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mdlbearOK, I realize that you are almost certainly not sitting around wondering why on Earth you would want to spend your time talking to a shy, elderly computer geek with delusions of wisdom. And you probably aren't wondering exactly what a reference to Cordwainer Smith is doing in my user profile, either. But just in case you did want to know, here's a little background information that might help, as well as illuminate the possibly obscure relationship between the two.
A long time ago in a Usenet group called alt.callahans,
before I became the Mandelbear, I originally referred myself as "the
Medium-Sized Teddybear". It was a deliberate reference to a character,
the Middle-Sized Bear, in the story Mark Elf by Cordwainer Smith. You'll find the relevant chapter, "Conversation with the Middle-Sized Bear", here.
Back in late 1990, I quoted the relevant section in a post, and I will do so again here, though you'll find it well worth your while to read the entire chapter, if not the whole story.
[The story so far: Carlotta vom Acht has awakened from 16,000 years of suspended animation, and has spent several days wandering around in the wilderness that Earth has become. At the end of the story she encounters the Middle-Sized Bear.]
"You may sit in my chair," said the Middle-Sized Bear, "or you can wait here until Laird comes to get you. Either way you will be taken care of. Your sickness will heal. Your ailments will go away. You will be happy again. I know this because I am one of the wisest of all known bears."
Carlotta was angry, confused, frightened, and sick again. She started to run.
Something as solid as a blow hit her.
She knew without being told that it was the bear's mind reaching out and encompassing hers.
It hit--boom!--and that was all.
She had never before stopped to think of how comfortable a bear's mind was. It was like lying in a great big bed and having mother take care of one when one was a very little girl, glad to be petted and sure of getting well.
The anger poured out of her. The fear left her. The sickness began to lighten. The morning seemed beautiful.
She herself felt beautiful as she turned--
Back half a decade ago I quoted that same passage in this post, with a bit of the Usenet post for context.
Oddly enough, I really can become the Middle-Sized Bear: comfortable and comforting to be around. Not all the time, of course, but often enough to occasionally make a difference for somebody. I'm not entirely sure what it is that I do, or how I do it. It may have something to do with being comfortable with silence. In any event, there it is.