I am bummed about the pope though—not perfect but a lot better than the last one and I fear they will go hard-line for the next one.

With fascism ascending I hope they go big picture here. What ranking Cardinals (are Cardinals ranked?) have experience with authoritarian regimes? The Vatican was by no means perfect in WWII, but they made some solid moves for human dignity. Hopefully they want that again. Gimme a ringer Pope.

The Vatican was by no means perfect in WWII, but they made some solid moves for human dignity.

That isn't how I'd characterize the Vatican in WWII. They were very cozy with both the Italian Fascists and the Nazi high command (who were predominantly Catholic). The Catholic Church saw Russian Communism as a threat to their existence and aligned themselves with the Fascists.

Vatican also worked diligently to provide ratlines to allow Nazi's to escape Europe after the war and repatriate in South America. This is a matter of record: [link]

Certainly individual priests, nuns and laypeople of conscience saved people but the Vatican was conspicuously quiet about the Holocaust.

It's official, Matilda has accepted her offer at University of San Francisco, which is a private university about two blocks from our front door: [link]

It's a good school, but I have very mixed feelings about the proximity and would rather she had flown further. But she's still struggling with grief and depression so she's choosing the known for now.

They do offer Japanese studies, language and culture.

The plan is for her to live in the dorms instead of at home.

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I got over the initial queasiness I had when I ramped up to .5, but it's not been as effective at curbing appetite as the first two weeks were.

I've been losing and gaining the same 1.5lbs since I ramped up to .5. I ramp up to 1.0 in two weeks, and am hoping I see some changes.

I suppose she could do something else, somewhere else if she wanted or needed to. I was a transfer student, after all. I meant to say I hope she had the adventure she wanted.

Living in the dorms seems like a good idea. I hope the whole thing goes well for her!

She's just had a taste of Living Away, at least. Transition to college is hard enough, so this may be the choice that works best for her.

I do wish she'd have considered something Boston-ish like Tufts or Emerson, oh well. At least she's not going to Texas...

I very much want to see Bill and Ted Wait for Godot but I I just looked at ticket prices and remembered there would also be travel and lodging and I don't think I can do it. Somebody should, though

Hopefully being in a familiar area but having The College Experience and living on campus will help her with her depression and grief and help her get ready to fly further from home.

Mom has been taking Ozempic but hasn't lost much weight. She has moved from eating out a lot and snacking to getting Hello Fresh (I think) meals that come with everything chopped up so she can do "assembly cooking" and those should be healthier.

I called Dad yesterday and he said he noticed I looked fitter. What he actually told mom was even though I'm still heavy he could see I'm getting fitter/more muscular. Dad has body image issues and weight issues and while he has never directly said anything to me about my weight I've heard how he talks about people. But those are his issues and not mine so I don't really think about it . He only ever says nice things about my appearance and with all my dad's faults I am really grateful about that.