99 Bottles of Jesse On the Wall, 99 Bottles of Jesse....

On one hand, Jesse's looking a little trapped on National Beer Day, because that's really not how the holiday is meant to be celebrated. On the other hand, he doesn't seem terribly bothered by it, so I guess we should just let him be.

I hope any beer-loving dads get to enjoy a nice cold one for Father’s Day, although I suspect Jake would prefer a martini. Or, depending on how the day has been going, a nice soothing glass of milk. Could someone else please warm it up for him, though?

Please, please, don't let Daria celebrate Smile Power Day. Given how creepy her smiles tend to be, I think she's completely right to only smile when she has a reason.

Fandom News!

• R.I.P., Brian Wilson.


• Discuss the Democratic lawmaker assassinated in Minnesota.

Happy Father's Day!

Jake's clearly having a pleasant Father's Day, which you can tell because he's smiling instead of railing at the ceiling about his childhood. For an even better Father's Day, Helen and the girls might even let him cook something for dinner! After first confiscating the pepper, of course.

Let's hope that if he does the cooking then Jake uses plenty of healthy ingredients in honor of Fresh Veggies Day. If he's running out (because I seriously doubt the Morgendorffer family stocks fresh food of any kind) then he could check with Kevin and Brittany to see if they have any leftovers from the Food in Film Festival.

Finally, it was on this day that the episode "Too Cute" first aired in 1997. Quinn tried to get $6,000 in plastic surgery, Daria showed some genuine concern for her sister, and Upchuck found a new hobby relating to fake boobs that no one wants to think about.

Fandom News!

• Azul has a "The Green Sink" archive request.


• R.I.P., Francoise Hardy.


• Sheila Wisz Ellayn is looking for Morgendorffer house fanfics.

Thumb's Up to Dads Everywhere!

Jake's just living his best life alongside his best girl for Father's Day, with no annoying children in sight to mess with his good mood. Just as long as he doesn't think about his father, which would be an immediate mood-killer.

Today is also National Kissing Day, so Helen should lay one on Jake right now. Or she should race up to Daria's room to make sure Tom isn't up there.

Fandom News!

• Join the fun of Dall-E.


• Discuss the recent Funky Winkerbean controversy.


• A Sesame Street episode has been found.

Have a Good One, Jake-O!

Check out Jake there, living his best life for Father's Day! I hope Helen and the girls are extra nice to him, or at least more tolerant than usual of his...quirks. Maybe they could just look the other way when he makes himself a second martini?

Today is also the Summer Solstice, a.k.a. Finally Summer Day, which means we can now start asking each other if it's fall yet.

Fandom News!

• Texas has adopted permitless gun carry and loosened their suppressor laws...surely nothing bad could follow!


• Vote in the Celebrity Deathmatch poll between Angela Li and Bitch Pudding.


• R.I.P, Frank Bonner and John Paragon.

Downward-Facing Clogs

Who wants to join the Fashion Club for International Yoga Day? Don't all volunteer at once, now. I'm a little surprised that those girls are willing to try yoga, though. Aren't they concerned that they might accidentally break a sweat?

Today is also Father's Day, so let's hope Jake gets to spend some time on the golf course or at least doing something relaxing today. Quinn, that means go elsewhere with that credit card bill!

Finally, two years ago today the proposed Daria & Jodie series was announced on the AV Club website. It hasn't shown up yet, but in fandom hope lives on. See below for the latest developments!

Fandom News!

• Jodie is going to Comedy Central. Find out more and talk about it in the thread.


• Mourn the passing of Dame Vera Lynn and Ian Holm.


• Discuss Iceland's whaling industry.

A Great Father and an Expert Chugger

Jake's just enjoying a small drink to celebrate Father's Day, although it's also possible that he recently heard that Rita's coming for a visit. Or he had another flashback about his father. Or the credit card bill came in the mail. Whatever the case may be, happy Father's Day to any of you out there who are Dads!

Something important happened on this day in Angelinhel's story "61501," but I'm not going to spoil it for you if you haven't read it yet.

Fanfic Update!

• Ah, Hell, by metameric1 (part 17): "'You can't be serious.' She reached out and took his hand. 'This is an offer from a record label. Isn't this what you've been working towards?'"


• Daria's pregnancy, by sparklingdaria (part 8): "Daria woke up at 3 in the morning with bad stomach cramps, early sign of labour."


