Sunny Side

Nicolas Berggruen is the kind of man who, like the White Queen in Wonderland, not only can believe six impossible things before breakfast but has the means and the drive to nudge them into reality. The descriptor "billionaire" is invariably attached to his name, as are the famous facts that he is "homeless" by choice -- no house, just an art collection in storage and a jet to get him from hotel to hotel on his point-to-point work for Berggruen Holdings, his private investment company, and for the other, civic-minded causes that take up his time and his money.

The quest for happiness sends millions of people into bookstores, doctors' offices and pharmacies - especially at this time of year, when well-being seems to be a national requirement. Of course, the pursuit of happiness is relatively new to humankind - our ancestors were much too focused on their day-to-day survival to spend much time contemplating contentment - but scientists and writers have worked to fill the void in the last few decades, flooding the marketplace with theories and checklists.

Re "Rethinking Approaches to Pain Relief" (Oct. 1): I agree that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are potentially dangerous in their potential to cause bleeding ulcers. I will also concede that acute pain after injury is part of the body's way to rest the affected area. However, I think it is somewhat simplistic for Dr. James F. Fries to say there is a sunny side to pain. Is it true that the new approach to treating lower back pain is to do nothing? I disagree. For example, acupuncture has been found to be very useful for this problem.

I've always loved Robert Frost's line about home being the place where, "when you have to go there, they have to take you in. " Perhaps I'm putting an overly optimistic reading on it, but the idea that even on our coldest, darkest nights, there is always a place with a warm light in the window is reassuring. That's kind of the way I feel about having eggs in the refrigerator. It doesn't matter how gruesome the workday has been or how late it is when I get home, give me a couple of eggs and some of this and that from the fridge and I know I can fix a meal that will not only get me through the night, it will even redeem the day. Yet it seems like every time I mention eating eggs for dinner, I get met with a blank look — "Dude?

I've always loved Robert Frost's line about home being the place where, "when you have to go there, they have to take you in. " Perhaps I'm putting an overly optimistic reading on it, but the idea that even on our coldest, darkest nights, there is always a place with a warm light in the window is reassuring. That's kind of the way I feel about having eggs in the refrigerator. It doesn't matter how gruesome the workday has been or how late it is when I get home, give me a couple of eggs and some of this and that from the fridge and I know I can fix a meal that will not only get me through the night, it will even redeem the day. Yet it seems like every time I mention eating eggs for dinner, I get met with a blank look — "Dude?

With a surface resembling delicate ceramics, ostrich eggs have long been used as decorative objects. Recently, lighting designers have taken a fancy to them too. Likening the textured exterior to porcelain, furniture dealer Pat McGann redesigned a vintage lamp by stacking three ostrich eggs on a brass rod anchored to an ebonized wood base. The table lamp shown here ($1,850, including silk shade) as well as a floor version ($2,400) are made locally. 746 N. La Cienega Blvd.

I'll join Steve Allen's Sick and Tired club. This could be the start of something big. Everybody's got a right to sing the blues (Rehnquist Chief Justice; the Administration selling off part of the VA's greensward in Westwood), but let a smile be your umbrella and get over to the sunny side of the street. No more sick. No more tired. America is hope. LYN MURRAY Pacific Palisades

Iris Schneider's account of her travels, "A Sunny Side of Siberia," in Traveling in Style, and the accompanying photographs will help me explain to friends what an unusual experience it was. I traveled the same route last September and had a difficult time explaining how friendly the people really are when met on the train or on the streets in Siberia as well as other areas of the Soviet Union. The weather in Siberia during the summer and early fall is as sunny as the disposition as its people.

Remarks at Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, June 12, 1987: General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace -- if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe -- if you seek liberalization: Come here, to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.... Today, thus, represents a moment of hope. We in the West stand ready to cooperate with the East to promote true openness -- to break down the barriers that separate people, to create a safer, freer world.

