A Good Day with an Awkward Name

Another day with a lot going on. Let's see, it is the UN-mandated International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (a worthy goal but such a horrible title), and also Humans Rights Day in South Africa and Harmony Day in Australia. The latter two get special awards for being succinct and on target. We should talk to the UN about the too-long-a-name issue. They have a lot of awkwardly named holidays and really need to work on that.

It is the 58th anniversary of the Moondog Coronation Ball, which was the very first rock & roll concert ever. (The guys of Mystik Spiral fill in as mascots here.) The MCB was held in Cleveland and was kind of a successful failure, as you will see when you read the link.

Finally, with the able assistance of Andrea (below), we celebrate World Poetry Day. Write a Daria poem and post it on PPMB or FF.net today. Stretch your boundaries. Blow some minds. Make some rhymes. There you go!

NEWZ!!

• Work continues on the magnificent Best of Daria Fan Fiction on FF.net! Go go go!
• NEW! Gene wishes to know what great description (best descriptive phrase) you have read lately that impressed you.
  

PPMB

• Finn Morgendorffer 38: Fractures, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 2): “Aunt Rita?” Finn’s voice called from the couch. “What are...” Helen started, but Rita interrupted. “Oh, Helen, it’s awful. Ralph left me!” Rita exclaimed. “He... what? Oh, that bastard!” Finn shouted.

• From the Fractured Life of Stacy Rowe, by Respite (COMPLETE!): But then, just like every other bastard, he doesn't call, and it's five o'clock somewhere, and I'm halfway through my soaps and a bottle of Smirnoff when his bitch comes pounding on my door yelling my name like I'm going to come out if she keeps yelling. And so I had to do something, or my neighbors were going to hate me even more than they probably did already.
• NEW! Gimme the Prize, by RLobinske (COMPLETE!): Anthony DeMartino warily entered the alley behind the Good Time Chinese restaurant. He could feel the other immortal waiting. The electric feeling was unmistakable and the accumulated power, intoxicating. There can be only one...
  
• Mata Dari, by Dennis (COMPLETE!): It was the irony of the thing that Daria hated the most. The most accomplished wordsmith Lawndale High had seen in at least a decade was, less than a year short of her thirtieth birthday, working as an accountant.
• Morning Next, by Jim North (COMPLETE!): "Okay, so, everything makes sense then," Jane said with a nod. Daria glared at her. "No, everything does not make sense!" she said. "Where did we get the sushi? And the gum? And this hotel room? And the penguin?!" (FF.net)
  
• Project Runaway, by Disco316 (COMPLETE!): Stacy Rowe had run away from her home over the weekend for reasons nobody could determine. Her parents said they couldn’t find any sign of why she had left, and nobody had seen her since Saturday night. At school, Quinn had suggested to her other friends, Sandi Griffin and Tiffany Blum-Deckler, that they should go out searching for her after school. Sandi’s response was to suggest that the Fashion Club should not lower itself to searching in unfashionable areas. The ensuing argument left both Sandi and Quinn upset, and left Tiffany primping at a mirror; at least, that’s the last either had seen of her before leaving.
• Unnamed story (March Madness Round 1, Match 1: Minx vs Jim North), by Minx (COMPLETE!): “I did it. I told you. Eleven a.m. on move-in day. Those crayons were useful.” Jane said. Daria could hear the smile in her voice. Daria’s brow furrowed, ‘Eleven a.m. on move in day? What the hell was she on about…?’ As Daria thought, a snippet of a long forgotten conversation slipped into her mind. “Wait a minute, you’re not referring to… I mean you didn’t… Crayons?” Daria said in disbelief.
• A Very Special Daria, by OverlordMikey (COMPLETE!): Jane’s eyes began to twitch. Something was way off. A dream? No, that can’t be right. Brain-washing? Then how could Brittany have been affected? The Twilight Zone? No, there’s color. I must have died! Was I really bad enough to be sent to hell though? Hmmmmm—don’t answer that.