The Nowling residence was built in 1962 amongst an avocado grove in La Habra Heights. The home was built by architect James De Long, who studied under Gehry as a Taliesin fellow. The open floor plan, in the style of famed architect Frank Gehry, flows from room to room out to the pool and gardens. Now on the market for $1.6 million, the 2,882 square foot home features built-in cabinetry and furniture, panoramic views, and three bedrooms and bathrooms (the master suite comprises the entire first floor).

The original listing has scans of a 1967 LA Times Magazine issue that featured the home with an article entitled "An Air Of Old-Fashioned Grace," despite the fact that it was published just five years after the home was built. Perhaps even then, the wood paneling, built-ins, and other design features completely captured a time and aesthetic so thoroughly that even a few years distance was enough to date it. Now in 2011, the perfectly preserved home and much of the original furniture can completely transport visitors to a past era.

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The first day of spring is Monday. From my little corner of the world on the East Coast, it has been the longest winter on record. Just hearing the birds chirp again was startling, and the sight of grass was a shock to the eyes. Not only has the winter been unending, but the relentless pound of natural disasters, economic woes and endless bad news leaves a deep longing for the promise of spring at every level. The seeds of change are sprouting everywhere we look.

Historically, March 21 is known as the vernal equinox -- an equal balance of light and dark. It is a nice time to get quiet, go out in nature, plant seeds and embrace the new changes to come. It is also a full moon- neither waxing or waning, but suspended brightness. Spring is a time of quickening, and our energy, plans and mood all elevate with the lengthening of the sunny days. Instead of just letting the equinox pass by, how about using it to conduct an internal once-over? What changes need to be made in your life? In order to make them happen, do you need a little inner spring cleaning?

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It is so easy to think that there is no one there anymore when the person in front of you does not talk, or when she makes unintelligible sounds, or says things that don't seem to make sense, or doesn't remember what happened from one minute to the next. This is a normal reaction, but one that commonly leads to a whole set of unintentionally harmful behaviors towards the person: talking as if the person was not there, or addressing her as one would a child, or not giving her the opportunity to make decisions she is still capable of, or assuming that our interactions with her don't matter.

The person whose essential needs for dignity, connection and autonomy are not being met is left with a host of raw emotions (anger, grief, shame, depression) that she is unable to express adequately because of her cognitive limitations. Out of desperation, the person shuts down or acts out, becoming aggressive, pacing, wandering, calling out and crying. We drove the person to madness, and now we blame her for it. This is insane. What is called for is a better understanding of what it's like to live with Alzheimer's.

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A white, powdered face, devilish eyes hidden within painted, black-silver swan wings, dark red lips, a crown of twisted metal -- the poster face for Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan (2010) certainly does seduce us, even more than it scares us.

Black Swan follows Nina Sayer (Natalie Portman), a professional ballerina, and her desire to become the principal dancer in Thomas Leroy's (Vincent Cassel) new production of Swan Lake. To play the role of the Swan Queen, Nina must learn to play both the white swan and the black swan. A figure of utmost innocence dressed in white and pinkish hues, Nina has little trouble adopting the persona of the white swan, but she must endure the overt sexualization of her body by Thomas and dredge up an inner darkness in order to become the black swan. Along the way, we meet her obsessive mother, Erica Sayers (Barbara Hershey), Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder), a newly discarded prima ballerina, and Lily (Mila Kunis), a new member of the ballet company who possesses the essence of what Nina believes to be the black swan and who threatens to usurp Nina's role as the Swan Queen.

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