What's in a name?

Reuters reports 'momentum growing for return of Parthenon marbles.'

Yes, a series of marble friezes were removed from the Parthenon sometime in the early 19th century and taken to England. They're currently in the British Museum and (until apparently just recently) are generally known as the Elgin Marbles, after the Lord Elgin who scraped them off the Parthenon in the first place (legally, with permission from the Ottomans then in charge of the place).

While I don't have a strong opinion on who's right here (I think both sides have good points), I do find the change in language interesting.

Oh, Friends who have Paid accounts...

...can I ask a favor?

I'd like to make an LJ syndicated feed for my new blog, so that the folks who read my LJ primarily for its SCA/research/music content can continue to get updates on those topics in their Friends lists. But since I'm a bottom-feeding Basic Account holder, I don't have the mojo to actually make such an account myself.

Pretty please with sugar on top? The name "mi_contra_fa" seems to be available...

Blog feed for your F-list

You can now add Mi Contra Fa to your Friends list, if you are so inclined.

Takes longer, less convenient AND more expensive

With gas the price it is, I figured it was high time to look into my mass transit options.

An all-bus-and-train option would take me 2 hours one-way and is a non-starter.

Driving to the Metro, then Metro-to-bus, would take an hour. Daily cost would be $13.75, after travel subsidy roughly $10. Plus some amount of gas to get to/from the Metro station (20 miles round-trip, call it .67 gallons or about $2.) So $12 and 20 miles of wear-and-tear on the car.

I'm spending about $7.50/day on gas for a commute that takes 30-60 minutes (avg. 45) and 60 miles of wear-and-tear on the car.

If I value the 15 minute difference at my hourly pay rate, and the 40 additional miles at a government reimbursement standard of around $0.50/mile, driving still wins.