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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
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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Need some levity? Read on!

Help! My Kids Aren’t Perfect After All

November 27, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 3 Comments

Little girl with broken arm & chicken pox marks. Photo by BF Newhall

The kids were still pre-schoolers at the time, and it had been another night of sleep deprivation for me. “Tell me it gets easier,” I said to my friend Nancy. “Well, actually it gets harder,” she replied. Nancy has a daughter three years older than Peter. She keeps me briefed on the parenting realities ahead. Read more.

High School Revisited: The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same — Only Different

November 16, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

Seaholm High School Birmingham Michigan exterior. photo by BF Newhall

My old high school, deep in flyover country, has moved into the 21st century: The girls room is now the women’s room and the library the media room. Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: I’ve Got a Dirty Little Secret — I (Still) Can’t Say No to Toys

November 2, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 3 Comments

ewok hut toy about 16 inches tall with ewok characters. Photo by BF Newhall

Some people can’t resist chocolate. For others, it’s clothes. Some folks, oddly enough, will spend $110,000 on a Ferrari with no back seat and hardly any trunk. Imagine that . . . For me as the mother of young children, toys were my weakness. Read more.

Scrubbing the Floor With My Daughter Cinderella

September 4, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 1 Comment

cover of the vhs version of the disney movie, cinderella

There was no getting around it. Christina, who is 51/2, intended to wash our kitchen floor. She had been studying her “Cinderella” videotape for weeks, and now she wanted nothing more than to scrub. Read more

A Case of the Human Condition: In Your Face Orchids

August 24, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

Magenta orchid growing in orchid farm in Thailand. Photo by BF Newhall

Stupendously, outrageously beautiful orchids. Read more.

Mad Men Exposes the ’60s Girdle — But Will She Get It Off in Time?

August 21, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 12 Comments

two women wearing 1960s Spirella Sarong girdle with sign "happiness is a flat tummy."

You can’t fool me. I know a girdle when I see one. A stewardess on Mad Men did a strip tease — but how was she going to get that girdle off without turning hot sex into farce? Read more.

A Case of the Human Condition: He Never Called Me Back . . . Why?

August 21, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 5 Comments

book jacket for Why He Didn't Call You Back by Rachel Greenwald.

The book’s cover was fuchsia, its title blunt: “Why He Didn’t Call You Back.” Just what I needed years ago when I was young and single and wondering why so many guys would take me out once or twice — then disappear without explanation. Gone. Evaporated. Poof. Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

At the Feet of Annie Dillard, Memoirist, Essayist, Observer of the Real

A well-read copy of"The Abundance" by Annie Dillard. Photo by Barbara Newhall

What draws me to author Annie Dillard — what makes me want to turn off the TV and grab one of her books — is her eagle-sharp eye for the world as it truly is. Read more.

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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!

 

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