When the Bottom Fell Out of the Unicorn Market

Today is the birthday anniversary of Ole Worm. (That was his real name, pronounced OH-leh VORM, but he also liked to be called Olaus Wormius.) He was a Danish physician, teacher, and perpetual college student who like to collect ancient Scandinavian books. An amateur scientist as well, Dr. Worm is best known (some might say infamous) for proving in 1638 that unicorns did not exist. Until that time scholars could always point to one sort of physical evidence "proving" the existence of unicorns: their whorled horns. Then Dr. Worm showed that these horns actually came from narwhals. That, alas, was the end of the unicorn. (Not that unicorns didn't have problems of their own.) The image at left is of course from the "Charlie the Unicorn" web cartoon.

Today is also the birthday of author Armistead Maupin, who is 66. He is the celebrated author of the Tales of the City novel series that I read years ago on the advice of an excellent friend, and this in turn laid the groundwork for the Pause in the Air series. More about this influence may be read here.

Is Daria returning to The-N? Or something similar? Read and learn.

And here is an image sure to blow your mind, from the legendary S.C. Thank you, man!

NEW GNUZ! Sick, Sad World (the Daria website) has been updating continuously for months, and just did it again! Check it out!

FF.net
Most stories added to FF.net of late have appeared elsewhere, except for one.

• NEWEST! The Fate of the Duels, by a440 (COMPLETE!): Brittany, in her black blouse and bow, along with her black skirt, arrived at that spot ahead of Kevin, her katana swords in their scabbards, strapped to her waist, the blonde waiting for her adversary, having spent last night in Florida, in what she thought was a clean motel...

Outpost Daria

• NEWEST! A Stranger in Lawndale, by Belle Book (Part 5): Stacy was stunned by what Derek just told her. When he first talked about Shintoism, kami, and kitsune she thought he was just speaking of fascinating fables that had no real connection to her. Until he told her that he was a kitsune. Now she didn't know what to believe.

PPMB

• NEWER! Daria: Hunter 6—Infectious, by Jim North (continued): "Miss Lane, please lower your weapons and step away from Miss Morgendorffer," the male agent said levelly. "You don't fully understand what's going on here." "No, I do fully understand what's going on here," Jane shot back. "I understand that for all you know, she just burned her hand with some coffee before we ever even got here, Agent Jumptoconclusions!"
  
• Daria's New Necklace, by Wraith (COMPLETE!): "It's called a behelit. Also known as the Egg of the King. Whoever possesses it is destined to obtain the world in exchange for their own flesh and blood." (Daria/Berserk)
• NEWER! The Dream of the White Darkness, by jtranser (continued): Unnerved, Daria drove out of Godfrey to a crossroads. Stopping, she looked at the signboards to see if she could find her way home. Each road seemed to intersect each other in a peculiar topological fashion, so that all the roads that were, are and will be pass through the crossroads and frequently exchange destinations. And this is how one gets lost, she thought.
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 46: Shields Up, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 2): “Hello, Janet, how was your day?” Timothy asked in that sappy way of his. “Awful," said Janet. "Those new freshman males make we want to vomit. Think they’re so great. Sure, they think they’re flying now, then they’ll run out after 20 years of...” “Oh, Janet, it’s okay. Let out your anger.” “Sometimes I think we should just graduate them now and ship `em off to the next great war or something.”
• NEWER! The Game Called Life, by Trscroggs (continued): Daria had a very firm glare in place the next time the desk appeared. “That was a dirty trick,” Daria growled while attempting to set the desk on fire with her eyes. “You signed off on it,” the Old Man replied. “While I was ranting to myself, it doesn’t count!” Daria protested.
  
• NEW! Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Daria's children, your view), by Ranger Thorne (COMPLETE!): "I saw two generations of Barksdale/Morgendorffer dysfunction in person," Daria said as she looked out of the screen. "A little digging and I found out that it had been going on with both families for a lot longer than that."