• Friday the 13th, by Princess_Pasta (part 1): "Daria Morgendorffer stared down at the faded letters, her eyes taking in every crack and inch of dust covering the wooden board. She honestly couldn't believe Jane was feeding into all of the Friday the 13th nonsense."


• Quarton, by neonhomer (part 2): "'Dead...' She said aloud, to no one in particular. 'Where is this place?' 'A limbo, of sorts.' Said Quarton."


• Shake, Shake, Quiver and Quake, by Kristen Bealer (part 1): "A bugle blared, waking Jake Morgendorffer with a start. The sixteen-year-old cadet looked around at the drab, unpainted wooden walls of the barracks at Buxton Ridge Military Academy and sighed."


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Everyone Goes to Fielding), by Brother Grimace (COMPLETE!): "'Hey, Daria - love the hat.'" (Part 2) (Part 3)


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Everyone Goes to Fielding), by ognawk (COMPLETE!): "Ashley Winters and his girlfriend Jane Lane were sat in the Fielding lunch room. Jane had a wide smile on her face as she passed a sheet to Ashley. 'You got a B+ in Math?' Ashley said as he looked at the paper and handed it back, 'Impressive.'"


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Everyone Goes to Fielding), by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): "'So, Michael,' Sue asked. 'I really need an escort for my deb party, and I think you'd be perfect for it.' Mack couldn't believe it. 'Sorry, Sue, but I don't think this is a good idea.'"


• Unnamed story (Iron Chef: Everyone Goes to Fielding), by Shiva (COMPLETE!): "Ethan Yeager dragged a hand through his shorn hair, it still felt weird to have it cut so short. However the reason for his former mane to be history wasn't just because he had had to deal with his parents arrest and trial for drug dealing."


• Unnamed story (Scenes No Daria Fan-Fic Should Have: No longer in the 1%), by Silver (COMPLETE!): "'They knew I was coming, Cass. And the security wasn't exactly on the Republic's Select List.' Quinn smirked as Cassie's eyes boggled."

For All the Dads Out There

Happy Father's Day! Our favorite paternal role model, Jake Morgendorffer, is a bit busy bonding with his own father at the moment, but for all the other fathers (and father figures) out there, hope you have a good one. I haven't been able to unearth any Father's Day-related Daria fanfics out there, but if I've missed any then by all means post them in the comments.

Fandom News!

• ticknart has a question about school buses in other countries.


• DocForbin wonders if this e-mail is on the level.


• View an honest movie trailer for Avatar.


• DIsaac posted a new Iron Chef in the Creative Writing forum: Fashion Club Reunion Road Trip.

Have a Good One, Jake-O!

Happy Father's Day, everyone! Jake will probably celebrate by reading the paper, drinking martinis, and ranting about Mad Dog. How that differs from any other day is anyone's guess.

Fanfic Update!

• Behind A Glass Enclosure (Long Story Challenge #4, Round 2), by LadieT (part 2): "Curtis pulled out an old wadded up dollar bill. He stared at the 1993 Washington in his hand for a moment. It was the best of years, it was the worst of years. He handed the bill to Charlotte, told her goodbye, and headed for the tiny employee parking area. As he drove his bike back towards Lawndale, he looked up to see the Giant Strawberry. He tried to focus on the road, but his mind drifted back to another time."


• Daria/Dorian Ch. 15: Summertime Blues, by LadieT (part 4): "'I'll talk to you on Friday and I'll see you in a couple of weeks. I know you're going to impress them all. I just hope your sister doesn't make your life a living hell while you're here. I love you,' Dorian whispered. 'I love you, too. Try not to get hurt and good luck with your writing class. Talk to you soon. Daria - take care of him,' Jane's voice cracked."


• Deleted Scenes from the Punkverse: Achy Jakey Heart (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: It's Friday!!), by GlitterShrooms (COMPLETE!): "'And this medication tastes like ASS!” said Jake. 'JAKE!!' responded Ruth, 'How could you possible know what ass tastes like?'"


• Esteeming Out The Gutter, by RX-87: "He gazed at Daria, hope finally returning to his eyes, 'Do you want to talk about Jesus?' O'Neill said excitedly. 'No thank you.' Daria said, flashing a Mona Lisa smile you'd need a high speed camera to catch, 'I was born a Cthulhu cultist, I'll die a Cthulhu cultist.'" (New part) (Next new part)


• Eternal Return and Other Theories, by Stripey (part 3): "The minor adrenaline rush wore off, and later she would remember nothing past looking at the computer screen, knowing everything was taken care of, and feeling all of the stress drain out of her. Evidently it was all that had been keeping her upright."


