Notes From A Bear's Journey

Hacked     We've all been there, reading all the warnings to change your passwords frequently, usually to a new password so complex that only a computer itself could remember it; the reason being, of course, that a hacker might break into your computer and thus access many if not all of your accounts stored there, from your banking transactions to your email address lists (and thus more potential computers to hack).  But if you're like me, you've gone to so many doctors and dentists and banks and what-have-you, each of which has asked for your Social Security number (until recently, that number would appear on any driver's license issued here in the U.S.), that you've somewhat thrown up your hands and fallen back on some sort of software program to more or less "protect" you.  This is not a new subject, indeed I first wrote about this several years ago when some of the major stores were being hacked, that being the era of pre-chip cards (many companies ...

Crying (Out)     As a general rule, I tend to stay away from politics, at least with these posts; for one thing, so much of politics is limited to one's country and one's time and viewpoint in life.  Look back in history and one can indeed watch politics change the course of the world; but overall, the faces and names tend to fade to a few short moments or hours of decisions, some right and some wrong...all of this, after years and often decades of serving in politics.  Here in the U.S., our politics and political debates are rarely transmitted across the oceans, much as we in the U.S. don't tend to see the elections of India or Nigeria or Thailand.  A quick mention on the news of a won or lost election and what it could mean, and onward to rugby or some such other "more important" issue.  Think back just 30 days ago and what exactly happened in the world that has affected you?     But stoic as most politicians are, one rarely sees a...

Our Changing Times     There were the words blasted all over the cover of a recent issue of TIME , "Is Monogamy Over...and 21 Other Questions About the Way We Live Now."  Other questions dealt with everything from trading brains for beauty and giving rights to robots.  Silly, overall.  But in their previous issues were a series of polls revealing a bit more about our changing habits, although these polls and data compilations (being a magazine directed at the U.S.) deal mainly with the U.S.  Some of the results are indeed trivial, such as women taking more selfies than men, or that a gamer in Sweden has the most YouTube subscribers (37 million);  but some of the other data was quite different...the most beneficial vegetable (highest number of minerals and nutrients) is watercress; the second largest carbon footprint from humans comes from eating meat (almost double that of riding in a plane or running your air conditioner); 82% of U.S. college a...

Getting It Out (Again)     Occasionally, I'll receive the comment or hear someone say, I need to get started on that.  "That" could be anything from writing a book or a memoir or a blog, or taking those art or piano lessons.  And yes, I've written about this before , about getting such thoughts and yearnings out of your system, about how (at least for me) it clears up space in your head, much as finishing even one small task does (say, clearing that one corner shelf in the garage or closet).  You emerge with a feeling of "ahhh," as if now you can say to friends or family (but primarily to yourself for in truth, it matters little to others as much as it does to yourself), "There, I did it!"     This sort of thought was captured in a collaborative effort by Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd, the former being a writer and the latter an editor; and after 40 years of working together, they decided to put down some of their thoughts on writing and ...

Ocean Weeds  (Updated 1/6/16)     To simply hear the word "weeds" implies that it is something unwanted, a pest of sorts, something that grows almost everywhere and without abandon.  So it's odd to think that this might be something occurring in the ocean; but then why not?  Different atmosphere (water) but more land area.  And a growth rate of nearly an inch a day?  And edible?  And a purifier and cleanser?  And virtually ignored?  But not entirely, for if you've eaten ice cream or used shampoo or toothpaste, you've likely been exposed to it.  Those of you who eat sushi and wondered what that black paper-like wrapping was have also been contributing to this massive $6 billion industry (the snack side alone reached nearly $500 million last year and is growing by 30% annually).  It would appear that this is a weed no more, but rather a new crop that could, it's speculated, replace all of our land agriculture with just 1...

The Jellies     This topic is a little off the beaten path but it came about the night before last as friends discussed what they thought the year ahead might bring, from shifting majorities of peoples to changes in general.  And for some reason, the talk shifted to a sense of fragility, of how quickly life can also change, how one's health can shift to a critical point that suddenly places it beyond the realm of modern medicine.  Cancer, of course, comes to mind (although it didn't come up that night), the subject of a review of The Death of Cancer by Vincent T. DeVita, Jr. , as told by Malcolm Gladwell to The New Yorker.  Says the review: “The Death of Cancer” is an angry book, in which one of the critical figures in twentieth-century oncology unloads a lifetime of frustration with the obduracy and closed-mindedness of his profession.  DeVita concludes, “There are incredibly promising therapies out there.  If used to their fullest potent...

The End, The Beginning     For many in the world, today either marks or has already marked, the end of 2015.  Turn on virtually any media source and you will be able to witness everything from well-researched to hastily put-together summaries of what each outlet felt were the highlights of the past year, what had happened, who had passed away, what events had changed the world, who had been forgotten in the sprawl (an excellent excerpt of being forgotten comes from one person's tale of escape as a refugee as told to The New Yorker ).  Here in the U.S., it is also the final day to claim a tax deduction for whatever, a gift to charity, a contribution to your retirement fund, an added gifting of money to someone without penalty...but to me, as noteworthy as many of these stories were (for indeed, each year brings many changes as I can attest in dealing with my aging mother), the end is a beginning, a time to look forward instead of back.     One...