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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
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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Need some levity? Read on!

Huston Smith on the Most Important Thing You Can Do in 2025

January 4, 2025 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

huston-smith-most-important-thing-you-can-do-in-2025

After nearly a century devoted to the study of life and truth and the meaning of it all, religion scholar Huston Smith had some advice for his fans.  Read more.

My Little Old Lady Christmas Tree — Showing It Who’s Boss

December 7, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

my little old lady Christmas tree

It’s time to buy myself another little old lady Christmas tree, haul it into the house and stand it on the coffee table — creaky knees and knuckles, notwithstanding.  Read more.

When My Mother Was the Grandma

October 19, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

when my mother was the grandma

My mother was the grandma in the family. She deserved respect from our kids. Not because she’d earned it, but because she was the grandma.  Read more.

I’m Playing Hooky From My Blog Today

October 12, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

I'm playing hooky from my blog today bathroom-tiles-and cabinet-choices

I’m playing hooky from my blog today. So this is not a blog post. This is me complaining — again — about my consarned to-do list.  Read more.

Is My Writing Too Nice?

August 31, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

NASA-satellite-michigan

I sometimes wonder when I sit down to write — am I too much of an optimist? Am I too hopeful? Too trusting? Is my writing too nice?  Read more.

Help Me Be a Fun Grandma. I Need Ideas for My Babysitting Week

August 3, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

help me be a fun grandma

I agreed to provide child care for a week this summer. Help me be a fun grandma. Tell me, how do I keep two kids, 8 and 5, entertained?  Read more.

Widowed: Marriage Mistakes — If I Could Have a Do-Over, Would I?

July 6, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

marriage mistakes widowed a-mans-sock-drawer

Widowed, I think often of my marriage mistakes. Did I leave too many tender words unsaid? Too many small kindnesses undone? Should I have mated his socks for him after I took them out of the dryer?   Read more.

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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Photo Ops: China’s One-Child Families — They’re for Real (For Now)

A mother in Shanghai China wipes the face of her schoolage boy in a crowded bazaar in Old Town. Photo by BF Newhall

China’s one-child families may soon be a thing of the past. But for now, they are very real. Jon and I saw them everywhere during our trip to China in September — and I took lots of pictures of mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers doting on that one child. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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  • A Case of the Human Condition
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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

A plastic angle with a blue gown plays a golden flute. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Advent: Witnessing to the Light – With Tinsel and a Plastic Santa

food-abundance

World Hunger — Is It Up to Me to Fix It? Sheltering at Home Week 20

Shopping at the Berkeley Potters Guild — Three Artists, Three Visions

MORE DON'T MISS!

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