So I was a little one-sidedly ranty about the Pope. I meant what I said, but I should also mention I think he was a remarkable human being of great faith and intelligence. He did a lot of really good and astonishing humanitarian work, contributed heavily to the fall of Communism...and really pissed me off with everything else. I can respect that.

I'm not having one of those "social comfort" periods. These are the times when it seems like I talk a lot more than I have things to say, and interaction generally feels a bit awkward. It's pretty clear it's just me, as no one else ever seems to notice: anything I do that I feel as awkward, everyone else perceives as being well within my normal variations of being more than a bit quirky.

My friends and I are finding the getaway-house process really frustrating. There's very little on the market, and prices just keep getting worse and worse. They've continued getting worse over time, and everyone has said for years there's a housing bubble, and so far nothing's popped. So I'm sort of considering pushing through my discomfort at the current price levels, and just throwing my finances into one of these overpriced little houses, before the $650,000 900sq ft houses become $1,000,000 900sq ft houses. Except that home price growth can't outstrip salary growth like this forever, right? I mean, they can't, right?

Enh. With my very cheap rent I'm probably better off investing in plastics and defense stocks and other incredibly lucrative amoral things.