• God Save The Esteem Ep31: Achy Jakey Heart, by Charles RB (COMPLETE!): "Helen looked to Daria, who stood ramrod straight and pale skinned. Amy touched her sister’s hand, pointed upwards: ‘go’. The punk gratefully headed upstairs to handle Jake, Amy moved in closer to Daria; all done in two seconds. Quinn had looked concerned but was going back to her book, so no immediate crisis. (A quick glance showed Erin was moving closer to Eve) 'Hey sprat. You want to-' Daria nodded." (Bonus part)


• The Hollow Heads Of Fielding (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: It's Friday!!), by RX-87 (COMPLETE!): "*Tom is shocked to see Pat Seven with a huge mohawk, though still dressed horrendously preppy.* Tom: What in God's name have you done to yourself? Pat: Isn't it great? Now Killer Quinn's sure to notice me!"


• Hungry Eyes (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: It's Friday!!), by breitasparrow (COMPLETE!): "'Uh... what are you doing? And who are you?' The girl asked. It was Tom's sister, Elsie. Jane was a deer caught in headlights; this wasn't the way she expected to meet her boyfriend's sister for the first time. Rather than try to respond, she closed the fridge, zipped up her bag, and walked out. Elsie, still stunned at what she witnessed, walked into the den. 'I sure hope that was that girlfriend of yours emptying our kitchen just now,' she said."


• The James Lane Chronicles Chapter 6, by InvisibleDan (part 4): "James put his pencil down and got up. He went directly to the desk without looking at the other students. He walked quickly and stopped right in front of Hans and asked him what he wanted. 'Do you have a problem? You haven't moved in so long I was wondering if you were attempting to be a human sculpture.' 'Uh, actually, I have a question.' 'Well, what is it?' James leaned in and said, 'It's kind of embarrassing.'"


• Lawndale and Sandi Griffin’s Genie (Chapter 4), by cfardell_Brenorenz29 (part 2): "'Then it may not be psychosomatic. It could be a problem with the speech center,' the psychologist said. 'Great! We have gone around in circles,' Jennifer said. 'But her voice is improving,' the nurse said. 'Not quickly enough,' Kristen murmured. 'What was that?' the nurse asked. 'Nothing,' Kristen said."


• The NEW Teacher (Long Story Challenge #5 Round 1), by DIsaac (part 1): "I can't believe it! He finally did it. After taking Janet Barch's crap for three years - Michael “Mack” Mackenzie finally acts and does something about it. Of course we are talking about Mack so he didn't snap and yell at her. What the point in that!"


• No Power in the Verse Can Stop Them, by Hyrin (part 3): "Her hands bound, Daria sat on the transport as it lifted off, letting her see the full effect of the Alliance’s carpet-bombing of Serenity Valley. Jane sat across from her, crying silently. Andrea was in the back, a medic working frantically to save her life. months later, all three were released from the prisoner camp after the Independents surrendered unconditionally. She learned shortly after that she was the only Browncoat who had laid down arms in the entire battle."


• Not So Different 46: Knowing Each Other, by J-D (COMPLETE!): "His parents’ relationship puzzled him a little—on the rare occasions when he let himself think about it at all. Presumably both of them were getting something out of it ... Sonny’s thoughts swerved promptly from the subject of his parents’ marriage and back to the immediate surroundings."


• Not So Different 47: Seeing More Than Some Would Like, by J-D (COMPLETE!): "As they got out of the car, Sonny’s mother introduced the whole family, but it was Sonny the white coats zoomed in on. When his mother asked for an explanation, the lead representative of the Combine handed her a clipboard with Sonny’s questionnaire. ‘Favourite pastime: resurrection?’ She glared at Sonny. He averted his gaze and said, ‘I also enjoy making the lame see, the fat hear, and the bald dance.’"


• Not So Different 48: Unusual Perceptions, by J-D (COMPLETE!): "‘You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to tell you what you should do to solve your problem, I’m only going to charge you five dollars for my advice, and I’m going to give you a money-back guarantee if it doesn’t work. I must be getting soft in my old age.’ ‘Five dollars?’ ‘That’s a bargain rate and you know it. Or you can try to solve your problem without my advice.’ Quinn grudgingly pulled out the money and handed it to him. ‘Fine.’"


