The One for Whom That Award Was Named

Zoologist and gorilla friend Dian Fossey was born 76 years ago today. An award was named for her at Lawndale High, allegedly an annual presentation. In Is It College Yet?, Ms. Li introduced the award thusly: "I give you the winner of this year's Lawndale High School Diane Fossey Award for dazzling academic achievement in the face of near-total misanthropy... Ms. Daria Morgendorffer!"

Is the naming of the award fair? The Internet reports that Ms. Fossey once said, "I feel more comfortable with gorillas than people. I can anticipate what a gorilla's going to do, and they're purely motivated." The Internet also reports she said, "The more you learn about the dignity of the gorilla, the more you want to avoid people." Given that Ms. Fossey was murdered by humans, not by gorillas, her prejudices do not seem far off target.

Others have pointed out that the image on the award appears to be a golden gorilla posed like Rodin's The Thinker. This is never mentioned in the series, but the picture at right makes the similarity quite clear.

Lawndale Online is still in the planning stages of an upgrade. More data about it here. You go, girl! Uh, website!

The three-day weekend for Dr. Martin Luther King Day was the time when a certain Daria fanfic took place: "Invisible Planet."

It was nine years ago today that Kara Wild posted her essay, "The Helen-Jane-Jodie Connection." Intriguing. Read it.

Now 1,109 fans in the Daria Fan Club.

FF.net

• Daria, Poem Unlimited: The Meme Wars, Part I or I Hope My Body Can Take It, by Project Pegasus (Part 1): The stage is set as the superheroine Daria does battle with the alien space invaders, Tom Sloane and Monique!
• Harry Butt-head, by Deep Metal (Part 1): Deep Metal, a true wizard with B&B stories, has taken on a parody of the Harry Potter franchise. Guess who Hermione is going to be?