"Is that thing radioactive?" "Isotope so!"

Today is the 142nd anniversary of the birth of Marie Curie, who studied radioactivity but wasn't as careful with her samples as she should have been. DON'T TRY TO FIND OUT IF RADIATION HAS A TASTE! DON'T CARRY RADIOACTIVE ITEMS IN YOUR POCKETS! That should do it. (Thanks to the almighty Pinhead for the image.)

Albert Camus would be 96 today had he not died in order to avoid seeing himself mentioned in "Quinn the Brain":

Quinn: By the way, do you know what existential means? Because today someone told me my writing was existential, so I thought I should coordinate, you know, with wardrobe.
Daria: Yeah, that's what Camus would have done. For your purposes, existential means "pseudo-intellectual poser with accessories from the street fair."

Camus was also mentioned in a Daria essay by Guy Wheatley. Good show.

Engineers celebrate this day for its value in teaching us about bridge building (as in, how not to). Love that video!

And you should know that this is an important date in a fanfic in which Jake Morgendorffer and Amy Barksdale conduct a torrid secret sexual affair that causes Daria to have brain damage. So, Amy likes his "fortitude," is that it? Yeah, right.

ART GNUZ

• In almost no time at all, Jim North produced a superb rendering of Albino Quinn from "In Silence Sarcastic." Click to the pic and tell him he is an awesome dude.
• NEW! Pinhead's "Strange Dream." 'Nuff said!
  

PPMB

• Anti-Trope, by Pinkminx (Part 6): “Self-esteem is important because..." Mr. O’Neill read the first question tentatively and glanced up at Dean. “It's a quality that will stand us in good stead the rest of our lives.” Dean replied in perfect monotone. (FF.net)
• Apocalyptic Daria: Scarlett's Tale, by Doggieboy (Part 14): Within fifteen minutes of starting their walk, Scarlett and Roger lost sight of the church or anyplace remotely familiar. The teen stopped briefly, looked back, then turned around and walked on ahead. (SFMB)
  
• Chances, by Coonassblondie (Parts 3 and 4): “So Jesse gave you his jacket, huh? Guess he’s pretty serious,” Trent said as he turned toward his sister as they sat at a traffic light, smiling softly at her. “To tell the truth, Trent, I don’t really know. I don’t know that much about him. Until tonight, I wasn’t aware he could form coherent sentences.” Trent only laughed in response, ending in his hacking cough. “Guess you learn something new every day, huh?”
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 12: Carnivore, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 2): “You owe me big for waking me up at 9 AM.” Jane’s eyes were bleary and tired looking. “You get up earlier to go to school.” Daria reminded. “The keyword for that is school.” Jane returned. “And the keyword in your earlier speech is AM. It’s a sin to wake a Lane before lunch.”
• In Silence Sarcastic, by Trscroggs (continued): Wednesday afternoon, three days after the Morgendorffer move was official, Quinn gingerly stepped out onto her back porch. While she would never admit it, Quinn was silently glad that the bulk of the house blocked light from the descending sun. Regardless, her prescription sunglasses were firmly in place as she looked out over the back yard. Standing in the middle of the yard Daria swung a bokken through a complicated weapon kata. Coming to a stop, Daria looked over at her sister.
• Iron Chef: Daria is Raven's Apprentice, by Project Pegasus (continued): "You're going home to visit your demon family for the holidays, aren't you?" "Maybe." "Let me go too! It'll be fun!" "No! I'm going alone. It'll literally be Hell enough going down there by myself." [Thanksgiving comes....]
  
• Regifted, by Ajar (Part 22): “Calm down, Stacy,” Quinn said. “We're almost to the bathroom. No one will even know that we're going to see that blemish.” “Blemish?” Stacy was confused. “What blemish?” “You know, the thing we're seeing in the bathroom.” “Ohh... that blemish.”
• NEW! Unnamed story (S-crap-s), by Raskolnikov (COMPLETE!): —Daria? What are you doing in my dream? —Excuse me? What are you doing in MY dream?