• Save the Last Trance for Me, by jtranser: "'Any time a new God steps in, they're accompanied by a ceremonial guard.' 'Fine, do they have to be human?' 'No, they can be any creature You choose.' 'You mean I can have a retinue of liveried hippopotami?' 'Well, yes, Daria, but I strongly advise against it. You need to consider what unintended consequences might occur.'"


• When Boston Freezes Over (Scenes no Daria fanfic should have: It's Friday!!), by Roentgen (COMPLETE!): "'Uh...yeah,' Jane said. 'Actually...my boyfriend is helping me bring the rest of my crap upstairs.' 'Boyfriend?' Daria said. 'You move fast.' 'No, he's a guy from Lawndale.'"

Do It for the Old Man

Happy Father's Day to you dads out there, and to those celebrating the occasion. And here's to you, too, Jake.

Interesting historical note for today. On this day 118 years ago, Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the axe murders of her father and stepmother. Jake Morgendorffer had this reaction to Lizzie Borden's story.

N00Z!

• A Jezebel.com writer thanks Daria for "social guidance." Interesting essay!
• Daria and the Daria DVDs as presented in current media.
• Charles RB offers a new Iron Chef Challenge: Straight Inta Lawndale. What if the Morgendorffers had moved to Lawndale while Daria was a toddler?
• Fan Chris Tucker has spotted a Daria lookalike in the Marvel Comics mini-series HER-OES, Book 2. Love the boots.
  
• NEW! Is comic-book character Becky Burdock more like Daria or Quinn? Charles RB brought this interesting character to our attention.
  
• NEW! OverlordMikey has begun another Iron Chef: The Father's Day Fanfic Post. "How are Daria and the rest celebrating their fathers and thanking them for all the Paternal-ness?"
  

FF.net

• Brittany Wants Daria, by a440 (COMPLETE!): As a rule, when a student graduated, it was said to be a happy occasion, but for Daria Morgendorffer, who was one of Lawndale High's latest grads, such wasn't the case. "You're joking, right?" said Brittany. "Nope," said a downcast Daria, who with the blonde and Jane, had met at The Pizza King for what might be the last time.
• College Wry, by LibertyxIsxLove (Part 2): She and Stacy stood awkwardly on opposite sides of the room before the latter ventured, "I'm a little concerned if Tiffany has a boyfriend..." "Yeah," Quinn agreed, taking a seat on her bed. "I mean, how many guys have tried to take advantage of us, when we're, you know..." she wracked her brain for something polite. "More socially apt than her."
• NEWEST! Daria Regresa, by z3l3niit4 (Part 1): [Daria/Tom shipper in Spanish.]
  
• El Ultimo Verano, by Xio-Lang: [This begins the Spanish language version of Richard Lobinske's "Last Summer" series.]
  

PPMB

• Bathing with Archimedes, by RLobinske (Part 4): Quinn sat next to Daria and Zoe sat next to Jane. Jane asked, "Feeling a little alienated?" Zoe said, "This school is full of brains." "Not a bad thing," Daria said. Quinn said, "And they know to dress and to be popular. It's overwhelming."
• NEWEST! Daria/Dorian, by LadieT (continued): Lillian turned to Quinn. "So, tell me about this Jane girl that came over yesterday." "Jane is Daria's—well, now Dorian's—best and only friend. They started hanging out the second day we were in school here. They complement each other nicely. Jane is a really good artist and has similar tastes in TV shows and sarcasm. Sometimes I think they are the only ones that truly understand the other. I mean, my friends and I are kinda close and all, but they are on a whole different level." "Do you think they will start dating?" "I hope so. Dorian is, well, happier when she is around. I just don't know if the Daria in him will ever allow him to see her as a girlfriend." "Isn't Jane dating that guy Trent?" Jake chimed in, looking up from the paper. "No, Dad. Trent is her brother." (FF.net Spanish)
  
• NEWEST! The Dream of the White Darkness, by jtranser (end of Part 1): As she drove toward the little farm community of Scorched Rock, Kansas, Daria noticed a strange billboard promoting Fat Man Delivery Services: "High Speed Intercontinental Access!", "World Wide Coverage Area!" and "Delivery Guaranteed!" Daria shook her head. It's been a long day, she thought. Hungry, she pulled into the driveway of Nukie's, the town's only restaurant. She first met Nukie at the Weapons Production Facility at Flat Plains, Texas. At the time, he was a machinist on the warhead assembly line. He'd gone to work at the plant in the mid '50s after he told his interviewer that he wanted to make stuff that would blow up real good and do it for America. [Last part of Part 1 is here.]
  
