Thanks for the suggestions, but there's no messages, anywhere. I tried a bunch of combinations (connect-disconnect-re-connect, unpair-pair, power cycle, etc.). The comand display has greyed-out icons for the phone book and call history functions, but nothing functional yet.
I suspect you're right about the authorization dialogue, lots of android threads have mentioned it. It's as if I have a version mis-match or something; I think I need to look a little closer at those. I just ordered a bluetooth adapter for my PC, maybe it will give me a little more info.
Link to sniffer freeware:
Monitor the Bluetooth activity around you