Notes From A Bear's Journey

     Back in the days of old Hollywood, when film arrived on bulky reels and directors used cheerleading-type megaphones, you'd hear that call at the end: that's a wrap!  Or so I thought.  Such a phrase didn't enter the film industry until 1970 (what was I thinking?).  Here's how one etymology site listed the origins of the word "wrap" (for the noun, anyway):  late 15c., "fine cloth used as a cover or wrapping for bread." ...a type of women's garment, recorded from 1827..."plastic film or cellophane used as a wrap" is from 1930..."end of a filming session" is attested from 1970..."sandwich material folded up in flour tortilla" is by 1998.  But jump to the verb's beginnings and wrap --as in "let's wrap it up" (meaning, said the site, to "put an end to"-- can be dated back to 1926).  Cecil B. , where are you?      But since this was the holiday season, the story of wrapping paper (not lite

    It is nearing the holiday season, even if Thanksgiving here in the US came and went in true capitalistic fashion (gobble down your turkey, scarf your pie, and move on to Black Friday, Cyber Monday and, as if to assuage the guilt, cap it off with Giving Tuesday).   Stores used to celebrate that day of giving thanks; but now it seems that once the Halloween candy sales end, it's time for them to immediately clear the aisles and start putting up the Christmas items...as far as Thanksgiving goes, well, the turkeys are somewhere there in the back cooler.  But the holidays near this time --Kwanzaa, Hanukkah,* and Christmas-- are truly about being a time of giving, not so much material things as retailers emphasize here, but of yourself; these days are a time to simply pause and reflect on what you have in your life, be it your health or family or time to share with others.  As Smithsonian wrote about Kwanzaa, the first principal is: Umoja (Unity):  To strive for and maintain unity i

      Sometimes the world is so full of news --good and bad-- that you may tend to wonder why you  watch or read it.  Personally, I find myself asking this question with certain books or issues of magazines such as The New Yorker, or the "best of" series of books, often finding them so interesting and thus, time-consuming, that I occasionally hope that an article or story would  not  be worth reading, if only so I could move on to another.  And then a recommendation or a reviewer makes such decisions even more difficult.  Take this quick review of the book, Baby, You're Gonna Be Mine by Kevin Wilson : Once in India I saw what looked like a chrome rainbow wasp, so pretty I reached out to touch it, unaware it would sting.  Wilson's writing is like that, especially in this short-story collection -- so kind and funny you don't even see the knife.  I ordered the book ...       Another review on Stewart O'Nan's book, The Night Country , began this way: O'Nan

      I try not to think of myself as a garbage disposal, but sometimes I wonder.  Despite trying to stay healthy by eating the right things, up comes a wedding or a friend's party and all bets are off.  Out come the Oreos and the cream puffs, the fried whatever and the soft chunk of cheese that looks a bit like a wedge of Crisco.  But at the time, it is all so delicious, sort of like that first bite of a corn dog at the state fair (remember those?) or opening that warm $7 bag of unshelled peanuts at the ballpark.  It's the cruise or the vacation, a time when you're ready to break routine and eat like royalty before returning to life as a commoner.  And so what if you can't finish it all?  You paid for it so who cares?  You've had your fill and are ready for the leftovers to be whisked away.  Thus the disposal.  And I kept hearing the words of author Hayley Campbell : I kept thinking about what a waste death is.  A body that has spent years growing, repairing itself