• NEWER! Eye of the Beholder, by Yogi (Part 5): “No!” Quinn wailed. “That little backstabbing bitch! How could she!? I though she was my... oooooh GAH DAMMIT!” “Wha?” Stacy gasped, confused at her sudden outburst. “What happened? Who did this? Where does she live?” That last part had just slipped out.
  
• Finn Morgendorffer 50: Matters of State, by HolyGrail2007 (Part 4): “Were you just talking to Benjamin Montgomery over there?" asked Mr. O'Neill. "He seems upset.” “I don’t know what happened, really. He just had a phone call and he got really upset.” Finn then realized that he just blabbed something about someone being upset to Mr. O’Neill. That was one of the unspoken rules of Lawndale, and the only one left now that Barch and Li were gone: Do not talk about feelings to O’Neill. Ever. Language arts class meant becoming a robot. “Oh, dear! Maybe I should talk to him later. Please, excuse me Finn.” “No, Mr. O’Neill!” Finn called, but O’Neill had already headed back to the elevators.
• For Life, by LSauchelli (continued): Jane looked one more time at the door and kicked it again. “Stupid judge trying to make a stupid point,” she said, trying to bait Daria into saying anything. She glared at the vent. Daria was still not talking. So she decided to sit next to the door and wait. She did this for almost two minutes before her need to talk kicked in. “Daria? You awake?” “I’m awake Jane.” “Think you will ever get out?” “Yes. One year done, one hundred and seven left. The only way I’m getting out of here is in a coffin.”
• NEWER! The Future Is Unwritten, by Brian Taylor (COMPLETE!): "So, what do you do now, Jane?" "I'm a founding member of the Society for Creative Procrastination." "That's disappointing." "It was a joke?" "You were always such a talented student. Are you still painting, at least?" "I'm in the middle of my White Period right now." "Oh! Oh." "Yeah." [Ending is here.]
• NEWEST! The Hallowed Halls of Fielding, by Roentgen (Part 37): Quinn and Jill decided to move their lunch date to Tuesday to give Quinn an uninterrupted break. The course of the day was turkey tetrazzini. Quinn suspected that it was made of the Tom Turkey from Thanksgiving. "Less than two weeks to end of classes," Quinn said. "Then, finals. You'd better enjoy our lunch dates, Jill... next year you might have to find a new friend." "Don't say that," Jill said. "Kiki, you've been working harder than anyone... well, harder than anyone I know, anyway. Heavens, think of your previous schooling. So how are you doing?" "Aside from the F-double-minus Goodlett will give me?"
  
• NEWER! Helen's Choice, by Charles RB (COMPLETE!): Both she and Jake remembered, quite clearly, the amazement and joy in the teacher’s voice: “Daria’s made some friends.” Daria had been five years old, getting discouraged that the other kids didn’t know what she was talking about and then withdrawing into herself. Her voice, already a bit flat, had started to become completely monotonous. Apparently she’d needed to borrow a pencil and because of that she’d found out Jodie did know what she was talking about. The sight of Daria actually talking with another kid caused little Jane to toddle over out of curiosity. And that’s how her daughter had gained some friends.
  
• NEW! Judith Strikes! The Green Book, by OverlordMikey (Part 1): Jane sat in the nurse's office feeding Daria. "So, amiga, how long has it been since we had a nice quiet meal?" Daria stared off at the door. "Has he come home?" Daria's voice was still the same monotone Jane remembered, but her words seemed out of place.
• NEW! Judith Strikes! Red-Winged Angel, by Erin M. (Part 1): She wished Daria were still alive. Daria would never have let her fall so far. But Daria had died in an apartment fire six years ago, and Trent had taken Mystik Spiral to Europe in an effort to build a following shortly after Jane had moved to New York the first time. She hadn't seen him since. [Contains mature content.]
  
• Raft College: The First Year, by rglovejoy (Part 9): "Would you like to see my dorm?" Daria agreed. They entered the East parallel and climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. A long hallway ran the length of the building; dormitory rooms lined both sides. One of these rooms was Sam's. He had decorated the door with cartoons of stick figures. They were not clipped from the newspaper. Instead, they were on white paper, printed from a laser printer. Daria looked at the one that had pride of place: two of the stick figures were watching Mythbusters on television. In the following panels, "Zombie Feynman" entered the room, told the couple that they should cut the Mythbusters guys some slack because they were doing a service to Science, and then demanded to know where he could find some brains to eat. Daria did not completely understand the humor; she would have to ask Sam later why this was funny.
  
