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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
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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."

Death Is the Only Guarantee

May 8, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Olompali State Historic Park, CA, trees dying against a blue sky. Photo by Barbara Newhall.

Our bodies should be more like our cars. When a car fails, we can trade it in for a new one, but not our bodies. Some of my friends’ bodies are failing them at a very young age. Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: Feminine, Feminist Pink

April 27, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Girls wear pink, but grown women like this one opt for daring spike heels. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Christina likes pink. Given a choice, my five-year-old daughter will take the pink balloon, the pink panties, the pink baseball bat. Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: When Your Six-Year-Old Wants to Talk Money

April 20, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A six-year-old boy dressed as a cowboy for halloween. Photo by Barbara Newhall

My six-year-old wanted an allowance. Jon and I debated. Fifty cents a week? 75? “Let’s not talk in cents,” said Peter. “Let’s talk in dollars.” Read more.

The Writing Room: Two Must-Have Craft Journals for the Literary Writer

March 30, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

craft journals. 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 NewhallOf all the books and magazines that come my way each week, my favorites are the ones that talk about writing — like Poets & Writers and Writer’s Chronicle. Read more.

A Mother Who Prevailed at Auschwitz

March 23, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Stones left on the wall of the Dohany Street Synagogue, Budapest, in memory of Jews lost in the Shoah. Photo by Barbara Newhall

When Ernie Hollander’s family arrived at Auschwitz in 1944, his mother was ordered to the right, his sisters to the left. Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: Choose Me, Please!

March 16, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Jury summons. Barbara Falconer Newhall was summoned for jury duty.. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Jury duty is a lot like fourth grade softball. Something in me wants to be on the team. If there is choosing going on, I want to be among the chosen. Read more.

Geoff Machin — We Go Looking for God, When We Could Be Having a Beer

February 27, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Geoff Machin -- science is obvious. God, not so much. The Sombrero Galaxy, NASA. NASA & STScI photo. copyright@stsci.edu

Humans are the only living things that know they exist & ask why. We’d have more fun if we didn’t ask so many questions, just go to the beach & have a beer. Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Is That a Fibonacci Blooming in Our Yard?

Purple columbine blossoms in our rock garden in spring. A fibonacci number expressed. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Is ours a strictly mathematical universe? Are those columbines blossoming in our garden just a string of fibonacci numbers? Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

CATEGORIES

  • 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!

Author Lauren Winnerchecks her cell phone at The Glen in Santa Fe in 2009. Photo by BF Newhall

. . . And Two Books I Did Read, Sorta — By Lauren Winner and Anne LaMott

Hauling-branches

An Urban Oasis: Keeping It Wild — And Fire Resistant

Oval portrait of Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, ca. 1825. Courtesy Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan

The Lost Poems of Jane Johnston Schoolcraft — A Native Michigan Voice Rediscovered

camellia-blossom-in-full

Finding Hope for Our Time — In Handel’s ‘Messiah’

MORE DON'T MISS!

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