LIFE AS WE KNOW IT
Barbara Falconer Newhall
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA
- Birthday
- July 04
- Title
- Writer and Blogger
- Bio
- Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall reports from the scene -- on pop culture, books and the writing life, on her grown-up kids, her husband, her nonagenarian aunt -- and life.
Visit her more capacious blog at www.BarbaraFalconerNewhall.com.
MY RECENT POSTS
- Gardening: Look What Happened
to My Front Yard Last Weekend
May 09, 2013 03:30PM - Two Books I Did Read, Sorta:
By Lauren Winner & Anne Lamott
April 11, 2013 03:18PM - Seven Books I Never Read . . .
April 06, 2013 03:10PM - Those Frumpy, Dumpy
Mother-of-the-Groom Gowns
March 30, 2013 02:26PM - Leaves, Twigs and Seeds —
It’s Art, but Is It a
Bouquet?
March 23, 2013 02:56PM
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “I haven't learned html
yet. Hope not to have to. I
can't help
thinking html
stand…”
May 18, 2013 03:47PM - “Samantha, Sound like we
MOGs are free to get a
little
creative, too.”
May 18, 2013 03:44PM - “Lyle, This is true.
Although the men these days
seem to have
a lot more
choices t…”
April 01, 2013 04:38PM - “Thanks, Lyle! Of course,
writing something shocking is
an
easy way to get and
hol…”
March 17, 2013 07:12PM - “Thanks. Have fun!”
March 07, 2013 11:21PM
Barbara Falconer Newhall's Links
- MY LINKS
- BarbaraFalconerNewhall.com
Gardening: Look What Happened to My Front Yard Last Weekend
Geraniums, blue-eyed grass and a moss rock. Photos by BF Newhall
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
I wasn’t looking. I was at the computer all weekend with my back to the world. When I finally took a bleary look out the window on Monday morning, I saw a
… Read full post »Two Books I Did Read, Sorta: By Lauren Winner & Anne Lamott
Lauren Winner, author of Still, taught a spiritual writing class at The Glen in Santa Fe in 2009. Photo by BF Newhall
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
Last week I posted an entry about five intriguing books that have come across my desk in recent months —
… Read full post »Seven Books I Never Read . . .
And Patricia Bracewell’s book makes eight. I resisted purchasing her tantalizing historical novel, Shadow on the Crown, at Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA, earlier this week. So it’s not on my gotta-read list — yet. Photo by BF Newhall
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
Seven
… Read full post »Those Frumpy, Dumpy Mother-of-the-Groom Gowns
Dumpy: I tried on this fussy mother-of-the-bride/groom gown at David’s Bridal Salon in Pinole, CA, where most of the zippers seemed to stick and a stubborn one required an emergency visit to the alterations department. Photo by BF Newhall
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
My son
… Read full post »Leaves, Twigs and Seeds — It’s Art, but Is It a Bouquet?
A sweeping red dogwood and pussy willow design with succulent paddle plant accents by Yoko Ishii Klingebiel and Naoko Suzuki repeats the rhythmic lines of Dorothy Napargardi’s Sandhills (not shown). Photo by BF Newhall
By Barbara Falconer Newhall.
Nothing seems to be off limi
… Read full post »Where Poppies Dance and Cactuses Are Petit Fours
Kaori Imaizumi of Blooming Floral Design in San Francisco created a bouquet to bounce off Sam Francis‘s Helios for the Bouquets to Art show at the de Young museum this week. Photo by BF Newhall
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
It’s not too late to catch a bus –
It’s Blooming Springtime on Our Hill -- In March!
One of the abutilons we planted last fall — still drenched from last night’s watering. Photo by BF Newhall
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
It’s spring in our hilly neighborhood. Our magnolia tree is finishing up its annual blast of pink and white. But the daffodils
… Read full post »Blog Writing Tips -- Stolen From My Favorite Writing Coaches
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
Essay Writing: Forget the Good, Go for the Bad & the Ugly
A sure sign that a story has essay (blog post) potential is
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
When I sit down to write a personal essay or a… Read full post »
Impermanence: Everything Changes — And So Can I
A limb split from a live oak tree in our canyon during a storm. Photo by BF Newhall.
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
Impermanence. It’s a helpful, if not always comfortable, idea. Everything changes. It just does.
Sometimes change is a good thing:
- My son
The (Two-Year-Old) Rhetorician at Our House
The rhetorician in 1985 with crib, blankies and bottle. Photo by BF Newhall
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
What’s rhetoric? I’ve always thought of it as the high-flown, idealistic and/or manipulative language of politics. But really, it’s something we human beings do a… Read full post »
Real Snow and Real Warm in My Real Austrian Walkjanker
A snowplow cleared snow -- tried to -- from the driveway of the Eden Prairie, MN, Community Center. Jon and I and the kids went there every day during our visit to Minnesota so we could work off the meals we sampled during auditons for a May rehearsal dinner. Photo… Read full post »
The Luscious Lip, Skinny Lip Quiz -- The Answers!