• They Stood on Her Neck: Slate Takes a Look at the History of Daria, by Charles RB (COMPLETE!): In 1998, they came not to praise Daria but to bury her. The cartoon had spun off the eponymous heroine, a sardonic minor character on MTV's smartly dumb Beavis and Butt-head, into her own time slot... Unfortunately, after the first series, voice actress Wendy Hoopes (Jane and Quinn) fell into a contract dispute with MTV.... When the show came back nine months later with "The New Kid," things had changed. Jane had, entirely off-screen, been taken into state care due to her negligent parents; Trent had skipped town without her around. Daria's parents had divorced and her mother (also Hoopes) had left with Quinn. Daria's new best friend was Andrea, a surly Goth girl who'd been a background character, while the Ted DeWitt, the new kid himself, became a love interest for a reluctant Daria. ("Not the original plan for him," said Eichler, "but we were pretty desperate.")
• Two Halves 6: Role Models, by Dark Kuno (Part 2): “S'cuseme!” blurted a squeaky voice as a form wrapped in an over-sized trench coat rushed between Daria and Jane as they exited the girls’ bathroom. “Was that Brittany?” asked Daria. “Either her, or a spy smuggling helium and bowling balls,” remarked Jane.
• NEW! Unnamed story (Iron Chef Challenge: Straight Inta Lawndale), by Malakite (COMPLETE!): Everyone died from the X-5 supervirus which first appeared in Nevada in the mid-nineteen nineties.(Because certain idiots fail 9th grade science, and end up in summer school,instead of being home to notice that their TV was stolen or possibly get crushed by a car they were trying to fix. Whichever.) The End. [Almost.]
• NEW! Welcome to the LD, by Angryellow (Part 1): Quinn, who'd always finish breakfast first because she ate sparingly, flipped through the channels of the living room television in an attempt to pass the time. She hated the fact that there were nothing but infomercials, cartoons, and the local news to select from in the morning. The redhead finally settled on what was, at the very least, her favorite local news program; "WLDL-2 Mornings." "Murder in the morning," Daria muttered in reference to the morning news as she plopped down beside her sister. "Well, it was this or watching that chef guy try to wow me with a set of indestructible stainless steel knives." "Which were coincidentally used in the latest murder on Dega Street." (FF.net)
  

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dads in our fandom, and to the dads of all the fans. The golf bag image came from an old MTV Daria webpage about Jake, so it's legit. We still aren't exactly sure why Daria thought her dad was a hero in "Of Human Bonding"), but she must have had a reason. Maybe he was right that he was able to be a better dad than his dad had been ("Jake of Hearts"). We hope so.

Enjoy the day.

P.S. If you get bored today, please help edit smk's DariaWiki page to ensure its verisimilitudiness. She would like that. Trust me.

Jake's Day

It's Father's Day. I'm writing this ahead of time because I might be unavailable for a while, for obvious reasons.

Knowing that Jake has a model railroad set (per "Lucky Strike"), I once had this idea for a crossover fanfic in which Jake goes to his favorite model train shop on the Monday just after Father's Day, and there meets up with several other cartoon/comics dads who also happen to like model trains. Among others, Jake was going to have a light conversation with Reverend Timothy Lovejoy (The Simpsons), John Patterson (For Better or For Worse), and possibly Gomez Addams (The Addams Family). I thought there were some others, but long searches on the Internet turned up nothing. The story is gathering electron dust in my computer files, so if anyone else wants to do this, say the word and I will send you the data I had. (Only half of the first sentence of the story was ever written.)

I thought it was nice of Daria to think of her dad as a hero in "Of Human Bonding," though I admit the exact reasons she thought so still seem rather vague, given how poorly Jake was portrayed in the series. Perhaps she understood the hardships he had had overcome to be a good dad to her, despite having had a bad relationship with his own father. Daria, ever the selfish teen, had no compunction about tricking her father to get her way. Some of her stunts seem like a little much. (Consider how she got his hamburger in "Fat Like Me.") Still, she finally admits he and Helen were okay as parents . . . in the last episode of the series.

In any event, here's to you, Jake. Have a good one today, you and all the other dads out there. It's your day.