• 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

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Need some levity? Read on!

The Dracena Is Dead. Long Live the Dracena

March 5, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Homeowner succeeds in removing eight-foot stalk from an overgrown dracena marginata plant. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I did it. I cut the dracena marginata growing wild in our living room down to size. Read more.

Help! My Dracena Marginata Has Hit the Ceiling — What Can I Do?

February 26, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A dracena marginat houseplant has grown so tall that it is crushing itself against the homeowner's ceiling. Photo by Barbara Newhall

My dracena marginata is doing itself in. It’s hurling itself against our living room ceiling. What’s a plant owner to do? Please advise. Read more.

The Atheists Are Coming – Out of a Closet Near You

February 19, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A bumper sticker offered at the Religion Newswriters Conference in 2014 reads "Praying Is Begging." Photo by Barbara Newhall

The Openly Secular movement is calling on atheists in America to come out of the closet and declare their unbelief to friends, family and coworkers. Read more.

A Crazy-Making Crazy Quilt — Finished at Last

February 12, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Sue Mary Fox quilting stitches a crazy quilt -- quilt top, batting and backing -- with her long arm sewing machine in her Berkeley, CA, studio. Photo by Barbara Newhall

In desperation I took the crazy-making crazy quilt that I’d begun–but never finished–over to Sue Mary Fox’s quilting studio in Berkeley. Read more.

The Quilt From Hell — Forty-Two Years Later, It’s Still Not Finished

February 5, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

An unfinished quilt and stray piece of calico overflow from a storage drawer. Photo by Barbara Newhall

It had been staring at me from that drawer for decades. The quilt from hell. My wedding present to my brother and his wife. Never finished, never presented. Read more.

Superbowl: My Guys Are Talking Sports — And All Is Right With the World

January 29, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

nfl 2015 superbowl playoffs, seattle-greenbay, TV screen shot of game. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I like listening to my husband and son talk about football and basketball. I like the comfortable, father-son tone: My guys are talking sports and all is right with the world. Read more.

“Wrestling with God” Got a Starred Review From Publishers Weekly — And I’m Doing the Happy Dance

January 22, 2015 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Author Barbara Falconer Newhall opens her copy of Publishers Weekly magazine, which had just arrived in the mail, to find that her book, Wrestling with God, got a starred review in the January 21, 2015, issue. PHoto by Jon Newhall

I’ve got some news. Huge news. “Wrestling with God“ got a starred review from Publishers Weekly this week. They reviewed my book, and they gave it one of their big, fat red stars. Read more.

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 26
  • Page 27
  • Page 28
  • Page 29
  • Page 30
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 42
  • 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

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

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.

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!

Two flowers, one thriving, one not remind me of Ann Patchett and her friend Lucy. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Ann Patchett — My Brand-New Favorite Author

preschooler-with-duckie

Grief — Love With No Place to Go

Front page of the Detroit News, 1913, with headline describing harsh shipwreck weather on Great Lakes.

Nature. We Love It — But Does It Give a Darn About Us?

Pages in Hebrew and Aramaic from the Bleichrode Jewish prayer book published in 1923 in Franfurt. Photo by BF Newhall

Who Is a Jew? The Pew Research Center Tackles the Question — And Gets Some Answers

MORE DON'T MISS!

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