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
Here's a repeat of last week's mystery lip quiz. I've added some hints to help you out. See below for the answers -- and full face mug shots.
A. She's got her father's lips.
B. This one's easy. You love her.
How to Be a Glamorous Gal at Age 98
A small country town in the Midwest.
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
The last of my aunts and uncles died a few weeks ago at the age of 98, but not before passing on some last minute womanly advice to me.
My aunt – I think of… Read full post »
My Upper Lip and Other Sorrows (AKA The Luscious Lip Quiz)
Lucille Ball with her famously red hair and overdrawn lips.
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
I feel bad about my lip. My upper lip.
Nora Ephron felt bad about her neck, a body part she made famous back in 2006 with her book I Feel Bad About My Neck.… Read full post »
My Mother's Last Words to Me Before She Died
A few months before she died, my mother celebrated my birthday with a chicken, berry and candied walnut salad at the Nordstrom Cafe. Is that as good as it gets? Photos by BF Newhall
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
My mother’s last words
… Read full post »'Read Me a Story, Mommy -- But Not That One You Wrote'
Our 1986 home office with floppy disk drives, Christina, and Petunia the cat. Photo by BF Newhall.
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
When my kids were still at the Mommy-please-read-to-me stage, the Oakland Tribune found itself in a bit of a budget crunch. To save money, management cut… Read full post »
Midnight Mothering -- 'Mommy, I'm Scared'
Christina at 3. Photos by BF Newhall
By Barbara Falconer Newhall, 1986
It was the smallest of sounds. So small that even Jon, a light sleeper, didn’t hear it.
First a whimper, then, “Mommy, I’m scared.”
I slipped out of bed, carefully folding the covers back so that I… Read full post »
Help! I'm the Mother of the Groom. What Do I Do Now?
The bride-to-be tried on my wedding gown. And, yes, that's a photo of me on my wedding day. Photo by BF Newhall.
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
My son Peter proposed. His girlfriend said yes. They set a date. Her mom and dad are delighted. Jon and I are delighted.… Read full post »
Thankful for Clean Oven, Ice Cubes & a Daughter-in-Law-to-Be
The gardener added a lava rock path to our garden just in time for Thanksgiving. Photos by BF Newhall
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
This holiday season I should be thankful for the really big things. I should be grateful that there are no air raid sirens screaming… Read full post »
Works of Art at the Lamp Store
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
On Solano Avenue in the far north reaches of Berkeley, California, a modest storefront softly glows, luring me in every time I try to pass it… Read full post »
Anne Lamott on Getting Older -- Drop That Rock!
Anne Lamott in Oakland. Photo by BF Newhall
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
Put down the rock, says Anne Lamott. It’s time to put down that rock.
When we are in our 20s, 30s and 40s, we think we have to lug that rock around. We wake up in
… Read full post »Yosemite Rocks -- And Sometimes It Rolls
Is the grapefruit-sized rock all that's keeping the boulder from rolling down the hillside? Photos by BF Newhall.
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
El Capitan, that massive cliff overlooking the Yosemite Valley, is the biggest single chunk of granite in Yosemite National Park — and
… Read full post »Walk 1000 Miles Around Lake Michigan? I Don't Think So
Loreen Niewenhuis trekked across a beach beteen Ludington and Suttons Bay in May. Niewenhuis photo.
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
Walk around Lake Michigan . . . the whole thing. That was my plan. I’d start in late spring and finish up in the fall. I’d walk the
… Read full post »Kids Who Cheat -- On the Playing Field, In the Classroom
Would my kids grow up to be cheaters? Was it possible to raise honest children in a Pete Rose-Bernie Madoff world -- where something like 50 percent of students admit to cheating? What kind of values do we have in contemporary America?
Find out what my young son and I learned about th… Read full post »
Barbara Falconer Newhall's Favorites
Samantha Wheeler
Lyle Elmgren
Starshine Roshell
James M. Emmerling
Myriad
Julie WhiteUpdates
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Animated Star Wars
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Get More Protein From Your Music
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Thank you, Franz Kafka, for Curing my (latest) Melancholy
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It's Just a Cold
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Turn and Face the (Strange) Changes
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A Kitten and Cat Grow Together in Brooklyn: Gracie and Alice
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The Epitome of Fearless
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Nader Calls Out US Global Corporations as Unpatriotic!
Salon.com