caption id="attachment_7493" align="aligncenter" width="500"]books on shelf by john gardener, sands hall, strunk and white, noah lukeman, robert mckee, theodore m bernstein, stephen koch, susan shaughnessy. Photo by Barbara Falconer Newhall Some of my favorite books on the craft of writing. Photo by Barbara Falconer Newhall[/caption]

I was at the gym working on my pecs and abdominals the other day when I spotted a flyer announcing, “Belly fat is different than other fat.” Shouldn’t that be different from? What’s correct? I hadn’t a clue. Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Wedding Wear: The Aunt Wore Black

red eileen fisher dress with shirt. . looking for a dress for niece's wedding. nordstrom. Eileen Fisher $248 for the shirt and $378 for the dress

This wedding called for a festive evening dress with panache and color and sparkle. And skin. Lots of it. Arms. Legs. And, what the heck, décolletage. 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!

Dead flies caught on sticky fy paper. Photo by Barbara Newhall

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

Jack Shoemaker of Counterpoint Press spoke at the Oct. 5 meeting of Left Coast Writers at Book Passage, Marin. Photo by Barbara Newhall.

Jack Shoemaker of Counterpoint Press Shares Fifty Years of Book Publishing Wisdom

A relaxed groom in red t-shirt smiles and carries his Mens's Wearhouse tux in a bag. Photo by BF Newhall

The Mother-of-the-Groom Diaries: The Day Before the Big Day

Christina Newhall, age 7, playing tug of war at a party. Photo by Barbara Newhall

No to Bride Barbie — Yes to a Real-Life Wedding

MORE DON'T MISS!

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