A bouquet of dance premieres, mostly stellar, was in bloom over the weekend: On Friday, Silver Lake's Studio A doled out Cumulus '99, an annual art, poetry and dance festival now 15 years old; on Sunday, Highways Performance Space welcomed the exhilarating collective La Danserie. Choreographer-dancer Lisa K. Lock dominated the Highways evening in stamina, versatility and technique.

Nicolas Berggruen is the kind of man who, like the White Queen in Wonderland, not only can believe six impossible things before breakfast but has the means and the drive to nudge them into reality. The descriptor "billionaire" is invariably attached to his name, as are the famous facts that he is "homeless" by choice -- no house, just an art collection in storage and a jet to get him from hotel to hotel on his point-to-point work for Berggruen Holdings, his private investment company, and for the other, civic-minded causes that take up his time and his money.

Easter is about spring, family and rebirth. But it's also about eggs. Dyeing them, hunting for them and eating them. And when you simply can't face the thought of biting into another hard-boiled one, you might want to think about having someone else cook one up for you at brunch. Because that marvelous meal is as much of a rite of spring as Easter itself. Here are a few of our favorite places to get your yolk on. -- Jessica Gelt The Backyard at the W Hotel Beside a trickling pebbled fountain and a pool ringed by posh cabanas, Westwood's Backyard is the perfect place to lounge like a true Southern Californian.

In addition to being an optimist, Michael J. Fox is still a television star. His special "Adventures of an Incurable Optimist" was watched by 10.2 million viewers, enough to put it on Nielsen Media Research's list of the 20 most popular prime-time shows for last week. The Parkinson's patient and former sitcom star ("Family Ties," "Spin City") explored the nature of positive thinking. It helped ABC run neck-and-neck for second place with Fox for the weekly ratings released Tuesday.

Posh is telling me how she knows someone who knows someone with "a farm in mid-state," where if you give the woman empty egg cartons, she'll fill them with fresh eggs for free. "Wonder if you gave her an empty bacon package?" I ask. "Yeah, Mom, would she fill it with smoked bacon?" This amuses the inmates no end, though Posh is less than thrilled that the kids and I are not taking her seriously.

Southern California may think of itself as disaster-prone, alternately bemoaning and reveling in its status as earthquake-, wildfire- and mudslide-plagued. But it seems a reality check is in order: The region is actually one of the nation's safest -- at least in terms of human lives. The natural hazards that bedevil us are small potatoes compared with those in other parts of the country, researchers said Wednesday in releasing a disaster map of the U.S.

The tannest man alive isn't so bronze these days. As George Hamilton opens the door of his tony Wilshire Corridor condo, his Super Swarthiness appears on the pale side, with even a hint of freckles on his face. What happened? Is tanning no longer part of his daily regimen? "I find I don't have the time right now," joked the still lanky 69-year-old. "When I was working constantly in films, you really had to keep your tan.

It's a little like being in school again. Girls sit demurely against the wall, shy boys shuffle up to ask for a dance. Some are really struggling. Their faces scrunch in concentration and you can almost hear them counting to themselves--"one, two, three, oops"--as they mangle a simple box step. Others respond to the music as if invisible chains are falling off their limbs. They are weightless, they are transported. They are dancing.

There's been a handful of news stories recently involving problems involving police response to 911 emergency calls--including the local Aug. 27 tragedy in which four women were murdered, allegedly by one's estranged husband, after the wife had made a futile 911 call requesting aid. But don't look for those downbeat tales to be re-created on the CBS series "Rescue 911."

With a surface resembling delicate ceramics, ostrich eggs have long been used as decorative objects. Recently, lighting designers have taken a fancy to them too. Likening the textured exterior to porcelain, furniture dealer Pat McGann redesigned a vintage lamp by stacking three ostrich eggs on a brass rod anchored to an ebonized wood base. The table lamp shown here ($1,850, including silk shade) as well as a floor version ($2,400) are made locally. 746 N. La Cienega Blvd.